St. Norbert senior forward Peter Bates has been named the recipient of the 2022 Sid Watson Award.
The award, voted on by the nation’s Division III head coaches, is presented to the best player at the men’s NCAA Division III level by the American Hockey Coaches Association.
Bates enjoyed a banner senior season for St. Norbert in 2021-22, registering 28 goals and 30 assists for 58 points in 31 games. Through the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III tournament, Bates leads all Division III players in goals per game at 0.97 and points per game at 1.97. His six game-winning goals is second nationally.
Selected as the NCHA player of the year for the second time. Bates’ 28 goals and 58 points this season are the second-most in St. Norbert history, while his 30 assists are tied for third-most. Bates finished with 17 multi-point games this season, including each game in a seven-game stretch from Nov. 19 to Jan. 1 that saw him score 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points.
Bates played in 123 games during his decorated career, tied for the most ever at St. Norbert. His career totals of 65 goals, 92 assists and 157 points are all third in school annals. Bates’ 15 career game-winning goals is a school record.
After the season, Bates signed a pro contract with the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators.
Bates is St. Norbert’s fifth Sid Watson Award winner. He joins forward Rob Smillie (1999), forward Maris Ziedins (2003), goaltender Kyle Jones (2018) and goaltender David Jacobson (2014) as St. Norbert Sid Watson Award winners. St. Norbert’s five Sid Watson Awards are the most for any school.
This season, St. Norbert finished 24-7 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in its 20th all-time appearance.
The runner-up for this year’s Sid Watson Award was Babson senior forward Ryan Black.
The Sid Watson Award honors the memory of former Bowdoin head coach and athletic director Sid Watson. A three-time AHCA coach of the year, Watson served Bowdoin for more than 30 years, winning 326 games in 24 seasons as head coach.
