The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston announced Monday the 16 NCAA Division I players semifinalists for the Walter Brown Award, given annually to the best American-born player in New England.
The award, established in 1953, is also the nation’s oldest nationally-recognized college hockey honor.
“We feel that we’ve got a superb roster of semifinalists for the Walter Brown Award this year,” said Gridiron Club hockey awards committee chairman Tim Costello in a statement. “That said, there were many others in all three leagues whose play merited strong consideration. It’s never a simple task to evaluate all nominees and make a cut to a manageable number.”
Twelve teams are represented in the list of candidates that includes eight players from Hockey East, seven from the ECAC and one from Atlantic Hockey. Nine forwards, three goalies and four defensemen make up the nominees.
Bentley forward Brett Gensler, the lone AHA representative, won the award in 2012.
The finalists and winner of the award will be announced in March and the formal award presentation is scheduled for the New England College Hockey Writers’ Dinner in April.
| Name | Position | Class | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenny Agostino | F | Jr. | Yale |
| Anthony Borelli | G | Sr. | Brown |
| Mike Collins | F | Jr. | Merrimack |
| Johnny Gaudreau | F | So. | Boston College |
| Brett Gensler | F | Jr. | Bentley |
| Jon Gillies | G | Fr. | Providence |
| Kevin Goumas | F | Jr. | New Hampshire |
| Matt Grzelcyk | D | Fr. | Boston University |
| Eric Hartzell | G | Sr. | Quinnipiac |
| Mike Keenan | D | Sr. | Dartmouth |
| Jeremy Langlois | F | Sr. | Quinnipiac |
| Andrew Miller | F | Sr. | Yale |
| Chad Ruhwedel | D | Jr. | Massachusetts-Lowell |
| Trevor Van Riemsdyk | D | So. | New Hampshire |
| Jimmy Vesey | F | Fr. | Harvard |
| Steven Whitney | F | Sr. | Boston College |
