The American Hockey Coaches Association has announced the winners of five major awards, which will be presented at the 2001 Coach of the Year Banquet on April 28, 2001. The banquet, part of the AHCA convention, will take place in Naples, Fla., and will also include men’s and women’s Division I and Division III Coach of the Year awards. The five winners are:
John “Snooks” Kelley Founders Award
2001 Recipient: Kelvin “Brush” Christiansen, Alaska-Anchorage
Named in honor of the former Boston College coach, this award recognizes those people in the coaching profession who have contributed to the overall growth and development of the sport of ice hockey in the United States.
Christiansen founded the program at Alaska-Anchorage and coached the Seawolves for 17 varsity years, compiling a career mark of 287-229-30 before retiring following the 1995-96 season.
John MacInnes Award
2001 Recipient: Jim Cross, Vermont
Named for the successful coach at Michigan Tech, this award recognizes those people who have shown a great concern for amateur hockey and youth programs. The recipients have had high winning percentages as well as outstanding graduation percentages among their former players.
Cross started the Vermont hockey program and built it into a national power at both the Division II and Division I levels. His career record with the Catamounts was 280-251-9 in 21 seasons, including a Division II mark of 113-42-1. He also coached golf (head coach, 10 years) and baseball (interim head coach, one year) at UVM.
Terry Flanagan Award
2001 Recipient: Brian Durocher, Boston University
This award, named in memory of the former New Hampshire player and Bowling Green assistant, recognizes a career body of work by an assistant collegiate coach.
Durocher has served as an assistant or associate coach at four institutions (AIC, BU, Colgate and Brown) covering 23 years. His tenure at his alma mater, BU, includes work with Jack Parker from 1980-85 and then from 1996 until the present.
Jim Fullerton Award
2001 Recipient: Bill Kipouras, Salem (Mass.) Evening News
Named in honor of the former Brown University coach and “AHCA spiritual leader,” this award recognizes an individual who loves the purity of the sport, whether a coach, administrator, trainer, official, journalist, or simply a fan.
Kipouras, a 44-year veteran of newspaper work, began with the Boston Herald Traveler when he was just 17 years old. For the past 27 years, he has covered sports, particularly hockey, for the Salem Evening News on Boston’s North Shore.
John Mariucci Award
2001 Recipient: Peter Melchiono, Barnstable (Mass.) High School
This award honors a secondary school coach who best exemplifies the spirit, dedication, and enthusiasm of the Minnesota player and coach John Mariucci, who became known as the “Godfather of U.S. Hockey.”
Melchiono began his high school coaching career at Chelmsford (Mass.) High School in 1964, serving as head coach for four seasons before moving on to Merrimack as an assistant from 1968-1973. He then began a 21-year career at Barnstable High School, where he compiled a 303-146-36 record, winning the State Championship in 1980 and 1991 and finishing as runner-up in 1978 and 1994.
The AHCA also sponsors the annual All-American teams, the College Division Player of the Year Award, the Spencer Penrose Award to the University Division Coach of the Year, and the Edward Jeremiah Award to the College Division Coach of the Year. Those will be announced in April.
