The historic season for the Minnesota State Mankato men's hockey team and coach Mike Hastings keeps getting better.
Minnesota State Mankato's Mike Hastings named national coach of the year
Hastings won the Spencer Penrose Award after leading the Mavericks to their first NCAA Frozen Four berth.
April 6, 2021 at 3:14PM
Hastings, who's guided the Mavericks to their first NCAA Frozen Four appearance, on Tuesday was named the Spencer Penrose Award winner as Division I men's national coach of the year.
The Penrose Award is the second for Hastings, who also won it in 2015. This year, he takes his Mavericks (22-4-1) into Thursday's 4 p.m. national semifinal against St. Cloud State in Pittsburgh.
Minnesota State made a breakthrough in the NCAA West Regional in Loveland, Colo., defeating Quinnipiac 4-3 in overtime for the program's first win in the Division I men's tournament, then beating the Gophers 4-0 for the regional title and berth in the Frozen Four. Along the way, the Mavericks won an unprecedented fourth consecutive WCHA regular-season title by going 13-1-2 in league play. It was the sixth MacNaughton Cup in Hastings' nine seasons in Mankato.
Entering the Frozen Four, Hastings has a career record of 236-89-24. His winning percentage of .711 is the best among all active NCAA Division I men's head coaches.
The runner-up for this year's Penrose Award was Massachusetts coach Greg Carvel.
With injuries and a suspension affecting the forward lineup, Vinnie Hinostroza stepped in Thursday without missing a beat.
