According to the HEA site, Shawn was HEA coach of the year for 94/95.  Tim
definitely deserved it this year.  I got to thinking when I read this that, I
remember that Parker got it (the HEA award), one year with a terrible record.
(Maybe that's my very rabid dislike for that school poking through....again).

I agree with the UNH statement.  That was a game played with heart if I ever saw
one.  I'll watch that one again and again.

I think that awards like these should be awarded to coaches that turned around a
program, or started below .500 and won a championship, not rated # whatever all
season long.  That's player talent and coaching, not just coaching. JMHO

Deron Treadwell wrote:

> Does anyone else find it ironic that Whitehead was viewed as the coach who
> did the best job in the country by a broad group of his peers, but was *NOT*
> voted as Hockey East Coach of the Year??
>
> Didn't this happen to Walsh in 1995?  I can't recall if he won the HE coach
> of the year that year as well as the Penrose award.
>
> One of the most satisfying parts of this season (ok, the most :-) was
> beating UNH in the NCAA semifinals, after all we heard all year was how UNH
> was #1 in every category, and after they all but swept every award in Hockey
> East.
>
> I was most bothered by Dick Umile winning coach of the year because I though
> Timmy really deserved it.  This is a great honor to win this award and we
> are fortunate to have a second Penrose-winning coach in this program!!
>
> -Deron
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Deron Treadwell" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 10:47 PM
> Subject: Whitehead Wins Spencer Penrose
>
> > April 12, 2002
> > Whitehead Wins Penrose Award as Division I Coach of the Year
> >
> >
> > He took over a team devastated by the death of its popular coach, Shawn
> > Walsh, in September. He watched them start out 3-4-2. But in the end, his
> > Black Bears fell just an overtime goal short of the NCAA title.
> >
> > For this remarkable season, the University of Maine's Tim Whitehead is the
> > winner of the 2002 Spencer Penrose Award as Division I Men's Ice Hockey
> > Coach of the Year.
> >
> > Whitehead, whose title all year was "Interim Head Coach," saw his efforts
> > rewarded when Maine named him permanent head coach just two days after the
> > emotional 4-3 overtime loss to Minnesota in the NCAA title game.
> >
> > A 1985 graduate of Hamilton College, Whitehead returned to Orono this fall
> > after ten years at UMass Lowell. An assistant to Shawn Walsh during the
> > 1990-91 season, Whitehead spent his first five years at Lowell as an
> > assistant to Bruce Crowder and his last five years as head coach. His
> record
> > as a head coach was 76-95-12 before this year's 26-11-7 mark.
> >
> > The runner-up in this year's Spencer Penrose Award balloting was George
> > Gwozdecky, head coach of the University of Denver. The award is named in
> > memory of the famed Colorado Springs benefactor who built the Broadmoor
> > Hotel Complex, home of the first ten NCAA ice hockey championships.
> >
> > College hockey's Coach of the Year recipients are chosen by members of the
> > American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). Winners will receive their
> > awards at the annual AHCA Coach of the Year Banquet, held in conjunction
> > with the AHCA Convention in Naples, FL. This year's banquet is scheduled
> for
> > Saturday evening, April. 27.
>
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