CHL Central Hockey League

Jason Christie Named CHL Coach of the Year

March 24, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


TEMPE, AZ (March 24, 2011) - The Central Hockey League (CHL) announced today that Bloomington PrairieThunder Head Coach Jason Christie has been selected the recipient of the 2010-11 Central Hockey League Coach of the Year award following balloting among all 18 CHL head coaches.

The Coach of the Year award is ‚¬Ëœpresented annually to the Central Hockey League coach adjudged to have contributed most to his team's success.'

Jason's work this year in Bloomington has been outstanding," said Duane Lewis, CHL Commissioner. "He has done a tremendous job in preparing his team during the season, and readying them for a serious playoff run. His peers who voted for him certainly recognized the results he has achieved with his club on the ice, through his preparation off the ice."

In his first season with the PrairieThunder, Christie won convincingly appearing on 14 of the 18 submitted ballots (coaches were not permitted to vote for themselves) while earning five first place votes, six second place votes and three third place votes. First place votes earned five points, second place votes earned three points and third place votes earned one point. Coming in second with 28 points was Tulsa Oilers Head Coach Bruce Ramsay (earned four first place votes) and finishing third was Wichita Thunder Head Coach Kevin McClelland (earned two first place votes). Also receiving first place votes were Dwight Mullins (Allen), Frank Anzalone (Quad City), Chris Stewart (Colorado) and last year's winner Joe Ferras (Rapid City).

CHL Coach of the Year Balloting

1st 2nd 3rd Points

Jason Christie 5 6 3 46

Bruce Ramsay 4 1 5 28

Kevin McClelland 2 4 5 27

Christie was not hired as the bench boss of the PrairieThunder until late in the summer (August 25, 2010) giving him a late start on recruiting and putting his team together. The Gibbons, Alberta native quickly assembled a competitive group that was honored during the annual ‚¬ËœBest of the Best' Poll as the ‚¬ËœHardest Working Team' in the CHL and not surprisingly, Christie was also honored on that poll as the ‚¬ËœBest Coach' in the CHL.

The former American Hockey League, International Hockey League and East Coast Hockey League player has led his teams to the post-season in seven of the nine years he has coached and has recorded a winning record in eight of those nine seasons. This season, the PrairieThunder are still in the hunt for the Turner Conference title sitting in a tie for third place currently with a 36-21-6 record (78 points). The team has already clinched a playoff berth marking the first time in the five-year history of the PrairieThunder that they have qualified for post-season play.

Bloomington got off to a great start during the 2010-11 campaign winning five of their first six games. During the months of December, January and February, Christie's troops posted a combined 23-10-4 record and had a piece of the conference lead on a couple of occasions and carried the highest winning percentage in the Turner Conference into the final month of the season.

The CHL Most Outstanding Defenseman and the CHL Most Outstanding Goaltender (Scott Brower Award) will be announced on Friday, March 25 with the CHL Most Valuable Player recipient being announced on Monday, March 28.

CHL Coach of the Year (previous winners, since 2001)

2010-11 - Jason Christie (Bloomington)

2009-10 - Joe Ferras (Rapid City)

2008-09 - Kevin Kaminski (Mississippi)

2007-08 - Scott Muscutt (Bossier-Shreveport)

2006-07 - Kevin McClelland (Memphis)

2005-06 - Terry Ruskowski (Laredo)

2004-05 - Chris Dashney (Lubbock)

2003-04 - Ray Edwards (San Angelo)

2002-03 - Ken McRae (Indianapolis)

2001-02 - Don McKee (Odessa)

2011 CHL Awards that have already been announced are:

CHL Athletic Trainer of the Year - George Bullock, Jr, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs

CHL Gunner Garrett Equipment Manager of the Year - Romeo Vivit, Rapid City Rush

CHL All-Rookie Team - Adam Chorneyko (COL), Aaron Lewicki (RGV), Alan Mazur (BLM), Wayne Savage (TEX), Gary Steffes (TUL) and David Strathman (ALN)

All-CHL Team - Darcy Campbell (RGV), Riley Nelson (COL), Robby Nolan (MIZ), Andrew Martens (WIC), Sebastien Thinel (ODE), Chad Woollard (TEX)

CHL Man of the Year - Simon Watson, Missouri Mavericks

CHL Rookie of the Year - Aaron Lewicki, Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees



Central Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2011


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