Marana resident, Calgary Wranglers coach Mitch Love again AHL Coach of Year

In leading the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers to the best record in American Hockey League this season, the league announced Mitch Love as its coach of the year this week — the second consecutive season the Marana resident has earned the league’s Louis A.R. Piere Memorial Award.

Love, who began making Marana his offseason home two years ago, piloted Calgary to a 51-17-3-1 record, good for a league-best 106 points.

The year prior, Love led the then-Stockton Heat — the club moved to Calgary prior to this season — to 97 points and the AHL’s second-best record. The Heat reached the Calder Cup finals, falling to the eventual champion Chicago Wolves in six games.

Just three coaches in AHL history have won Louis A.R. Piere Memorial Award in back-to-back seasons.

The others are Bill Dineen (1985 and 1986 with the Adirondack Red Wings) and Robbie Ftorek (1995 and 1996 with the Albany River Rats).

Love said last year he and his girlfriend settled on Southern Arizona in order to be closer to her mom, who lives in the Saddlebrooke area.

This year, Calgary as a team visited Tucson for one two-game series just last month.

Calgary won the first game on March 17, 5-0, before the Tucson Roadrunners defeated the Wranglers 3-2 in a shootout the next night.

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Calgary has a bye in the first round of the AHL playoffs as reward for winning the Pacific Division.

If the seventh-place Roadrunners defeat the second-place Coachella Valley Firebirds in a best-of-three first-round series that begins Wednesday night, Tucson and Calgary will face off in the second round.

Should that happen, Love will get at least one “home” for himself in Tucson this playoff season.