The CCHA announced several individual awards Wednesday.
Ferris State forward Bradley Marek has been named rookie of the year, while Minnesota State sophomore Jake Livingstone is defenseman of the year, Mavericks junior Nathan Smith is forward of the year, and Minnesota State senior Dryden McKay is the goaltender of the year.
Marek led all CCHA rookies on the ballot, receiving four of a possible seven points, as voted on by the CCHA head coaches. The Big Rapids native is the first local player to win rookie of the year honors and just the second freshman to ever lead Ferris State in goal scoring.
Marek finished tied for second amongst all CCHA freshmen with 13 points in conference play, was third with five goals and second with eight assists. The forward also recorded the third most faceoff wins and third best faceoff percentage for a freshman in the nation. He is the only forward and only freshman in the top 20 in the CCHA in blocked shots (31).
Livingstone led all CCHA defensemen on the ballot, receiving four of a possible seven points.
The sophomore finished tied for second among all defensemen in CCHA conference play with 19 points, led CCHA defensemen in goals with seven and added 12 assists in 26 CCHA games played this campaign. The blueliner earned 0.73 points-per-game, tallied one game-winning goal, one short-handed goal and an impressive plus-22 rating on the ice.
On the Mavericks roster, Livingstone finished sixth in points and fourth in blocked shots with 22 in CCHA conference play this season.
Smith led all CCHA forwards on the ballot, receiving five of a possible seven points.
Despite missing four games while representing Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics this year, Smith finished second among all CCHA skaters in conference points-per-game (1.50), third in points (33), fifth in goals (13) and sixth in assists (20). Smith also recorded an impressive plus-20 rating on the campaign.
McKay finished as the leader in CCHA conference play in both goals-against average (1.05) and save percentage (.942) during the 2021-22 CCHA campaign. He earned CCHA goaltender of the week a record seven times and CCHA goaltender of the month three times. The senior started in 25 of 26 CCHA games, seeing 1,482:17 of playing time. McKay made 423 saves on the season, boasting an impressive record of 23-2-0 and six shutouts.
