Jones Earns ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year Honors

3/19/2019 11:08:00 AM

Clarkson University's Casey Jones, who guided one of the of the youngest teams in the league to a third-place finish in the conference standings, two points shy of first, has been named the Tim Taylor ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year.

In his eighth season directing the Golden Knights, Jones has guided the Green and Gold to their second consecutive 20-win season in 2018-19 and a third-place finish in the conference standings for the second straight campaign. Clarkson posts a 24-10-2 overall record and finished with a 13-7-2 ECAC Hockey mark.

Jones on Clarkson receiving the award (audio)

With just three seniors on the rosters and with nine freshmen, including three rookie centers, the Green and Gold have been especially strong since the break. From the start of the second half of the schedule, beginning with its Desert Hockey Classic Tournament wins over nationally ranked Arizona State (3-0) and defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth (3-1), Clarkson has gone 15-4-2. The Knights enter this weekend's ECAC Hockey Championship Tournament in Lake Placid on a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2), which includes a 2-0-1 mark against the other top 4 seeds in the league playoffs.

Under the guidance of Jones and his staff, assistant coaches Josh Hauge and Brent Brekke, strength and conditioning coach Tad Johnson and volunteer coach Andrew Mercer, Clarkson overcame the graduation loss of a seven-member 2018 senior class and the early-departure of two underclassmen, who signed NHL contracts, to be ranked among the top teams in the nation all year long. Ranked ninth in the national polls, the Knights, who are one victory shy of posting the most wins at Clarkson in 13 years, are solidly placed to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

The Knights have been very strong at Cheel Arena in 2018-19, boasting a 14-3-1 mark in Potsdam for the fifth-best home winning percentage (.806) in the nation. The Green and Gold have outscored their opponents by more than a goal per-game, with a balanced effort that has seen eight different skaters register double-digit points.

Clarkson Hockey has also excelled in the classroom, posting a overall team GPA of 3.247 this past semester, and has been actively involved in the North Country community and with charitable organizations.

Over the past four years, Jones has guided Clarkson to three 20-win campaigns and 85 victories.

Jones joins former Golden Knight Head Coaches Jerry York (1976-77), Bill O'Flaherty (1980-81) and Mark Morris (1990-91, 2000-01) on Clarkson's prestigious list of ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year Award winners.

Print Friendly Version