Former Brighton High School Hockey Coach Paul Moggach has been awarded the 2023 John Mariucci Award by the American Hockey Coaches Association.
Brighton won 10 regional championships under Moggach’s watch after winning three when he was an assistant coach to Rick Bourbonnais.
The Bulldogs also won five Division I state championships and 15 league championships. No coach in Livingston County has won as many MHSAA state championships.
“Paul is among a handful of high school hockey coaches who have elevated high school hockey into what it is today in the state of Michigan. They’ve really made it a viable option for high-quality players to not only play a sport they love, but do so as part of a school program, wear the colors and represent their community,” Brighton athletic director John Thompson said at the time of Moggach’s retirement in 2020.
Moggach was inducted into the Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012.
The John Mariucci award honors a secondary school association coach who best exemplifies the spirit, dedication and enthusiasm of the “Godfather of U.S. Hockey,” John Mariucci.
Moggach was a co-recipient of the award, along with Gord St. John, who led the Detroit Catholic Central High School hockey team to its first MHSAA State Championship in 1994. In all, he won seven Conference championships, six District championships, seven Regional championships and six State Championships.
