Nominees for two of the most prestigious awards in the NHL and AHL were announced Friday, and former NCAA stars figure prominently on both lists.
Seven college alums are among the 30 nominees for the NHL's Masterton Trophy, given annually to the player who best demonstrates the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Each team's nominee is chosen by that city's chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.
| NCAA Alums Nominated for the Masterton Trophy | ||
| Team | Player | NCAA Team |
| ANA | Andrew Cogliano | Michigan |
| CAR | Nathan Gerbe | Boston College |
| CHI | Scott Darling | Maine |
| DAL | Patrick Eaves | Boston College |
| EDM | Matt Hendricks | St. Cloud State |
| OTT | Andrew Hammond | Bowling Green |
| STL | Brian Elliott | Wisconsin |
Each AHL club selects a Man of the Year honoree for that players' contributions to the community and charitable organizations during the course of the season. Those players are then considered for the AHL Man of the Year award, which is named for the late Yanick Dupre.
Thirteen former college stars are among the AHL teams' Man of the Year honorees. Three of the honorees played at Princeton, while two each played at Minnesota and Wisconsin.
| NCAA Alums Nominated for the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award | ||
| Team | Player | NCAA Team |
| Bing. | Michael Sdao | Princeton |
| Bridge. | Aaron Ness | Minnesota |
| Char. | Kyle Hagel | Princeton |
| Ham. | Davis Drewiske | Wisconsin |
| Hershey | Mike Moore | Princeton |
| Mil. | Zach Budish | Minnesota |
| OKC | Matthew Ford | Wisconsin |
| Prov. | Justin Florek | Northern Michigan |
| Roch. | Nick Petrecki | Boston College |
| Rock. | Zach Miskovic | St. Lawrence |
| St. John's | Will O'Neill | Maine |
| Utica | Alex Biega | Harvard |
| WBS | Barry Goers | UMass Lowell |