With award season coming up for Hockey East, this semester’s Boston Hockey Blog writers, Matt and Liam, made their picks for Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Goaltender of the year and the most memorable moment of the season. Hockey East will announce its award Thursday night.
Player of the Year:
Matt: Junior forward Adam Gaudette, Northeastern University
Gaudette is the best player on the best team and in the conference. He leads the country in goals (30) and points (59). If it weren’t for his linemate, senior forward Dylan Sikura, he would have led the conference in assists. There’s a good chance that the first line center for Northeastern will also be the school’s first Hobey Baker recipient.
Liam: Gaudette
See Matt’s explanation.
Rookie of the Year:
Matt: Freshman goaltender Cayden Primeau, Northeastern University
Sensing a theme here? You will see a lot of Northeastern players in Matt’s award selections. Although I seriously thought about Boston University’s freshman forward Shane Bowers for this award. Primeau’s .933 goal save percentage and his 1.86 goals against average had him second in the country among rookie goaltenders in both categories. At times it felt like Primeau was a brick wall and took over the games. If the Montreal Canadiens view Primeau as the successor to Carey Price, Primeau should be on Huntington Avenue for awhile as Price is only 30 years old.
Liam: Freshman forward Brady Tkachuk, Boston University
Tkachuk was elite all season for the Terriers, setting a physical tone for the team on its top line of forwards for much of the year. BU’s improvement over the final two months of the regular season was directly correlated to Tkachuk’s uptick in production. Over the final 16 games leading into the Hockey East semifinals, Tkachuk notched at least one point for 12 straight matchups. He also tied for third in scoring among all Hockey East freshmen with 28 points.
Coach of the Year:
Matt: Greg Carvel, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Carvel’s team was predicted to finish last in the conference, but played in a quarterfinal matchup against Northeastern. This was the first time Carvel had his team in the quarterfinals since 2012 while coaching a team of predominantly freshmen players.
Liam: Jim Madigan, Northeastern University
After hoisting the Beanpot trophy three times as a player with the Huskies, Madigan guided Northeastern to its first Beanpot win since 1988 this February. He has developed forwards such as Dylan Sikura and Adam Gaudette into two of the best scorers in the country, has brought along a freshman goaltender, Cayden Primeau, into being a reliable rock in net and has his squad prepped for a deep NCAA tournament run.
Goaltender of the Year.
Matt: Freshman goaltender Cayden Primeau, Northeastern University
Primeau leads Hockey East in every major goaltending category. I don’t think this is much of a question.
Liam: Junior goaltender Christoffer Hernberg, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Hernberg has been as reliable as they come for the River Hawks despite not having the type of defensive line in front of him that Primeau does with the Huskies. He ranks second in the Hockey East in both save percentage (.921) and goals allowed per game (2.08).
Matt’s First Team.
F – Nolan Stevens, Sr. Northeastern
F – Adam Gaudette Jr. Northeastern
F – Dylan Sikura Sr. Northeastern
D – Jeremy Davis, So. Northeastern
D – Dante Fabbro, So. BU
G – Cayden Primeau, Fr. Northeastern
Liam’s First Team:
F – Jordan Greenway, Jr. BU
F – Adam Gaudette Jr. Northeastern
F – Dylan Sikura Sr. Northeastern
D – Jeremy Davies, So. Northeastern
D – Dante Fabbro, So. BU
G – Christoffer Hernberg, Jr. UMass Lowell
Matt’s Second Team:
F – Bobo Carpenter, Jr. BU
F – Erik Foley, Jr. Providence
F – Maxim Letunov, Jr. UConn
D – Jacob Bryson, So. Providence
D – Ryan Shea, So. Northeastern
G – Christoffer Hernberg, Jr. UMass Lowell
Liam’s Second Team
F – Nolan Stevens, Sr. Northeastern
F – Erik Foley, Jr. Providence
F – Mitchell Fossier, So. Maine
D – Jacob Bryson, So. Providence
D – Jared Kolquist, Sr. Merrimack
G – Cayden Primeau, Fr. Northeastern
Matt’s Rookie Team:
F – Logan Hutsko, BC
F – Shane Bowers, BU
F – John Leonard, UMass
D – Cale Makar, UMass
D – Brady Keeper, Maine
G – Cayden Primeau, . Northeastern
Liam’s Rookie Team:
F – Shane Bowers, BU
F – Brady Tkachuk, BU
F – Logan Hutsko, BC
D – Max Gildon, UNH
D – Mario Ferraro, UMass
G – Cayden Primeau, Northeastern
Matt’s Regular Season game of the year:
BU beats Harvard in double overtime in the Beanpot opening round.
