ANDOVER, Mass. - The Hockey East Association announced tonight that Northeastern sophomore Alina Mueller (Winterthur, Switzerland) has been awarded the 2020 Cammi Granato Award as Hockey East Player of the Year. The award was presented as part of the 18th annual Hockey East championship awards banquet ahead of the Hockey East Championship, March 7 and 8, at Lawler Rink on the campus of Merrimack College.
BONUS VIDEO: 2019-20 Hockey East Women's Highlights | Player of the Year Finalists | Rookie of the Year Finalists | Coach of the Year Finalists
Alongside Mueller, Northeastern Head Coach Dave Flint was named Hockey East Coach of the Year presented by Four- Points Sheraton for the second consecutive year, and third of his career, while Boston College forward Hannah Bilka (Coppell, Texas) was named Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Year.
Mueller has appeared in each game the Huskies have played this season, leading all Hockey East players in nearly every overall scoring category, including goals (25), assists (45), points (60), goals per game (0.69), assists per game (0.97), points per game (1.67), shorthanded goals (3), game-winning goals (9), shots on goal (193), and shots on goal per game (5.36.) Mueller was crowned as Hockey East scoring champion, racking up 44 points on 20 goals and 24 assists in league play. The sophomore forward scored seven game-winning goals in Hockey East play and assisted on eight others, playing a factor in 15 of the program-record 30 game-winning strikes for the Huskies this season. Northeastern is undefeated this year when Mueller finds the back of the net, with a perfect 21-0-0 record, and are 28-1-1 with she records at least one point. She was named Hockey East Player of the Week four times, and honored with Hockey East Player of the Month three times, including each of the last two months.
Bilka recorded 30 points in league play as a freshman in 2019-20, the ninth-highest total for a first-year player in Hockey East history and the fourth-best total of any Hockey East skater in 2019-20. She led all league rookies in assists (19), points (30), assists per game (0.76), points per game (1.20), power-play assists (3), shorthanded goals (1), game-winning goals (3), hat tricks (1), shots on goal (103), and shots on goal per game (4.12), all in league play. Overall, Bilka finished her season with the most helpers (23) and points (37) of any Hockey East freshman skater in 36 total appearances. She began her career with Boston College with a nine-game point streak from Sept. 28 - Nov. 2, racking up 10 goals and eight assists in that span. She was named Hockey East Player of the Week once (Oct. 7) and Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week once (Oct. 28) and picked up Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month accolades for Sept./Oct.
Flint has led the Northeastern Huskies to a 30-5-5 overall record, the most wins in program history, and a 21-3-3 mark in Hockey East regular season play, claiming the regular season crown for the second consecutive year and third time in program history. Flint has guided the Huskies to back-to-back regular season titles and Hockey East Tournament championships for the first time in program history and led his team to the 2020 Beanpot championship, the first win for his program since 2013. Flint coached his team to an average of 3.93 goals per game in conference play, the highest of any program in 2019-20. His Huskies also allowed a scant 0.74 goals per league game, ranking first out of all 10 schools and the second-best team GAA in league history for a single season. Flint's team defense allowed single-digit goals in each period across the Hockey East season, giving up just seven, six, and five goals in the first second and third periods of all conference games, respectively.
The 18th annual Women's Hockey East Tournament championship will take place this weekend, Saturday, March 7, and Sunday, March 8, at Merrimack College's Lawler Rink. No. 1 Northeastern will square off with No. 7 Maine on Saturday at 12 p.m., while No. 5 UConn and No. 6 New Hampshire take the ice at 3:30 p.m. The winners advance to Sunday's championship tilt at 2 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets by contacting the Merrimack College ticketing office at (978) 837-5324 or by emailing tickets@merrimack.edu
