He was head coach of the Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl boys hockey team for 25 years spanning from 1986-2011. Now Keith Hendrickson is being honored as the 2024 recipient of the American Hockey Coaches Association’s John Mariucci Award.

Founded in 1988, and first won by International Falls’ Larry Ross, the national honor was also won by his father, Eveleth native Dave Hendrickson in 2000.

“It came out of the blue, so that in itself is a surprise. And then the award is kind of a special thing for someone who’s coached a long time in Minnesota, or anywhere probably. And then I found my dad won it many years ago, brought that and a bunch of those memories back as well. So it was really neat,” Hendrickson shared.

Hendrickson now serves as an NHL amateur scout for the Vegas Golden Knights. Earning the John Mariucci Award is special for the Virginia native, especially since he had his own moment with the fellow Iron Ranger decades ago.

“My first actual personal meeting with John [Mariucci] was back when I was playing at UMD. And I still remember, we were in Wisconsin and I went down to the hotel restaurant to get a hot fudge sundae after a Friday night game, and John was there. He was by himself, and he knew who I was. He was there scouting, I guess. And he said ‘hi’, I was by myself so I went and sat with him and we just chatted.”

John Mariucci was born in Eveleth.

Hendrickson will receive the John Mariucci Award this Friday, April 12 in the middle of the NCAA men’s Frozen Four tournament held in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center. Semifinal games are Thursday and the championship is Saturday.