Cape Cod, Mass. - The American Hockey Coaches Association has announced the nine finalists for the Men's Hockey Division III Coach of the Year. The Edward Jeremiah Award is given annually to the top coach in Division III Men's Ice Hockey. Three ECAC coaches have been named among the finalists, with coaches from the Men's West, Men's East, and Northeast Hockey leagues all gaining recognition. From the Men's West is Elmira College head coach Tim Ceglarski. Norwich University head coach Mike McShane has been named from the Men's East, and Northeast league member Becker College head coach Steve Hoar has been named as a finalist as well.   

Tim Ceglarski is in his seventh season behind the bench for the Soaring Eagles and has led his team to a birth in the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Final Four this weekend. The Soaring Eagles won the regular season ECAC Men's West title compiling a 10-2-3 record in league play. Elmira, who is ranked fourth in the latest USCHO.com poll, skated to an overall regular season record of 18-2-5. Ceglarski was voted ECAC Men's West Coach of the Year by his peers, and coached Men's West Co-Player of the Year Mike Richard.

Despite losing in the ECAC Men's West finals to Manhattanville, Elmira earned a buy in the 2008 Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship.  In the quarterfinals the Soaring Eagles topped Trinity 6-1 to punch their ticket to the Final Four this weekend where they will take on SUNYAC Champion Plattsburgh State. In his tenure at Elmira, Ceglarski has guided two teams to the ECAC West Championships and led the 2005-06 Soaring Eagles to an NCAA Final Four appearance.

Mike McShane will be behind the bench this weekend when Norwich faces Saint Norbert in the 2008 NCAA Semifinals at Lake Placid, New York. The feat will mark the seventh time McShane has guided the Cadets to an NCAA Division III Final Four appearance in his 12 year coaching career at Norwich.

This season Norwich won the ECAC Men's East regular season and tournament titles, skating to a 19-6-0 regular season record, and a 15-4-0 mark in Men's East play. The Cadets are currently ranked fifth nationally according to the latest USCHO.com poll. In the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament Norwich beat Manhattanville College in convincing fashion 7-2 earning the right to play in the semifinals. McShane is looking to lead Norwich to their third National Championship under his tutelage.

McShane was named the 2007-08 ECAC Men's East Coach of the Year, and helped guide Cadet Rick Cleaver to an ECAC Men's East Player of the Year honor. Coach McShane has won the Edward Jeremiah Award three times in his career at Norwich, earning the honor in 1997, 1999, and 2000 respectively.

Steve Hoar, in his first full season as head coach, led the Becker College Hawks to a 12-11-2 regular season record, and a 9-6-1 ECAC Northeast league record. Playing in their first season as a member of the ECAC Northeast Hoar guided the Hawks to a sixth seed in the Northeast playoffs. Hoar took over as head coach for the Hawks during last season when Becker was an NCAA Division III independent team. Last season Becker College totaled only two wins on the year. In the 2007-08 campaign, under the guidance of Hoar for a full season, the Hawks added ten wins to their total, and a berth into the ECAC Northeast tournament. In a testament to his recruiting skills the Becker College roster for the 2007-08 season comprised a mix of players from 14 different states in the United States.

The Jeremiah Award is named in honor of former Dartmouth head coach Edward Jeremiah, and has been presented every year since 1970 to Division III's top coach. The award will be presented at the American Hockey Coaches Association Coach of the Year Banquet to be held in Naples, Florida on Saturday, April 26, 2008.

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