Middlebury’s Bill Beaney has been named the winner of the 2004 Edward Jeremiah Award, given annually to the Divison III Men’s Ice Hockey Coach of the Year. It is a record-tying third Jeremiah Award for Beaney, who also received the honor in 1990 and 1995.
Beaney took a one-year sabbatical in 2002-03 to spend time watching his son Trevor play his senior season at Princeton. After returning to Middlebury, despite losing three of his top six scorers from the season before, Beaney put together a national championship season, capped by an 18-1 run in the school’s last 19 games. It was the team’s sixth national title since Beaney took over the program in 1986, including five straight from 1995-99.
Beaney’ 1996 National Championship team set school records for most wins in a season (26), highest winning percentage (.929), and longest unbeaten streak (29 games). He has also led the team to six ECAC Tournament appearances, with a championship in the 1990-91 season.
The Lake Placid, N.Y., native played four years at New Hampshire, and captained the 1973 team. He began his coaching career in 1974 at Bellows Free Academy (Vermont), leading his teams to three straight championships. He then moved to the college ranks, taking over the reigns at New England College in 1979. He promptly led his teams to four consecutive ECAC Tournaments and one NCAA berth. He was named the New England Coach of the Year in 1981-82 and 1983-84 at New England College.
Beaney has also been heavily involved with USA Hockey. He recently served as the head coach of the U.S. Women’s Junior National team in 1996 and 1997. From 1985-97, Beaney coached USA Hockey’s Junior Olympic team, while serving as an assistant coach for the 1994 U.S. Junior National team. In the summer of 1993, Beaney served as head coach of the gold medal East Team at the Olympic Festival in San Antonio. In addition to his duties with USA Hockey, Beaney was a member of the NCAA Hockey selection committee for six years.
In his recent years, Beaney has often been rumored at Division I coaching positions at Cornell, Harvard and Vermont, but has always taken himself out of the process before it ended.
