Men's Ice Hockey | 1/14/2016 2:53:00 PM

The American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) has announced its major awards for 2016. Eight individuals who have made unique contributions to amateur hockey in the United States will be recognized during the 2016 AHCA Convention in Naples, Florida, the men's hockey honorees being recognized on Wednesday, April 27.



The group of honorees in 2016 will include longtime St. Cloud State University men's hockey assistant coach Mike Gibbons , who will receive the AHCA's Terry Flanagan Award. This award is presented annually in honor of the former New Hampshire player and Bowling Green assistant coach, and it honors an assistant coach's career body of work.

Gibbons has distinguished himself as an assistant coach everywhere he has gone. And in NCAA Hockey, that includes Bemidji State, Northern Michigan, Colorado College, Denver and St. Cloud State, where he currently works. All of this came after an outstanding career at Bemidji where he was a four-year letter-winner, a two-time All American defenseman and captain of the 1978-79 squad that won the NCAA Championship.

His coaching career began at BSU in 1981 when he took a job as an assistant coach to Bob Peters and then followed Peters as head coach for the 1982-83 season. His one year as a head coach was one to remember as the Beavers won 30 games for the first time and again advanced to the NCAA title game. For his efforts, Mike was named the winner of the Edward Jeremiah Award as Division III National Coach of the Year.

His coaching career was just beginning and he then launched a series of successful stints at numerous stops. In order: an assistant to Rick Comley at Northern Michigan for five years; an assistant to Brad Buetow at Colorado College for two years; an assistant to Frank Serratore at Denver for four years; the head coach of the Langley (BC) Thunder of the BCJHL; an assistant with the Baltimore Bandits of the AHL for one season, working alongside current NMU coach Walt Kyle; head coach at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, MN, for 10 years; assistant coach to Bob Motzko at St. Cloud State since 2007, helping SCSU to the NCAA Division I Frozen Four in 2013 and to consistently high national rankings.



The Huskies have won 177 games during Gibbons' tenure as an assistant with the Huskies since 2007. This stretch includes a WCHA regular season title in 2013, an NCHC regular season title in 2014 and NCAA tournament bids in 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The Huskies won the 2013 NCAA Midwest Regional, advanced to the 2013 NCAA Frozen Four and have also finished as the runner up at the NCAA West Regional in 2010, 2014 and 2015.

In addition to his initial BS degree in Business Administration from Bemidji State 1982, Gibbons also earned a BS in Physical Education in 1981 and a Masters in Physical Education in 1989, all from BSU.