MTU’s Joe Shawhan named CCHA Coach of the Year

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) - Michigan Tech’s Joe Shawhan has been named the CCHA Coach of the Year the league announced on Thursday.

Shawhan is in his sixth season as head coach of the Huskies and is second all-time in program history with 119 wins.

According to a press release from the university, Shawhan and the Huskies were picked fifth in the CCHA Preseason Coaches’ Poll and finished second in the league standings with a 15-7-4 record—only two points out of first place.

Tech is 24-10-4 overall this season with the most wins in Shawhan’s six seasons. It’s the third time his team has surpassed the 20-win plateau. The Huskies are in prime position for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season and looking for their third national tournament appearance under Shawhan. John MacInnes is the only other coach in program history to have taken the Huskies to three NCAA Tournaments.

The Michigan Tech coaching staff also consists of second-year full-time assistant coach, and former Husky, Tyler Shelast, first-year assistant coach Jordy Murray, and volunteer/goaltender coach, and former Husky, Jamie Phillips.

The Huskies are currently ranked No. 13 in both the DCU/USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. They were ranked as high as No. 10 which is the highest for the Black and Gold since April 2015.

Voting for the 2022-23 All-CCHA Teams and CCHA Players/Coach of the Year awards were conducted by the eight head coaches at each CCHA member institution, based on CCHA conference games only. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players or themselves.