Feb. 28, 2007
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame goaltender David Brown (Sr., Stoney Creek, Ont.) has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2006-07 Men’s Hockey Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, an award for NCAA senior student athletes.
Lowe’s, the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world, recently announced the addition of men’s hockey and three other NCAA sports to the award program originally launched in 2001 with basketball.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School (CLASS), the award was initially developed in response to the trend of college basketball players leaving school early to turn professional. Since that time, the collegiate community has embraced the award and the idea of honoring seniors for remaining committed to their university throughout their entire collegiate eligibility.
Earlier this year, Lowe’s announced that it would extend the award to include four other NCAA sports: men’s hockey, men’s lacrosse, baseball and softball.
Finalists were selected from a list of 30 candidates based on personal qualities that define a complete student athlete. The criteria to determine the top 10 included areas of the classroom, character and community in addition to performance on the hockey rink during this season.
Joining Brown as finalists are: Matt Anderson (University of Massachusetts), Billy Devoney (Air Force), Glenn Fisher (University of Denver), Curtis Fraser (Alaska), Jeff Jakaitis (Lake Superior), Michel Leveille (Maine), Kirk MacDonald (Rensselaer), Ryan Mahrle (Western Michigan) and Nate Raduns (St. Cloud State).
The finalists will be placed on the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award ballot for a nationwide vote leading up to the NCAA Hockey Championships. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award. Winners will be announced during the weekend of the Frozen Four.
“Not only are these finalists among the nation’s best college hockey athletes, they also have a very impressive list of achievements in the classroom and in the community,” said Bob Gfeller, Lowe’s senior vice president of marketing and advertising. “We salute these tremendous NCAA student-athletes for making an impact with their time and talents.”
Brown, a management consulting major in Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, owns a 25-5-3 record with a 1.68 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage with five shutouts this season as he helped the Irish to their first-ever CCHA regular season title. Notre Dame is currently 27-6-3 overall and 21-4-3 in conference play. The senior goaltender currently leads the CCHA and the nation in wins (25) and goals-against average (1.68) while his .927 save percentage is second in the league and sixth nationally and his five shutouts are best in the CCHA and third in the nation.
A 2007 Hobey Baker Award candidate, Brown and his Notre Dame teammates have a first-round bye in the first round of the CCHA playoffs this week and will return to action for the best-of-three second round on Friday, March 9 against the lowest remaining team after this weekend’s first round of play.