Seven Terriers earn league honors

Chris Connolly was one of many Terriers to earn league recognition Thursday. JUNHEE CHUNG/DFP STAFF

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

Hockey East held its annual end-of-season awards banquet Thursday night at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, and several Boston University players brought home some hardware from the event.

Sophomore defenseman Adam Clendening earned the highest honors of any Terrier Thursday night, as he earned a selection to the First Team Hockey East All-Star squad. Clendening is the first Terrier sophomore defenseman to earn First-Team recognition since former Terrier captain (and Hobey Baker winner) Matt Gilroy earned the honors in 2007. Gilroy now plays in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators.

Senior captain Chris Connolly earned multiple honors following his 6-26=32 line through 26 league games this season. Connolly totaled six penalty minutes in 26 league games and finished with a plus-13, the best plus-minus rating of any BU skated. The Duluth, Minn. native was rewarded with the league’s Len Ceglarski Individual Sportsmanship Award and the Gladiator Best Defensive Forward trophy.

Connolly was also one of two Terriers named to the Hockey All-Star Second Team, where he was joined by sophomore defenseman Garrett Noonan (11-7=18, plus-11). Noonan is the first Terrier sophomore to earn Second-Team recognition since former Terrier captain Kevin Shattenkirk was named to the Second Team in the spring of 2009. Shattenkirk now mans the blue line for the St. Louis Blues.

Senior goaltender Kieran Millan finished the season as the Army ROTC “Three Stars” Winner, an award given to the player who earns the most game stars through the conference schedule. Millan earned a game star in 12 of 23 league games played in and was named first star three times. The league does not take into account postseason game stars, but Millan continued this trend in the postseason. He earned second-star honors in each of the first two games of BU’s quarterfinal series against the University of New Hampshire before being named first star in the third game of the series.

Millan was one of three Terriers named to the Hockey East Honorable Mention All-Star team. He was joined by junior assistant captain Alex Chiasson (9-18=27, plus-7) and sophomore forward Matt Nieto (10-22=32, plus-12).

BU was represented in the league’s Pro Ambition All-Rookie Team by freshman defenseman Alexx Privitera, who scored four goals and tallied eight assists in league play while also earning a plus-7 rating.

The entire Terrier team was in attendance at the event along with the entirety of all squads competing in the Hockey East Semifinals this weekend. BU will take the ice against the University of Maine in Friday night’s semifinal game. The winner will advance to the Hockey East championship game on Saturday night at the TD Garden.