The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston announced Monday that Northeastern junior forward Adam Gaudette is the winner of the 66th Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England.
Gaudette, from Braintree, Mass., is the first Northeastern player since Jim Fahey in 2002 to win the Walter Brown Award, the nation’s oldest nationally-recognized college hockey honor.
The award was established in 1953 by the members of the 1933 Massachusetts Rangers, the first American team ever to win the World Championship tournament. Brown coached the Rangers to the title in Prague, Czechoslovakia, that year as the team defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime in the championship game.
Ray Picard of Northeastern was the first Walter Brown Award winner. Other Huskies besides Gaudette and Fahey to win it are R.J. Cavanaugh (1956), Art Chisholm (1960) and Chuck Marshall (1982).
Gaudette leads the nation in scoring with 30 goals and 30 assists for 60 points through 37 games. His goal total, which includes 11 power-play goals and five game-winning tallies, is also tops in the country. He and linemates Dylan Sikura and Nolan Stevens combined for 75 goals – including 35 on the power play – in leading the Huskies to an overall record of 23-9-5 and a second-place finish in Hockey East’s regular-season standings.
Gaudette was named 2018 Player of the Year in Hockey East. He was also named Most Valuable Player in the 2018 Beanpot tournament. NU defeated Boston College 3-0 and Boston University 5-2 to win its first Beanpot since 1988. Gaudette had one goal against BC and scored a hat trick against BU in that tournament.
“Adam Gaudette has been one of our offensive catalysts all season long, and we’re thrilled that he has earned this prestigious award,” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan in a statement. “Adam is a 200-foot player who outworks his opponent every time he touches the ice, and he has had an incredibly special season. We depend on him in all game situations and he has been one of the key reasons for our success as a team.”
In the final voting, Gaudette won the award over Harvard junior forward Ryan Donato (Scituate, Mass.) and Providence junior forward Erik Foley (Mansfield, Mass.).
“In this closely contested Eastern college season, we once again had an impressive field of semifinalists, a total of 16, for the Walter Brown Award,” added Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Committee chairman Tim Costello. “Down the stretch, though, the play of Adam, Ryan, and Erik made it clearly evident that they would be the finalists. We congratulate them all, and the other 13 semifinalists too, on their superb seasons. We thank them for being outstanding representatives for the game of college hockey.”
The award will be presented at the New England College Hockey Writers’ Dinner on April 11 at the Prince Restaurant in Saugus, Mass.
