SOUTH BEND, Ind. – University of Notre Dame senior forward Jake Pivonka has been named one of six finalists for the 2021-22 Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award, the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) announced on Friday (March 11).
Pivonka has overcome a torn achilles injury sustained at the end of summer training in Europe, remarkably returning to the ice to play Notre Dame’s final series of the first semester in mid-December.
Though it was known he would be unavailable for an extended period of time, Pivonka was still voted a team captain by his teammates and found ways to stay involved as a leader throughout his rehabilitation process.
Among the NCAA’s top centermen at the face-off dot over the last four seasons and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, Pivonka scored his first goal of the season last weekend when he netted what proved to be the game-winning goal in Notre Dame’s deciding Big Ten tournament quarterfinal game three win over Wisconsin (March 6).
Pivonka has played in 126 career games, scoring nine goals and adding 29 assists for 38 points. Four of his nine goals have been game winners. He was selected in the fourth round, 103rd overall, by the New York Islanders in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
One of the team’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council Representatives, the Naperville, Illinois native will graduate in May with a degree in finance.
2022 Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award Finalists
Atlantic Hockey: Ethan Roswell, SR D, Bentley
Big Ten: Jake Pivonka, SR F, Notre Dame
CCHA: Wyatt Aamodt, SR D, Minnesota State
ECAC Hockey: Linden Marshall, SR G, RPI
Hockey East: Jordan Seyfert, SR F, Merrimack
NCHC: Mark Senden, SR F, North Dakota
About The Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award
- The award was established by the HCA in honor of former Army player Derek Hines, who was a “consummate team player and team builder.”
- Hines played at Army from 1999-2003 and was a four-year letter-winner as well as a co-captain his senior season. He was killed in the line of duty on Sept. 1, 2005 in Afghanistan.
- The HCA coordinates the award, with nominations from each of the six Division I men’s hockey conferences.
- The selection committee, made up of the six conference media contacts, Lt. Steve Hines, Derek’s father, and Army West Point head coach Brian Riley, votes on the winner “who displays exemplary sportsmanship, is supremely competitive, intelligent and extraordinarily conditioned with an unmatched work ethic.”
- The award will be presented on Friday, April 8, during the “Friday Night at the Frozen Four” festivities in Boston, Massachusetts.
Next Up
- Notre Dame has advanced to Saturday’s single elimination Big Ten Tournament semifinals and, as the No. 3 seed, the Irish will play at No. 2-seeded Michigan..
- Puck drop is set for 6:30 p.m. at Yost Ice Arena and the game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
– ND –