Men's Hockey | 1/24/2011 3:37:01 PM

ROCHESTER, NY - Brian Hills, Associate Head Coach of the RIT men's hockey team, will be honored with the Terry Flanagan Award at the 2011 American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) "Celebration of Men's Hockey Banquet" in Naples, Fla. on April 30.  The Flanagan Award honors an assistant coach's career body of work.

Hills, now in his sixth season at RIT, and fourth as the associate head coach, has been a vital reason for RIT's success since the squad moved to Division I in 2005. He has played a major role in recruiting and building a team that won the 2010 Atlantic Hockey and NCAA East Region Championships and advanced to the Frozen Four. In addition, Hills helped lead RIT to three Atlantic Hockey Regular Season championships, and a 91-48-11 record from the start of the 2006-07 season through 2009-10.  This season, Hills and the Tigers lead the AHA standings and are currently 13-8-5.

Hills played an integral role in the development of defenseman Chris Tanev (Toronto, Ontario/), the 2010 Atlantic Hockey Association Rookie of the Year, who signed with a free-agent with the Vancouver Canucks in May.  Tanev made his NHL debut on Jan. 19, 2011, and recorded his first career point, an assist in a 7-1 win over Dallas five days later.

Before his success at RIT, Hills was the head coach at SUNY Geneseo for four seasons. In his last season at Geneseo, he led the Knights to a record of 18-7-4, a SUNYAC Championship, the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament, and a No. 7 ranking in the final Division III poll. Hills amassed a record of 53-42-14 while reviving the Geneseo hockey program. His record during his final two seasons at Geneseo was 32-14-9.

Hills is a graduate of Bowling Green State University, where he was a teammate of RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson. Hills was a two-time All-American and two-time Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist. He led the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) in scoring twice and was the CCHA Player of the Year in 1983. In addition, Hills was a two-time CCHA All-Academic team member, and was a second team CoSIDA/GTE Academic All-American as a senior. The Falcons won the CCHA title during his junior and senior seasons. Hills left Bowling Green as its all-time leading scorer and is currently second on the list. He scored 116 goals and added 154 assists for 270 points in 156 games. In 1982-83 he set a school single-season record that still stands with 94 points (37-57-94) in 40 games. Hills led the Falcons in scoring during his final three seasons.

In 1994-95, Hills began his coaching career at Bowling Green after playing 11 seasons professionally in Europe (eight years in Switzerland and three in Germany). A number of players Hills coached at BGSU played in the NHL, including Brian Holzinger, Mike Johnson, Kevin Bieksa, and Jordan Sigalet, among others.  He remained at Bowling Green for seven seasons before heading to Geneseo in 2001.

It is the second straight year that a member of the RIT coaching staff will be honored by the AHCA.  Wilson was named the Spencer Penrose Award winner as Division I national coach of the year in 2010.

"Brian is a very deserving recipient of this prestigious award," says Wilson.  "His hard work and committment to RIT and our program is evident in our team's success.  Brian is a proven winner and would be an excellent Division I head coach.  We are very fortunate to have him at RIT, representing our program and the Rochester community."

Below is a list of previous winners
1997, Terry Flanagan, Bowling Green
1998, Bob Saunders, HC, RPI, UMB, NU
1999, Glenn Kulyk, Minnesota-Duluth
2000, Mel Pearson, Michigan
2001, Brian Durocher, Boston University
2002, Kevin Houle, Plattsburgh State
2003, Stu Irving, Merrimack
2004, Tom Newton, WMU, MSU
2005, Grant Standbrook, Wisconsin, Maine
2006, Bill Powers, Michigan
2007, David Lassonde, UNH, Miami, Wisconsin
2008, Dave Peters, Providence and Dartmouth
2009, Steve Miller, Miami, Denver
2010, Andy Slaggert, Notre Dame
2011, Brian Hills, RIT and Bowling Green