Terriers Sweep Major Hockey East Awards
March 19, 2015 | Men's Ice Hockey
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Jack Eichel became just the third freshman in league history to garner both Player and Rookie of the Year honors and David Quinn was named Hockey East Coach of the Year as the Boston University men's ice hockey team swept the major awards at league's annual banquet on Thursday evening at the Royal Sonesta Hotel.
Eichel was a unanimous selection to the Hockey East First Team All-Stars and was joined on the top squad by junior captain Matt Grzelcyk. Senior Evan Rodrigues and juniors Danny O'Regan and Matt O'Connor were all named Second Team All-Stars.
Joining Boston College's Brian Leetch (1987) and Maine's Paul Kariya (1993) as the only players to collect Hockey East's top individual honors as rookies, Eichel currently leads the nation in points (61), assists (41) and plus/minus (+42) and was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award earlier in the day.
Eichel tallied 44 points on 14 goals and 30 assists in 22 league games, becoming just the eighth player in Hockey East history to average two points per game in league play. The elite group consists of Craig Janney (BC), Dave Capuano (Maine), David Emma (BC), Jean-Yves Roy (Maine), Jim Montgomery (Maine), Paul Kariya (Maine) and Jason Krog (UNH). The feat hadn't been accomplished in 16 years, as Krog was the last to do it during the 1998-99 campaign.
Quinn has helped BU quickly rebound from its 10-win season a year ago, pushing the Terriers back to a spot amongst the nation's elite. With 23 wins heading into the conference semifinals, the BU has more than doubled as more than doubled its win total from the previous season for the first time since 1964-65 (25 wins after 9 in 1963-64).
The Terriers claimed the Hockey East regular-season title for the ninth time in program history and have advanced to the league semifinals for the 12th time in the past 14 seasons.
Grzelcyk led Hockey East defensemen in scoring during league play with 20 points on six goals and 14 assists. He was an honorable mention All-Star two years ago as a rookie. The captain enters the weekend on a career-best nine-game point streak.
Rodrigues, who ranks second in the nation -trailing only Eichel - in points (54) and assists (36), put up 36 points (13g, 23a) against league foes. This is the second time he has been named a Hockey East Second Team All-Star, as he also received the accolade as a sophomore.
The third member of college hockey's top line, O'Regan totaled 31 points in Hockey East play, tying for second in goals with 14. He is one of only five players in the country to have over 20 goals and over 20 assists this season as his overall scoring line stands at 21-23--44.
One of the top netminders in the country, O'Connor leads Division I in winning percentage at .815 (20-3-4) and his .928 save percentage is threatening the school record of .929 set 44 years ago. In league games, O'Connor posted a 2.24 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
The top-seeded Terriers will face eighth-seeded New Hampshire in Friday's second semifinal at TD Garden. Game time is set for 8 p.m.
