WAKEFIELD, Mass. – UMass Lowell Hockey Head Coach Norm Bazin after guiding the River Hawks to 27 wins, a third Hockey East Tournament Championship and fifth trip in six years to the NCAA Tournament has been named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award as the Division I Coach of the Year.

There are ten finalists for the award.  The nominees represent any coach who won or shared Coach of the Year honors in his conference this past season, along with coaches whose teams have advanced to the Frozen Four. Of this year's finalists, four, including Bazin, are past recipients of this award.  The winner will be announced by the American Hockey Coaches Association at the Frozen Four on April 5.

Bazin, who won the Penrose Award in 2013, was named the 2017 Bob Kullen Award winner as the Hockey East Coach of the Year.  It was the third time in a six year period that Bazin was honored by Hockey East as the conference coach of the year.  Bazin received the Kullen award in 2012 and 2013. 

Bazin led the UMass Lowell hockey club, picked to finish fourth in the pre-season Coaches' Poll, to a regular season first place tie and the Hockey East Tournament Championship.  The team closed out the regular season with seven straight wins to earn the top seed in the conference tournament.  They went on to take the Hockey East Tournament with wins against New Hampshire, Notre Dame and Boston College.

The River Hawks defeated Cornell in the NCAA Northeast Regional semifinal, 5-0, before an overtime loss in the regional final ended the season.  The River Hawks finished the year with a 27-11-3 record and ranked in the top ten in both national polls.  The 27 wins were one short of matching the program's Division I record.  It was the team's sixth consecutive 20-win season the longest such stretch in program history.

The AHCA honored Bazin in 2013 after his team won 28 games and earned a spot in the Frozen Four.  The only other UMass Lowell coach to win the award was Bruce Crowder who was honored in 1996.

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 actual award will be presented at the AHCA Coach of the Year Banquet in Naples, Florida, on Wednesday evening, April 26. The AHCA Coach of the Year Awards are chosen by members of the American Hockey Coaches Association.