Ryan, Cheverie, Kessel Finalists For PWHL Coach of the Year

Troy Ryan, Kori Cheverie, and Courtney Kessel ae the three finalists for the PWHL's inaugural Coach of the Year Award.

PWHL Montréal head coach Kori Cheverie, PWHL Boston head coach Courtney Kessel and PWHL Toronto head coach Troy Ryan are the three finalists for the 2024 PWHL Coach of the Year award.

According to the PWHL, "The PWHL Coach of the Year award is presented to the head coach whose contributions most impacted their team’s on-ice success throughout the regular season.""

An 18-member selection committee, hand-picked by the PWHL, cast their votes for six regular-season PWHL awards, including Coach of the Year, during the gap between the regular season's end and the playoffs' beginning. The three head coaches that received the most voting points have been named finalists. 

Here's a look at the three finalists:

Cheverie guided PWHL Montréal to a 10-3-5-6 record and 41 points, finishing the season in second place in the PWHL. Their ten regulation wins were the second highest total in the league, along with a .569 win-percentage and a +3 goal differential. Cheverie also coached the team to the third-best powerplay percentage – their second-half surge on the advantage allowed them to finish the season with a 15.9% success rate, highlighted on April 18, a game in which her team went 3-for-4 on the powerplay. Cheverie’s team spent much of the season at or near the top of the standings, despite losing several key players to LTIR.

Kessel led PWHL Boston to an 8-4-3-9 record in the regular season, securing the third seed heading into the PWHL Playoffs. Before the PWHL’s International Break in late March, her team was sitting in fifth place and on the outside looking in at a playoff position. Upon returning from the break, Kessel guided her team to a 4-0-1-0 record– which included defeating first-place Toronto – to pass both Ottawa and Minnesota in the standings and clinch a playoff berth in their final game of the regular season. All five contests in the final stretch were one-goal games, showcasing Kessel’s ability to succeed in tight contests.

Ryan coached PWHL Toronto to a 13-4-0-7 record with a league-high 47 points, as his team finished the season as the number one seed heading into the playoffs. Their 13 regulation wins were three more than any other team in the league, as the team finished six points ahead of second-place Montréal. Of note, Toronto was the only team without a loss in extra time, going a perfect 4-for-4 in overtime and shootout situations. They finished with a goal differential of +19 – a difference of +16 over the next best mark – as the team scored the most goals (69) while allowing the fewest (50). Toronto finished the season first in penalty kill percentage with a 91.8% success rate, allowing just six powerplay goals against in 24 games. After Toronto lost five of their first seven games of the season, Ryan coached his team to a historic streak, winning a season-high 11 games in a row, skyrocketing the team to first place in the PWHL.