For his efforts in returning his Bulldogs to the NCAA Division I Men’s Frozen Four after a 19-year absence, Scott Sandelin of Minnesota Duluth is the winner of the 2004 Spencer Penrose Award, given to the Men’s Division I Coach of the Year.

Sandelin took over the Minnesota Duluth program in 2000 and has made his mark in a relatively short amount of time. By his third season in Duluth, Sandelin had engineered the greatest one-year turnaround in WCHA history, taking the 6-19-3 WCHA mark of 2002 and turning it into a 14-10-4 league record in 2003. This year, UMD compiled a 28-13-4 record, finishing second in the WCHA, and then captured the NCAA Midwest Regional by defeating Michigan State, 5-0, and Minnesota, 3-1, to advance to the Frozen Four in Boston. There the dream of the school’s first NCAA title died in a 5-3 semifinal loss to fellow WCHA member Denver, the eventual national champion. Sandelin’s four-year record at Minnesota Duluth is 70-80-16.

A 1987 graduate of North Dakota, Sandelin was a Hobey Baker finalist as a senior and returned to his alma mater in 1994 as an assistant coach to Dean Blais. The Hibbing, Minnesota, native enjoyed great success on the Sioux staff, including NCAA titles in 1997 and 2000.

Prior to entering the college coaching ranks, Sandelin coached the Fargo-Moorhead Junior Kings of the Junior Elite Hockey League in 1993-94 and the Fargo-Moorhead Express of the American Hockey Association in 1992-93.

A second round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1982 Draft (40th selection overall), Sandelin played seven years of profesional hockey, including NHL stints with Montreal, Philadelphia, and Minnesota.

Sandelin also served the AHCA as an Officer for four seasons. The runner-up for this year’s award was George Gwozdecky of the University of Denver.

The Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Coach of the Year Award is named after Spencer Penrose, a wealthy Colorado Springs, CO, benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, site of the first 10 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, April 24.

Finalists for the 2003-04 AHCA Men’s Ice Hockey Division One Coach of the Year Award: Enrico Blasi, Miami University; George Gwozdecky, University of Denver; Stan Moore, Colgate University; Paul Pearl, College of the Holy Cross; Tim Whitehead, University of Maine; Jerry York, Boston College.