With six games left to go in the ECAC season, I thought I'd take a
stab at who I consider to be the favorites for the ECAC awards.
Let's get started:
Player of the Year:
Hands down, it has to be Todd White of Clarkson. He is running away
with the ECAC scoring lead, and is 6 points ahead of his nearest
competition overall. The two behind him are the two others that
merit mention, Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin, but this year it
will be Todd White. Not only from a scoring standpoint, but he has
led Clarkson all season long. If you need a goal, it's White. If
you need a penalty kill, its White.
Rookie of the Year:
A little tougher. I think it's down to a couple of players right
now, three of them are goaltenders. J.R Prestifilippo of Harvard,
Scott Prekaski and Joel Laing of RPI. Prestifilippo has embarked on
a huge streak of consecutive games played. He is the future of
Harvard goaltending, but is playing for a team that is currently in
sixth place. Prekaski and Laing have played for a team that is tied
for first, that automatically gives them some higher consideration.
Preakski has been Rookie of the Week twice, Laing once. Preakski
gets the nod over Laing here because of his record (6-1-1 ECAC vs.
4-3-1 ECAC).
Others in consideration: At forward Jeff Hamilton of Yale and Pete
Gardiner of RPI. Hamilton was a rocket in the first half of the
season, but has tailed off in the second half of the season (3 points
since the Denver Cup). Gardiner has quietly become the leading
rookie scorer in the ECAC. He has 24 points on the season (8-16) and
is tied for 12th in the league in scoring (5-11-16).
On defense, Dominique Auger of Princeton. He has six goals and 12
assists on the season, and is clearly one of the finest offensive
defensemen to step into the ECAC in recent years. The other on
defense would have to be Brian Pothier of RPI. One goal and ten
assists on the season. His numbers are not those of Auger so Auger
gets the nod here.
If I had to make a choice, I'll go with the offense and Pete Gardiner
of RPI.
Defensive Defenseman of the Year:
You want to talk tough, here it is. Who is it? Cornell has two to
choose from, Steve or Chad Wilson. Chad has seen some time at
forward, so I think I'll take Steve over Chad. Steve Wilson has been
solid on the blue line.
Who else is there to consider? How about Nicholas Windsor or Scott
Ricci from Clarkson? How about Chris Aldous from RPI? How about
Andrew Will at Union? Or even Michael Acosta of Princeton? Jon Sorg
at Vermont? John Dance at Colgate? Ashlin Halfnight at Harvard?
I'll go with Steve Wilson from Cornell
Defensive Forward of the Year:
This should be a nice battle. There's Jean-Francois Houle from
Clarkson. There's Mike Bois from Princeton. There's Joel Prpic from
St. Lawrence. There's Matt Stelljes from Vermont. There's Danny
Riva from RPI. There's Craig Reckin fron Union. There's Matt Cooney
from Cornell.
I'll go with Houle on this one.
Dryden Award:
Here's an interesting battle as well. The goaltending in the ECAC
has been one of its star attractions. Currently on top of the league
are Jean-Marc Pelletier from COrnell, Trevor Koenig from Union, Dan
Murphy from Clarkson, last year's winner Tim Thomas from Vermont,
J.R> Prestifilippo from Harvard, Jason Elliot from Cornell, and Scott
Prekaski from RPI.
I don't think Pelletier, Elliot, Prekaski have enough games to merit
full consideration, so I would have to go with either Koenig, Murphy,
Thomas, or Prestifilippo.
Prestifilippo certainly has given his team a chance to win, but he is
a rookie. Murphy is a rock, but his team has gotten the offense to
back him. I think the same can be said of Thomas, though he does
keep the Cats in the game.
My pick is Trevor Koenig of Union. He has kept his team in every
game that he has played. Led the nation in GAA for awhile, and save
percentage. He is part of one of the nation's leading defenses (2.42
Goals per game, lowest in the ECAC)
Coach of the Year:
My god, another battle. The nominees please.....
Mike Schafer (Cornell). He has proven that his coaching last year
was not a fluke. He has his team in first place with consistent play
and a solid philosophy.
Don Cahoon (Princeton). He has taken a team picked to finish ninth
in the ECAC and had them in first place for a stretch of time. Solid
philosophy and has done a great job with his youngsters.
Stan Moore (Union). He has taken a team that finished out of the
money last year and has them in sixth place. Picked to finish 11th
this year, he has a team that preaches solid defense, and leads the
ECAC in team defense.
Dan Fridgen (RPI). After a year of doubt following an ECAC
Championship his freshman year, Fridgen has proven he can mold a
team. His team of no seniors was picked to finish seventh, and
currently is in first place.
But do not forget Mike Gilligan(Vermont) and Mark Morris (Clarkson).
My pick: Dan Fridgen of RPI.
All-ECAC Teams:
First:
G Trevor Koenig (Union)
D Steve Wilson (Cornell)
D Matt Pagnutti (Clarkson)
F Todd White (Clarkson)
F Martin St. Louis (Vermont)
F Eric Perrin (Vermont)
Second:
G Dan Murphy (Clarkson)
D Chris Aldous (RPI)
D Mikko Ollila (Clarkson)
F Eric Healey (RPI)
F Mike Harder (Colgate)
F Jean-Francois Houle (Clarkson)
HM: Tim Thomas (Vermont), Chris Clark (Clarkson), Paul DiFrancesco
(St. Lawrence), Dave DeBusschere(Colgate), Scott Bertoli (Princeton),
Matt Garver (RPI), David Whitworth (Dartmouth), Chad Wilson (Cornell), Jeremiah McCarthy
(Harvard), Ray Giroux (Yale)
All-Rookie Team:
Scott Prekaski (RPI), Joel Laing (RPI), J.R. Prestifilippo (Harvard),
Jason Wong (Dartmouth), Dominque Auger (Princeton), Brian Pothier
(RPI), Jeff Sproat (Union), Darren Yopyk (Princeton), David Adler
(Cornell), Pete Gardiner (RPI), Phillipe Roy (Clarkson), Jeff
Hamilton (Yale), Jeff Brow (Yale), Ryan Moynihan (Cornell), Tyler
Garrow (Brown)Andy McDonald (Colgate), Matt Sanders (Vermont), Trevor
Allman (Harvard)
Any thoughts?
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Jayson Moy RPI '89 '93 * One of the Voices of Rensselaer Engineer
[log in to unmask] * Hockey, Football, Baseball and Basketball
The "Asian Invasion" * on 91.5FM WRPI, Troy *EASM*
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ECAC Correspondent for U.S. College Hockey Online
http://www.uscollegehockey.com
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