Mid-Season Awards Recap

And the winners are...

Top Frosh (Men): Jake Gardiner - it was a close vote, winning by one over Derek Stepan. Both have been outstanding this season, congrats to Jake on his first goal saturday night.

Top Frosh (Women): Brooke Ammerman - she won going away, and deservedly so, she is the freshman sensation afterall.

Most Improved (Men): Tom Gorowsky - another close vote beating Ben Grotting, Tom has really turned things around and should continue to be a go to player on offense the rest of the season.

MVP (Women): Jessie Vetter - hard to argue when she has the best GAA and save % in the country, along w/ breaking the all-time NCAA shut out record w/ a lot of games left to play to set the bar to an unreachable level.

MVP (Men): Jamie McBain - another great choice by the fans, he notched another goal and assist on saturday to continue his lead in assists and points for the Badgers. Keep it up McB, the fans want to see some All-American honors fall on your shoulders at season's end.

We'll revisit these awards at the end of the season, see who brings their best in the second half. I think both the Men's and Women's teams have legitimate chances at their respective Frozen Four's this season, keep up the good work!

Mid-Season Awards: MVP (Men)

Last mid-season award to be decided here on the blog, MVP of the Men's team. Things looked pretty dire seven games into the season, and then a lot of pieces started to fall into play for the Badgers. The following four players were all big parts of that transformation to this point in one way or another.

Blake Geoffrion - On November 1st during the 3rd period against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, Blake had two huge goals to contribute to a five goal 3rd, and the team hasn't looked back since. Blake added two goal games later against Tech and Duluth on consecutive weekends. When Ben Street went down w/ a possible season ending knee injury, the captain's duties fell squarely on Blake's shoulders, and he has lead the team since that point w/ great play in all facets of the game from EV to PP and PK. Blake leads the team in goals (8), PP goals (6) and is 4th in points (11). He also boasts a nice faceoff win % of 55.4%.

Shane Connelly - Shane' start to the season was very similar to the team's, a struggle. He wasn't getting a lot of help in front of the net, and the number of shots he was facing were unrealistic, especially for a Wisconsin team. As the season turned around, the number of shots, especially high quality shots dropping off, and Shane has been the backbone of the team in net. His overall stats are 2.65 GAA, w/ a 91.4% save %. In his last ten starts though, Shane GAA is down to 1.90 w/ two shutouts, and if you take out the six goal lapse against St. Cloud, he is down to 1.44 GAA roughly. There is still room for Shane to improve, making that one extra save, but if he keeps playing like this, I like Wisconsin's chances come March.

Jamie McBain - Similar to everyone else, Jamie had a bad start to the season. He was trying to do too much, and hindered the team in the process. When he settled down, great things occurred including great defense and outstanding offensive contributions. For most of the season, the PP has been rolling along making opponents pay for a trip to the box, and Jamie has been the main QB running the show. He leads the team in points (19) and assists (16). He is still last in +/- (-12), but a lot of that was racked up early on, and slowly he is bringing that number down. Jamie is tied for 1st in the WCHA in points and 1st in assists. He keeps this up, All-American honors should be coming his way.

Tom Gorowsky - What a story Tom is this season. Not only did he not play in the first four games of the season, he didn't even make the trips w/ the team. Everything changed when Ben Street and Aaron Bendickson were injuried and a forward spot needed to be filled; insert Tom Gorowsky. Tom is the feel good story of the Wisconsin season ever since. I continue to wonder why he wasn't in the lineup consistently the last few seasons? Tom's best in a scoring role, and his time on the top two lines and on the PP have shown that he can contribute on the scoreboard. Tom is tied for 3rd in goals (5), is 3rd in PP goals (3) and tied 5th in points (10). I'd argue that Tom's insertion into the lineup following Street's injury was the senior leadership the team needed. I look forward to seeing how the rest of Tom's Badger career plays out over the next few months.

All WCHA Mid-Season

For what it's worth, INCH has done a mid-season reivew for the WCHA. They list Wisconsin as the surprise team.

It's easy to pick Wisconsin's first-half travails as the biggest surprise thus far, but it's legitimate for fans to ask just which Badgers we're talking about. Is it the team that spent October unable to win, and started 0-6-1? That team was a mess, with defensemen trying to carry too much of the offensive load, inconsistent goaltending and offense that wasn't doing enough. Or are we talking about the "since then" Badgers, who headed to the holiday break on a 9-1-1 tear and even spent a week in first place in the WCHA. These Badgers are simply better in every area, and are enjoying the comforts of home while playing with a confidence that may make them college hockey's in-season comeback story of the year.

Jamie McBain is given some recognition on the 1st half All WCHA team.

Let him do what he can do best – namely play rock-solid defense and create scoring opportunities from the blue line – and the results are magic. Rely on him to do everything and you have trouble.

I think that is a pretty good assessment of Jamie's season. To start off he tried to do everything and didn't look good. When he just did his job and let his teammates do their's, he has been wildly successful.

Earlier this week, I put together my own list of All-WCHA to this point in the season.

