April 3, 2011 | WMU News
Inside College Hockey announced Friday its pick of Blashill as National Coach of the Year. Four days earlier, he was named National Co-Coach of the Year by College Hockey News, sharing the honor with Merrimack College's Mark Dennehy.
Blashill led a rejuvenated Bronco hockey team to a 19-13-10 record, a fourth-place finish in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, an appearance in the CCHA Tournament championship game and the program's fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Inheriting a program that finished last in the CCHA one year ago, Blashill led WMU to a 10-9-9 conference record and its first top-four CCHA finish since the 1995-96 season. Blashill then guided the Broncos to a playoff series win over Ferris State and a trip to the CCHA semifinals for the first time since 1993.
The Broncos went on to defeat regular-season champion Michigan, 5-2, in the semifinals for the program's first trip to the CCHA Tournament championship game since 1986. WMU fell to Miami in the championship game, but earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.
A former assistant coach at Miami University, Blashill came to WMU after two years as head coach of the Indiana Ice of the USHL.