Defenseman Aaron Harstad (above) missed practice Thursday because he’s feeling sick, but left wing Jaden Schwartz is back from the flu, and he should play this weekend as Colorado College hosts Michigan Tech in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs.
Chances are Harstad won’t dress in Friday’s opener of the best-of-three, first-round series – creating an opening for Peter Stoykewych or Ian Young, both of whom were scratched for both games last weekend, when CC (18-14-2, 15-12-1 WCHA) swept Michigan Tech (14-18-4, 11-13-4) to close the regular season. Jaden Schwartz hadn’t practiced all week, however, he participated Thursday in all drills. Also cleared are centers Nick Dineen and Rylan Schwartz, who were limited in practice early in the week due to lingering soreness.
Jaden Schwartz was named to the All-WCHA second team, along with defenseman Gabe Guentzel, and goaltender Josh Thorimbert was selected to the third team. Rylan Schwartz was considered a lock, and defenseman Mike Boivin pitched a strong case, yet they were bypassed in voting by WCHA players, coaches, sports information directors and media. Eleven Tigers were picked for the All-WCHA academic squad, with Guentzel joined by Ted Behrend, Arthur Bidwill, David Civitarese, Tim Hall, Andrew Hamburg, Joe Howe, Alexander Krushelnyski, Eamonn McDermott, Archie Skalbeck and Scott Winkler.
WCHA AWARD WINNERS
Player of the Year and Scoring Champion: Jack Connolly, Minnesota-Duluth
Goaltending Champion: Kent Patterson, Minnesota
Defensive Player of the Year: Justin Schultz, Wisconsin
Rookie of the Year: Joey LaLeggia, Denver
Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year: Brad Eidsness, North Dakota
Coach of the Year: Mel Pearson, Michigan Tech
ALL-WCHA FIRST TEAM
F Jack Connolly, Minnesota-Duluth
F Nick Bjugstad, Minnesota
F J.T. Brown, Minnesota-Duluth
D Justin Schultz, Wisconsin
D Joey LaLeggia, Denver
G Kent Patterson, Minnesota
ALL-WCHA SECOND TEAM
F Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College
F Drew Shore, Denver
F Jason Zucker, Denver
D Gabe Guentzel, Colorado College
D Nate Schmidt, Minnesota
G Kenny Reiter, Minnesota-Duluth
ALL-WCHA THIRD TEAM
F Mark Zengerle, Wisconsin
F Brock Nelson, North Dakota
F Travis Oleksuk, Minnesota-Duluth
D Nick Jensen, St. Cloud State
D Ben Blood, North Dakota
G Josh Thorimbert, Colorado College
ALL-WCHA ROOKIE TEAM
F Kyle Rau, Minnesota
F Jean-Paul Lafontaine, Minnesota State-Mankato
F Jayson Megna, Nebraska-Omaha
D Joey LaLeggia, Denver
D Andrew Prochno, St. Cloud State
G Juho Olkinuora, Denver
Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazettehockey. Google+: Brian Gomez. YouTube: Colorado College Hockey, Covered by The Gazette. For the CC homepage, visit www.gazette.com/sections/sports/cchockey. For the CC blog, visit http://cchockey.freedomblogging.com.
Rylan put up good numbers this year. A shame he was passed over. Hopefully that’ll put a chip on his shoulder.
[...] right wing Charlie Taft in place of center Jordan DiGiando. Aaron Harstad has recovered from the flu, so he replaces Peter Stoykewych in the second defensive [...]