2008 NESCAC Men's Ice Hockey All-Conference Teams Announced
Colby's Kelley Honored as Player of the Year
HADLEY, Mass. - Colby senior forward T.J. Kelley (Ridgefield, Conn.) has been selected by the conference coaches as the 2008 NESCAC Player of the Year. Kelley helped the Mules earn for the first time in tournament history the number-one seed in the NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship with a 13-5-1 conference mark. It is the second year in a row that a Colby skater has been honored with the league’s top honor, as Greg Osborne was the first Mule to ever receive the award in 2007.
Kelley, who also received All-NESCAC First Team recognition this year after being named to the Second Team in 2006, leads the league in scoring with 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points. Kelley has had at least one point in 21 of the Mules’ 24 games and is averaging over two points per game during his current four-game scoring streak (2-7-9). He has had 14 multi-point outings during the 2007-08 campaign, tying a personal best of four points in a game on two occasions with two goals and two assists in a 6-3 win over Castleton on Dec. 1 and a goal and three assists in a 7-5 victory at Williams on Jan. 18. Kelley recorded his first collegiate hat trick - a natural - with three tallies in a 6-2 win over St. Anselm on Jan. 11, the first two coming on the power-play and the third while his team was shorthanded with only 32 seconds remaining in the second period.
Kelley was joined on the All-NESCAC First Team by senior teammates Josh Reber (Edina, Minn.) and Arthur Fritch (South Boston, Mass.), all three of whom have accumulated over 100 points in their careers at Colby. An All-Conference Second Team selection a year ago, Reber is behind only Kelley among conference players in scoring with 10 goals and 24 assists for 34 points, 20 of which have come on the power play, but his totals could be much higher had he not missed five games in February due to injury. Reber had a personal-best 14-game scoring streak that extended over three months this season, along with a career high five-point performance with two goals and three helpers during the Mules’ win at Williams. He ranks eighth all-time at Colby with 34 goals and 98 assists for 132 points.
Fritch, a Second Team selection in 2006, was the only holdover from the 2007 First Team on this year’s squad. The senior is fourth among NESCAC defensemen in points and third among his teammates with 26 on nine goals and 17 assists. Through 95 career games, Fritch has 32 goals and 83 assists for 115 points, 14th all-time. Fritch also supports the conference’s best defense, as the Mules have allowed on average a league-low 2.42 goals per game this season.
After earning Second Team All-Conference last year, Middlebury senior defender Tom Maldonado (Bronx, N.Y.) moved up to the First Team in 2008. Currently in the midst of a three-game goal-scoring streak, Maldonado has a career-high nine goals so far this year and is just two points shy of matching his season high total of 29 set in 2005. He leads the defending NESCAC champion Panthers in scoring and is eighth overall in the league.
The final forward slot on the All-NESCAC First Team went to Amherst senior Kyle Schoppel (Cambridge, Ontario). The 2005 Rookie of the Year, Schoppel is third among the Lord Jeffs in scoring with 14 goals and seven assists for 21 points. Half of Schoppel’s team-high 14 tallies have been special teams goals (5 PP, 2 SH), and two more markers will tie his career-high of 16 that he scored during his freshman season.
Rounding out the 2008 NESCAC All-Conference First Team was Connecticut College sophomore goaltender Greg Parker (Trenton, Ontario). Last winter, Parker helped the Camels to their first-ever NESCAC championship appearance and received 2007 Rookie of the Year and Second Team recognition along the way. This season, Parker once again backboned his team to a fifth-place showing in the NESCAC standings, the best finish in program history, and a second consecutive tournament appearance. Parker ended the conference slate with a 9-8-2 record, a 2.78 goals against average, and a .917 save percentage.
NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors went to Bowdoin freshman forward Ryan Leary (Marblehead, Mass.). Leary led the league in goals with 22 and was tied for fourth in points with 30 (22-8-30), as he was held scoreless in only three of his 22 appearances for the Polar Bears. Against Skidmore on Dec. 1, Leary had a breakout performance with a school-record six goals, three of which he tallied in a span of 3:28 in the first period.
Colby head coach Jim Tortorella was the choice among the coaches, garnering Coach of the Year. Tortorella last received the honor in 2006, sharing the award with Williams head coach Bill Kangas. Tortorella has guided the Mules to a 15-8-1 record this season, including an 8-2-1 showing over their last 11 games and first place finish in the conference standings.
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2007-08 NESCAC Men's Ice Hockey All-Conference
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First Team |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
F
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T.J. Kelley
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Colby
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Sr.
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Ridgefield, Conn.
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F
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Josh Reber
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Colby
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Sr.
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Edina, Minn.
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F
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Kyle Schoppel
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Amherst
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Sr.
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Cambridge, Ontario
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D
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Arthur Fritch
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Colby
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Sr.
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South Boston, Mass.
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D
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Tom Maldonado
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Middlebury
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Sr.
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Bronx, N.Y.
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G
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Greg Parker
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Connecticut College
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So.
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Trenton, Ontario |
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Second Team |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
F
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Joel Covelli
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Amherst
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Jr.
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Carlisle, Ontario
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F
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Mickey Gilchrist
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Middlebury
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Sr.
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Ottawa, Ontario
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F
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Brandon Jackmuff
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Williams
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Sr.
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Woodbury, N.J.
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D
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Jeff Landers
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Amherst
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Jr.
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Hanover, Mass.
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D
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Mike Westerman
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Bowdoin
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Sr.
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Ann Arbor, Mich.
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G
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Jonathan LaRose
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Amherst
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Fr.
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Boyle, Alberta
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G
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Wes Vesprini
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Trinity
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Fr.
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Lexington, Mass.
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Player of the Year |
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F
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T.J. Kelley
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Colby
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Sr.
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Ridgefield, Conn.
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Rookie of the Year |
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F
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Ryan Leary
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Bowdoin
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Fr.
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Marblehead, Mass.
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Coach of the Year |
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Jim Tortorella
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Colby
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