On Thursday at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston, awards will be handed out for player of the year and coach of the year, and the NCAA Division III ice hockey All-America teams will be announced.
All three are presented by the the American Hockey Coaches Association
The player of the year award is named after legendary Bowdoin College men’s hockey coach Sid Watson, who coached the Polar Bears from 1960 to 1983. He had 326 victories during his time at Bowdoin.
There are eight finalists, including three who will be playing in the semifinals Friday and Saturday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
Zachary Vit of the Geneseo Kights put his team in position to contend for a national title this weekend with with 18 goals and 12 assists heading into this weekend’s play. Garrett Ladd of Wisconsin-Stevens Point led the Pointers with 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points. David Jacobson led the St. Nobert’s Green Knights to Lewiston with a 22-1-1 record in goal, with a 1.24 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage.
The other five players include the nation’s leading scorer at the Division III level, Jackson Brewer of Trinity, who had 14 goals and dished out 42 assists this year. Josh Obregon of Johnson and Wales is the ECAC Northeast player of the year, and as a sophomore had 17 goals and 15 assists. The lone defenseman, Caleb Suderman of Concordia (Minn.), created 30 points from the blue line, including 16 goals.
The other two finalists are goaltenders. Drew Fielding of St. Thomas (Minn.) had a 20-5-2 record along with a 1.43 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage, and Jamie Murray of Babson had a 21-5-2 record with a 1.50 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage.
The coach of the year award is named after Edward Jeremiah, who coached Dartmouth College from 1937-67, amassing a 308-347-12 record with the Big Green. The Somerville, Mass., native attended Hebron Academy as as teenager, where he played football, hockey and baseball.
All four coaches in Lewiston this week are nominated for the Jeremiah Award. Ed Gosek of Oswego won the award in 2007, and has the Lakers out to a 22-6-2 record this season. Tim Coghlin of St. Nobert’s followed Gosek, winning the award in 2008. His Green Knights team is currently 26-3-1. Chris Brooks of Wisconsin-Stevens Points has the Pointers at 21-5-2. Chris Schultz of the Geneseo Knights is also the SUNYAC Coach of the Year, and his team is 23-6-0 this season.
The other nine nominees are their conference’s coaches of the year. They are: Jeff Boeser of St. Thomas (MIAC); T.J. Brown of Framingham State (MASCAC); Steve Freeman of Wisconsin-River Falls (WIAC); Ken Hutchins of Southern New Hampshire (Northeast-10); Ryan McKelvie of Lake Forest (NCHA); Jamie Rice of Babson (ECAC East); Aaron Saul of Elmira (ECAC West); R.J. Tolan of Wentworth (ECAC Northeast); and Jim Ward of Connecticut College (NESCAC).
The NCAA will also hand out the Elite 89 award Thursday night, which is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 89 championships.
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