Legendary CK Hockey Coach Named to the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame

For more than a quarter of a century, coach Andy Weidenbach was a fixture in Cranbrook hockey as well as in the larger school community. Deeply respected by his players, he made a positive, lasting impression in the lives of those he coached. Indeed, over the span of his career Andy became an enduring part of school culture and history. 

Now, he is being inducted into the MHSCA Hall of Fame.

Andy retired in 2019 after spending a year working alongside CK’s current head varsity hockey coach, John LaFontaine. 

LaFontaine shares, “Andy went the extra mile to make sure I was prepared for high school hockey. His attention to detail and knowledge of the game was amazing.  I am truly blessed to have spent a year under Andy’s mentoring”.

The induction ceremony will take place on the campus of Central Michigan University on September 25, 2022. 

Weidenbach’s accomplishments and accolades are considerable, as the MHSCA shares in their announcement below. 

“Andrew Weidenbach has twenty-six years of experience as the varsity hockey coach at Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School. His overall record is an impressive 504-187-47. Andy’s teams have earned ten MHSAA Division III State Championships, two MHSAA Division III State Runners-up awards, and are four-time Champions of the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League North Division.

Well respected in the hockey community, Coach Weidenbach has received many honors during his career. He was the MHSAA Division III Coach of the Year eight times, the MHSCA Coach of the Year in 2006, the Observer Eccentric Hockey Coach of the Year four times, the Oakland Press Hockey Coach of the Year eight times, and the National Federation of High Schools Coach of the Year in 1998. 

He was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2007, the Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2009, and the City of Allen Park Hall of Fame in 2018. He was awarded the Cranbrook Educational Community President’s Award for Excellence in 2003, the Pete Dawkins Award in 2001 and was the Cranbrook Kingswood Coach of the Year in 1998. 

In 2020 Andy received the American Hockey Association’s John Mariucci Award – the only coach in Michigan to receive this award.

Andy has been an active member of several associations to support and promote his sport. He is a member of the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League (president since 1999), member of the MHSHCA (secretary 4 years, president 3 years) and was a former member of the NFHS Ice Hockey National Rules Committee.

The MHSCA is a 67-year-old association with nearly 12,000 members representing 18 sport related associations was founded on the campus of Central Michigan University in 1954. The Hall of Fame is located in the Student Activities Center.”