UMass Lowell head coach Norm Bazin was named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award on Tuesday, as announced by the American Hockey Coaches Association and FlexxCoach.
    The Spencer Penrose Award is named in memory of the Colorado Springs benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, site of the first ten NCAA championship hockey tournaments. The award will be presented in Naples, FL on Saturday, April 28 at the AHCA Coach of the Year Banquet.
    In all, seven Division I coaches were tabbed as finalists. Bazin was joined by Rick Bennett of Union, Bob Daniels of Ferris State, Don Lucia of Minnesota, Mel Pearson of Michigan Tech, Ryan Soderquist of Bentley College and Jerry York of Boston College.
In his first season behind the bench, Bazin led the River Hawks to the second largest turnaround in NCAA Division I history (+19) and the largest by a first-year head coach. He has already received the 2012 Hockey East Bob Kullen Coach of the Year Award and the New England Hockey Writers Clark Hodder Award, given to New England's top coach.
    Bazin's squad finished with a 24-13-1 record, a tie for second-place in Hockey East and earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 1996. In the East Regional, UMass Lowell defeated Miami University in the opening round and fell just a game short of the school's first-ever Frozen Four.
    In the history of the Spencer Penrose Award, dating back to 1951, Bruce Crowder is the only UMass Lowell coach to win the prestigious honor. Crowder was named the recipient in 1996 for leading the River Hawks to a 26-10-4 record and their third-ever NCAA Division I Tournament.