Terriers Place Three on New England All-Star Team; Keller Named Top Rookie
March 31, 2017 | Men's Ice Hockey
BOSTON - The Boston University men's ice hockey team led all schools with three standouts named to the New England Hockey Writers Division I All-Star Team following votes from coaches and media members throughout the region. In addition, freshman Clayton Keller has been named the recipient of the George C. Carens Award for New England Rookie of the Year.
The Terriers had a representative at each position as Keller, a forward, joined freshman goaltender Jake Oettinger and sophomore defenseman Charlie McAvoy on the All-Star Team.
The honors will officially be presented at the annual New England Hockey Banquet, to be held on Tuesday, April 11, at the Prince Restaurant in Saugus, Mass.
Keller, the Hockey East Rookie of the Year and a Hockey East Second Team All-Star, led the Terriers in scoring with 45 points on 21 goals and 24 assists. He scored a least one point in 25 of his final 26 contests, including point streaks of 15 and 10 games. The Swansea, Ill, native led the nation's rookies in points per game at 1.45, which ranked seventh among all Division I players. Keller signed an entry-level contract with the Arizona Coyotes earlier this week.
McAvoy, who also began his professional career earlier this week with the Boston Bruins organization, led BU blueliners with 26 points on five goals and 21 assists and was the only underclassman among this year's Hockey East First Team All-Stars. He scored six of his points (1g, 5a) during the postseason to finish his two-year BU career with 51 points (8g, 43a).
Oettinger was the Terriers' primary netminder throughout the season and threatened the program's single-season save percentage before finishing with a .927, good for third on the all-time BU list. He posted a 21-11-3 record to go along with a 2.11 goals-against average and his 2.09 GAA was the league's best in Hockey East play. He joined Keller as a Hockey East Second Team All-Star.
All three Terriers were members of the gold medal-winning U.S. squad at the 2017 World Junior Championship with Keller and McAvoy being named All-Tournament Team honorees.
