PWHL Boston’s Courtney Kessel Voted Coach Of The Year Finalist

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.

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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.