Greg Cronin was named New England Coach of the Year and Hockey East Coach of the Year in 2008-09.

Cronin named New England Coach of the Year
April 2, 2009
Boston, Mass.

Northeastern University men's hockey coach Greg Cronin has been named New England Hockey Writers Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award as NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Coach of the Year. Cronin led Northeastern to 25 wins and its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1994 this season. Cronin was already named Hockey East Coach of the Year.

Also on Thursday it was announced that goaltender Brad Thiessen was named a Hobey Hat Trick finalist as a top-three selection for the 2009 Hobey Baker Memorial Award and Joe Vitale was named New England's Best Defensive Forward.

The Spencer Penrose Award will be presented at the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Coach of the Year Banquet on Saturday, April 25, in Naples, Fla. The nine finalists are Keith Allain of Yale, Enrico Blasi of Miami, Cronin, Dallas Ferguson of Alaska, Dave Hakstol of North Dakota, Jack Parker of Boston University, Tom Serratore of Bemidji State, Kevin Sneddon of Vermont and Ryan Soderquist of Bentley.

Finishing his fourth season at Northeastern, Cronin has led the Huskies to a remarkable turnaround. In 2008-09, Northeastern tied the program record for wins and finished with a 25-12-4 record. The Huskies clinched home ice in the Hockey East playoffs for the first time since 1997-98 and advanced to the Hockey East Semifinals for the first time since 1993-94. Northeastern was ranked in the top 10, nationally, for most of the season.

Cronin took over as head coach for the 2005-06 season and Northeastern went 3-24-7 (3-17-7 Hockey East). The following season, Northeastern posted the greatest improvement of any team in the league, going 13-18-5 (9-13-5). In 2007-08 Northeastern posted a 13-game unbeaten streak and ended up 16-18-3 (12-13-2). This season, Northeastern went 25-12-4 overall and finished second in the Hockey East regular season for the second time ever.

Cronin came to Northeastern in 2005 after two seasons as head coach of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League. He spent seven years working in the New York Islanders organization – the first five as assistant coach of the Islanders before coaching the Sound Tigers. Cronin also worked for the U.S. National Team Development Program for three years and was on Shawn Walsh's staff at the University of Maine for two stints. He was interim head coach at Maine for parts of the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons and also spent three seasons at Colorado College.

Coach Fernie Flaman is Northeastern's only Spencer Penrose Award winner. Flaman coached Northeastern from 1970-89 and was named national Coach of the Year in 1982 when he led the Huskies to a 25-9-2 record, ECAC Championship and a Frozen Four appearance.