(I too am sending this to both the UNH and Maine lists.)
 
>ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Greg Koehler, UMass-Lowell
 
My own personal pick would have been Tom Poti.  Although he wasn't *always*
dominant, he came in at the toughest position to adjust to and was at times
brilliant and at time merely very good.  If there is any one player in this
year's rookie crop that I could have, it would be Poti.
 
Maine fans may wonder at that pick since BU got mauled in the two games up
there and perhaps during those two games Poti didn't look great.
(Presumably no BU players looked great that weekend.)
 
Personally, I think the reason why Koehler won over Larose was that more
of his points came on goals (15 to 10).  (For the same reasons that Chris
Drury's goals mean more than Jason Krog's assists...)  There are many
assists, especially on the power play but even strength as well, where
nothing much was accomplished but the player still touched the puck.  Your
assist totals have to be exceptional to get recognized as much as comparable
goals.
 
>ALL-HOCKEY EAST TEAM:
>
>Forwards:
>
>Eric Boguniecki, UNH
>Mark Mowers, UNH
>Jason Krog, UNH
>Chris Drury, BU
>Neil Donovan, UML
>Marty Reasoner, BC
 
Donovan at times was impressive, especially since he was doing it surrounded
by blue-collar kids, but down the stretch he really seemed to falter.  I
think other teams were able to focus more on the few Lowell scoring threats
and tie them up better.
 
I could have gone with Kariya and Nickulas instead of Donovan and Reasoner,
but would have felt badly about leaving Donovan off.
 
> Defensemen:
> Mike Nicholishen, UML
 
He had a good year, but I'd have taken Jakopin or Kelleher over him in
a heartbeat.  As Mike has pointed out, Jakopin had health problems early
in the season, but his play in the later half was at All-American levels.
 
>Goaltenders:
>
>Tom Noble, BU
>Martin Legault, MC
 
Horrendous choice of Noble.  Larocque totally outplayed him.  Larocque would
have been my first choice and then a struggle over a backup.  A case could
have been made both for and against Legault, Brian Regan (UMass-Amherst, hey
you gotta love any guy who lists MacBeth as his favorite book), Matile, and
Fillion.  Biggest disappointment: Dan Dennis.
 
>ROOKIE TEAM:
>
>Goaltender:
>
>Sean Matile, UNH
 
As noted before, I would have gone with Robitaille.  He played about twice as
many games for a horrendous team and still turned in reasonable (considering
his team) stats.
 
Forget about wins.  They matter if your team is near the top and your goalie
comes up for big games.  But if your team has little talent (e.g. playing
four walk-ons) and you're getting shelled, the lack of wins isn't your
fault.
 
BTW, those three out of four points that Northeastern stole from Maine early
in the season can probably be credited directly to Robitaille.  He faced 85
shots and gave up five goals, at least a couple on the power play.  On the
rare occasions that his team gave him a chance to win, he rarely let them
down.
 
What about Alfie?  He was just too weak early in the season.  Robitaille
got it done all year long.
 
> Forwards:
> Mike Souza, UNH
>
> Defensemen:
> Mike Mottau, BC
 
I'd have definitely gone with Farkas or, as a second choice, Bellefeuille
over Souza, even though I really like the kid.
 
And I'd have had a tough choice between UNH's Jayme Filipowicz and Mottau.
 
All in all, some tough choices.  A case could have been made for all of
them except for Tom Noble.  That one makes about as much sense as Homer
Simpson for Intellectual of the Year.
 
-------------------------------------------------
Dave Hendrickson     [log in to unmask]
Hockey East writer for U.S. College Hockey Online
         http://www.uscollegehockey.com