AMESBURY, Mass. - The Hockey East Association announced today that Boston University freshman forward Macklin Celebrini (Vancouver, B.C.) has been named Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Year and Hockey East Player of the Year.
Alongside Celebrini, Boston College Head Coach Greg Brown was voted Coach of the Year by his peers.
All three awards were selected by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Celebrini becomes just the fourth player win Hockey East Rookie and Player of the Year awards in a single season
following Jack Eichel (2014-15), Paul Kariya (1992-93), and Brian Leetch (1986-87). As the youngest player in college
hockey at 17 years old, Celebrini currently sits second overall in the nation in goals (30), third in points (55) and shots
(158), and fourth in power-play goals (11). He leads all rookies in goals, shots, and power-play goals, and is tied for eighth
with three game-winning tallies. In 23 Hockey East games, he led all players with 44 points, nine power-play goals, 1.91
points per game and was second with 23 goals, 112 shots on net, and a plus-18 on-ice rating. He also won 190 faceoffs,
12th most in the league. Celebrini left his mark on several season-long categories, as no rookie has ever scored more
goals in league play than his 23, and his 1.00 goals per game is the best mark among rookies and seventh-best all time in
the 40-year history of Hockey East. His 44 league points are the fifth-most by a freshman ever and the most since Eichel’s
44 in 2014-15. At 1.91 points per game as a first-year player, only Eichel and Kariya scored at a higher pace. He recorded
a point in 25 of 30 games played, including 19 multi-point games and six games with at least three points. Celebrini was
the lone unanimous selection to the All-Hockey East First Team and was one of three rookies selected unanimously to the
Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team. The Vancouver native was a six-time Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week, two-time Hockey
East Player of the Week, Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month in January and was named Hockey East and National Player
of the Month in October. Celebrini is the first Terrier to record 30 goals in a season since Chris Drury scored 38 during the
1996-97 season.
Brown wins his first Bob Kullen Award presented by Bauer in just his second season as a head coach at his alma mater.
Top-seeded Boston College (29-5-1/20-3-1 HE) claimed the Hockey East Regular Season crown for the 18th time in program history as the Eagles are on a 10-game winning streak, have an 19-2-0 mark in their last 21, and ended the regular
season riding a 13-game winning streak in league play. They are the first program to win 20 games in Hockey East play
since Boston College accomplished that feat in 2010-11 in a season where all teams played 27 league games instead of
the current 24, and is the best mark in Hockey East play since Maine went 22-1-1 in 1992-93. He led a team that saw six
underclassmen named to All-Star Teams including a rookie netminder who posted the second-highest single-season win
total in Hockey East regular-season history. Boston College is the first Hockey East team to win 10-games in a row since
Massachusetts won 14 consecutively en route to the 2021 NCAA championship.
The Hockey East semifinals are set for 4:00pm and 7:30pm on Friday, March 22 at TD Garden in Boston, while the 39th championship game will be played Saturday, March 23 at 7:30pm. All three games will air live on NESN and NESN+. Tickets are are available at TicketMaster.com.
2024 Hockey East Men’s Tournament Schedule | |||||
Date | Date | Away | Home | Time | TV/Streaming |
Wed. | March 13 | #8 UConn def. #9 Vermont, 4-1 | |||
Wed. | March 13 | #6 New Hampshire def. #11 UMass Lowell, 1-0 | |||
Wed. | March 13 | #7 Northeastern def. #10 Merrimack, 4-0 | |||
Sat. | March 16 | #5 Massachusetts def. #4 Providence, 3-1 | |||
Sat. | March 16 | 2 Boston University def. #7 Northeastern, 4-2 | |||
Sat. | March 16 | #3 Maine def. #6 New Hampshire, 5-0 | |||
Sat. | March 16 | #1 Boston College def. #8 UConn, 5-4 | |||
Fri. | March 22 | #5 Massachusetts | #1 Boston College | 4:00pm | NESN/NESN+/ESPN+ |
Fri. | March 22 | #3 Maine | #2 Boston University | 7:30pm | NESN/NESN+/ESPN+ |
Sat. | March 23 | Hockey East Championship | 7:30pm | NESN/NESN+/ESPN+ |