Hockey East announced Thursday night that Northeastern junior forward Adam Gaudette has been awarded the honor of 2018 Hockey East Player of the Year.
The award was presented as part of the 34th annual Hockey East championship awards banquet at the Royal Sonesta Hotel.
Alongside Gaudette, Boston College first-year forward Logan Hutsko was named the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Year for a season in which he led the Eagles in scoring.
Additionally, BC coach Jerry York collected his fourth Bob Kullen Award as the Bauer Coach of the Year after guiding Boston College to the Hockey East regular-season crown and the top seed in the Hockey East tournament in a year in which his roster featured zero seniors and 18 underclassmen.
Gaudette tops off a historic 2017-18 season by becoming just the third Northeastern player to be named the Hockey East Player of the Year and the second Husky skater to earn the honor after Zach Aston-Reese was tabbed as the league’s best player last season. The Braintree, Mass., native racked up 56 points (29 goals, 27 assists) in just 34 games across his junior campaign to lead the nation in points.
He registered 20 goals and 15 assists in 24 Hockey East games win the Hockey East scoring crown. Recently named a Hockey East First Team All-Star, Gaudette leads the NCAA in overall goals (29), points (56) points per game (1.65), power-play points (27), and hat tricks (2). He was twice named the Hockey East Player of the Month (January and February) and was also honored as the HCA National Player of the Month twice (January and February) and Hockey East Player of the Week on three occasions. The 2018 Hockey East Player of the Year, Gaudette was named a Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist on March 14.
Hutsko lead all Hockey East rookies in total points, amassing 29 points on 12 goals and 17 assists. His 16 assists in 24 league games were second-most among all Hockey East skaters, while his 24 points ranked fourth among all league players. Alongside his classmates in conference play, Hutsko was tops in assists (16), points (24), assists per game (0.67), points per game (1.00), game-winning goals (2), and plus-minus rating (plus-14). His five power-play assists were tied for third-most among league rookies. The Tampa, Fla., native lead the Eagles in point scoring, both overall (29) and in league play (24), becoming just the second rookie to lead Boston College in overall point scoring since at least 1999-2000.
Hutsko, named to the 2017-18 Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team as the only unanimous selection, was honored as a Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Feb. 12 and Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month for February.
York returns his Eagles to the Hockey East semifinals for the third straight year and 24th appearance all-time, the most of any Hockey East program.
He coached Boston College to an 18-5-0 record in Hockey East play to lay claim to the Eagles’ 16th regular season title and the top seed in the Hockey East Tournament. His team’s 18 wins were the most of any program in league play since York lead the 2011-12 Boston College squad to a 19-7-1 record in league play. The Eagles won the NCAA championship that season. He coached the highest-scoring league offense (3.29 GPG) and the third-best defense in the conference (2.21 GPG). Under his direction, the Eagles operated the third most efficient penalty killing unit in the league, allowing just 14 power-play goals in 98 kills, good for an 85.7 percent success rate. York’s squad allowed just 12 third-period goals in league play, the fewest among all league programs. The Eagles had the most goals (79), assists (147), and points (226) in league play of any offensive unit, while their plus-22 goal differential was also tops in Hockey East.
