ND Associate Coach Andy Slaggert among 2010 AHCA honorees

January 28, 2010 11:52 AM

GLOUCESTER, Mass. – The Officers and Governors of the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) have announced its major award winners for 2010, including Notre Dame assistant coach Andy Slaggert, recipient of the Terry Flanagan Award. All seven honorees will be presented their awards at the 2010 AHCA Convention in Naples, FL, April 29-May 2, 2010.

TERRY FLANAGAN AWARD: Named in honor of the former UNH player and Bowling Green Assistant, this award honors an assistant coach's career body of work.

2010 Recipient: Andy Slaggert, Notre Dame

Andy Slaggert is in his 17th season as an assistant coach at the University of Notre Dame, serving under three head coaches - Ric Schafer, Dave Poulin and Jeff Jackson - during his tenure. A 1989 graduate of the University, he serves as a valuable link between the past and present of the Irish hockey program. An enthusiastic and tireless assistant coach, he was promoted to Associate Coach in the summer of 2008 and has long been recognized as an outstanding recruiter in the college ranks.

Said head coach Jeff Jackson, "At Notre Dame, Slaggert works with the team’s penalty-killing unit on a group and individual basis. He also coordinates our highly successful recruiting effort, including on-and-off campus recruiting and the observation and evaluation of prospective student-athletes. During his first 16 seasons at Notre Dame, Slaggert has been involved in the recruiting of 23 players who were selected in the National Hockey League Draft."

The Irish have also had 21 players from the U.S. National Team Development Program matriculate to Notre Dame, with 10 playing for the U.S. Junior National Team in the World Junior Championships. Slaggert has also been highly involved with coaching on the national level since 1997. During the summer of 2004, he reached his highest level, when he was named head coach of the U.S. Under-17 select team that went on to finish second at the Five Nations Tournament in Halle, Germany. The previous year (2003), the veteran assistant got his first taste of coaching with USA Hockey at the international level when he served as an assistant coach on the U.S. Under-18 Select team that captured the gold medal at the Under-18 World Cup held in the Czech Republic.

While at Notre Dame, Slaggert was the primary moving force behind the Notre Dame hockey program’s PowerPlay Run/Walk to benefit the fight against cancer. The first three events - held on the Sunday after the first Notre Dame home football game - drew increasing numbers to the point where the program began playing its intra-squad scrimmage to raise funds for the fight against cancer.

Slaggert received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Notre Dame in 1989. He then went on to earn his master’s degree in physical education from Ohio University in 1991.A right wing for the Irish from 1986-89, Slaggert totaled seven goals and six assists over 55 games during his three-year Notre Dame career. Slaggert’s first venture into coaching came in 1989 with the Amerisport International European Hockey Tour and returned to Notre Dame in 1992. Slaggert and

his wife Tara were married in the summer of 1996. The couple resides in South Bend with their three sons.

JOHN MAC INNES AWARD: John Dunham, Trinity

JOHN MARIUCCI AWARD: John Gardner, Avon Old Farms (CT)

JIM FULLERTON AWARD: John Gilbert, Minnesota Media

JOHN "SNOOKS" KELLEY FOUNDERS AWARD: Peter Van Buskirk, Holy Cross

JOE BURKE AWARD: Kelly Dyer Hayes, USA Hockey

THE WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY FOUNDERS AWARD: Helen Bert, Providence College