The award is voted on by fellow coaches and members of the media in each of the league’s 32 cities.
A year after winning the Calder Cup championship, Nelson guided Hershey to the second-best regular-season record in the 88-year history of the American Hockey League in 2023-24, a mark of 53-14-0-5 (111 points, .771) that ranked 18 points better than any other team in the Eastern Conference. Nelson’s Bears allowed 2.10 goals per game – the ninth-lowest average in league history – as well as a league-low 26.0 shots per game, and ranked first in the league on the penalty kill at 87.7 percent efficiency along with sixth on the power play (20.1 percent). Nelson also sent 12 players to the National Hockey League to compete with the Washington Capitals this season, and six members of his 2023 Calder Cup title team were in the lineup for the Caps’ Stanley Cup Playoff opener on Sunday.
Over 10 AHL seasons, Nelson has a career head-coaching record (W-L-OT) of 406-222-77, ranking eighth on the league’s all-time wins list. He has compiled eight 40-win seasons and reached four conference finals, including Calder Cup championships with Grand Rapids in 2017 and Hershey in 2023. Nelson was also an assistant coach on Chicago’s Cup-winning team in 2008, and won a title with the 1993-94 Portland Pirates as part of his 12-year playing career.
The 54-year-old native of Prince Albert, Sask., has also served in the NHL as a head coach with the Edmonton Oilers and as an assistant with the Oilers, Atlanta Thrashers and Dallas Stars. This is his first Coach of the Year honor at any level.
The Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award, which was first presented in 1968, honors the late Mr. Pieri, a long-time contributor to the AHL as the owner and general manager of the Providence Reds and a member of the American Hockey League Hall of Fame. Previous winners of the award include Frank Mathers (1969), Fred Shero (1970), Al MacNeil (1972, ’77), John Muckler (1975), Jacques Demers (1983), Bill Dineen (1985, ’86), Larry Pleau (1987), John Paddock (1988), Marc Crawford (1993), Barry Trotz (1994), Robbie Ftorek (1995, ’96), Peter Laviolette (1999), Claude Julien and Geoff Ward (2003), Claude Noel (2004), Randy Cunneyworth (2005), Kevin Dineen (2006), Scott Gordon (2008), Scott Arniel (2009), John Hynes (2011), Jon Cooper (2012), Willie Desjardins (2013), Jeff Blashill (2014), Mike Stothers (2015), Roy Sommer (2017), Pascal Vincent (2018), Mike Vellucci (2019), Karl Taylor (2020), Spencer Carbery (2021) and Mitch Love (2022, ’23).
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The winner of the 2023-24 Eddie Shore Award (outstanding defenseman) will be announced Tuesday.
