Men's Ice Hockey | April 25, 2017
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan hockey team handed out team awards at its annual post-season banquet over the weekend.
The Broncos were joined by fans, friends and family with a lot to celebrate. WMU finished with 22 wins, made the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history and finished a program-best third in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.
It was no surprise that senior captain Sheldon Dries took home the Rob Hodge Most Valuable Player award for the second time in his career. Dries appeared in 36 games, scoring 16 goals and 14 assists for a career-high 30 points. The Macomb, Mich., native provided constant leadership on and off the ice, helping the team improve by 14 wins this season and was also named Second Team All-NCHC.
Sophomore forward Matheson Iacopelli earned the Vic Vanderberg Leading Scorer award after pacing the Broncos with 36 points on 20 goals and 16 assists in 40 games. After his monumental season, Iacopelli signed with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Taylor Fleming earned the Neil Smith Most Valuable Defenseman for the second time in his career. Fleming finished the season appearing in 39 games with two goals and 17 assists for a career-high 19 points. Fleming also finished +7 on the season.
Freshman goalie Ben Blacker was named the Suzanne Klop Rookie of the Year after winning 17 games between the pipes. Blacker, who was also named to the NCHC All-Rookie team, finished the season with a 2.55 goals against average and a .915 save percentage, along with three shutouts.
Freshman defenseman Luke Bafia was named the Ed Edwards Most Improved Player Award for his continual growth throughout the season. Bafia was inserted into the lineup in December, after just playing in two games to start off his career. Once he joined the lineup he missed just one game the rest of the season and was a staple on the WMU blue line. Bafia also finished the season with a plus/minus of +20.
Senior goalie Collin Olson earned the Peter R. Ellis Academic Award after leading the team with a cumulative GPA of 3.97 in sales and business marketing. Fellow senior Michael Rebry was honored with the Catherine Lawson Sportsmanship Award. Senior Mike McKee was selected for the Kalamazoo Optimist Hockey Association Grinder Award and senior Aaron Hadley was honored as the Blue Line Club Best Conditioned Athlete.
Freshman Wade Allison earned the Bill Saunders Plus/Minus Award. The award is modified to take into account chances created and chances allowed by the particular player, along with overall plus/minus.
