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 HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.