Leaman Recipient of Tim Taylor Award
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ALBANY, N.Y. -- ECAC Hockey today announced Union College Men's Ice Hockey Head Coach Nate Leaman has been named the recipient of the League’s 2009-10 Tim Taylor Award as Coach of the Year.
Under the direction of Leaman, Union’s 20 overall victories and 12 conference are the most in program history. Selected to finish sixth in both the coaches’ preseason and media polls, the Dutchmen earned a No. 3 seed in the league’s postseason tournament. Union’s .622 winning percentage overall is twelfth in the country and the highest all-time in school history.
Leaman guided Union to a 10-game unbeaten streak (Nov. 6 - Dec. 9) tied for longest in team history --the 1993-94 team had gone 8-0-2. Union also opened the conference schedule with a 7-0-3 mark, which was the best start and longest ECAC Hockey unbeaten streak in team history. The Dutchmen were solid at both ends of the ice finishing second in team scoring offense (3.68 G/GM) and third in scoring defense (2.73 G/GM) in conference action.
With 10 student-athletes recording double-digit points, the Dutchmen are putting together some of the best offensive numbers in the program’s history. A 7-0 win at UConn on Dec. 12 gave Leaman his 100th victory of his career -- all at Union College. Leaman’s squad placed three student-athletes on the all-league teams and one on the all-rookie team this season.
Behind the leadership of Leaman the 17th-ranked Dutchmen advanced to the ECAC Hockey Championship weekend for the first time in the team's 19 year Division I history. Union will play fifth-seeded St. Lawrence at 7 p.m. Friday Mar. 19 in the Times Union Center in Albany.
The other finalists for the award were Keith Allain, Yale, Joe Marsh, St. Lawrence, and Don Vaughan, Colgate.
