Former Toledo Bench Boss Noel Named American Hockey League's Outstanding Coach

Published on April 7, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release

PRINCETON, N.J. – Milwaukee head coach Claude Noel, who was named ECHL Coach of the Year in 2002-03, was named outstanding coach of the American Hockey League on Tuesday.

Noel becomes the fourth ECHL coach in a row and the fifth ever to be named outstanding coach in the AHL, but is the first to win the coach of the year award in both the ECHL and the AHL. Former Arkansas and current Toronto head coach Geoff Ward won the AHL award in 2003 while former Trenton coach Bruce Cassidy won the AHL award in 2002. Former Wheeling and current Carolina Hurricanes head coach Peter Laviolette won the AHL award in 1999 and former Peoria and current Worcester coach Don Granato won the AHL award in 2001.

In his first season in the AHL, Noel has led the Admirals to a 44-22-7-3 record through the first 76 games. Milwaukee had 98 points and led the league with a .645 winning percentage heading into the final week of the regular season. After finishing 15th in 2002-03, Milwaukee leads the West Division and is looking to win its first division title since 1996. The top development team for Nashville of the National Hockey League, Milwaukee has had 15 players recalled to the NHL in 2003-04.

In 2002-03, Noel led Toledo to a 47-15-10 record and the Brabham Cup, awarded annually to the ECHL team with the most regular season points, one year after Toledo finished last in the Northwest Division with a 28-34-10 record. The Storm's 38-point increase from 2001-02 to 2002-03 is the sixth largest in ECHL history. Toledo, which won the Brabham Cup in its inaugural ECHL season in 1991-92, set a team record with 29 home wins while its 104 points ties the team record for most points set in 1995-96. Noel was selected by his peers to be a Co-Coach for the Northern Conference in the 2003 Compuware/ECHL All-Star Game won by the Northern Conference. Noel was head coach of the Roanoke Rebels in the ECHL in 1990-91 and was head coach of the Dayton Bombers in the ECHL from 1991-93.

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