F - Ryan Stoa - um
F - Justin Fontaine - Duluth
F - Chad Rau - CC
D - Jamie McBain - Wisconsin
D - Josh Meyers - Duluth
G - Alex Wangas - um

Stoa, Fontaine, Rau and McBain are tied for the WCHA lead in points. Kurt Davis of Mankato is having a great season too, but Josh Meyers has 13 pts from the blue line on the PP, I'm remotely impressed. For goalie, I went on stats, and Wangas leads the WCHA. My next choice was Alex Stalock, who I actually dislike more than Wangas. How can two players ruin such a nice first name like Alexander?

The WCHA also has an impressive group of freshman this season. 1st half All-WCHA Frosh team:

F - Jordan Schroeder - um
F - Joe Colborne - Denver
F - Derek Stepan - Wisconsin
D - Patrick Wiercioch - Denver
D - Jake Gardiner - Wisconsin
G - Brad Eidsness - North Dakota

I'm a tad biased w /the Stepan pick, but based on his role at Wisconsin, I think he is derserving and will make the all rookie team when the dust settles in March. There have been some other fine performances by WCHA forwards including Jared Festler (St. Cloud), Luke Salazar (Denver) and Mike Louwerse (Mankato).

Mid-Season Awards: MVP (Women)

A few more awards to hand out yet, how about taking a look at the MVP for the Women's team. There are a lot of good choices here, and I'm probably going to be leaving someone out who is just as deserving, because I'm only giving four options. There are a lot of reasons the Badger Women have yet to lose a game this season, and here are some of the main contributors to that success.

Hilary Knight - Plain and simple, Hilary is the bomb! She has dominated the competition all season and half way through already has a hat trick and five goal free for all to her name. She leads the nation in goals, goals per game, PP goals and points. Sounds like NCAA Women's POY material, but we better let Hilary play out the rest of the games to further demonstrate how awesome she is at hockey. Stats: 22-17-39

Jessie Vetter - Arguably, Jessie is the greatest goaltender in Women's NCAA history. This season she broke and continues to set the record for career NCAA shutouts. Sure the defense in front of her does a great job limiting shots reaching the net, but Jessie is always stout facing them when they do. She leads the nation in GAA and save %. Good chance we'll see Jessie between the pipes for Team USA during the 2010 Olympics. Stats: 0.83 GAA, 0.957 Save %

Erika Lawler - The team captain is poised and ready to lead the Badger Women back to the NCAA championship game for the 4th consecutive season, this time bringing home the program's (and Erika's) 3rd National Championship. She does everything on the ice, and is true joy to watch. Erika is 2nd in the nation in points trailing only linemate Hilary Knight, and leads the nation in assists. Stats: 9-23-32

Brooke Ammerman - Brooke is having an outstanding freshman season for the Badgers. She has fit right in and made a difference from the first series of the year, and keeps getting better. When Mark Johnson rolls out Brooke and the 3rd EV line, no team really has a match for them. She has also been a strong contributor on the PP. Nationally, she is tied for 4th in points, is 2nd in goals behind Hilary Knight, but is tied for first in GW goals and points by a frosh. Stats: 20-10-30

Mid-Season Awards: Most Improved (Men)

Overall the Badger Men's hockey team has improved in a lot of areas from last season. These four players are a big part of that, generally for different reasons. There will not be a Women's award for most improved. Sorry, but this is my first season following the women in-depth, and stats don't tell the whole story one season to the next.

Tom Gorowsky - The question really is, is Tommy really improved or is he finallly getting the chance to show off his skills by being utilitzed by Coach Eaves? Since Ben Street's injury, Tom has been in the lineup, and he hasn't looked back. In a comparison to last season, Tom only played 17 games, while he has seen action in 14 already this season. Tom's a scorer, and is getting a chance to play in situations where he can score. I think Tom deserves more mid-season MVP consideration than most improved.

Ben Grotting - Last season it was John Mitchell that made a jump in his game play, and this year its his often time linemate Ben Grotting. Ben isn't going to rack up the stats, but he has been an effective player at EV all season. When playing w/ Mitchell and Matt Thurber, his line single handedly beat Michigan State. We also have to give props to Ben for laying the smack down on minnesota's Patricia "Whitey" White.

Brendan Smith - Well when you are at the bottom, the only place to go is up, and Brendan has improved in a big way. Last season was riddled w/ mistakes. His offensive skills were there, but his defensive skills weren't remotely ready for the WCHA. A back injury crippled the 2nd half of his season, but he has turned things around so far. I still see momentary relapses to last season's version, but Brendan has really improved his defensive play. On offense, he has a cannon from the point, and along w/ Jamie McBain, QB the 1st PP unit to great success this season. Sometimes I still think he is looking ahead to his next destination (AHL, NHL), instead of focusing on being a Wisconsin Badger.

Andy Bohmbach - The Bohmber is one of my favorite players on the team, and he is getting my vote. Last season, Andy didn't really get a chance until the 2nd half of the season. He did a great job on the 4th line providing energy and solid play, and was getting better every game. I figured he was on the border of being a regular this season, but he's only missed one game. Andy has done it all this season. Played on the 1st line, played on the 4th; played on the PP, regular on the PK. Overall, he has looked good doing all of these things. He's not a scorer, but already has a career high three goals. Its the things that don't appear on a scoresheet that separates Andy at times. One of the hardest working players on the ice.

