GLOUCESTER, Mass.—The American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) announced the winner of the 2026 Spencer Penrose Award as Division I Men's Ice Hockey CCM/AHCA Coach of the Year on Tuesday. Koenig Family Head Coach of Dartmouth Men's Hockey Reid Cashman has been named the winner of the prestigious award.
Cashman is the second Dartmouth coach to win the award since it was given in 1951, former Dartmouth head coach Eddie Jeremiah '30 earned the award in 1951 and 1967. Cashman's recognition marks the 27th time an ECAC Hockey bench boss was named Coach of the Year.
The Big Green had a historic season in 2025-26 as they won a program record 23 games while winning the program's first ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship. Dartmouth earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1980. The Big Green earned the sixth overall seed in the tournament as they finished sixth in the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI).
Under Cashman the Big Green have seen constant growth while establishing a presence at the top of ECAC Hockey. In Cashman's first two seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23 the Big Green won a combined 12 games. The Big Green won 13 games in 2022-23 before winning 18 games in 2024-25 and winning the outright Ivy League title for the first time since 1980. The Big Green then won a program best 23 games this season as Cashman was named Tim Taylor ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons.
Dartmouth was nationally ranked for the majority of the season while being near the top of multiple statistical categories both individually and as a team. The Big Green finished sixth in the country in both scoring margin and scoring defense while being third in penalty killing percentage and fourth in winning percentage. Dartmouth's Hayden Stavroff led the country in scoring as he notched 29 goals, he finished sixth in points per game with 1.37. Emmett Croteau finished fourth in the country in goals against average at 1.93.
The Big Green won multiple awards at the end of the regular season including Ivy League Coaching Staff of the Year for the second straight season. Stavroff was named both ECAC Hockey and Ivy League Player of the Year while being All-ECAC and All-Ivy First Team. The Columbus, Ohio native was also named the winner of the 74th Annual Walter Brown Award while being a Top 10 Finalist for the Hobey Baker. Stavroff was the first Dartmouth Top 10 Finalist since David Jones '07 was named a Top 10 Finalist in 2007.
Hank Cleaves was named All-Ivy First Team while Croteau and CJ Foley were named All-Ivy Second Team. Cleaves and Croteau were both named All-ECAC Second Team while Foley was All-ECAC Third Team. It was also announced Tuesday that Cashman has been named New England Coach of the Year while Stavroff, Cleaves, and Croteau were named New England All-Stars by the New England Hockey Writers Association.
Cashman has also sent multiple players to play professional hockey including Clay Stevenson, Cooper Black, Luke Haymes, and Cooper Flinton who all signed NHL Contracts. Haymes was called up to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday while Stevenson made his NHL debut last season with the Washington Capitals.
Assisting Cashman this season were associate head coach Jason Tapp, assistant coaches Byron Pool and Brian Fahey, and Director of Hockey Operations Brian Corcoran. It was announced on Jan. 12 that Tapp was the recipient of the 2026 Terry Flanagan Award given to an assistant coach annually for the coach's career body of work.
The runner-up for this year's Spencer Penrose Award was Dane Jackson of the University of North Dakota. The award will be presented at the 2026 AHCA Convention at the Hyatt Coconut Point Resort in Bonita Springs, Fla., on Wednesday, April 29.