CCM Line takes all three 1st team B1G spots; Berenson, Werenski also honored
From the Big Ten office:
The Big Ten Conference announced the hockey All-Big Ten teams and individual award winners on Monday as selected by the conference’s coaches and a media panel. Michigan’s Kyle Connor was named Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Year, while also earning Scoring Champion honors. Michigan’s Zach Werenski was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year, which is awarded to a defenseman or forward. Minnesota goaltender Eric Schierhorn was named the Goaltender of the Year and Wolverines’ head coach Red Berenson was selected as the Coach of the Year.
Connor was tabbed Player and Freshman of the Year and Scoring Champion after leading the conference with 43 points and 22 goals in conference play. The freshman averaged a conference-leading 2.15 points per game in conference action to pace an offense that led all Big Ten schools with 5.35 goals per game in conference contests. Connor also led the conference with seven goals and 12 points on the power play in Big Ten games.
Werenski was named Defensive Player of the Year after leading all Big Ten defensemen with 18 points and 14 assists in conference games. Nine of his points came on the power play, tallying three goals and six assists on the man advantage to lead all Big Ten defensemen in conference contests. The Wolverines finished second in the conference in scoring defense in Big Ten play...
Berenson won Coach of the Year honors after leading Michigan to a 22-7-5 overall record and a 12-5-3-2 conference mark. The Wolverines earned the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
Connor, Schierhorn and Werenski were joined on the All-Big Ten first team by Michigan’s JT Compher and Tyler Motte and Ohio State’s Josh Healey, with Connor being a unanimous selection.
I always held the Porter-Kolarik-Pacioretty line as the gold standard of Michigan lines but the CCM line is truly on another level:
| GP | G | A | Pts | Rk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porter | 43 | 33 | 30 | 63 | 2 |
| Kolarik | 39 | 30 | 26 | 56 | 3 |
| Pacioretty | 37 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 32 |
| Total | 119 | 78 | 80 | 158 |
| GP | G | A | Pts | Rk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connor | 34 | 30 | 31 | 61 | 1 |
| Compher | 34 | 13 | 39 | 52 | 2 |
| Motte | 34 | 29 | 21 | 50 | 5 |
| Total | 102 | 72 | 91 | 163 |
Note that Kyle Connor has nearly matched Porter's production on 9 fewer games and the CCM line has 5 more points than Porter's line on less games played. Connor is a lock for the Hobey
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Exactly
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The Gold Standard of Michigan lines is probably Morrison-Botterill-Luhning, but your point holds all the same.
My Michigan hockey fandom began in 2006-2007 so sadly Morrison was before my time
Ah. Gotcha.
Mine started in the 90's, so someone is bound up come up with something prior to me.
Yeah, my fandom started in the early to mid-90's. So those teams with Morrison, Botteril, Madden, Muckalt, Hilton, etc. have my go-to stats. It all gets blended together on who the lines were, though.
March 15th, 2016 at 11:33 AM ^
Neg away but I have problems with Werenski being defensive player of the year. He's a great offensive player but he is not playing great D. The coaching staff seems to acknowledge he is lacking defensively- he's been relegated to the third pair of defensemen and never plays on the penalty kill. To my eyes, he is often out of position and is not physically ready to handle situations that cannot be finessed. He is a great skater and has a great shot. Perhaps when he fills out physically and has more experience he will be a great defenseman but right now I just haven't seen it.