Tim Whitehead

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.