March 25, 2009

BOSTON - For the second time in three years, a member of the Boston University men's ice hockey team is the winner of the Walter Brown Award - college hockey's oldest honor - as senior defenseman Matt Gilroy was named this year's recipient on Wednesday by The Gridiron Club. The award is given annually to the best American-born Division I player in New England.

Gilroy is the 11th Terrier to earn the award, now in its 57th year, and the first since goaltender John Curry earned the accolade as a senior in 2007.

The first defenseman in Hockey East history to be a league first-team all-star three times, Gilroy has co-captained the Terriers to a 31-6-4 record and the nation's top ranking entering the NCAA tournament.

One of 10 finalists for this year's Hobey Baker Award, Gilroy leads all Hockey East defensemen this season in scoring with 32 points on eight goals and 24 assists. He also sports a plus-17 rating and has only 12 penalty minutes this season. Gilroy is the only player in the country to be named an All-American in each of the last two seasons and his 156 career games played ranks eighth all-time at BU.

The Walter Brown Award was established in 1953 by the members of the 1933 Massachusetts Rangers, a team coached by Brown to America's first world championship in ice hockey. Criteria for the selection committee include leadership, character, sportsmanship, and ability as well as on-ice achievement. The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston has been steward of the Walter Brown Award since 1977.

Gilroy and the top-seeded Terriers will open their quest for the program's fifth national title when they face fourth-seeded Ohio State in the Northeast Regional at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., on Saturday (March 28) at 5:30 p.m.