More Accolades for Quinnipiac Hockey Coach

Quinnipiac men's ice hockey head coach Rand Pecknold has been named the Clark Hodder Division I Coach of the Year by the New England Hockey Writers Association, named after the former Harvard head coach.

Under Pecknold's leadership, Quinnipiac is currently No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division I Poll, the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll and also clinched the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Quinnipiac, to date, is 29-7-5.

Pecknold is the first ECAC Hockey coach to win the award since Tim Taylor in 1998. Pecknold was recently named the ECAC Hockey Tim Taylor Coach of the Year after leading the Bobcats to the 2013 Cleary Cup, for the ECAC Hockey Regular-Season Championship, for the first time in program history.

Pecknold also led the program to the most wins in program history (29), its second NCAA Tournament berth and the program's first NCAA Frozen Four appearance all-time. In addition, Quinnipiac posted a program-record 21-game unbeaten streak while also posting a program-best record of 17-2-3 in ECAC Hockey, cruising to a double-digit finish ahead of the league's second-place team. It was the first time in the league's history that such a feat was completed.

The Bobcats rank first nationally in goals-against average (1.63) and penalty kill (90.6) while also posting the top winning percentage in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey (.768). This year, Quinnipiac swept a program-best seven teams while also posting a 14-0-0 record against ranked opponents as well as an 11-1-2 record on the road.

Pecknold is currently in his 19th year as the Bobcats' head coach and carries a 366-237-66 career record, good for the nine most wins among active NCAA Division I coaches. 

Pecknold was previously honored as the Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year in 2005 and is a two-time Spencer Penrose National Coach of the Year finalist (2002, 2005).This season will mark the 15th year in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey for Quinnipiac, all under the leadership of Pecknold.

The Bobcats have yet to post a losing season in the last 17 years. In addition, the Bobcats' 2012-13 season will mark the 12th time in Pecknold's 19-year career in which Quinnipiac has posted 20 wins, which have all come at the Division I level.

Quinnipiac now heads to Pittsburgh, Pa. to compete in its first NCAA Frozen Four in program history. The top-ranked, top-seeded Bobcats will take on St. Cloud State on Thursday, Apr. 11 at 8 p.m. at the CONSOL Energy Center.