Courtney Kessel had a successful regular season as head coach of PWHL Boston, and she could earn some hardware by the end league’s inaugural campaign.
Kessel on Wednesday was named a finalist for the PWHL Coach of the Year award; PWHL Montréal’s Kori Cheverie and PWHL Toronto’s Troy Ryan also were voted as finalists.
PWHL Boston earned the third seed in its inaugural season. Kessel led the team to an 8-4-3-9 record, but the 34-year-old’s impressive run came after the international break.
Boston was in fifth place and was outside of the playoff picture. It then went on a 4-0-1-0 run to secure the third seed. That stretch was highlighted by a victory over No. 1 Toronto and came when players like Susanna Tapani were getting integrated amid the absence of key contributors like Loren Gabel and during the impressive run Aerin Frankel was on.
Kessel’s side found its groove in the final stretch of the season and that carried over into the inaugural PWHL playoffs where Boston swept Montréal in its best-of-five series.
While a Coach of the Year honor would be a wonderful way to cap off her first season, Kessel will have her focus on helping Boston take home the Walter Cup to be the league’s first champions.
