Hockey East Names 2017-18 Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team

WAKEFIELD, Mass. - The Hockey East Association today announced the 2017-18 Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team and seven other season-long awards as voted by the league's 11 head coaches in advance of the 2018 Hockey East Championship, March 16 and 17, at TD Garden. The honorees will be recognized at Thursday night's annual awards banquet.

The 2017-18 Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team consists of seven players and includes goaltenders Cayden Primeau (Voorhees, N.J./ Northeastern) and Jeremy Swayman (Anchorage, Alaska/Maine), a pair of Massachusetts defensemen in Cale Makar (Calgary, Alta.) and Mario Ferraro (King City, Ont.) and forwards Shane Bowers (Halifax, N.S./Boston University), Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo./ Boston University), and the lone unanimous selection in Boston College's Logan Hutsko (Tampa, Fla./Boston College).

Also set to be recognized at Thursday night's ceremonies will be a pair of defensive awards, as Boston College junior captain Casey Fitzgerald (North Reading, Mass.) has been named the '47 Brand Best Defensive Defenseman and Providence senior Brian Pinho (North Andover, Mass.) was voted as the Gladiator Custom Mouthguards Best Defensive Forward. Three statistical awards will also be handed out, including the league's top scorer and Hockey East Three Stars champion, Northeastern junior forward Adam Gaudette (Braintree, Mass./20g, 15a, 35p), and the Stop It Goaltending Goaltender of the Year, Northeastern freshman Cayden Primeau. Hockey East's two sportsmanship awards will be bestowed upon Providence sophomore defenseman Jacob Bryson (London, Ont.) who will be presented with the Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award and the UMass Lowell River Hawks, who will be acknowledged with the Charlie Holt Team Sportsmanship Award for accruing the fewest penalty minutes in Hockey East games.

The 34th Hockey East Tournament championship will take place this weekend, Friday, March 16, and Saturday, March 17, at the TD Garden in Boston. No. 1 Boston College will square off with No. 4 Boston University Friday at 5 p.m., while No. 2 Northeastern and No. 3 Providence take the ice at 8 p.m. The winners advance to Saturday's championship tilt at 7 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.

2018 Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team
Goalie Cayden Primeau Northeastern	Goalie Jeremy Swayman Maine	Defense Cale Makar Massachusetts	Defense Mario Ferraro Massachusetts	Forward Shane Bowers Boston University	Forward Logan Hutsko * Boston College	Forward Brady Tkachuk Boston University

* denotes unanimous selection