Thursday, April 21, 2016
Alums Claim AHL, ECHL Honors
Former college players sweep MVP, Rookie of the Year honors in both leagues.
Former U.S. college players swept the AHL and ECHL’s Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards, further proof of NCAA hockey’s influence throughout professional hockey.
Chris Bourque (Boston University) and Chad Costello (Northeastern) claimed AHL and ECHL MVP honors, respectively, and led their leagues in scoring. In the AHL, Frank Vatrano (Massachusetts) led the league in goals and shared the Rookie of the Year award, while Matt Willows (New Hampshire) was the top rookie in the ECHL.
Vatrano led a tremendous youth movement in the AHL and ECHL among former college players. NCAA alumni made up seven of the top nine rookie scorers in the AHL and earned four spots on the league’s All-Rookie Team. Five of the six ECHL All-Rookie Team spots were claimed by NCAA alums.
Here’s a breakdown, by league, of the postseason awards claimed by former NCAA players:
AHL
| Most Valuable Player | Chris Bourque | Boston University |
| Rookie of the Year | Frank Vatrano | Massachusetts |
| Man of the Year | Ryan Carpenter | Bowling Green |
| First-Team All-AHL | ||
| Brandon Montour | Massachusetts | |
| Chris Bourque | Boston University | |
| Frank Vatrano | Massachusetts | |
| Second-Team All-AHL | ||
| Will O’Neill | Maine | |
| Robbie Russo | Notre Dame | |
| Mike Sislo | New Hampshire | |
| AHL All-Rookie Team | ||
| Brandon Montour | Massachusetts | |
| Robbie Russo | Notre Dame | |
| Austin Czarnik | Miami | |
| Frank Vatrano | Massachusetts |
ECHL
| Most Valuable Player | Chad Costello | Northeastern |
| Goalie of the Year | Josh Robinson | Michigan Tech |
| Rookie of the Year | Matt Willows | New Hampshire |
| Sportsmanship Award | Shane Berschbach | Western Michigan |
| First-Team All-ECHL | ||
| Josh Robinson | Michigan Tech | |
| Adrian Veideman | Denver | |
| Shane Berschbach | Western Michigan | |
| Chad Costello | Northeastern | |
| Second-Team All-ECHL | ||
| Jeff Lerg | Michigan State | |
| William Wrenn | Denver | |
| Jesse Root | Yale | |
| ECHL All-Rookie Team | ||
| Jacob MacDonald | Cornell | |
| Ben Marshall | Minnesota | |
| Dan DeSalvo | Bowling Green | |
| Cason Hohmann | Boston University | |
| Matt Willows | New Hampshire |