Twenty of the top NCAA men’s hockey student-athletes who excel both on and off the ice were selected as candidates Wednesday for the 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
| Player's Name | School |
|---|---|
| Dylan Abood | Air Force |
| Louie Belpedio | Miami |
| Michael Bitzer | Bemidji State |
| Tim Davison | Wisconsin |
| Andrew Dorantes | Ferris State |
| Jake Evans | Notre Dame |
| Brady Ferguson | Robert Morris |
| Carson Gatt | Michigan State |
| Karson Kuhlman | Minnesota Duluth |
| Sam Lafferty | Brown |
| Alfred Larsson | Merrimack |
| Merrick Madsen | Harvard |
| Mitch McLain | Bowling Green |
| Brady Norrish | RIT |
| Judd Peterson | St. Cloud State |
| Tyler Pham | Army West Point |
| Sam Piazza | Michigan |
| Austin Poganski | North Dakota |
| Ryan Schmelzer | Canisius |
| Jared Wilson | Rensselaer |
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists in February, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2018 Frozen Four in April.
Last year’s winner was Bemidji State forward Brendan Harms.
