In a season that saw the Grand Valley State University men’s hockey team reach new heights with its first ACHA Division II National Championship, GVSU head coach Mike Forbes has also reached new heights.

Forbes, the team’s second-year head coach, took home the ACHA Men’s Division II Coach of the Year award after leading GVSU to a 24-10-1 record and the program’s first national title.

“I’ve been the beneficiary of a successful hockey team, and I’m humbled to be named Coach of the Year,” said Forbes, who played in the NHL with the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers in the late 1970s. “I don’t know how much credit I can take for the season we had, but when you’ve had the success we had, people tend to give notice.”

The veteran-laden team found a way to overcome a slow start to the season and peak at the right time by going 10-1-1 in the Great Midwest Hockey League season en-route to the regular season championship.

“He knows that teams sometimes take that windy road to their ultimate goal,” said senior forward Ryan Welch, who recorded a team-high 21 assists this season. “He’s been able to work under a lot of great coaches during his career, and I think that’s the most important. I think you develop tendencies from them.”

The experience at the professional level is something Forbes’ players respect. From the NHL to Division II hockey, Forbes has left his fingerprints wherever he has gone, and the entire team – coach included – agree that it has been a key to their success.

“I’ve been here for five years, and out of my five years I never truly felt comfortable talking to him because of how much I respected him,” said senior goaltender Grant Lyon. “It’s a very valuable asset to have a coach who isn’t afraid to tell you what you don’t want to hear. It drives guys to get better, and he demands the best out of his players. It boils down to respect.”

Forbes has gotten respect from his team since being elevated from an assistant to head coach last year. From playing under then-Bruins’ head coach Don Cherry in the 1970s to serving as the commissioner of the Colonial Hockey League, Forbes’ experience at all levels of hockey has helped him to be the coach he is today.

“It’s hard to lead people to a place you’ve never been,” said Forbes, whose record in his first two full seasons as head coach stands at 37-20-2. “I understood the dynamic and what needed to be done, so from that perspective, my past experiences helped us in steering the boat to where we needed to go, but it’s on the players who get us where we need to go.”

Forbes’ direction has provided the team a sense of comfort around the rink. In its trek for a national championship, the communication between coach and team proved vital. With 11 seniors on the roster, communication came easily, and Forbes credits the team’s experience as a key to the title run.

“The seniors knew what to expect, and I think that experience really separated us down the stretch,” Forbes said. “The (seniors) knew it was their last year, and they did the necessary work. Kudos to them and the leadership in our locker room.”

Experience and respect aside, it has been Forbes’ personal philosophy – “Energy and Execution” and “There is no ‘I’ in ‘shut up and do the work’” – that has rubbed off on the team during this past season. Both coach and players now understand the work that it takes to reach the top and have bought into the philosophy.

“He reads a lot of books, so he’ll throw quotes at us,” Welch said. “I just really love his philosophy. You look at some of the great teams at any level, and its not just pure talent. He knows you have to put the energy and effort in to get what you want.”

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