Six Terriers Earn Hockey East Yearly Honors
March 16, 2006 | Men's Ice Hockey
BOSTON – Six members of the Boston University men’s ice hockey team were honored by the league at the Hockey East banquet, held on Thursday night at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. Head Coach Jack Parker was the unanimous choice for Coach of the Year, Brandon Yip (Maple Ridge, B.C.) earned the Rookie of the Year award and senior co-captain Brad Zancanaro (Trenton, Mich.) was named the Best Defensive Forward. Meanwhile, senior defenseman Dan Spang (Winchester, Mass.), junior goaltender John Curry (Shorewood, Mass.) and sophomore forward Pete MacArthur (Clifton Park, N.Y.) all made the All-Star teams.
Parker became the first-ever back-to-back recipient of the CCM/Bob Kullen Coach of the Year award, as he took home the honor for the fifth time in the 22-year history of the league (1986, 1992, 2000, 2005 and 2006). He now is the all-time leader in the category, moving past four-time honorees Dick Umile (New Hampshire) and Shawn Walsh (Maine). Following a 5-7-2 start to the season, Parker led the Terriers to an 18-2-2 record down the stretch, during which time BU boasted an 11-game win streak.
It was also a big night for Yip, as he became the fourth player in BU history to be named the Superskills Hockey Rookie of the Year (previous winners were Scott Young - 1986, Scott Cashman - 1990 and Rick DiPietro - 2000), while also earning a spot on the All-Rookie Team. The British Columbia-native currently leads all Terrier and league rookies with 27 points (8-19) in 35 games.
Earning his first award from the league was Zancanaro, who took home the title of Best Defensive Forward. Previous BU winners in that category were Chris Drury (1998), Mike Pandolfo (2002) and Mark Mullen (2003). In 36 games this season, the co-captain holds a career-best total of 34 points on 13 goals and 21 assists. Having appeared in 157-consecutive contests, he also has four power-play goals and four game-winners this season.
After earning Second Team All-Star status last season, Curry took over the top billing as he became a First Team All-Star for the 2005-06 campaign. With a 21-7-4 record and a trio of shutouts, the junior netminder ranks second nationally with 21 victories, while he is among the country’s finest in winning percentage (.719), goals-against average (2.21) and save percentage (.919). Additionally, he was the runner-up for Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season.
Also a First Team honoree (and the runner-up for Best Defensive Defenseman) was Spang, who has led the BU defensive corps in holding opponents to 2.4 goals per game this season. Furthermore, the local Winchester product is enjoying his best-ever season offensively, as he leads the team, is fourth in the league and 19th in the country with 26 points (6-20). The honor was the first in Spang’s four-year career.
Rounding out the Terrier winners was MacArthur, who followed up his All-Rookie Team selection from last year by earning Second Team All-Star honors. Currently the BU scoring leader with 36 points (14-22) in as many games, the sophomore also has six power-play goals and leads the team and the league with six game-winning goals. Further, he has 13 multiple-point outings on the year.
The Terriers face off against New Hampshire in the semifinal round of the Hockey East Tournament on Friday night at the TD Banknorth Garden at 5:00 p.m. The game can be seen live on NESN.
