March 22, 2013
Detroit, Mich. – Notre Dame junior goaltender Joe Rogers (Maryville, Mich.) was selected as the winner of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association’s (CCHA) 2013 Terry Flanagan Award. The award was presented Friday night at the CCHA’s annual postseason awards show that was held at the historic Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit. The awards show precedes Saturday’s semifinal action at Joe Louis Arena.
Rogers was selected as the winner of the award named after the former Bowling Green assistant coach who died from cancer in 1991. The award honors a player for perseverance, dedication and courage while overcoming severe adversity. He becomes the third Notre Dame player to win the award, following Erik Condra `09, who won it in 2009 and Dan VeNard `08 who took the honor following the 2007-08 season.
Now in his third season with the Irish, Rogers was born with an underdeveloped right hand that keeps him from closing his catching glove. As a child, he had operations when he was two and five years old that took a bone from his foot to try and reshape the thumb on his left hand. Despite the obstacles, and with a custom-made glove, Rogers has learned to catch the puck and pull it into his chest to make a save. He has played hockey since he was four years old and has realized his dream to play Division I hockey at Notre Dame.
He has become a role model for kids with handicaps that want to play sports, especially hockey. An outstanding student in the classroom, Rogers’ continues to give back as he enjoys working with kids, teaching them to play hockey. One of the team’s leaders in community service work, he has served a mentor to youngsters, teaching them, in his words, “Embrace who you are; never give up and always follow your dreams.”
The CCHA also announced its other major award winners:
CCHA Warrior Player of the Year - Austin Czarnik, Miami
CCHA Coach of the Year - Enrico Blasi, Miami
CCHA Rookie of the Year - Riley Barber, Miami
CCHA Scholar-Athlete of the Year - Adam Henderson, Alaska
Ilitch Humanitarian Award - Brett Beebe, Western Michigan and Kaare Odegard, Alaska
Best Offensive Defenseman - Jacob Trouba, Michigan
Best Defensive Defenseman - Dan DeKeyser, Western Michigan
Best Defensive Forward - Dane Walters, Western Michigan
Notre Dame junior center Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) was a finalist for both the CCHA player of the year award and the CCHA top defensive forward award.
Rogers and his teammates will be in action on Saturday, March 23 when Notre Dame faces Ohio State at 1:05 p.m. in the first semifinal game at Joe Louis Arena. Michigan and Miami square off at 4:35 p.m. in the second semifinal game. The final CCHA Championship game will be played on Sunday, March 24 at 2:05 p.m. with the winner of that game getting an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.