MADISON, Wis. — Following a successful debut season and being named Big Ten coach of the year, Wisconsin men's hockey head coach Tony Granato has been named one of 10 finalists for the Spencer Penrose Award as Division I men's hockey coach of the year.  

Granato, who led the Badgers to the brink of the NCAA tournament in his first season, qualified as a finalist because he was named the Big Ten Conference's coach of the year.

He also became just the second coach in program history, and first in 40 years, to win the conference's head coach of the year. Bob Johnson won WCHA coach of the year in 1977.

The former Badger forward was able to surpass many expectations this season, as UW was picked to finish fifth in the six-team conference in a pre-season poll. However, Granato, alongside associate head coaches Don Granato and Mark Osiecki, directed the Cardinal and White to a second-place finish in the regular season and just one goal short of winning the Big Ten tournament.

A 12-victory improvement over the 2015-16 season ranked third-best in Badgers history, and UW trailed only four teams nationally in terms of winning percentage improvement.

Finalists for the Spencer Penrose Award, presented by the American Hockey Coaches Association and voted on by its members, include the coach of the year from the six Division I men's leagues and the coaches of the teams that make the Frozen Four.

This year's list also includes UMass Lowell's Norm Bazin, Union's Rick Bennett, Harvard's Ted Donato, Notre Dame's Jeff Jackson, Denver's Jim Montgomery, Western Michigan's Andy Murray, Minnesota Duluth's Scott Sandelin, Bemidji State's Tom Serratore and Canisius' Dave Smith.