Liam’s regular season game of the year:
Beanpot final. Seeing Northeastern’s players and fans’ ecstasy after winning the tournament for the first time in 30 seasons is a moment that will go down in Boston hockey lore.
Logan Hutsko from BC was a 1.00PPG scorer. Brady Tkachuk was 0.75PPG. If you are going to give ROY to a scorer, it has to be Hutsko.
Hey Rui
Look at Brian’s post. Must be another troll haha
Thanks for thinking of me but I’m not saying against it from what I see ..according to u bu was supposed to lose last week but keep saying it it will eventually happen..
What is being a troll about my post? I stated a fact and Hutsko won the award. I’m a BU fan but try not to be a homer. I call it as I see it.
Vinnie,
Hate to write it and cannot wait for the troll accusation but the man up the street took a team with no seniors and average talent to a league title (also lost his best recruit) Certainly seems like a solid candidate for coach of the year.
I thought it was impossible to win with such a young and inexperienced team. Ha Ha , only on this blog site.
U would think he should win it over the guy from umass typical.. We missed u last weekend when u said they would lose so u hide few days now u come back.. Welcome back Larry …
Fabro is the best defenseman in the nation I’m thrilled that he was selected as a all star im disappointed it was second team. He has not been beat 1-1 all year. Before some anti BU fan comes on here disagreeing it’s true I’m there game after game. This kid deserves to be a All American. I hope it still happens cause as good of a hockey player as he is he is even better a person.🐾
I’m also very disappointed Chad Krys was not on this list. This kid is always getting looked over. All he does is produce. The good news with Krys is every time someone looks him over he plays with a edge I see him playing great Friday 🐾
He produces on the offensive side but he has been a defensive liability all year.
Well Larry, BC has certainly not been winning … at least not against strong, out-of-conference foes. Besides, they have the same record as we do LOL! Kudos to BC for beating the weaker HE teams … against which we did not win as many as we should have won (i.e. the tie at home against UMass and the loss last month at UConn). Having said that, BC has only two quality wins on their schedule … and both occurred last semester. Of course we have the exact same problem.
Bam!!!! Hahaha how about them facts frozen out … So keep on trolling troll u forgot how bc first 10 games were against weak competition
Vinnie and frozen out please don’t disappear when bc loses on Friday like u guys have done in the past after a bu victory…. I am and will always be here WIN OR LOSE!! GO BU
Nice to see tkachuck and Bowers get recognized for there contributions. Cockerill could have also been on that list what a run he has been on. I like the way things are shaping up. Woll is a great goalie but we are fast if we play our game and get traffic to the net we will be ok. Is it Friday yet go bu🐾
Rui,
If you were able to read which you can’t, you would see that i said i thought they would win, but it would go 3 games. ok, i was wrong on the game count. glad that i was. but i was not far off. one OT game and the other a close 2-1 victory (badly outshot BTW).
i think friday’s game is a toss-up. Rui, does mean i said they would lose? no. 50-50 chance
I will be here whether they win or lose, big fella. you better hope they do
I’ve been here all year win or lose and will continue to be here and always riot for them …
All things considered a win Friday against BC makes the season bearable, A loss Friday makes the year a disaster. To beat NU Saturday ? For the first time I can ever remember I would say we would not have much of a chance. We just don’t have enough O and NU has way too much of it.. Would have to play a perfect game on D . Maybe here if we had a checking line against NU’s top line we might have a chance. Do we have such a line available ?
