League Announces Coaches' Award Finalists
ALBANY, N.Y. -- ECAC Hockey today announced the finalist for the 2009-10 Women's Coach-of-the-Year Award. Three coaches who continue to develop their programs, John Burke of Rensselaer, Doug Derraugh of Cornell, and Rick Seeley of Quinnipiac, have each been nominated for the honor by their peers.
Under the direction of seventh-year head coach John Burke, Rensselaer posted a 14-13-6 overall record and an 11-7-4 mark in ECAC Hockey play. Guiding the program into the Division I era and becoming the program's all-time leader in coaching wins have been two highlights of his tenure with the Engineers. Burke has built on last season's success, when Rensselaer posted its most successful Division I season after finishing as the conference's runner-up at the League tournament. This season's Engineers team featured a well-balanced attack, ranking fourth in the League in scoring offense (2.55 G/GM) and tied for six in scoring defense, only surrendering 1.91 goals-per-game. Earning 11 conference wins for the second consecutive, Coach Burke also developed Rensselaer into a solid penalty kill force, ranking third among its league counterparts with a 88.7% success rate.
Cornell head coach Doug Derraugh guided the Big Red to their first-ever ECAC Hockey women's regular-season championship this season. The Cornell alum has rejuvenated the Big Red's women's program as it will be making its third straight postseason appearance and first-ever as the No. 1 seed. The No. 9/9 nationally-ranked Big Red has blossomed this season with the help of a stellar recruiting class by Derraugh. The Big Red featured three student-athletes on the 2009-10 ECAC Hookey First-Team All-League Team, including two rookies. This season Derraugh's line-up has been successful at both ends of the ice, ranking first in scoring defense (1.18 G/GM) and third in scoring offense (3.05 G/GM) in conference action.
The third finalist for the prestigious League coaching honor is making a ‘hat -trick' of his own. Quinnipiac head coach Rick Seeley has developed a reputation for building programs from the ground level. Seeley similarly built the Manhattanville College and Clarkson women's hockey programs, and now is working on building his third in Hamden, CT. As head coach Seeley has assembled outstanding recruiting classes during his two years with the Bobcats. For the first time in program history, the Bobcats have secured a postseason berth in the ECAC Hockey Playoffs, while earning a team record for League wins with 11. Seeley's style has quickly impacted the Bobcats, who only allowed 1.27 goals-per-game in conference play (tied-2nd) and showcased a discipline group of student-athletes averaging only 7.0 penalty minutes per game (tied-2nd).
ABOUT ECAC HOCKEY
ECAC Hockey boasts elite student-athletes and teams from 12 of the
nation's most prestigious institutions - Brown University, Clarkson
University, Colgate University, Cornell University, Dartmouth
College, Harvard University, Princeton University, Quinnipiac
University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, St. Lawrence
University, Union College and Yale University.