Did I miss someone? Leave a comment if have a different choice.

Mid-Season Awards: Top Frosh (Women)

Earlier it was the Men, today let’s talk about the freshman of the Women’s team. I won’t be including Nikka Kaasa in the voting, no offense meant to her, but w/ Jessie Vetter hogging the net (sarcasm intended) Nikka hasn’t seen much ice time yet as a Badger.

I’ve really enjoyed watching the Badger Women this season, and its hard not to like all three freshman Badger skaters. All three came highly regarded before starting their Wisconsin careers. Brooke Ammerman was considered one of the top US recruits, while both Carolyne Prevost and Brittany Haverstock were both top Canadians at their positions.

Brooke Ammerman – I’ve coined her as the “freshman sensation” because she has burst onto the scene and been a huge part of Wisconsin’s offense this season. Brooke anchors the 3rd EV line and 2nd PP unit, where she is racking up the stats game in and game out. She trails only Hilary Knight in goals, and Knight and Erika Lawler in points. The future is bright for this freshman. Stats: 20 games, 20-10-30, 5 PP goals, +19

Brittany Haverstock – The freshman defender from Nova Scotia is having a fine season as well. I’m guessing Brittany has seen the highest tide changes in the world at the Bay of Fundy, located in her home province. Brittany doesn’t have a goal yet, but there hasn’t been much scoring from the blue line by the Badger Women. For a freshman, she is solid on both ends of the ice. Along w/ Mallory Deluce, she will be playing w/ Team Canada’s U22 team in early January. Stats: 20 games, 0-12-12, +21

Carolyne Prevost – Carolyne has had the good fortune of playing on the 2nd EV line w/ Mallory Deluce and Meghan Duggan. She compliments her linemates well and has done her part to contribute at EV and on the PP. During one game, she did the splits to avoid an off-sides call, I was impressed. Could John Mitchell do the same thing? Perhaps her martial arts background (4 time Canadian National Champ in taekwondo) is intimidating the competition; more likely she is just good. Stats: 20 games, 9-8-17, 3 PP goals, +17

Mid-Season Awards: Top Frosh (Men)

The first half is done and its time for some mid-season awards. Good place to start is w/ the freshman. Who has had the biggest impact on the team through 18 games? Who has made the best transition from their previous team (USHL, HS, Shattuck)? All seven players have seen the ice, so I’m going to include all of them. I think the freshman class as a whole has done very well this season, and I’ll have more analysis on that before the 2nd half of the season begins.

Jake Gardiner – The young defenseman has made a great transition from the MN HS ranks. W/ his recent switch to the blue line, I was worried that Jake would be a liability on defense, but he has been pretty good. On offense, he’s started to show why he was a 1st round pick of the Anaheim Ducks this summer. His skating ability is amazing, and he has the makings of a great PP QB like Jamie McBain. He is tied for 2nd on the team in assists. Stats: 17 games, 0-9-9, +4

Chris Hickey – Chris hasn’t seen a ton of action this season, playing in only four games, but he’s made the most of those minutes. He scored a big goal in Duluth, his first as a Badger, and worked hard on the 4th line. Stats: 4 games, 1-0-1, +1

Ryan Little – The one thing that sticks out about Ryan is the huge hits he has handed out so far this season. He is a little guy too, not a big bruiser. He’s made some freshman mistakes, but overall his play has been solid. Ryan and Eric Springer have a nice rotation going, w/ both freshmen seeing decent ice time. Stats: 12 games, 0-2-2, -1

Jordy Murray – It didn’t take long for Jordy to make an impact this season, scoring early in the season on the road. While his scoring has cooled off some, Jordy is seeing a lot of ice time on special teams. He’s regularly skated w/ the 2nd PP unit and spent a lot of time on the PK. Stats: 18 games, 4-4-8, +4

Eric Springer – Similar to Ryan Little, Eric has made some freshman mistakes, but overall is a solid contributor on the blue line. Eric has steadily improved, and is looking pretty good out on the ice as of late. Either he’s lucky or consistent, but Eric leads the team in +/-. Stats: 7 games, 1-1-2, +8

Derek Stepan – For large parts of the season, Derek has been pretty quiet. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as he really hasn’t made many mistakes for a freshman, and at times it looks like he’s played in the WCHA for several seasons. The 2nd round pick of the NY Rangers is starting to light up the scoreboard coming off his best series, w/ a goal and three assists. He is tied for 2nd on the team in assists and is 3rd in points. Stats: 18 games, 3-9-12, -5

Matt Thurber – As my favorite freshman, I have high expectations for Matt, and I think he’s doing just fine adjusting to the WCHA. He was one of the top playmakers in the USHL last season, and he’s starting to show this off w/ some great passes and decision making. He’s been solid in face-offs, and is one of the top PK forwards on the team. Stats: 17 games, 2-5-7, +3

It was a close race in the pre-season voting: Stepan 26%, Thurber 25%, Gardiner 18%.