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BOSTON — Minnesota State University-Mankato's Mike Hastings joined elite company on Wednesday.
Hastings, of Crookston, Minn., was named the winner of the Spencer Penrose Award as the NCAA Division I men's hockey CCM/AHCA Coach of the Year award by his peers.
It is the third time that Hastings has won the award and second straight season that he has. He joins Len Ceglarski (Clarkson and Boston College), Charlie Holt (New Hampshire) and Jack Parker (Boston University) as three-time honorees.
The Mavericks (37-5-0) play Minnesota (26-12-0) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU) in the national semifinals at the Frozen Four. It is the second straight year that MSU is playing in the Frozen Four.
The Mavericks won their last three postseason games by one goal to get to the Frozen Four. MSU beat Bemidji State 2-1 in overtime to win the CCHA tournament title and then beat Harvard 4-3 and Notre Dame 1-0 to win an NCAA regional tournament title in Albany, N.Y.
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MSU also ran away with the CCHA regular season title with 67 points, 13 more than second-place Michigan Tech.
Hastings took over as head coach in 2012 and inherited a team that had won 20 games in a season twice in its first 16 seasons as a Division I program. Under Hastings, the Mavericks have won no fewer than 21 games in a season, won 30 or more games three times (including a school record 37 this season) and have won more games than any other Division I program in the last 10 years (273-73-19).
The Mavericks have won seven regular season titles (2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), four conference tournament titles (2014, 2015, 2019, 2022) and are playing in their seventh NCAA tournament (2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) under Hastings.
Hastings took over at Minnesota State after three seasons as associate head coach at Nebraska Omaha. He also served as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota after spending 14 seasons as the head coach of the Omaha Lancers (going 529-210-56 and winning three Clark Cup titles) of the United States Hockey League.
Hastings played two seasons (1986-88) as a defenseman at St. Cloud State before injuries ended his playing career. He was a student assistant coach for the Huskies from 1990-92, an assistant coach for the Omaha Lancers in 1992-93 and then spent a season as an assistant coach for SCSU in 1993-94 before taking over as head coach of the Lancers.
The runner-up for the Penrose this season is University of Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko.
