The accolades keep coming for men’s hockey coach Keith Allain ’80.

Allain, who has led the Bulldogs (11–1–0) to a No. 1 ranking in college hockey, was recently named the 2010 New Haven Register Sports Person of the Year. In a column focused mainly on the “body language” of Yale hockey, the Register praised Allain for the way he has turned a formerly struggling program into one of the nation’s best.

The Blue went 10–20–3 in 2005-’06 — their final season before Allain took the helm as head coach. But it didn’t take long for Allain to make Yale’s record a winning one. In the 2008-’09 season, the Elis clinched the ECAC regular season championship, tallied a record-setting 24 wins and secured their first NCAA Tournament slot since 1997. By March 2010, the then-No. 8 Elis had finished up the season 21–10–2 to win the Cleary Cup outright for the second straight year, and notched their first NCAA playoff victory since 1952 with a 3–2 upset of North Dakota.

Allain is currently serving as the head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team in Buffalo, New York. It is Allain’s third time heading the squad, as he also filled the post in 2001 and 2002.