St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh, who led the school to eight NCAA appearances and two trips to the Frozen Four, announced his retirement Friday after 26 seasons behind the Saints bench.

Marsh took a medical leave this past season, leaving coaching duties to assistants Greg Carvel and Mike Hurlbut. Carvel was immediately named as Marsh’s replacement following Friday’s announcement.

“The time feels right,” Marsh said in a statement. “We have the right people in place to take the reins of the program. Two of our former players, one of whom played in the NHL and the other who has years of coaching experience in the NHL.”

Marsh posted a 468-399-72 career record while piloting St. Lawrence to four ECAC Hockey championships. He won the Spencer Penrose Award as national coach of the year in 1989 and 2000 and was a four-time conference coach of the year honoree.