DANIELS TABBED INSIDE COLLEGE HOCKEY’S COACH OF THE YEAR

Bob Daniels, the head coach of the Ferris State University men’s ice hockey team, has been named Inside College Hockey’s (INCH) 2002-03 Coach of the Year as a result of guiding the Bulldogs to their best season ever along with the program’s first Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Regular-Season Championship title and initial NCAA Championship Tournament appearance.

Daniels, who also was recently chosen as the recipient of the March of Dimes West Michigan Sports Awards 2003 Coach of the Year, was among five individuals honored by INCH. Junior forward Peter Sejna of Colorado College was chosen as the Player of the Year while his teammate, senior defenseman Tom Preissing was selected the Defenseman of the Year. The INCH Rookie of the Year went to Minnesota freshman forward Thomas Vanek and sophomore goaltender Dave LeNeveu of Cornell was tabbed Goaltender of the Year. The selections were made by INCH editors and staff, with input from media and coaches from around the country.

Bob Daniels, the all-time winningest coach in Ferris State Men's Ice Hockey history, was selected Inside College Hockey's Coach of the Year.

Daniels, who completed his 11th year at the FSU helm this season, guided Ferris State to a 31-10-1 overall record, which represents the best mark ever in the program’s 25-year NCAA Division I history. The Bulldogs also were the nation’s first team to reach the 30-win plateau this season. Furthermore, FSU also claimed its first-ever CCHA Regular-Season title with a first-place 22-5-1 league mark after being picked to finish ninth in both the 2002-03 preseason and media coaches polls as the Bulldogs improved by 20 points in the league standings. Ferris State advanced to the NCAA Championship Tournament’s West Regional title game in its first-ever NCAA Tourney appearance and also competed in the CCHA Super Six Championship Tourney for the first time since 1993. As a result of his efforts this campaign, Daniels was tabbed the unanimous choice as the CCHA’s Coach of the Year as voted on by the league’s head coaches and is presently one of the top candidates for the American Hockey Coaches Association’s (AHCA) Spencer Ambrose Award as the national University Division Coach of the Year.

The program’s all-time winningest coach with a current 180-207-33 bench mark (.468 winning percentage), Daniels led FSU to 31 victories which was three more wins than the Bulldogs combined for in the previous two campaigns (28-40-6). He has compiled a 132-154-30 (.465) record in CCHA contests only. Prior to this season’s start, Daniels ranked 29th among active NCAA Division I ice hockey head coaches in overall victories.

An AHCA member, Daniels was appointed head coach at FSU on the eve of the 1992-93 season and led the Bulldogs to 21 victories and a CCHA Tournament Semifinal berth. At the time, the accomplishment signified only the fourth time a Ferris team had won 20 games in a season and the second time in which a rookie coach won more than 16 games at FSU.

In the 1998-99 season, Daniels notched his 100th career coaching win as the Bulldogs skated to a 2-1 regular-season finale victory at Michigan State (March 6) and then the Bulldog mentor reached another milestone March 4, 2000, when he became the program’s all-time winningest coach in a 7-0 victory at Western Michigan in the regular-season finale.