Daily Free Press Admin
The Hockey East Writers and Broadcasters Association announced Wednesday the organization’s year-end awards as voted on by members of the media who cover the conference in a variety of capacities. Boston College sophomore Johnny Gaudreau took home Player of the Year honors while Providence College goalie Jon Gillies was tabbed Rookie of the Year and UMass-Lowell’s Norm Bazin Coach of the Year.The complete results, followed by the ballots of each of the Boston Hockey Blog writers, are as follows.Player of the Year: Johnny Gaudreau, Boston College, (Runner-up: Jon Gillies, Providence College)Coach of the Year: Norm Bazin, UMass Lowell (Runner-up: Nate Leaman, Providence College)Rookie of the Year: Jon Gillies, Providence College (Runner-up: Kevin Roy, Northeastern)All-Hockey East First Team*Johnny Gaudreau (So.), Forward, Boston CollegeSteven Whitney (Sr.), Forward, Boston CollegeMike Collins (Jr.), Forward, Merrimack CollegeTrevor van Riemsdyk (So.), Defense, New HampshireChad Ruhwedel (So.), Defense, UMass LowellJon Gillies (Fr.), Goaltender, Providence CollegeAll-Hockey East Second TeamKevin Goumas (Jr.), Forward, New HampshirePat Mullane (Sr.), Forward, Boston CollegeJoseph Pendenza (Jr.), Forward, UMass LowellJordan Heywood (Jr.), Defense, Merrimack CollegeMike Matheson (Fr.), Defense, Boston CollegeConnor Hellebuyck (Fr.), Goaltender, UMass LowellAll-Hockey East Rookie Team*Danny O’Regan, Forward, Boston University*Kevin Roy, Forward, NortheasternDevin Shore, Forward, Maine*Mike Matheson, Defense, Boston CollegeMatt Grzelcyk, Defense, Boston UniversityJon Gillies, Goaltender, Providence* = unanimous selectionKevin’s picksPlayer of the Year: Johnny Gaudreau Coach of the Year: Norm Bazin Rookie of the Year: Jon Gillies All-Hockey East First Team Johnny Gaudreau – Mike Collins – Steven Whitney Trevor Van Riemsdyk – Mike Matheson Jon Gillies
All-Hockey East Second Team Joseph Pendenza – Pat Mullane – Evan Rodrigues Sean Escobedo – Eric Knodel Casey DeSmith All-Hockey East Rookie Team Kevin Roy – Danny O’Regan – Devin Shore Mike Matheson – Matt GrzelcykJon GilliesPicking Johnny Gaudreau over Jon Gillies was a tough choice for me, but in the end Gaudreau was just the most impressive overall player in the league this season. He led the conference with 36 points in 27 Hockey East games while tying for the league lead in game-winning goals (five). It is tough to compare goalie statistics with player statistics, but Gillies was only third in Hockey East in goals-against average (2.17) and save percentage (.929) during Hockey East play.Mike Matheson earned the spot on the First Team because of his play in his own defensive end as well as his offensive ability. The freshman was tied for second in the league in points by a defenseman with 17, but his plus-18 plus-minus rating bumped him up to the First Team. Sean Escobedo earned a spot on the Second Team thanks to his performance in his own zone this season. Escobedo led the league in blocked shots (76) and was relied upon heavily whenever his team had to preserve a lead.It was tough to leave Kevin Goumas off of my Second Team, but Joseph Pendenza and Evan Rodrigues were simply better in Hockey East play. Pendenza scored two more goals than Goumas while playing on a team that played all four forward lines consistently, while Rodrigues scored four more goals and had a league-best plus-16 rating.Some honorable mentions include Goumas, Chad Ruhwedel, Matt Nieto, Jordan Heywood, and Connor Hellebuyck. Tim’s picks
Player of the Year: Jon Gillies Coach of the Year: Nate Leaman Rookie of the Year: Jon Gillies All-Hockey East First TeamJohnny Gaudreau – Kevin Goumas – Mike CollinsTrevor van Riemsdyk – Mike MathesonJon Gillies
All-Hockey East Second TeamMatt Nieto – Pat Mullane – Steven WhitneySean Escobedo – Chad RuhwedelCasey DeSmithAll-Hockey East Rookie TeamKevin Roy – Danny O’Regan – Devin ShoreMatt Grzelcyk – Mike MathesonJon GilliesFor my picks, I used players’ performance throughout the season — not just Hockey East play. There were surely plenty of strong choices, and none of mine are outlandish, but here I’ll elaborate on a few. My picks of Jon Gillies for player of the year and Nate Leaman for coach of the year were simple: They lifted Providence to within a win of the Hockey East regular-season title in a season when the Friars weren’t supposed to have a chance. Gaudreau, the other obvious choice for player of the year, was far from alone in helping BC to the No. 2 seed. It’s similar for Norm Bazin. Don’t get me wrong – he has done a spectacular job turning Lowell around in just two seasons – but it was much less of a surprise after they tied for second in 2011-12. My Second Team has what could be a couple surprise choices in Matt Nieto and Casey DeSmith. Nieto, though, put BU on his back down the stretch is it clinched home ice in the quarterfinals. His seven-game point streak (which included two playoff games, granted) featured nine goals and four assists to launch him to tied for seventh in the conference in scoring. For DeSmith, it was mostly a matter of a lack of other choices. Many voted for UMass-Lowell’s Connor Hellebuyck, but he started just half of the River Hawks’ 36 games.
Annie’s picks
Player of the Year: Johnny Gaudreau Coach of the Year: Norm Bazin Rookie of the Year: Jon Gillies All-Hockey East First TeamSteven Whitney – Johnny Gaudreau – Kevin GoumasTrevor van Riemsdyk – Jordan HeywoodJon GilliesAll-Hockey East Second Team Pat Mullane – Danny O’Regan – Kevin Roy Michael Matheson – Sean EscobedoConnor HellebuyckAll-Hockey East Rookie TeamKevin Roy – Danny O’Regan – Devin Shore Michael Matheson – Matt GrzelcykJon GilliesAlthough I eventually went with Gaudreau for Player of the Year, my decision essentially came down to a coin toss between him and Gillies. While Nate Leaman has surely led the Friars well, I attribute their playoff run, and their success all year, much more to Gillies’ play, so Norm Bazin was an easy Coach of the Year choice for me.
I left Mike Collins off my first team, where many others had him, mainly because of the way he tailed off at the end of the year as Merrimack fell out of the race for home ice. He had just two points over the regular season’s last seven games. (I also made my decisions based on overall stats, not just conference.)I like Kevin’s choice of Rodrigues on the second team, but I couldn’t quite pick him over O’Regan or Roy in the end. O’Regan has been arguably BU’s most consistent forward this year. He led the Terriers in scoring with 34 points in the regular season and hasn’t gone more than two games without a point all year – all as a freshman who didn’t turn 19 until Jan. 30.And Roy deserves recognition as by far the best player on a last-place team. His 1.17 points per game is the third best in the conference, despite him being part of the eighth-best offense. With a better supporting cast, he might well have been able to put up the kind of numbers that would have earned him my ROY vote over Gillies.