March 15, 2011

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Providence College Women's Ice Hockey Coach Bob Deraney has been named a finalist for the American Hockey Coaches Association's Division I Women's Coach of the Year award. The winner will be announced after the national championship game on March 20.

Deraney is one of six finalists to be honored, joining fellow Hockey East mentors Katie King of Boston College and Brian Durocher of Boston University, as well as Mercyhurst's Mike Sisti, Wisconsin's Mark Johnson, and Cornell's Doug Derraugh.

In order to be considered for the accolade, nominees must be recognized as their conference's Coach of the Year, or lead their team to the Frozen Four. Earlier this month, Deraney earned his second consecutive Coach of the Year honor from Hockey East.

This season, Deraney led the Friars to a 22-12-1 record, the sixth time in his 12 years behind the Friar bench that his team has reached the 20-win plateau. He is now just one shy of the college record of seven, 20-win campaigns, held by John Marchetti. Deraney also guided Providence to the Hockey East semifinals for the ninth consecutive year. Providence is the only program to achieve that consistency in the nine years since the conference was formed.

- Go Friars -