The Bill MacMillan Coach of the Year Award is awarded annually to the Senior Hockey League coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success."
History
MacMillan coached in the Islanders' organization, winning the AHL's Adams Cup with the Fort Worth Texans, and was named Coach of the Year. With that success in his first season coaching, MacMillan was promoted to an assistant coaching position under Al Arbour in 1979-80. The Islanders won the Stanley Cup that season, yet at the conclusion of the playoffs, he was lured away to join the Colorado Rockies as their head coach, succeeding the popular and colourful Don Cherry.
MacMillan lasted just one year, but in 1982-83, he was hired as coach and general manager of the New Jersey Devils, where he stayed for just over a year before being released.
