Hockey East announced Tuesday that Vermont senior forward Theresa Schafzahl has been awarded the 2022 Cammi Granato Award as Hockey East Player of the Year.
Schafzahl is the first Vermont Catamount to be so honored.
Alongside Schafzahl, Vermont’s Jim Plumer was unanimously named Hockey East Coach of the Year, his second time winning the award, while Boston College forward Abby Newhook was tabbed rookie of the year.
Schafzahl appeared in 21 regular-season games in Hockey East play for Vermont, leading the conference with 21 goals, 39 points, and a plus-28 on-ice rating. Her 1.86 points per game was second-best among all league players, while her 97 shots on goal ranked sixth. She netted three game-winning goals in league play and converted at a shooting rate of 21.6 percent.
The Weiz, Austria, native potted seven of her 21 tallies while on the power-play, ranking second in the conference. Schafzahl was crowned the Hockey East Scoring Champion and PNC Bank Three Stars Award Winner, as well as the sole unanimous First Team All-Hockey East selection. She was named Hockey East Player of the Week four times and Hockey East and HCA National Player of the Month in January, was the runner-up in February, and was the lone unanimous selection to the All-Hockey East First Team.
Newhook led Hockey East rookies in nearly every offensive category in 2021-22, including goals (13), assists (12), points (25), points per game (0.96), game-winning goals (5), and plus/minus (plus-17). She was named rookie of the week six times, including on back-to-back occasions twice and three out of four weeks once and rookie of the month three times.
No freshman in the NCAA was more clutch than Newhook this year, as the first-year forward scored six game-winning goals in all games, more than any other rookie in the nation. She enjoyed a stretch of eight straight games with a goal, finding the back of the net in every outing from Jan. 21 to Feb. 8. She was named to the all-rookie team by a unanimous vote of the league’s 10 head coaches.
Plumer, named coach of the year by a unanimous vote of his peers after sharing the honor in 2013-14, has led the Catamounts to a 22-10-3 overall record, the most wins in program history, and a 18-7-2 mark in Hockey East regular-season play. The mark was good for a second-place finish in the conference standings, which was the best-ever finish for Vermont in Hockey East play and doubled the most-ever league wins for the Catamounts (2016-17).
Under Plumer, the Catamounts allowed just 693 shots against at even strength, second-fewest of any team in Hockey East. His team’s 18.5 percent power-play conversion rate was also second in the league, while Vermont claimed the best penalty kill in the conference at 91.8 percent, good for third nationally, and the most short-handed goals with four.
