2009 Men's Ice Hockey All-Conference Selections Released
Landers of Amherst
Named Player of the Year
HADLEY, Mass. - Amherst senior defenseman Jeff Landers (Hanover,
Mass.) has been selected as the 2009 NESCAC Player of the Year, as
determined by the conference coaches. Landers’ torrid scoring
pace over the second half of the season helped the Lord Jeffs
finish atop the NESCAC standings this year, as his team captured
the top seed in the 2009 NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship
for the first time in tournament history. Landers is the second
Lord Jeff to earn the conference’s top honor this decade
after fellow blue liner Jim Smith came away with the award in
2001.
An All-Conference Second Team
selection a year ago, Landers also found a spot on the First Team
in addition to being named Player of the Year. Landers is having a
career season on the ice for the Lord Jeffs, shattering his
previous mark of 22 points over the last two winters with a
personal-best eight goals and 27 assists for a team-leading 35
points, just nine points shy of 100 over his tenure at Amherst. It
may come as little surprise that Landers is at or near the top of
multiple statistical categories in the league this season.
Landers’ 35 points lead all conference blue liners and rank
second among all skaters, while his 27 helpers hold the top spot in
assists. He has also contributed a league-leading 19 points on the
power-play (3-16-19) as Amherst’s extra-attacker unit
currently hums along at a NESCAC-best 25.4-percent conversion rate.
The Jeffs have been one of the hottest teams in the country during
the second half of the 2008-09 campaign. After falling in the title
game of the St. Michael’s tournament on Jan. 3, Amherst has
gone 15-1-0 heading into this weekend’s conference semifinals
and Landers has posted 31 of his 35 points during that span,
averaging nearly two points per game with 10 multi-point outings
while being held scoreless only twice.
Landers may be getting the bulk of
the attention for his point production this season, however a big
part of the Lord Jeffs’ success can be found just a bit
farther back on the ice. Joining Landers on the First Team from
Amherst was sophomore goaltender Cole Anderson (Eckville, Alberta),
a first time honoree. Anderson has platooned in net with classmate
Jonathan La Rose (Boyle, Alberta), who earned Second Team
recognition for the second-straight year, and the tandem have
combined to anchor the Amherst defense as the Lord Jeffs have
allowed a Division III-low 1.50 goals per game this season. At
9-3-1 with one shutout, Anderson boasts a 1.45 goals against
average and a .955 save percentage to lead all NESCAC netminders.
Anderson made a career-high 54 saves during a 4-3 win over
Middlebury on Feb. 20, a victory that not only gave the Jeffs their
first win over the Panthers since the 1999-2000 season but also
secured the number-one seed in this year’s NESCAC
championship.
Junior forward Keith Nelson
(Manalapan, N.J.) was the final representative from Amherst to
garner All-NESCAC, as the Lord Jeffs led all programs with three
First Team members. Nelson is in the midst of his best season
wearing an Amherst sweater, ranking second only to Landers among
his teammates with five goals and 20 assists (3rd NESCAC) for 25
points (9th). Part of the Jeffs’ top power-play and penalty
killing units, Nelson has contributed two goals and 10 assists on
the power-play while helping Amherst kill off a league-leading
90.6-percent of man-down situations.
Also at forward on the
All-Conference First Team were Middlebury’s Jamie McKenna
(Lake Placid, N.Y.) and Martin Drolet (Lachine, Quebec). In his
final season with the Panthers, McKenna leads the league in scoring
with 36 points on 14 goals and 22 assists, just four points shy of
a personal-best 40 accumulated during his rookie campaign. Of his
14 tallies so far this season, six have come on the power-play
while five have served as game-winners. McKenna also ranks second
in the NESCAC in power-play points, registering 17 (6-11-17).
In addition to being named to the
All-NESCAC First Team during his first year in the league Drolet
also was chosen as the NESCAC Rookie of the Year, becoming the
first-ever player to earn Rookie of the Year and First Team honors
at the same time. The freshman forward leads the conference in
goals heading into this weekend’s NESCAC championship with 19
tallies - 11 of which have come over the Panthers’ last 12
games. Drolet is just behind Mckenna on the Middlebury stat sheet
and third among NESCAC skaters in total points with 33, adding 14
assists to his 19 goals.
Rounding out the NESCAC
All-Conference First Team was Williams freshman defender Justin
Troiani (Woodbridge, Ontario). While Troiani is currently the top
rookie scorer for the Ephs with five goals and 10 assists for 13
points, the intangibles that Troiani has brought to the ice this
season have made him stand out. Logging the most minutes of any
member of the Williams defensive corps, Troiani has been an
effective skater on special teams along with breaking the puck out
of the zone. Troiani helped his team reach the NESCAC semifinals
this year for the first time since the 2000 tournament.
Coach of the Year went to
Amherst’s Jack Arena. Arena, a 1983 graduate of the college
now in his 26th season behind the bench for the Lord Jeffs, has
guided his team to a 19-4-1 overall mark - just one win shy of
setting a new program record - along with the top seed in this
year’s NESCAC championship. It is the first time that Arena
has received the league’s coaching honor.
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2008-09 NESCAC Men's Ice Hockey
All-Conference
|
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First Team |
Institution
|
Yr. |
Hometown |
F
|
Martin Drolet
|
Middlebury
|
Fr.
|
Lachine, Quebec
|
F
|
Jamie McKenna
|
Middlebury
|
Sr.
|
Lake Placid, N.Y.
|
F
|
Keith Nelson
|
Amherst
|
Jr.
|
Manalapan, N.J.
|
D
|
Jeff Landers
|
Amherst
|
Sr.
|
Hanover, Mass.
|
D
|
Justin Troiani
|
Williams
|
Fr.
|
Woodbridge, Ontario
|
G
|
Cole Anderson
|
Amherst
|
So.
|
Eckville, Alberta
|
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Second Team |
Institution |
Yr. |
Hometown |
F
|
Trevor Bradley
|
Connecticut College
|
Jr.
|
West Hartford, Conn.
|
F
|
Tom Derosa
|
Tufts
|
So.
|
Charlestown, Mass.
|
F
|
Adam Houli
|
Trinity
|
So.
|
Howell, N.J.
|
F
|
Alex Smigelski
|
Williams
|
Jr.
|
Mountain Lakes, N.J.
|
D
|
Chris Diozzi
|
Trinity
|
Sr.
|
Belmont, Mass.
|
D
|
Kyle Shearer-Hardy
|
Bowdoin
|
So.
|
Montreal, Quebec
|
G
|
Jonathan La Rose
|
Amherst
|
So.
|
Boyle, Alberta
|
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Player of the Year |
|
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D
|
Jeff Landers
|
Amehrst
|
Sr.
|
Hanover, Mass.
|
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Rookie of the Year |
|
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F
|
Martin Drolet
|
Middlebury
|
Fr.
|
Lachine, Quebec
|
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Coach of the
Year |
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Jack Arena
|
Amherst
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