BOSTON - The New England Hockey Writers Division I All-Star teams and awards have been finalized after tallying votes from all Division I coaches and respective media outlets throughout New England. This year's banquet will be held on Wednesday, April 11 at the Prince Restaurant in Saugus, Mass. The banquet will start at 6 p.m. All awards and All-Star teams will be presented at the gala. All coaches, student-athletes, family members and friends are encouraged to attend Wednesday's banquet. Please contact Carolyn Stacey or Meghan Pflieger at (781) 245-2122 or by email (intern@hockeyeastonline.com) for information on attending this event. Cost is $40 per person.
Northeastern junior forward Adam Gaudette headlines this year's awards. The Braintree, Mass. native picked up both the Leonard Fowle Award for Most Valuable Player and the Herb Gallagher Award for Best Forward. Gaudette, a Hobey Baker Top Ten finalist, was one of the top players in the nation from start to finish in 2017-18, finishing the campaign with 60 points on 30 goals and 30 assists.
Gaudette, the 2018 Hockey East Player of the Year and Walter Brown Award winner, leads the NCAA in both overall scoring and total goals, becoming just the 11th player in Northeastern history to score 30 goals in a season and the seventh in the NCAA since the 2012-13 season. A Hockey East First Team All-Star and Hockey East Regular Season Scoring Champion, Gaudette's performance this season is tied for 10th in single-season scoring at Northeastern and tied for ninth in single-season goals.
Cale Makar of Massachusetts and Cayden Primeau of Northeastern locked down the George C. Carens Award for Co-Rookie of the Year for their remarkable 2017-18 campaigns. Makar, the fourth overall selection in last year's NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche, posted 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 34 games. He was named a Hockey East Third Team All-Star and to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team, and helped Team Canada win gold at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship. Primeau, meanwhile, burst onto the scene at Northeastern in his rookie season, starting 32 of the team's 38 games and posted a 1.92 goals against average (seventh in the NCAA) and .931 save percentage (sixth in the nation), and tied the school record for shutouts by a freshman (four). He was also named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team.
Adam Fox of Harvard picked up the Bob Monahan Award for Best Defenseman for the second straight season. The Jericho, N.Y. native is fifth in the nation among defensemen with 0.97 points per game (six goals, 22 assists in 29 games). He finished the season with 16 points in his final nine games (six goals, 10 assists), and earlier in the season became the first Crimson defenseman to record a hat trick since 2011. Fox won a bronze medal at the IIHF World Junior Championships with Team USA in January, and was also named First Team All-ECAC for the second straight year.
Providence's Bran Pinho earned the Frank Jones Award for Best Defensive Forward for his complete two-way style of play. He was a key contributor on the penalty kill for the Friars, helping them to an 85.4% success rate, good for seventh in the NCAA and second in Hockey East. Pinho also garnered Third Team All-Star accolades after matching a career-high in goals (12) and posting 31 points overall. He was also named the Gladiator Custom Mouthguards Best Defensive Forward award winner by Hockey East.
Scott Pooley of Holy Cross collected the Paul Hines Award for New England's Most Improved Player after a senior campaign that saw a drastic increase in production from his junior season. He registered 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points, all career-highs and up from his 9-12--21 totals from a season ago. He also finished the year tied for 16th in the NCAA with eight power play goals, and had point streaks of four games or longer at four points of the season.
Harvard's Thomas Aiken picked up this year's Joe Tomaselo Award for Unsung Hero. An incredibly hard worker on the ice and in the classroom, the senior defenseman was a steady presence on the blue line during his four-year career at Harvard. Aiken played in 13 games for the Crimson, and had a key role in Harvard's 2015-16 postseason run, helping the Crimson earn an ECAC Hockey Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. On or off the ice, Aiken has made a great impact on the Harvard Hockey program, always the last one off the ice at practice or volunteering his time at community events, including the One Summit Skate and the Jimmy Fund Walk. Last season, he won the prestigious Elite 90 Award for having the highest GPA of all competitors at the 2017 Frozen Four, becoming just the second student-athlete in Harvard history to earn the award.
Boston College's Jerry York secured the Clark Hodder Award as New England's Division I Coach of the Year after leading the Eagles to their 16th Hockey East regular season championship after being picked to finish fourth in the conference at the start of the season. York, who was also named the Hockey East Coach of the Year for the fourth time, guided Boston College to the conference semifinals for the 13th time in his tenure, and finished the season with a mark of 20-14-3.
Dick Umile is honored with the Parker/York Award for Contributions to New England Hockey. The legendary 28-year head coach of the New Hampshire men's ice hockey program, Umile retired at the end of the 2017-18 season. He guided the Wildcats to 596 victories, two National Championship games, four Frozen Fours, 18 NCAA tournament appearances, eight Hockey East Regular Season Championships and two Hockey East Tournament titles.
Gaudette highlights the All-Star team and is joined by fellow Hobey Baker Top Ten finalists Dylan Sikura of Northeastern and Harvard's Ryan Donato. Northeastern's Nolan Stevens, Boston University's Bobo Carpenter, and Yale's Joe Snivley round out the forwards. Joining Fox on the All-Star defensive team are Hockey East blueliners Jacob Bryson of Providence, Northeastern's Jeremy Davies and Boston University's Dante Fabbro. The two goaltenders named to this year's All-Star team are Providence's Hayden Hawkey and Primeau of Northeastern.