The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston announced Monday the 23 semifinalists for the 64th Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England.
The nation’s oldest nationally-recognized college hockey honor, the Walter Brown Award was established in 1953 by the members of the 1933 Massachusetts Rangers, the first American team ever to win the World Championship Tournament. Brown coached the Rangers to the title in Prague, Czechoslovakia, that year as the team defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime in the championship game.
The list of nominees includes 14 players from Hockey East, eight from ECAC Hockey and one from Atlantic Hockey. The slate is comprised of 15 forwards, four goalies and four defensemen. Boston College is the only team with four nominees. Harvard has three, while Boston University, Massachusetts-Lowell, New Hampshire, Quinnipiac and Yale each have two.
| Player's Name | Position | Class | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Anas | F | Jr. | Quinnipiac |
| Zach Aston-Reese | F | Sr. | Northeastern |
| Kevin Boyle | G | Sr. | Massachusetts-Lowell |
| Tim Clifton | F | Jr. | Quinnipiac |
| Kyle Criscuolo | F | Sr. | Harvard |
| Thatcher Demko | G | Jr. | Boston College |
| Ryan Fitzgerald | F | Jr. | Boston College |
| Matt Grzelcyk | D | Sr. | Boston University |
| Tyler Kelleher | F | Jr. | New Hampshire |
| Nick Lappin | F | Sr. | Brown |
| Alex Lyon | G | Jr. | Yale |
| Ian McCoshen | D | Sr. | Boston College |
| Merrick Madsen | G | So. | Harvard |
| Trevor Mingoia | F | Sr. | Providence |
| Rob O'Gara | D | Sr. | Yale |
| Danny O'Regan | F | Sr. | Boston University |
| Andrew Poturalski | F | So. | New Hampshire |
| Kyle Schmidt | F | So. | Bentley |
| Tage Thompson | F | Fr. | Connecticut |
| Jimmy Vesey | F | Sr. | Harvard |
| Shane Walsh | F | Sr. | Massachusetts |
| Colin White | F | Fr. | Boston College |
| Dylan Zink | D | Jr. | Massachusetts-Lowell |
Ten of the 2016 nominees, including 2015 Walter Brown Award winner Jimmy Vesey of Harvard, were semifinalists a year ago. Other repeat semifinalists are Vesey’s linemate Kyle Criscuolo, Boston College goaltender Thatcher Demko, BU forward Danny O’Regan and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, Providence forward Trevor Mingoia, UMass-Lowell defenseman Dylan Zink, Quinnipiac forward Sam Anas, New Hampshire forward Tyler Kelleher and Yale goalie Alex Lyon.
“This is the largest contingent of semifinalists we’ve ever had for the Walter Brown Award,” said Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Committee chairman Tim Costello in a statement. “That’s no surprise, with so many teams and individual players having truly outstanding years. We’re looking forward to a great deal of spirited action the rest of the way, starting tonight with the Beanpot Tournament and down the stretch run to the conference and national playoffs.”
The finalists and winner of the award will be announced in March, following league playoffs and before the start of NCAA tournament play. The award will be presented to the winner at the New England College Hockey Writers’ Dinner in April.
