Opening Faceoff: Union’s Prokop, RPI’s Muzzatti named to ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team

Two hockey players, one makes a shot — PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Union freshman defenseman John Prokop was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team on Thursday.

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OPENING FACEOFF – Two Capital Region freshmen college hockey players were honored by ECAC Hockey on Thursday night at the conference’s award ceremonies in Lake Placid.

Union defenseman John Prokop and RPI forward Sutter Muzzatti were named to the ECACH All-Rookie Team. Prokop led the Dutchmen in scoring with four goals and 19 assists in 35 games. In 22 ECACH games, Prokop had two goals and 11 assists to lead Union.

Muzzatti was tied for the team lead in scoring with seven goals and 15 assists in 35 games. He had six goals and 11 assists in 22 conference games.

Joining Prokop and Muzzatti on the All-Rookie team were forwards Quinnipiac’s Sam Lipkin and Harvard’s Joe Miller, Harvard defenseman Ryan Healey and Dartmouth goalie Cooper Black.

REST OF THE AWARDS

Quinnipiac dominated the individual awards, winning four out of six.

Rand Pecknold won the Time Taylor Award as coach of the year for the third straight time, and fifth overall. Yaniv Perets won Goalie of the Year. Forward Sam Lipkin took home Rookie of the Year. Skyler Brind’Amour, the son of Carolina Hurricanes head coach and Hockey Hall of Famer Rod Brind’Amour, won Best Defensive Forward.

Harvard won the other two awards. Forward Sean Farrell won Player of the Year, and Henry Thrun took Best Defensive Defenseman.

The All-ECACH First Team features forwards Farrell, Collin Graf (Quinnipiac) and Alex Young (Colgate), defensemen Thrun and Sam Malinski (Cornell) and goalie Perets.

Members of the All-ECACH Second Team are forwards Matthew Coronato and Alex Laferriere of Harvard, and Quinnipiac’s Eric de Jong. The defensemen are Quinnipiac’s Zach Metsa and St. Lawrence’s Luc Salem. The goalie is Harvard’s Michael Gibson.

Named to the All-ECACH Third Team were forwards Brind’Amour, and Clarkson’s Ayrton Martino and Mathieu Gosselin. The defensemen were Clarkson’s Noah Beck and Dartmouth’s Tanner Palocsik. The goalie was Brown’s Mathieu Caron.

HOBEY BAKER FINALISTS

Three ECACH players are among the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, which was announced Wednesday.

Two are from Quinnipiac, Graf, formerly of Union, and Perets. Farrell is the other ECACH representative.

The rest of the finalists are Minnesota forwards Logan Cooley and Matthew Knies, Michigan forward Adam Fantilli, Boston University defenseman Lane Hutson, Northeastern goalie Devon Levi, Michigan Tech goalie Blake Pietila and Western Michigan forward Jason Polin.

The Hobey Hat Trick finalists will be announced March 30. The winner will be named April 7 during the Frozen Four in Tampa, Florida.

Full disclosure: I am on the Hobey Baker committee and have a vote.

THREE RPI PLAYERS IN PORTAL

Three RPI men’s hockey seniors have entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Forward Ryan Mahshie was tied for the team lead in scoring with Muzzatti and Jakob Lee and with seven goals and 15 assists. Forward TJ Waslh was fifth in scoring with seven goals and 10 assists. Defenseman Mason Klee had a goal and six assists.

ECACH TOURNEY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND PICKS

It’s no surprise that Quinnipiac, Harvard, Cornell and Colgate have made it to Lake Placid for this weekend’s championship round of the ECAC Hockey tournament. I picked all four teams to win last weekend. The only thing I got wrong were the number of games it would take Cornell and Colgate to win their respective series. I said three, and it took two.

Here are my picks for Friday’s semifinals and Saturday’s championship game.

SEMIFINALS

Colgate vs. Quinnipiac: The two teams split the season series. Both scores were 3-2. Can it be that close again? I think it can be. If Colgate can dictate the game’s tempo, it has a shot to win. But I think Quinnipiac’s talent will be the difference. The pick: Quinnipiac 3, Colgate 2.

Cornell vs. Harvard: Harvard took the season series, winning 2-1 in overtime Dec. 2 at Lynah Rink and 6-2 Jan. 28 at Bright Landry Hockey Center. Harvard has much more offensive talent than Cornell. Cornell goalie Ian Shane will need to be on top of his game to keep the game close. The pick: Harvard 5, Cornell 2.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Harvard vs. Quinnipiac: Quinnipiac has been one of the top teams since joining the ECACH in 2005-06. However, the Bobcats have won just one ECACH tournament title. They should have won more, but it seems like they play tight when it comes to the postseason. Can they shake that off against Harvard, a team they swept in the regular season? I think so. The pick: Quinnipiac 5, Harvard 3.

Contact Ken Schott by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @slapschotts.