UND Hockey: Brad Berry Named USCHO Coach of the Year; Jordan Kawaguchi Hobey Baker Finalist

Postseason Awards Dished Out to UND Hockey With End to Winter Sports Season

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — (UND Athletics)  Postseason awards are starting to accumulate for the University of North Dakota hockey team after a memorable 26-5-4 season in 2019-20. Fifth-year head coach Brad Berry was named the USCHO.com’s Coach of the Year while junior forward and Hobey Baker Award finalist Jordan Kawaguchi was honored on the website’s All-America First Team.

Berry and the Fighting Hawks enjoyed a resurgent season that saw them skyrocket to the top of the Pairwise Rankings and national polls for the bulk of the season. The regular season produced 26 wins, an NCHC Penrose Cup as the league’s champion and the top seed for the canceled conference tournament. North Dakota went 16-1-2 to start the season and continued its blitz through the conference schedule as well, posting a 17-4-3-2 league mark to win the regular season with 56 points.

The fifth-year bench boss finished the season with a career record of 116-57-23.

Kawaguchi, who was named a Hobey Baker Award Top 10 Finalist Wednesday, helped lead the charge as he piled up 45 points (second-most in the NCAA) with 15 goals and 30 assists. The junior was great in clutch situations, scoring five-game winning goals and gathering an NCAA-leading 13 game-winning points. The Abbotsford, B.C., product is also a finalist for the NCHC’s Player of the Year and the Forward of the Year, both of which will be announced next week.