GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- UND men's hockey head coach Dave Hakstol is one of nine national finalists for the Spencer Penrose Award, awarded annually to the top NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Coach of the Year, the American Hockey Coaches Association announced March 31.

Coaches automatically become eligible for the award by either taking their team to the Frozen Four or by being named Coach of the Year by their conference.

The award is named in honor of the former Colorado Springs, Colo., benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, site of the first 10 NCAA hockey championships. It will be presented at the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Coach of the Year Banquet on Saturday, April 26, in Naples, Fla.

This is the fourth year in a row that Hakstol has been a finalist for the honor. He has been a finalist each year as a result of UND qualifying for the Frozen Four.

The nine 2007-08 finalists include: Hakstol; Red Berenson (Michigan); Guy Gadowsky (Princeton); Jeff Jackson (Notre Dame); Troy Jutting (Minnesota State); Brian Riley (Army); Tom Serratore (Bemidji State); Kevin Sneddon (Vermont); and Jerry York (Boston College).