The St. Thomas men’s hockey team earned 7 awards on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of its Central Collegiate Hockey Association semifinal game against Augustana on Saturday.
The Tommies snatched five of 18 possible All-CCHA team roster spots, the most of any team in the conference, and won two of the three CCHA Year-Awards announced Wednesday.
Senior forward Lucas Wahlin was named CCHA Defensive Forward of the Year and also earned a place on the All-CCHA First Team. The senior dominated on the defensive end this season, blocking 17 shots and winning 48.2% of his face-offs.
Wahlin scored 14 goals and dished 14 assists for the Tommies, landing him second in total points in the CCHA. The team captain, who appeared in all 26 CCHA games for St. Thomas, is also a finalist for the CCHA Forward of the Year award, which will be announced Thursday.
St. Thomas first-years Nathan Pilling, Hayes Hundley, and Lucas Van Vliet were named as members of the All-Rookie Team on Tuesday. The three first-years combined for 27 goals in CCHA play. Tommies hold three of the six available spots on the All-Rookie Team.
“They’ve had a tremendous year, regular season, and I think our upper classmen, our leadership, did a really nice job bringing everybody together, understanding our identity and our culture, and those (first-years) have really fit in nicely,” coach Rico Blasi said Tuesday after the All-CCHA teams were announced.
On top of his All-Rookie Team roster spot, Van Vliet was also named as the Rookie of the Year. The first-year led all rookies in points with a total of 27. Van Vliet shot the puck 78 times in the CCHA this season, second-most for all rookies.
The rookie of the year was also named to the Second Team, along with St. Thomas teammate, junior defenseman Chase Cheslock. The junior, a Rogers native, recorded 18 assists and blocked 25 shots for the Tommies in 26 CCHA games.
“When guys get awards like that, it’s a reflection of the team,” Blasi said.
St. Thomas will face Augustana on Saturday for the CCHA semifinal game at home in Anderson Arena. The Vikings beat the Tommies 4-0 in their last matchup on Feb. 21.
“I expect this to be a tight game,” Blasi said. “They’re a great team with a lot of weapons up front, some really offensive-minded defensemen, and obviously we know about their goaltender.”
Augustana’s junior goaltender, Josh Kotai, earned First-Team honors with Wahlin on Tuesday. Kotai leads all CCHA goalies with a .941 save percentage.
The winner of Saturday’s semifinal game will advance to the Mason Cup Championship, which will be hosted by the highest remaining seed in the conference.
“This is the way it should be. You have to play a great game to move on,” Blasi said.
Owen Bell can be reached at bell9606@stthomas.edu.
