Barry Trotz. Jon Cooper. Bruce Cassidy. All three of these coaches have their NHL teams through the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. All three also won the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as Coach of the Year in the American Hockey League. The group of winners also includes several other current (or interim) NHL head coaches like Peter Laviolette, Jeff Blashill, John Hynes, and Don Granato. It’s not a guarantee of an NHL future, but it certainly suggests one.
This year, the award has been given to Spencer Carbery, head coach of the Hershey Bears. The 39-year-old former ECHL player has quickly climbed the coaching ranks in the minor league, going from assistant coach of the South Carolina Stingrays in 2011 to AHL Coach of the Year in 2021. The path that Carbery is on will take him to the NHL one day, but for now, he is finding great success with the Bears.
Over three seasons with Hershey, Carbery has led the team to a 104-50-17 record and very well could have won the Calder Cup with the group he had in 2019-20. That success is nothing new. During his time as head coach of the Stingrays, he went 207-115-38 and made the playoffs in all five seasons. Had there been playoffs in the AHL over the last two seasons, his Hershey club would also have made it each year of his tenure.
Even with this latest award, don’t look for Carbery’s name to be on the market anytime soon. In April, the Capitals announced multi-year contract extensions with him and his coaching staff, noting that Carbery had built a “culture of success” with the minor league program.
Da’ Bears! :)
Joel Bouchard should’ve won imo