College Hockey Awards
Didn't see this on the boards yet. The USCHO put out a list of the All-Americans for the season, and guess who didn't make the list on either 1st or 2nd team? You probably already know the answer, but Shawn Hunwick. He's the only Hobey Baker Finalist not to be named an All-American. The Full List:
EAST FIRST TEAM G Troy Grosenick, so., Union D Danny Biega, jr., Harvard D Brian Dumoulin, jr., Boston College F Spencer Abbott, sr, Maine F Alex Killorn, sr., Harvard F Austin Smith, sr., Colgate
WEST FIRST TEAM G Taylor Nelson, sr., Ferris State D Torey Krug, jr., Michigan State D Justin Schultz, jr., Wisconsin F Jack Connolly, sr., Minnesota-Duluth F Jaden Schwartz, so., Colorado College F Reilly Smith, jr., Miami
The Second Teamers:
EAST SECOND TEAM G Joe Cannata, sr., Merrimack D Mat Bodie, so., Union D Tim Kirby, sr., Air Force F Barry Almeida, sr., Boston College F Brian O’Neill, sr., Yale F Jeremy Welsh, jr., Union
WEST SECOND TEAM G Kent Patterson, sr., Minnesota D Chad Billins, sr., Ferris State D Dan DeKeyser, so., Western Michigan F Nick Bjugstad, so., Minnesota F JT Brown, so., Minnesota-Duluth F Jason Zucker, so, Denver
Also surprising nobody, Jack Connolly from Minnesota-Duluth won the Hobey Baker award. Unfortunately it's not exactly Heisman like in prestige, so we don't know the full finish order
Links: http://www.uscho.com/2012/04/06/44167/ (All-Americans)
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/sports/UMDs-Captain-Jack-Wins-2012-… (Hobey Baker)
Not winning the Hobey Baker award despite playing for UMD: Brett Hull.
I think he makes up for the rest.
Fuck everyone who makes these decisions. I'm sick of Michigan getting disrespected.
How did nelson do when ferris played Michigan? How did Hunwick do when ferris played Michigan?
nelson had NINE goals scored on him in the two games.
Hunwick had two scored on him in two days including a shutout in game 2 of the series this season.
I really think BC is gonna give ferris a beatdown. Either way, Michigan went 3-0-0 against both team playing in the championship game tomorrow.
"Nelson had NINE goals scored on him in the two games."
Except he didn't. Nelson lost the opener 5-2. C.J. Motte played in Game 2 of that series and lost 4-0.
Second, that series was played in October. They don't award All-American honors based on how two players faired head-to-head in one game in October.
Nelson gave up one goal or less in 8 of the last 11 games for Ferris. Helped them to CCHA regular season title and NCAA championship game. Sounds like someone I know last year, only his last name isn't Hunwick so they'll give him the honor. Nelson's got solid stats...slightly less than Shawn, but based on what FSU accomplished this season I'm not surprised by the way the voters voted.
That said, Hunwick got snubbed. There's no reason he shouldn't have at least been named West Region 2nd Team All-American over Minnesota's Kent Patterson, who was19th (!) in GAA, 48th (!!) in save percentage, and tied for 1st in shutouts. He was either shutting teams out or giving up 4+ goals per game.
It's no secret the Hobey and other national awards in college hockey are heavily influenced, if not directly determined by what happens during the conference and/or NCAA tournaments. You can look at the last 10 years and point out a laundry list of guys who either had their case made for them by unreal tournament runs, or their stellar body of work across the whole season nullified by a flameout by their team or an incomplete or atrocious individual performance when it counted.
Hell, if you're a Michigan fan who has actually watched hockey over the past 10 years, you could point to a guy like TJ Hensick getting misconducted out of the Hat Trick in '07, or Porter cementing his Hobey with a lights-out regional performance in Albany in '08.
It has been said all along with Hunwick this year that if Michigan flamed out of the tournament, it would tank his chances to get recognized for pretty much any of these things. And guess what happened? Nice kid, great story, but he needed at least a split and a prayer to get past the Top 10. And for a 1st and 2nd team goalie, let's be honest, if your team is favored to get to the FF and blows it, you're not getting in.
Porter benefited from Nathan Gerbe's known character issues, as well--Gerbe absolutely dominated the Frozen Four in '08 while Porter took the prize. Given Hensick's embarrassing exit and subsequent Hobey absence, I'll take it.
Good point about Hunwick's tournament performance. He wasn't bad, but remember that Kent Patterson (who is definitely undeserving) did make it to the Frozen Four. I agree that Hunwick could've made it in if Michigan had gone further.
I actually like that the postseason matters. There would be no Reggie Bush Heisman controversy if they had voted after the Rose Bowl that year (to be fair, that was a classic Heisman contest, it's not like Bush was a scrub that year).
Aren't both teams rather miraculous? Ferris was picked 9th in the CCHA this year, actually won the league, and made the Frozen Four. How do you choose between the two?
How does Air Force get someone on the East Second Team? Understand they play in a conference called "Atlantic" Hockey, but, uhh, along with Denver and CC, they are one of the three westernmost college hockey-playing schools.
Separately, Michigan is now in the Pac-12 because our fight song says "Champions of the West."
Edit: Nevermind, these aren't all-tournament teams. I'm guessing they just did it by the general location of the conference
Would have been nice to see more Michigan guys on the list.