The coach the year award was institued in 1990 by the HHA. The title of this award was lengthened in 2006 - when a valuable coach of the HHA passed away from ARDS - a complication from Dermatomyositis, Coach Joel Starrett. Joel was able to enjoy coaching hockey until the last days of his life.
This award is given to a coach that exemplifies the following:
J - Joy of Coaching
O - Organization
E - Energy & Enthusiasm
L - Love of the game - HOCKEY!
| YEAR | COACH | COACH | COACH |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | John Alrick | Ted Simons | |
| 1991 | Scott Cripps | ||
| 1992 | Brian Moe | ||
| 1993 | Scott King | ||
| 1994 | |||
| 1995 | Bruce Ellig | ||
| 1996 | Ted Simons | ||
| 1997 | David Graf | ||
| 1998 | Russ Goldstein | ||
| 1999 | Chad Koenen | ||
| 2000 | Mitch Fabel | ||
| 2001 | Brian Lenz | ||
| 2002 | Keith Pearce | Russ Goldstein | |
| 2003 | Pete Carlson | ||
| 2004 | Bruce Ellig | ||
| 2005 | Paul Lenz | ||
| 2006 | Scott Cripps | ||
| 2007 | Troy Lenarz | ||
| 2008 | Darrin Nuebarth | ||
| 2009 | Marc Telecky | ||
| 2010 | Joel Reiter | ||
| 2011 | Dan Westlund | ||
| 2012 | Jon Hantge | ||
| 2013 | Marc Telecky | Todd Grina | Tim Swenson |
| 2014 | Tim Longie | ||
| 2015 | Justin Martin | ||
| 2016 | Joe Tracy | ||
| 2017 | Marc Docken | ||
| 2018 | Chad Koenen | ||
| 2019 | Eric Westlund | ||
| 2020 | Todd Starrett | ||
| 2021 | Wes Hubert | Ryan Miller | |
| 2022 | Ross Wendling | ||
| 2023 | Adam Reiter |