Cathy Spreeman writes:
>
> Meanwhile, the Friends of UNH Hockey held its annual awards banquet last
> Saturday, April 21.  Marty Hughes may have gotten to the podium twice
> before Brian Gionta at the BC awards, but Brian was named the recipient of
> the first award given out at UNH's banquet: the Most Worthy Opponent award.
>
>
> A fitting tribute, I'd say.  Even from the perspective of a fan of an
> opposing Hockey East team, he had a remarkable career and earned respect.
> I still remember seeing him for the first time at the Whitt, digging out my
> program to find out who he was, and thinking, "Who is that kid?  He's
> amazing!"    Four years later he's skating around the ice with the National
> Championship trophy.   Fantastic!

I found it interesting that Gionta was the most honored opponent despite not
having a point against UNH in three games.  Also, Gionta is the third BC
player to receive the award in the four years it has been given.  Reasoner
and Mottau were named in 1998 and 2000, while Steve Kariya received the
award in 1999.

On a broader note, my memory of "most honored" or "most worthy opponent"
goes back to the early 1970's when, I believe, the Friends of BU Hockey
included it at their awards banquet.  I do remember that UNH All-American
(now Islander pro-scouting director) Gordie Clark was named BC's most
honored opponent in 1974.

It's a great award in that it gets the players thinking about the opponents
who have had the most impact playing against them.  Just another good thing
about college hockey.

Greg Ambrose