Section and state coaches of the year were selected at the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association general membership meeting on Saturday, March 13.
Jerry Hayes, who guided Apple Valley to its first state tournament appearance since 1996, was named the Class AA Coach of the Year and Kevin Smalley, who guided Duluth Denfeld to the Section 5A championship game, was named the Class A Coach of the Year.
Coaches and assistant coaches of the year also were selected in each of the state's 16 sections.
Also, Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato was announced as the Class A academic champion with a cumulative team GPA of 3.87 while Eden Prairie was named the Class AA academic champion for the second straight year with a 3.87 GPA.
Section | Head coach | School | Assistant coach | School |
---|---|---|---|---|
1A | George Nemanich/Brad Ryan | Red Wing/Faribault | Bob Rajanen/Chris Morris | Red Wing/New Prague |
1AA | Randy Schmitz | Lakeville North | Paul Rutt | Lakeville North |
2A | Steve Brown | Delano | Donnie Williams | St. Louis Park |
2AA | Janne Kivihalmme | Burnsville | Todd Kennedy and Kevin Ingvalson | Prior Lake |
3A | Erik Setterholm | New Ulm | Ross Wendling | Hutchinson |
3AA | Jerry Hayes | Apple Valley | Chris Sikich | Apple Valley |
4A | Jeff Poeschl | Mahtomedi | Dave Turbitt | Spring Lake Park |
4AA | Jerry Diebel | North St. Paul | Tony Ciro | Hill-Murray |
5A | Kevin Smalley | Duluth Denfeld | Darin Illikainen | Hermantown |
5AA | Gary Stefano | Maple Grove | Josh Hicks | Maple Grove |
6A | Scott Woods | Alexandria | Pat Forte | Sartell |
6AA | Brian Urick | Minnetonka | Steve Aronson | Minnetonka |
7A | Mark DeCenzo | Hibbing | George McDonald | International Falls |
7AA | Bill Thoreson and Mark Manney | Andover | Dan Forsythe | Forest Lake |
8A | Scott Klein | Kittson Central | Jason Soblik | Kittson Central |
8AA | Andy Lundbohm | Roseau | Bryan "Butsy" Erickson and Aaron Broten | Roseau |