MTU hockey coach named a finalist for Spencer Penrose Award

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) - Michigan Tech hockey coach Joe Shawhan has been named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award.

The award is given to CCM/AHCA Men’s Hockey Division I Coach of the Year.

Shawhan was named the CCHA Coach of the Year in his sixth season as head coach of the Huskies. He is second all-time in program history with 119 wins. 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. Shawhan won his 100th career game at Bowling Green on November 4, 2022, and moved into second place in wins at Tech on March 4, 2023, in the CCHA Playoffs against St. Thomas.

Tech finished the season 24-11-4 overall with the most wins in Shawhan’s tenure. It’s the third time his team has surpassed 20 wins. The Huskies went to the NCAA Tournament for the third time under Shawhan after earning an at-large bid for the second straight season. John MacInnes is the only other coach in program history to have taken the Huskies to three NCAA Tournaments. MacInnes received the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year honors in 1970 and 1976.

The Spencer Penrose Award is named in memory of the Colorado Springs benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, the site of the first ten NCAA championship hockey tournaments. The award will be presented on Wednesday, April 26, at the 2023 AHCA Convention at the Naples Grande Hotel in Naples, Florida.

2022-23 AHCA Spencer Penrose Award Finalists