The Envelope Please...

With the last weekend of the regular season upon us, there are still plenty of things to sort out in the ECACHL this year. A regular season champion, the first round byes, and the last home ice spots. However some things in the league are a given, namely some of the post season awards to be handed out. In this season of Award Nights we at CHF will make some predictions of who will be receiving some new hardware in Albany.

First, let's start with the easy ones and work down to the tougher choices:

Coach of the Year: Joe Marsh, SLU
A no brainer. Marsh has taken a team of sophomores and freshman and has put together a championship caliber team. The Saints are one point away from the Cleary Cup and will be looking to make a run to the NCAA's at Albany. This was a team last year that finished 5th in the league at 12-9-1 and when the season was over the Saints lost most of their offense. Joe Marsh has the award in the bag, if anyone else wins, it's robbery.

Honorable Mention - Rand Pecknold, Quinnipiac; George Roll, Clarkson

Rookie of the Year - Brandon Wong, Quinnipiac
Leads all rookies and is third in conference points with 13 goals and 12 assists. Has two shorthanded goals and two game winners. Most serious competition will come from SLU goaltender Alex Petizian, who has put up solid numbers this season as well. The two teams meet Friday and if Wong can score a couple goals, the award is his.

Honorable Mention - Alex Petizian, SLU; Sean Backman, Yale

Offensive Defenseman - Reid Cashman, Quinnipiac
Leads the conference is points per game by a defenseman, and leads the conference in powerplay points. Tied for twelfth in league points with Nick Dodge. Coach Rand Pecknold has called Cashman his best player and his go to guy.

Honorable Mention - Drew Bagnall, SLU; Jake Luthi, RPI

Goaltender of the Year - David Leggio, Clarkson
Leggio has been pretty much the steadiest goaltender in the league this year. As coach Roll says, "Dave's not the flashiest of goaltenders, but he is very consistent." Leggio has posted a league best .929 save percentage and a second best 2.14 GAA in 19 league games. His record of 12-3-4 in league is second only to Petizian, with Petizian falling short in GAA and save percentage. Leggio has been the backbone of a Clarkson defense that allowed 2 or fewer goals in 13 of their 20 league games so far.

Honorable Mention - Dan Rosen, Brown; Alex Petizian, SLU

Player of the Year - Kyle Rank, SLU
Probably the toughest choice of the bunch. The field is wide open this year as no real superstar has emerged. Rank, a former walk-on, has been the on and off ice leader for St. Lawrence this year, and his leadership has just about sewn up another banner for the Appleton rafters. No one expected much from SLU this year after the departure of last years POTY, T.J. Trevelyan, but Rank has answered with 24 conference points so far and has anchored SLU's top line with Sean Flanagan and Andrzej Sandrzej.

Honorable Mention - Nick Dodge, Clarkson; Jesse Winchester, Colgate

All ECAC First Team
Kyle Rank - SLU
Nick Dodge - Clarkson
Jesse Winchester - Colgate
Reid Cashman - Quinnipiac
Drew Bagnall - SLU
David Leggio - Clarkson

Second Team
Tyler Burton - Colgate
Brandon Wong - Quinnipiac
David Jones - Dartmouth
Sean Hurley - Brown
Jake Luthi - RPI
Alex Petizian - SLU

Rookie Team
Brandon Wong - Quinnipiac
Sean Backman - Yale
Matt Beca - Clarkson
Brendon Nash - Cornell
Alex Biega - Harvard
Alex Petizian - SLU