1) I think BU has to win Hockey East to make this season bearable. Given expectations, BU needs to at minimum squeak into the NCAAs and they ain’t getting an at-large, so….. 2) I wouldn’t count them out against NU. You’d have to be foolish to pick BU but I don’t think the gap is as much as you make it. NU’s OOC schedule was a joke. If they had played OOC schedule BU or BC played, they might have a couple more losses. Oettinger has been playing better as of late. Not out of the question he shuts them down.
Well said Caesar. Exactly how I feel. Are you sure you are not a BC troll? 🙂
Let’s get past bc I’m not overlooking them . They have a great goalie. And are lead by a great coach. They will be ready to play. If we play our game I think we take the game. If northeastern is the team that makes it Saturday we will have a tough battle on our hands but what shot us in the foot last time was special teams we are better now and we have greenway in lineup this will be huge but as I said one game at a time all 4 teams are capable of winning this tournament. Go bu🐾
Rui, Glenn,
The truth hurts but after reviewing the 11-3-2 second half record, name one NCAA bound tournament team that B.U. defeated. Some more very fake news from Rui. I never disappeared and did comment on the series stating it would be close and it was!
Also in the three loses two were against teams that finished with a record below 500.
The match up with beagles is a true elimination game. To remain fair and balanced I will not do my annual season review review until it is completed.
Pretty sure no one here cares about your review to be honest … Always a pleasure larry.. Go bu . in your case anyone but bu…
Yes Larry, I do agree that neither team has beat an NCAA Tournament team in that second half.
Frozen out= Larry= clown= York ball washer… GO BU!!
Rui,
You are the real troll and i’m calling you out. The bloggers you mention, Vinnie, Frozen, ect , maybe me are just telling it like it is. We all make comments based on years of observation of B.U. hockey, are very loyal fans for years and in many cases Friends of B.U hockey who have given generously to the program for years and also their time as an investment as well. WE ALL WANT THEM TO DO WELL, but when they don’t we say so and try to come up with answers as to how to solve the problems. With all due respect, who ‘da hell are you? You think you are a cheerleader? how long have you been a BU hockey fan? Do you contribute to the program, how many games do you attend? Were you ever a FOH? Tell us something about yourself before taking cheap shots at others who really have something to say about BU hockey
I must stand up for Roy he’s passionate about BU hockey he goes to every game . He contributes what he can so do I. Roy is more like sand paper in his responses to comments then me but the truth is often times players and coaches are called out for fictitious things I very rarely see anyone Roy has mentioned ever say anything positive or offer a solution. I love talking college hockey but people need to rember we are talking about kids. Roy is just trying to defend the team he loves. I do the same thing to many on this blog enjoy when things don’t go our way. It’s sports these are college athletes support them and move on go bu🐾
Rui,
Who won coach of the year in Hockey East? I cannot seem to find that information. I maybe a clown and a troll but at least I tell the truth and do not make excuses like the majority on this blog.
Frozen out coach York is a great coach he has done a lot for that program. I’m glad your excited for him he is a great coach but this is a BU hockey blog. Your frustrated with Roy but he is just standing up for his team. If I were to say to you go write on the bc blog you would have the regular 3 to 4 bloggers call me out saying we are BU fans. Too me it seems your not it seems your more of I will root for anyone but BU because of coach friends room whatever the reason. I don’t care you may have good reasons it’s a free country you can like whoever you want. One things for sure it will never be questioned where my aligeance lies go bu🐾
Colin,
The “kids” you are talking about are also privileged in that they are getting potentially a free ride for an education at the university’s and ultimately the alumi’s expense. Many of them will go on to pro hockey careers and make a lot of money right away. Some don’t even commit to BU hockey for more than a year or so and in doing so are not contributing that much to the program. This being true the fans and supporters have every right to criticize them when they don’t play well, and that includes the coach who is well compensated as well.
We will agree to disagree Vito I think this does no good for the team to come on here and bash everyone. I disagree with you on how much of a commitment these kids make to the program they start and end in the spring coach kzyeck sorry I’m sure it’s misspelled is a great but tough strength and conditioning coach he has the kids in great shape. Make no doubt about it the kids care very much about this and every game.