It was announced on Tuesday that University of Maine men’s ice hockey head coach Red Gendron is a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award, given annually to the Division I men’s ice hockey Coach of the Year.
The winner will be announced on Tuesday, April 7th and the finalists were voted in by the nations 60 Division I coaches. Gendron, who previously coached in the New Jersey Devils organization and at Yale where he earned a championship ring just finished his seventh season with the Black Bears in his second stint with the school. Gendron was an assistant for Shawn Walsh from 1990-1993, where he also got a ring in the 1992-1993 season helping 42-1-2 Maine defeat Lake Superior State in the national championship game. He guided this years team to an 18-11-5 finish that included 12-9-3 in Hockey East, leading them to what would of been their first home playoff quarterfinal series since 2012. It is his second winning season so far as the coach boss in Orono (18-16-4 in 2017-18). Gendron has already won the award for Hockey East Coach of the Year.
Now former Maine goaltender Jeremy Swayman has now been named into one of the top five finalists for the Mike Richter Award, given to the top goaltender in Division I men’s hockey. That award will be given out on Friday, April 10. Now part of the Bruins organization after signing an entry level contract the six footer from Anchorage Alaska won Player of the Year in Hockey East, the 2020 Walter Brown Award, and also is a finalist for the biggest award in college hockey the Hobey Baker.
