FAIRBANKS - Alaska Nanooks head coach Erik Largen was named a finalist for the 2022-2023 Spencer Penrose Award, an award given annually to the CCM/AHCA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Coach of the Year.
This is the first time Largen has been named a finalist for the Penrose Award and comes after leading the 'Nooks to a 22-10-2 record independently. This season featured a pair of road wins over ranked-opponents, #19/17 Notre Dame on Dec. 31, 2022 and #1/2 Denver on Jan. 6, 2023. Alongside the big-time wins, the Nanooks climbed into the media polls for the first time in nearly a decade and garnered national recognition down the stretch of the 22-23 season; in the final 20 games of the year, the Nanooks went 17-3-0 and posted a 15-1-0 record against other Independent Division I teams.
Of those 15 wins, six came against in-state rival Alaska Anchorage as the Nanooks claimed the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup for the 12th-straight time. Alaska also posted a season-sweep of the Arizona State Sun Devils and Lindenwood Lions while adding a 3-1-0 record against LIU. The 22 wins is tied for the third-most in program history and is the most by a Nanooks team since the 2001-02 season. Alaska played 21 of their 34 games on the road this season and set a new road-win record going 12-8-1 on visiting ice while maintaining a 10-2-1 record at home in the Carlson Center.
They finished the year on a six-game winning streak, capping it all off with an 8-0 win at home over Lindenwood, their most goals in a single-game since Oct. 14, 2006. Alaska currently sits at #15/15 in the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll after the end of their season.
The Spencer Penrose Award is named in memory of the Colorado Springs benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, site of the first 10 NCAA championship hockey tournaments. The award will be presented on Wednesday, April 26, at the 2023 AHCA Convention at the Naples Grande Hotel in Naples, Fla. The CCM/AHCA Coach of the Year Award is sponsored by CCM Hockey and chosen by members of the American Hockey Coaches Association.
No Nanooks head coach has ever won the Penrose Award.
Finalists:
Pat Ferschweiler, Western Michigan, NCHC COY
Erik Largen, Alaska, Independent Nominee
Bob Motzko, Minnesota, BigTen COY, NCAA Semifinalist
Brandon Naurato, Michigan, NCAA Semifinalist
Jay Pandolfo, Boston University, Hockey East COY, NCAA Semifinalist
Rand Pecknold, Quinnipiac, ECAC Hockey COY, NCAA Semifinalist*
Joe Shawhan, Michigan Tech, CCHA COY
Wayne Wilson, RIT, Atlantic Hockey COY*
* Past Spencer Penrose Award Winner
