For his efforts in leading Union College to a first place regular season finish in ECAC Hockey, Nate Leaman has been chosen the winner of the 2011 Spencer Penrose Award as Division I Men's Coach of the Year, the American Hockey Coaches Association announced today.

Union set school records for overall wins (26) and conference wins (17) en route to the school's first Cleary Cup (ECAC regular season title) and first NCAA Division I tournament berth.

The Dutchmen went 14-1-1 in their final 16 regular season games to clinch the league title. Highlighting the season's accomplishments, Union led the nation in power play efficiency with a 29.5% success rate and the team defense, allowing just 2.10 goals per game, was second in the nation. The team allowed two or fewer goals in 24 of its games.

Leaman recently completed his eighth season as head coach and in that time has compiled an overall record of 138-127-35. His 138 wins are the most of any of the 14 head coaches in school history. Leaman surpassed Charlie Morrison (1978-1988) became the school's all-time wins leader on Dec. 31, 2010, when Union earned a 3-2 overtime victory at Minnesota in the opening game of the Mariucci Classic.

A 1997 graduate of SUNY Cortland, Leaman served as team captain in both his junior and senior years and graduated as one of the Top 20 scorers in school history. After a brief stint at the high school level, Leaman began his college coaching career with legendary University of Maine coach Shawn Walsh, serving with the 1998-99 Black Bear team that won the NCAA Championship.

From Orono, it was on to four years as a top assistant to Harvard University head coach Mark Mazzoleni, helping return the Crimson to the top of ECAC competition. His Union tenure began with the 2003-04 season and he has built upon success with each year. This season marked the fourth straight season in which the win total topped the previous year.

Assisting Leaman this season was associate head coach Rick Bennett, assistant coach Ben Barr and volunteer assistant Jason Tapp. The runner-up for this year's AHCA Men's Division I Coach of the Year award was Scott Sandelin of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, the 2004 recipient of this award.

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. It will be presented at the AHCA Coach of the Year Banquet in Naples, Florida, on Saturday evening, April 30.