Bowdoin’s Adam Dann Named the Winner of Sixth Annual
Joe Concannon College Hockey Award
Bowdoin Senior edges out Eric Frank from UMass-Dartmouth and Matt McCarthy from Tufts
BOSTON – MARCH 27, 2006 – Gridiron Club of Greater Boston president George Crotty announced today that senior forward Adam Dann of Bowdoin College is this year’s winner of the sixth annual Joe Concannon Award, which recognizes New England’s best American-born Division II-III hockey player.
Dann, a resident of Burlington, VT, finished his career at Bowdoin with an outstanding season in which he scored 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points in just 24 games. During his career, Dann posted a balanced total of 58 goals and 52 assists for 110 points in playing 98 career games for the Polar Bears. Dann was named a second team NESCAC League all-star for the second consecutive year following his first team selection after the 2003-2004 season. He was team captain this season and led his team to the NESCAC conference championship game. Additionally, Adam has been further recognized as one of two Division III players selected as an alternate for the inaugural skills competition at the 2006 Division I Frozen Four weekend.
Bowdoin Head Coach Terry Meagher noted, “Adam is a great kid, a remarkable kid. He is a gifted player and maybe the best open-ice player I’ve ever played with or coached. He has incredible speed that opens up the ice. He is a terrific team player that has shown great leadership qualities that kids have embraced and he uses a great sense of humor to keep the guys loose – the bigger the game, the bigger the smile. Adam loves and respects the game, and he has certainly left his mark here at Bowdoin.”
Meagher further added, “To have one winner of the award was great but to have two winners is really special. I had known and respected Joe Concannon from my playing days in Boston. He was a terrific writer who really loved college hockey. He would be proud to have Adam win the award bearing his name.”
A strong field of finalist candidates vied with Adam Dann for the Concannon Award. They included senior forward Eric Frank from UMass-Dartmouth and senior forward Matt McCarthy from Tufts University.
Frank, from Waltham, MA led the Corsairs to a 25-5 record and the ECAC Northeast title. They enjoyed a twenty-one game winning streak during the season and became the first ECAC Northeast team to win a NCAA tournament game by defeating Geneseo in a first round game by a score of 8-2. Despite considerable attention from opposing teams, Frank finished the season with 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points including 5 game-winning goals among his 28 games played. During the critical final ten games of the season including the playoffs, Frank scored ten goals and added eight assists to lead his team through the playoffs and into the national tournament. For his career Eric has 67 goals and 89 assists for 156 points during his 92 game career at UMass-Dartmouth.
McCarthy, from Medfield, MA was the leading scorer for the Tufts Jumbos. He is the first Tufts player to receive first team all-conference honors having been named to the NESCAC team this season. His 18 goals and 17 assists for 35 points in just 22 games led the team in scoring and his eight power play goals proved his ability to convert on chances near the front of the goal. The senior forward finishes his career at Tufts with 49 goals and 43 assists for 92 points in eighty-seven games played.
Adam Dann Wins 2006 Joe Concannon Award Page 2
“It has been another terrific season of competition at the Division II and III levels in New England college hockey, noted Committee Chairman Tim Costello. All of the nominees had outstanding seasons and our three finalists truly distinguished themselves from a very talented field. Adam has demonstrated great skill, leadership and sportsmanship and can take his place among the elite group of past winners.”
The 2006 Joe Concannon Award will be presented to the co-winners at the New England Hockey Writers Dinner on Thursday, April 13, 2006. Last year’s co-winners were Joseph Ori of Trinity College and Niles, IL and Brian Doherty of Curry College and Franklin, MA.
Joe Concannon Award Winners
2001 Keith Aucoin Norwich
2002 Michael Carosi Bowdoin
2003 Nick Stauder Salem State
2004 Jim Panczykowski Wesleyan
Mike O’Sullivan Curry
2005 Brian Doherty Curry
Joseph Ori Trinity
2006 Adam Dann Bowdoin
The Joe Concannon Award
The Gridiron Club established the Joe Concannon Award in 2001 to honor Joe, a lifelong devotee of college hockey, former member of the Walter Brown Award Selection Committee and, as a journalist, a staunch advocate for the amateur athletes he knew and covered. A native of Litchfield, Connecticut, Joe graduated from Boston University in 1961. He served as sports information director (SID) at Holy Cross before joining the Boston Globe in the late 1960’s to cover college sports. Joe declined frequent invitations by his editors to write about Boston’s major professional sports teams, preferring to concentrate on the colleges, distance running and golf. He wrote the book Marathoning with Bill Rodgers and established the highly successful Litchfield Road Race in his hometown. Joe was a world traveler and was especially proud of his Irish heritage, frequently sojourning to the Emerald Isle. He passed away in 2000.
The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston: “Keepers of the Flame”
Founded in 1932, the Gridiron Club’s mission is to promote and nurture the ideals of citizenship, sportsmanship, leadership, and athletic and academic achievement. Through its annual dinners and golf tournament the club raises funds for worthy causes and carries on its tradition of honoring exemplary players, coaches and officials at all levels of sport. The Bulger Lowe Award, established in 1939 and awarded to New England’s best college football player, is the second oldest honor of its kind in American sport after the Heisman Trophy. The Nils V. “Swede” Nelson Award, inaugurated in 1946, honors college football players who also distinguish themselves in the classroom. The club assumed responsibility for the Walter Brown Award, the nation’s oldest college hockey honor, in 1977.
The Gridiron Club welcomes membership applications from coaches, officials, journalists, and fans of all sports. For information, please contact any club officer or write to club secretary Dick Lawrence, 9 Broadway, Unit 320, Saugus, MA 01906. Phone: 781-231-0372. Email: [log in to unmask]
2005-2006 Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Officers: George Crotty, President; Dave O’Brien, First Vice President; Al Robichaud, Second Vice President; Tim Whelan, Third Vice President; Richard (Dick) Lawrence, Secretary; Paul Costello, Treasurer; Edmund (Ned) Cully, Historian.
2005-2006 Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Selection Committee: Tim Costello, Chairman; Joe Bertagna, Tom Burke, Paul Costello, Bob DeGregorio, Ned Cully, Kevin Fleming, Steve Hagwell, Hon. Gordon A. Martin, Jr., Bob Norton, William J. Stewart III; Paul Stewart and Brian Sullivan.
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