March 14, 2013
Farmington Hills, Mich. – The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) has announced the top three finalists for six of the major individual awards that will be presented on Friday, March 22 at the historic Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit.
Junior center and team captain Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) has been named as one of the three finalists for both the CCHA Player of the Year Award and the conference’s Top Defensive Forward Award.
He joins Miami forward Austin Czarnik and Ohio State goaltender Brady Hjelle as one of the three finalists for Player of the Year honors and is a finalist for the Top Defensive Forward award along with Czarnik and Western Michigan’s Dane Walters.
A first team all-CCHA selection earlier this week, Lee was second in the CCHA regular season with 14 goals and tied for fourth in the conference-scoring race with 26 points. He led the CCHA with a +18 mark in 28 regular-season games.
Overall, the 6-3, 220-pound center leads the Irish in scoring with 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points in 36 games and is third on the squad with a +16 mark. His 120 shots leads Notre Dame in that category and he has three power-play goals, one short-handed tally and one game winner among his 18 goals. He was the CCHA Warrior Player of the Month for November.
Czarnik was named the CCHA Warrior Player of the Month in October and tied Lee for fourth in conference scoring with eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points and had a league-leading three short-handed goals while being +14 with the RedHawks. Hjelle finished second in the league in both save percentage (.937) and goals-against average (1.89) while posting four shutouts in the Ohio State net. He was named the CCHA Gongshow Goaltender of the Month for November. Walters had 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points during the CCHA regular season with six power-play goals and three game winners and was +3 for the Broncos.
The CCHA Awards kick off CCHA Championship Weekend on Friday, March 22. The banquet, an Academy Awards-style event with music videos and highlights, is held at historic Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit. The event begins with a social hour at 5:45 p.m. The world premiere of the Celebrating the Legacy DVD starts at 7:00 p.m., followed by the Awards Program at 7:30 p.m. Awards Show tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling the CCHA at (248) 888-0600 or at the door the day of the event.
The 2013 CCHA Championship is March 23-24 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Visit CCHA.com for tickets and more information.
CCHA TOP THREE AWARD FINALISTS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALISTSAustin Czarnik, MiamiBrady Hjelle, Ohio StateAnders Lee, Notre Dame
COACH OF THE YEAR FINALISTSEnrico Blasi, MiamiAndy Murray, Western MichiganMark Osiecki, Ohio State
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR FINALISTSRiley Barber, MiamiJake Hildebrand, Michigan StateJacob Trouba, Michigan
BEST OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN FINALISTSMatthew Caito, MiamiKenney Morrison, Western MichiganJacob Trouba, Michigan
BEST DEFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN FINALISTSDan DeKeyser, Western MichiganBobby Shea, Bowling GreenSteven Spinell, Miami
BEST DEFENSIVE FORWARD FINALISTSAustin Czarnik, MiamiAnders Lee, Notre DameDane Walters, Western Michigan