Hockey Coach Markell Runner-Up for National Coach of the Year – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/15/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
April 15, 1998
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After guiding his team to a Final Four trip in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, Ohio State hockey coach John Markell was named the runner-up for the Spencer Penrose Award today – given annually to the nation’s top collegiate hockey coach. Tim Taylor, head coach at Yale University, won the award after leading the Bulldogs to an E9CAC crown and NCAA Tournament berth. Ohio State shut out Yale 4+-0 in the first round of the national tournament in Ann Arbor this year. No Ohio State coach has ever finished this high in the National Coach of the Year voting.
“It’s a great honor, and I share it with my assistant coaches and players,” Markell said. “This is an example of everyone’s hard work paying off. Reaching the CCHA Finals, the NCAA Tournament, and eventually the Final Four – all of those things were a team effort. This is a team award, and I refuse to accept it any other way.” After going 9-10-1 in games through Jan. 3, the Markell-led Buckeyes finished the year on an amazing 18-3-1 run that eventually ended in the national semifinals against Boston College in Boston. Ohio State was projected to finish eighth in the CCHA – the nation’s premier collegiate hockey conference – but ended the year in third place and hosted its first CCHA quarterfinal series in 14 years. For his efforts, Markell was named the CCHA Coach of the Year in mid-March.
The Buckeyes finished the season 27-13-2. In his four years at Ohio State, Markell has led the Buckeyes to more wins and a higher finish in the CCHA standings each season. The 1997-98 campaign marked the first winning season by an OSU hockey team in 12 years, and wound up becoming the most successful in school history.
