The American Hockey Coaches Association was formed in 1947 in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. The founding members coached
college ice hockey
College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America.
In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...
but membership has grown to include coaches at every level of the sport from
youth hockey
Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cl ...
to
professional ice hockey
Professional ice hockey (hockey) is the competition of ice hockey in which participants are paid to play. Professional competition began in North America in the United States in Pennsylvania and Michigan and in Canada around 1900. Professional ice ...
, although the organization maintains a focus on the collegiate game.
Aside from its collaborative and community functions, the association also names several award winners each year, most significantly the college ice hockey
All-Americans
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
in both divisions and both genders.
They also name the top coach in each of the divisions and genders:
*
Spencer Penrose Award
The Spencer Penrose Award is awarded yearly to the top coach in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey by the American Hockey Coaches Association.
The finalists for each year's award comprise the conference Coach of the Year winners from each Division ...
, Division I men
*
AHCA Coach of the Year
The AHCA Coach of the Year is awarded yearly to the top coach in NCAA Division I women's college ice hockey by the American Hockey Coaches Association
The American Hockey Coaches Association was formed in 1947 in Boston. The founding members c ...
, Division I women
*
Edward Jeremiah Award
The Edward Jeremiah Award is awarded yearly to the top coach in Division III men's ice hockey by the American Hockey Coaches Association.
The finalists for each year's award comprise the conference Coach of the Year winners from each Division III ...
, Division III men
*
Women's Division III Coach of the Year
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...
The organization also awards the
Terry Flanagan Award
The Terry Flanagan Award is given each year by the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) to an assistant hockey coach. The award is intended to recognize the coach's entire body of work, not just his performance in one season. The first rec ...
, given to an assistant coach each year in recognition of the coach's entire career.
Ice
Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...
Ice hockey organizations
Sports organizations established in 1947
1947 establishments in Massachusetts
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