Saturday, April 21, 2007

Aye-Aye Captain!

Awards and Captains have been announced - so, here it goes. (Official Release from UNH Athletics Site is title-linked)

Starting with Awards for Excellence...

Roger LeClerc Award - Wildcat MVP - Kevin Regan

An excellent choice. Kevin flat-out dominated in net this year. While our offense was a force to be reckoned with for part of the season Kevin Regan was stellar all season and the numbers prove that. Just look at his incredible .935 save-percentage and his great 2.06 goals-against-average. His .935 save-percentage was tops in all of Div. 1 college hockey. When you really begin to analyze a goaltender's performance, save-percentage, not goals-against-average, is where it is at, especially for a goaltender that gets shelled night in, night out like Kevin did this past season. Comparatively, Kevin saw more shots per game than anyone with a lower goals-against-average and his numbers were better than the one goaltender that I could come up with that actually saw a fractional number more shots per game. Hands down the most underrated player in college hockey. He was clearly the best goaltender in college hockey this past year and he just got better as the season went on - I expect that he will pick up where he left off and we will see another rise in the level of his game over the course of his senior year.

Guy Smith Award - Best Offensive Player - Trevor Smith

Ah, they just gave it to the guy with the same name - just kidding. Clearly the best offensive threat on our 06-07 'Cats was Trevor Smith. Trevor more than doubled his points from his freshman year and it seems like it should have been more. Having started the season scoring in the first six games, a total of eight goals and four assists before he was kept off of the scoresheet in the 4-4 tie versus BU, Trevor would continue to score increasing his totals to 10 goals and 11 assists in 11 games. From this point on though the points would become a lot tougher to come by as it would take him the next 28 games to add another 22 points. It's unfortunate that his best course took him away from UNH - who knows, maybe someday they would have been awarding the 'Trevor Smith Award'.

Robert Kullen Award - The Unsung Hero - Josh Ciocco

Our 06-07 Captain was a force all season long, I would definitely attribute a lot of the unexpected success to Josh's leadership. Having repeatedly heard from most of the team that this was the greatest team and the greatest group that they had ever played hockey with, I see it as a testament to his abilities as a leader and the dynamics of his attitude on and off the ice. You will be missed Captain.

The 'Matt Fornataro' Award - The Most Improved - Matt Fornataro - 07/08 Captain

After his junior campaign you really could name this award after Matt. This past year Matt earned this year's captainship with hard work and determination. After coming back from his second summer 'off' Matt reportedly showed up in the best condition of his life and had the hockey season of his career up to this point. Having equaled his goals from his first two years at 13 and adding 8 more assists than in his first two years for a total of 27 assists - his Wildcat point totals went from 32 from his first two years to 72 after completing his junior campaign. Great job, Matt! And Congratulations Captain! I'm confident that you will lead our team well!

Sid Knight Award - The Team's Top Scholar/Athlete (highest GPA) - for the third consecutive year - Brad 'The Brain' Flaishans.

Brad, a business administration: finance major, is not exactly cruising easy street when it comes to hitting the books. While I want to congratulate Brad for this amazing accomplishment I must chastise the rest of the team - Guys are you really going to let him run away with this thing for four straight!? Come on! Anyhow, to all the incoming freshman, you know who to turn to if you need help with your homework, no not me, Brad!

Ted Karmeris Fan Favorite Award - Jacob Micflikier

Will be sorely missed. One of the top scorers in all of Hockey East over his four years here, our Assistant Captain was pure excitement to watch. Always flying on the expansive sheet of the Whittemore Center ice - his enthusiasm and energy was continually contagious and could be felt in every seat in the house. Thanks for all of your effort and dedication Jacob - it wouldn't have been the same without you.

Rod Langway Best Defenseman Award - Chris Murray

What can I say Chris, you earned it! Chris had a standout year leading the defensive squad in scoring with 9 goals and 13 assists. Our other Assistant Captain blew away his previous high of 2 goals, 6 assists last year and all of this considering that he only scored his first collegiate goal on December 30th, 2006. I hope you find continued success on and off the ice.

Warren Brown Trophy winner - Best Defensive Forward - Greg Collins

Greg, we're looking forward toward a lot more of the amazing work that you did on the offensive side of the ice towards the end of the year on top of your defensive game. Stay healthy, and come back strong and ready to go - keep doing the same things that you've been doing just more of it!

Charles E. Holt Coaches Award - for on and off ice contributions - Shawn Vinz and Brett Hemingway

I want to say thank you to the two of you and to the entire graduating class. It has been a terrific four years and you will all be missed. It won't be the same without you but I'm sure that those who have some time left will have plenty to strive for having seen your dedication, hard work and perseverance - and to match or even surpass your accomplishments here. Thanks seniors and good luck!


Ahoy Captains!

For the first time the University of New Hampshire Men's Hockey Team will sport five captains - the entire senior class.

Captain:

Matt Fornataro

Assistant Captains:

Brad Flaishans

Kevin Regan

Craig Switzer

Mike Radja

1 Comments:

Blogger Molly said...

5 captains... that's pretty insane.

I'm sure they'll all do a great job! I'm definitely looking forward to next season!

Apr 22, 2007, 12:18:00 AM  

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