Last Saturday, the Cornell Hockey Boosters held the thirty-fifth annual hockey
awards banquet, and plenty of hardware was given out. First on the agenda were
the Hat Trick awards, presented to each player who scored a hat trick this sea-
son: seniors Brad Chartrand (vs. Harvard) and P.C. Drouin (at Union), and
freshman Kyle Knopp (at Brown). A Shutout award was also given to sophomore
goaltender Jason Elliott for his two shutouts, against RPI and against Clarkson
in the ECAC semis.
Next came the real meat of the evening: the presentation of the hockey awards.
In the past, the award-winners were determined by the coaching staff, with the
exception of the MVP, which was selected by a team vote. However, this year,
as announced by head coach Mike Schafer at the banquet, *all* the winners were
selected by team vote. Personally, I think this was a terrific way to make
the awards even more special, and I hope this is a tradition that continues.
Anyway, the awards:
The Bill Doran Sportsmanship Award for sportsmanship both on and off the
ice was won by forward Kyle Knopp.
The Wendell Earle Memorial Award for excellence in both hockey and aca-
demics, given in memory of Wendell and Fran Earle, went to defenseman
Steve Wilson for the second year in a row. The award was presented by
the Earles' 13-year-old grandson Evan, who as usual took a few shots at
the winner, noting that while Steve was second on the team in GPA (or some
such), he "was first on the team in an important category -- I understand
he has 22% body fat." Evan also mentioned that he hoped to get the chance
to insult Steve again next year (Wilson is a junior).
The Joe DeLibero - Stan Tsapis Award for skilled efficiency, dedication,
and hard-nosed competitiveness went to forward Matt Cooney. Hard to argue
with that one.
The Sam Woodside Award, presented to the senior who has most improved in
overall playing ability and has exhibited team leadership, was won by
forward P.C. Drouin.
The Cornell Hockey Boosters Award, which goes to the player "whose contri-
bution to the team is not apparent in the box scores" but who brings
enthusiasm, dedication, and desire to the team, went to forward Jamie
Papp. Papp wasn't completely invisible in the box scores; he tied for
eighth in scoring on the team with 20 points despite spending most of the
season on the checking line.
The Mark Weiss Memorial Award is given to the player who shows the most
determination and passion for the sport of hockey over his career and is
given in memory of Mark Weiss, a hockey player who died during his sopho-
more season. This year's winner was forward Andre Doll.
The Iron Man Award, for determination to overcome injuries, went to de-
fenseman Bill Holowatiuk for the second straight year, making Holowatiuk
the first multiple winner of this award since Mike Schafer. Holowatiuk
struggled with back problems this year, yet still played in 25 of Cor-
nell's 34 games.
The Crimson Cup Award is presented to the player "whose contribution to
the team was outstanding during the season series against Harvard" and
was reinstated this year (gee, wonder why :-) after a four-year absence.
The winner was forward Brad Chartrand, who notched a hat trick in the game
against the Crimson at Lynah.
And finally, the Nicky Bawlf Award, for the team's most valuable player.
A no-brainer: Chartrand.
Up next was Coach Schafer with the season summary. Actually, he eschewed a
game-by-game recap of the season and instead shared some anecdotes and handed
out some "awards" of his own. A sample: "Worst Coaching Decision: To have
the team ride back from Army [after a lackluster 4-1 loss] while still in
uniform. It seemed like a good idea, but after a four-and-a-half hour bus
ride..." Included in the coach's speech were recollections about the "Worst
Road Trip" which was the one to Colorado for the Denver Cup. Listening to
him describe the trip, which started at 5 AM the day after Christmas, included
a four-hour layover in Chicago during which the team had to get on and off the
plane about a half-dozen times, and culminated in them arriving in Denver only
to discover that their practice time had not been changed, leaving them with
only about 20 minutes of practice (the first five of which were spent wolfing
down pizza after all the fun and games in Chicago had caused them to miss
lunch) -- well, you begin to understand why the Big Red ended up on the wrong
side of an 11-0 score against Colorado College in the first round. Coach
Schafer was very entertaining and a lot of fun to listen to. Even my wife, who
follows hockey about like you'd follow a semi marked "RADIOACTIVE WASTE" (in
other words, not very closely), liked him.
Finally came the senior recognition awards (each senior was presented with his
team jersey in a frame -- a nice touch, and a marked change from the
sweaters/caps/whatever that had been handed out in the past), and each senior
made a short speech. Unfortunately, we had to leave at this point, so we didn't
get to hear all the speeches, but the ones we did hear were very emotional, as
you might expect.
All in all, a terrific evening, commemorating a memorable 1995-96 season and
sending off the nine seniors in great style.
Career stats for the seniors:
FORWARDS GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Brad Chartrand (21) 118 47 48 95 90 8 5 6
Andre Doll (8) 94 8 28 36 47 0 1 1
P.C. Drouin (16) 101 31 48 79 184 17 1 3
Geoff Lopatka (14) 114 27 30 57 114 1 4 3
Mike Sancimino (18) 105 34 61 95 147 13 1 2
Mark Scollan (10) 93 20 45 65 45 5 0 0
DEFENSEMEN GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Dan Dufresne (22) 93 2 10 12 202 0 0 0
Bill Holowatiuk (4) 81 6 18 24 122 2 0 0
GOALTENDERS GP Min GA SO GAA SVS SV% Record
Eddy Skazyk (39) 64 3151 208 0 3.96 1434 .873 20-26-7
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
strictly those of:
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95
LET'S GO RED!!
Thank you, Schafer! DJF 5/27/94
"I thought I was a procrastinator 'til I met Winnie... Winnie got a birthmark
when he was eight."
-- Steven Wright
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