Hockey East has announced that Vermont senior forward Natálie Mlýnková has been awarded the 2024 Cammi Granato Award as Hockey East player of the year.
She becomes just the second Catamount to win the award in program history.
Alongside Mlýnková, UConn head coach Chris MacKenzie was unanimously named Hockey East coach of the year by his peers for the first time in his career and is the first Husky bench boss to be so honored.
Boston College forward Sammy Taber was also honored as rookie of the year.
Mlýnková became the second Catamount to lead Hockey East in points, amassing 26 points on a league-best 15 goals and 11 assists in 27 league games. Her four power-play markers were second-most in Hockey East and her 269 faceoff wins ranked third. She finished with one shorthanded goal, one game-winning tally, 88 shots on net and a plus-seven rating in league play, all while taking just 10 penalty minutes.
Overall, she had a point in 20 of 35 games, including 10 multi-point efforts. She earned two Hockey East player of the week nods (Oct. 30, Feb. 12) and was named Hockey East player of the month in February.
Taber led all Hockey East rookies with 23 points and 15 assists in 26 league games. Her 23 points were the second-highest total among all players in conference play and was the only first-year in the top 24 of league scoring. She had 30 points overall on 12 goals and 18 assists in just 33 games, good for third among all league skaters and is fifth nationally among her classmates. Her plus-14 rating was seventh-best in Hockey East and second among first-year players.
She began her career in historic fashion, becoming just the second player to win rookie of the week three times in a row from Oct. 30 – Nov. 13. She again picked up the award on back-to-back weeks in January, earning five total on the year. She was also named rookie of the month for November and December. Taber recorded at least one point in 17 of her 33 overall outings, including seven multi-point outings and four games with at least three points.
MacKenzie is the first UConn head coach to be named Hockey East coach of the year and was named so unanimously by his peers after leading the Huskies to their first-ever Hockey East regular season crown in 2023-24. Posting a 19-4-4 record in league play, he surpassed the previous UConn record of 16 wins in Hockey East set in 2021-22 and led his team to a 21-game unbeaten run as UConn went 17-0-4 from Oc. 21 – Feb. 17.
MacKenzie’s Huskies allowed the fewest goals in Hockey East, just 28 in 27 games played. UConn’s team save percentage of .949 is the best in the NCAA and their 45 overall goals allowed and eight power-play goals conceded ranked second and third in the country, respectively. UConn played a disciplined game, allowing just 67 power-play chances, the second-fewest in the NCAA.
In Hockey East play, MacKenzie’s squad led several categories, including goals against average (1.04), save percentage (.955), power-play goals (17), shots allowed (629), power-play percentage (23.6%), power-play goals allowed (6), and power-play opportunities allowed (56), and were second in goals (70) and shot percentage (9.3%).
