The American Hockey League has named Ryan Mougenel of the Providence Bruins the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the outstanding coach for the 2025-26 season. Mougenel earned the honor after leading Providence to a league-best regular-season record. The award recognizes voting from fellow coaches and media members across the league's 32 cities.
Springfield, Mass. — Ryan Mougenel guided the Providence Bruins to a 54-16-2-0 record this season, accumulating 110 points and the fourth-highest points percentage (.764) in AHL history. The team claimed the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as regular-season champions, ranking sixth in scoring at 3.32 goals per game and second in defense at 2.25 goals against. Their plus-77 goal differential marked the franchise's best since the 1998-99 Calder Cup season. Mougenel oversaw the development of 11 prospects who appeared for the Boston Bruins, including Matthew Poitras, Michael Callahan, Jonathan Aspirot, Alex Steeves, Victor Söderström, Lukas Reichel and First Team All-Star Michael DiPietro. In his eighth year with the organization and fifth as head coach, Mougenel posted a 217-103-26-14 record (.658 winning percentage), the best in the AHL over that span. The 50-year-old from Scarborough, Ontario, previously coached in the San Jose Sharks system and with the Hershey Bears. His playing career included an ECHL title with Atlantic City in 2003 and 20 AHL games with Rochester in 1999-2000. The Pieri Award, first given in 1968, honors Louis A.R. Pieri, a Providence Reds owner and AHL Hall of Famer. Mougenel is the fourth Providence coach to win it, following Scott Gordon in 2008, Peter Laviolette in 1999 and John Muckler in 1975. Past recipients include Jon Cooper, Claude Julien and others.
