Men's Ice Hockey | April 22, 2019
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan hockey team handed out its year-end awards at the annual banquet on Saturday night with Colt Conrad and Hugh McGing sharing the Rob Hodge Most Valuable Player award in front of a packed house at the Fetzer Center.
Conrad led the team with a career-high 38 points on 11 goals and 27 assists, while McGing had 30 points on 16 goals and 14 assists. McGing was named Second Team All-National Collegiate Hockey Conference. McGing also earned the Bill Saunders Plus/Minus Award and Conrad earned the Vic Vanderberg Scoring Champion award for leading the team.
Cam Lee was named the Neil Smith Most Valuable Defenseman award. Lee was the top-scoring blue-liner for the Broncos with a career-high 26 points on seven goals and 19 assists, also finishing +10. Freshman defenseman Mattias Samuelsson was named the Suzanne Klop Rookie of the Year. The Buffalo Sabres' draft pick played in 35 of the 37 games, only missing two due commitments with USA Hockey for the World Junior Championship. Samuelsson had 12 points on five goals and seven assists and routinely logged heavy minutes on the blue line.
Sophomore forward Josh Passolt was named the Ed Edwards Most Improved Player. Passolt had 11 points as freshman and more than tripled that to end with 34 on 16 goals and 18 assists. His 16 goals tied him with McGing for the team's leading goal scorer. Senior captain Corey Schueneman earned the Catherine Lawson Sportsmanship award, while junior forward Lawton Courtnall was named the Blue Line Club Best Conditioned Athlete.
Once again it was defenseman Kale Bennett taking home the Peter Ellis Academic Player of the Year honors. Bennett holds a 3.98 GPA in biomedical sciences and had 4.00's during each semester of the season. Senior goalie Trevor Gorsuch and senior Jade McMullen shared the Kalamazoo Optimist Hockey Association Grinder of the Year award. Gorsuch played in a career-high 32 games, making 31 starts for a record of 19-11-1, helping the Broncos finish in third place in the NCHC standings. McMullen played in all 37 games, a career high, and tallied nine points on three goals and six assists.
Lukas Samuelsson and Will Massey both shared the new Ross & Dickie Brown and Gold Award, given to the Bronco who, without great fanfare, consistently gives 100 percent as a team member, a student and a community member to make his teammates and Bronco hockey better each day.
