Northeastern junior goaltender Brad Thiessen was named the Hockey East Player of the Year Thursday night, it was announced at the 25th annual Hockey East Awards banquet at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, Mass.
Playing every minute in net for Northeastern this season, Thiessen led the Huskies to a second-place finish in the league standings and nearly to their first-ever Hockey East regular-season title. The league leader in save percentage (.932) with a goals against average just over 2.00, Thiessen also helped Northeastern to its first appearance in the conference semifinals since 1994.
Theissen’s bench boss, Northeastern head coach Greg Cronin, was named Hockey East Coach of the Year. Under Cronin, the Huskies have gone from a three-win season in 2005-06 to 25 victories so far this year.
Boston University, which passed Northeastern for the regular-season title during the last weekend of play, boasted the league’s Rookie of the Year in freshman goaltender Kieran Millan. Millan was also named a Second Team All-Hockey East pick behind Thiessen, who was a unanimous selection to backstop the First Team. Millan was the only first-year player among the all-league selection.
BU led the all-conference selections with four, including two on the First Team. BU captain Matt Gilroy, the only repeat honoree among this year’s selections, averaged nearly a point per game. He is a three-time First Team all-conference pick.
A complete list of award winners is below.
Player of the Year: Brad Thiessen, Northeastern
Coach of the Year: Greg Cronin, Northeastern
Rookie of the Year: Kieran Millan, Boston University
All-Hockey East First Team
Brad Thiessen (NU, Jr., G)*
Matt Gilroy (BU, Sr., D)
Maury Edwards (UML, So., D)
Colin Wilson (BU, So., F)
Viktor Stålberg (UVM, Jr., F)
James Marcou (UMass, So., F)
All-Hockey East Second Team
Kieran Millan (BU, Fr., G)
Justin Braun (UMass, Jr., D)
Kevin Shattenkirk (BU, So., D)
Brock Bradford (BC, Sr., F)
Ryan Ginand (NU, Sr., F)
James van Riemsdyk (UNH, So., F)
Honorable Mention
Brian Foster (UNH); Nick Schaus (UML); Matt Taormina (PC); Nick Bonino (BU); Chris Higgins (BU); Peter Lenes (UVM); Wade MacLeod (NU)
