Sports stats



CHL Central Hockey League

San Angelo's Ray Edwards Named CHL Coach of the Year

March 9, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


First-year Head Coach Ray Edwards of the Central Hockey League's Southwest Division leading San Angelo Saints has today been named as the CHL Coach of the Year. The award is "presented annually to the CHL coach adjudged to have contributed most to his team's success," and is selected through balloting among the CHL's 17 head coaches, who selected their top three candidates for the honor. Edwards appeared on 12 of 16 possible ballots, receiving seven first place votes, four second place votes and a single third place vote.

Last season the Saints struggled to a record of 20-37-7, and finished 20 points out of Southern Conference playoff position. Under Edward's leadership this year, San Angelo has improved to 34-18-8 through 60 games, and has already secured entry into to Ray Miron President's Cup Playoffs. Currently the Saints hold a one-point advantage over Amarillo in the battle for the Southwest Division crown and home ice advantage in the first round of the post-season. Along with the remarkable standings improvement, Edwards also has led the Saints to six separate winning streaks of three or more games this season.

"This is clearly a team award, and I proudly accept this honor on behalf of our players," said Edwards. "Our organization is extremely fortunate to not only have a number of outstanding players, but athletes that are exceptional people as well."

Terry Ruskowski of the CHL-leading Laredo Bucks finished second in extremely close balloting; receiving six first place votes, four second place votes and two third place votes. Ruskowski's Bucks have already claimed the Governors' Cup as CHL regular season champions, and will hold home ice advantage throughout the post-season. Laredo leads the CHL in numerous categories this season, including goals, assists, points, power play percentage and penalty killing percentage, and has an opportunity to top numerous CHL records, including the 2001/2002 Odessa Jackalopes' CHL record winning percentage of .781.

Bossier-Shreveport's Scott Muscutt placed third, with a pair of first place votes, four second place selections and three third place votes. After a year removed from the post-season, Muscutt's club has already captured the Northeast Division title, and under his guidance have fashioned six separate winning streaks of four or more games.

Wednesday, the Central Hockey League will announce the recipients of both the Most Outstanding Defenseman and Rookie of the Year awards, and the Most Outstanding Goaltender and Rick Kozuback award recipients will be named Thursday. Friday, the Most Valuable Player recipient will be announced.

• Discuss this story on the Central Hockey League message board...

Central Hockey League Stories from March 9, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central