For leading the Boston College Eagles to a pair of Hockey East titles and into the 2024 Frozen Four, Greg Brown has been chosen the winner of the 2024 Spencer Penrose Award as Division I Men’s Ice Hockey CCM/AHCA Coach of the Year by his peers. The honor is the first for Brown and the fourth for Boston College in the 74-year history of the award. John “Snooks” Kelley won it twice (1959 and 1972) and Len Ceglarski once (1985). Jerry York, college hockey’s winningest coach, never won this award at BC but captured it in 1977 while at Clarkson.
The 2023-24 Eagles bring a 33-5-1 record into Thursday’s semifinal game (8:30 p.m. ET) against the University of Michigan as they look for their sixth national championship overall and first since 2012.
A former Boston College All-American defenseman (Class of 1990) , Brown was named The Schiller Family Head Hockey Coach on May 6, 2022, becoming just the fifth head coach of BC men’s hockey since 1932.
In his two seasons as the Eagles’ head coach, he has led Boston College to a 47-21-7 record, including tying a program record with 33 wins to date in 2023-24. This year, he guided his squad to the 18th Hockey East regular season crown in program history, posting 20-3-1 record in league play and becoming the first team in Hockey East to win 20 games since Boston College did so in 2010-11.
Brown is the only coach to be named conference coach of the year and lead his team to the Frozen Four this year. His 33 wins are more than double the win total from last season, his first year, and more than the previous two seasons combined.
Under Brown’s guidance, the Eagles have four of the nation’s top six scorers in Will Smith (No. 1, 69 points), Cutter Gauthier (tied No. 2, 64), Ryan Leonard (No. 5, 59) and Gabe Perreault (No. 6, 57). Additionally, Jacob Fowler set an NCAA record for a freshman netminder with 31 wins to date.
Brown spent 14 seasons behind the bench for the Eagles from 2004-18 as an assistant on former head coach Jerry York’s staff, helping to bring three national championships to the Heights in 2008, 2010, and 2012. After eight seasons as an assistant coach, he was elevated to associate head coach following the 2012 NCAA title, BC’s third championship in a five-year span.
During his 14 years coaching at Boston College, Brown helped lead BC to six Hockey East Tournament Championships, seven Hockey East Regular Season Championships, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, and seven NCAA Frozen Four berths. Brown was also selected as an assistant coach for Team USA at three different IIHF World Junior Championships.
Brown served as an assistant coach in the NHL for the New York Rangers for three years from 2018-21, where he coached former Eagle forwards Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes. As the head coach of Dubuque in the USHL in 2021-22, he led the Fighting Saints to a second-place finish in the USHL Eastern Conference and an increase of 16 wins from the year prior.
While at Boston College, Brown won back-to-back Hockey East Player of the Year Awards in 1989 and 1990. He was named a First Team All-American and a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award both years. In three NCAA seasons, Brown registered 24 goals and 96 assists for 120 points in 119 career games.
He was the captain of the Eagles as a senior in 1989-1990 for a team that won 28 games and reached the NCAA Semifinal. Boston College went 84-33-5 (.709) during his three seasons on the Heights, winning Hockey East Championships in 1987 and 1990. He was selected to the U.S. Olympic Team during his sophomore year for the Calgary Olympics in 1988 and again for the Albertville Olympics in 1992. Brown was drafted 26th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1986 NHL draft and played four NHL seasons for Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Winnipeg. He played professional hockey in Europe for eight more seasons before retiring in 2003, and made his return to the Heights in 2004 as an assistant coach for York.
The Brown family has many connections to Boston College men’s hockey. Greg’s older brother Doug was a four-year standout forward for the Eagles from 1982-86, posting 162 points and earning a spot on two All-America teams. Greg and Doug are members of the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame. Greg’s nephews Patrick Brown (2010-14) and Christopher Brown (2015-19) were also forwards at BC, both serving as captains.
Assisting Brown this season were Mike Ayers, Brendan Buckley and Brent Darnell. The runner-up for this year’s Spencer Penrose Award was Adam Nightingale of Michigan State University. The award will be presented at the 2024 AHCA Convention at the Naples Grande Hotel in Naples, FL, on the evening of Wednesday, May 1
The Spencer Penrose Award is named in memory of the Colorado Springs benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, site of the first 10 NCAA championship hockey tournaments. The CCM AHCA COACH of the YEAR AWARDS are sponsored by CCM HOCKEY and chosen by members of the AMERICAN HOCKEY COACHES ASSOCIATION. CCM is the legendary hockey brand dedicated to the endless pursuit of performance by delivering game-changing, head-to-toe innovative hockey equipment to players worldwide.
