The American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) annually selects the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year and presents him with the Penrose Award. The trophy is named in memory of Spencer T. Penrose, the man whose fortune in gold and copper built the famous Broadmoor Hotel and athletic complex in Colorado Springs, Co., the site of the first 10 NCAA hockey championships. Tim Whitehead was the last Hockey East winner (2002) marking the fourth time in eight seasons a Hockey East coach received National Coach of the Year honors.

Each spring, the New England Hockey Writers and Broadcasters select a Division I Coach of the Year Award for New England schools. The award, named after former Harvard University head coach Clark Hodder, has been dominated in recent years by Hockey East head coaches, who have won 20 of the 22 presented since the league's inaugural season of 1984-85.

The year after Boston College's Jerry York surpassed 800 wins, Boston University's Jack Parker accomplished the same feat, and currently sits in third place on the all-time wins list. However, Parker still leads the list in Hockey East all-time wins, with 374. In 2006-2007, UNH head coach Dick Umile passed the late Shawn Walsh of Maine to assume the No. 2 spot behind Parker and currently has amassed 282 league wins heading into the 2010-2011 season.