The Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award, instituted during the 1967-68 season and voted upon by members of the AHL media and league coaches, honors the outstanding head coach in the American Hockey League each season.
The award is named for the late Louis A.R. Pieri, a long-time contributor to the AHL as owner of the Providence Reds.
A graduate of Providence’s prestigious Brown University, Pieri became general manager of the Rhode Island Auditorium and its primary tenant, the Providence Reds, in 1929, and helped guide the team into the American Hockey League as one of its charter members in 1936.
The Pieri family soon took over ownership of the arena and of the Reds and helped build an AHL tradition for generations of Rhode Islanders to come. Under Pieri’s watch, the Reds won a total of eight AHL division titles and four Calder Cup championships (1938, 1940, 1949, 1956).