For leading his Huskies to an historic season of firsts, Chris MacKenzie of the University of Connecticut has been chosen CCM/AHCA Women’s Division I Coach of the Year. Among UConn’s accomplishments: the first Hockey East regular season title, the first Hockey East tournament crown and the first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Simply put, the 2023-24 season was the most successful season in program history. In addition to the milestones cited above, the Huskies set a program mark for most wins, most conference wins, and longest win streak. MacKenzie led the Huskies to a 25-8-5 overall record and a 19-4-4 record in Hockey East action.

MacKenzie just completed his eleventh season in charge of the UConn women’s ice hockey program and he enjoys a record of 151-157-43 in Storrs. Counting two years as head coach at Niagara, his overall career mark is 175-188-53. He was named the second head coach in Husky program history in May of 2013.

MacKenzie coached on the Division I men’s side for eight seasons at UMass-Lowell, and followed that experience with a year as an assistant with the Ohio State women’s program.

As a player and 2000 graduate at Niagara, MacKenzie served as a team captain for all four seasons upon the program’s inception in 1996. As a senior, he helped the Purple Eagles to a CHA Regular Season and Tournament Championship as well as an appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals. He set several records at Niagara, including most goals, assists and points in a career and season by a defenseman. MacKenzie received Player of the Year honor in 1998 and was a CHA All-Star 2000.

MacKenzie earned his bachelor’s of arts in Commerce from Niagara in 2000, graduating Cum Laude, and earned a master’s of arts in psychology from UMass-Lowell in 2003.

MacKenzie and his wife Allison reside in Storrs, CT and have a daughter Morgan (12), and son, Ren (9).

MacKenzie was assisted this season by Casey Handrahan and Elizabeth Wulf. The runner-up for this year’s CCM/AHCA Division I Women’s Coach of the Year Award was Matt Desrosiers of Clarkson University.

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.