Player of the Year: Kelli Stack, Boston College
Easy choice? Well, yeah, it is.
But what can you say? The two-time league MVP and Vancouver Olympic veteran has performed the exact fireworks finale that everyone expected of her in her final year at Chestnut Hill.
In the midst of topping the Hockey East scoring charts in near-runaway fashion with 33 goals –a median of a little more than one per game- and 51 points, Stack has boosted the barometer for excellence in both Hockey East and Boston College, where she is now the first and only female puckster with a bushel of 200 or more career points.
Within regular season Hockey East games this year, she was the league’s new all-time leading goal-getter, playmaker, and point-scorer before Groundhog Day and later surpassed former teammate Allie Thunstrom for most single-season conference goals with 22.
Within the 2010-11 season alone, she scored a league-best 33 goals, 17 power play points, four shorthanded strikes, and seven game-clinchers.
If you still need more convincing for this case, you either require an emergency consultation with Lenscrafters or a swift return to basic arithmetic classes.
Defensive Player of the Year: Catherine Ward, Boston University
Most heartening for BU buffs, the Olympic gold medalist and McGill University alum has spiked in stretch drive, nailing seven helpers in the last four games of the regular season. And that was not long after she had charged up seven points in six games over the second half of January and spilling into February.
That rounded out a league-leading 18 assists in the 21-game conference schedule and 26 overall. As for her day job in Terrier territory, Ward has demonstrated particularly laudable discipline, taking only seven minor penalties in 32 games. All the more impressive considering the minutes she consumes from the front of the BU blue line brigade.
Rookie of the Year: Marie-Philip Poulin and Kerrin Sperry, Boston University
It’s not merely safe to declare these two BU’s belated answer to their crossroad rival’s tandem of Kelli Stack and Molly Schaus. With the passage of time, Poulin and Sperry’s impact just might surpass that of the BC Eagles’ franchise faces.
Before an injury sustained prior to the Beanpot, Poulin’s point total had more than doubled the bushel of any other Hockey East freshman. And even while she recuperates, she continues to sit at No. 3 on the league’s overall scoring chart with her 22-22-44 transcript, trailing only veterans Kelli Stack and Jenn Wakefield.
Just as much as Poulin deserves credit for living up to her hype, Sperry ought to be recognized for exceeding her expectations and solving the Terriers’ lone critical preseason riddle. She did not lose a single game until the first round of the Beanpot, her 19th career start and right on the heels of a personal 10-game winning streak.
Sperry enters the postseason at 19-2-3 overall, coupled with a 1.84 goals-against average, .933 save percentage, six shutouts, and no games with more than three opposing goals.
Goalie of the Year: Molly Schaus, Boston College
Strictly within league action, the aforementioned Sperry is bound to win out, having charged up a triple crown with the best goals-against average, save percentage, and winning percentage. But overall, with the exception of their records, Schaus has tended the tidier Comm. Ave. crease.
Through the end of the Eagles’ regular season, Schaus is No. 3 in the nation with a 1.42 goals-against average and ranks fifth with a .941 save percentage. And as a testament to her value to her team, she is the only Hockey Easterner to have claimed credit for all of her program’s wins this season. BC went 0-2-2 when Miss Zero was unavailable.
Coach of the Year: Maria Lewis, Maine
Within one year at the helm, Lewis has seen the Black Bears double their win count to 12, up their offensive output to 2.33 goals per game, and trim the opponents’ allotment to 2.45 strikes per night.
But ultimately, the Mainers retrieved their long-lost postseason passport for a reason far beyond all of their reformed stats. With their backs to the wall and four games against the league’s two runaway byes to close the regular season, they reaped three of a four possible points on the road from Boston College, fought valiantly in a 2-0 setback to regal Boston University, and then prevailed in a Senior Night overtime epic to salvage sixth place.
You simply don’t pull that off without a productive motivator behind your bench. Lewis professed an adamant winning attitude for this long-plebeian program upon her arrival and she never relinquished it even when it would have been easy and understandable.
That consistent spirit has, by all counts, rewarded her team. It should likewise reward her with a laurel at Friday’s banquet.
First All-Star Team
Forward- Marie-Philip Poulin, BU
Forward- Kelli Stack, BC
Forward- Jenn Wakefield, BU
Defense- Katelyn Kurth, BC
Defense- Catherine Ward, BU
Goal- Molly Schaus, BC
Second All-Star Team
Forward- Kate Bacon, Providence
Forward- Jillian Kirchner, BU
Forward- Mary Restuccia, BC
Defense- Jen Friedman, Providence
Defense- Carly Warren, BU
Goal- Kerrin Sperry, BU
Third All-Star Team
Forward- Jenelle Kohanchuk, BU
Forward- Rachel Llanes, Northeastern
Forward- Jennie Gallo, Maine
Defense- Courtney Birchard, New Hampshire
Defense- Tara Watchorn, BU
Goal- Genevieve Lacasse, Providence
All-Rookie Team
Forward- Corinne Buie, Providence
Forward- Arielle O’Neill, New Hampshire
Forward- Taylor Wasylk, BC
Defense- Kaleigh Fratkin, BU
Defense- Meagan Mangene, BC
Goal- Roxanne Douville, Vermont
Honorable mentions
Boston College: Melissa Bizzari, Blake Bolden, Danielle Welch
Boston University: Holly Lorms
Connecticut: Jennifer Chaisson, Taylor Gross
Maine: Myriam Croussette, Brittany Dougherty
New Hampshire: Kristina Lavoie
Northeastern: Katie MacSorley
Providence: Alyse Ruff
Vermont: Erin Wente
Al Daniel is the Hockey East correspondent to Beyond The Dashers
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