Balance was the operative word at this year’s Hockey East banquet. Ben Eaves and Mike Ayers were named co-winners of the KOHO Player of the Year Award while Massachusetts coach Don “Toot” Cahoon earned CCM/Bob Kullen Coach of the Year honors. Eight of the nine schools placed representatives on the All-Hockey East teams while the ninth made it a clean sweep with a berth on the All-Rookie Team.
Maine players took three major awards. Goaltender Jim Howard earned Rookie of the Year honors, Cliff Loya was named the Old Time Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman, and Martin Kariya garnered the Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award.
Boston University’s Mark Mullen was selected as the Best Defensive Forward while Merrimack goaltender Joe Exter, critically injured in last Friday night’s playoff contest, joined Eaves as co-winner of the ITECH “Three Stars” Award. Boston College goaltender Matti Kaltiainen nosed out Ayers as the ITECH Goaltending Champion with a 2.20 goals against average.
The full list of awards follows.
KOHO PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Mike Ayers, New Hampshire (G, Jr.)
Ben Eaves, Boston College (F, Jr.)
CCM/BOB KULLEN AWARD – COACH OF THE YEAR
Don Cahoon, Massachusetts
Runner-Up: Richard Umile, New Hampshire
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Jim Howard, Maine
Runner-Up: Bryan Schmidt, Merrimack
ITECH “THREE STARS” AWARD
Ben Eaves, Boston College (F, Jr.)
Joe Exter, Merrimack (G, Sr.)
OLD TIME HOCKEY BEST DEFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN
Cliff Loya, Maine (Sr.)
Runner-Up: Freddy Meyer, Boston University
BEST DEFENSIVE FORWARD
Mark Mullen, Boston University (Jr.)
Runner-Up: Ed McGrane, UMass Lowell
LEN CEGLARSKI SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Martin Kariya, Maine (F, Sr.)
Runner-Up: Jon DiSalvatore, Providence
HOCKEY EAST SCORING CHAMPION
Ben Eaves, Boston College (42 pts)
Runner Up: Tony Voce, Boston College (32 pts)
ITECH GOALTENDING CHAMPION
Matti Kaltiainen, Boston College (2.20 GAA, So.)
Runner-Up: Mike Ayers, New Hampshire (2.22 GAA)
ALL-HOCKEY EAST FIRST TEAM
Mike Ayers, G, Jr., New Hampshire^
Freddy Meyer, D, Sr., Boston University
Francis Nault, D, Jr., Maine
Ben Eaves, F, Jr., Boston College*^
Lanny Gare, F, Sr., New Hampshire
Martin Kariya, F, Sr., Maine
ALL-HOCKEY EAST SECOND TEAM
Joe Exter, G, Sr., Merrimack
J.D. Forrest, D, Jr., Boston College
Stephen Wood, D, Jr., Providence
Thomas Pöck, D, Jr., Massachusetts
Colin Hemingway, F, Sr., New Hampshire^
Lucas Lawson, F, Sr., Maine
Ed McGrane, F, Sr., UMass Lowell^
* – unanimous selection; ^ – two time All-Star
Honorable Mention:
Goalie: Sean Fields (Boston University), Nolan Schaefer (Providence)
Defense: Andrew Alberts (Boston College)
Forwards: Jon DiSalvatore (Providence College), Peter Fregoe (Providence), Greg Mauldin (Massachusetts), Tony Voce (Boston College)
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Jim Howard, Maine* Goalie
Jekabs Redlihs, Boston University Defense
Bryan Schmidt, Merrimack* Defense
Chris Collins, Boston College Forward
Mike Morris, Northeastern Forward
David VanderGulik, Boston University Forward
Stephen Werner, Massachusetts* Forward
* – unanimous selection
