On April 15, the DU hockey program hosted their annual hockey awards evening. This year marked the 60th anniversary for the event.
The evening began with Jay Stickney, the announcer for the DU Hockey for over a decade, introducing the team. In true Stickney fashion, each class was given a question to answer. The freshmen were asked, “If you could be any actress, who would you be?”, the sophomores were asked which senior they would be and the juniors were asked “Which Justin Bieber song would you sing?” The seniors were excluded from this portion of the ceremony because they were highlighted later on.
Eleven individual awards were handed out throughout the evening. The first award for Star of the Year is always given to the player who has won the most first star of the game mentions throughout the season. This year, the award was given to sophomore goaltender Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Canada). Jaillet started 31 games for the Pioneers, totaling three shutouts and securing a save percentage of .922.
The next award was for Freshman of the Year. This award was given to rookie sensation Dylan Gambrell (Bonney Lake, Washington). Gambrell won NCHC Rookie of the Week honors five times this season and he was named to the All-Conference Rookie team.
The award for Most Improved Player was given to sophomore defenseman Tariq Hammond (Calgary, Canada). After only playing in ten games his freshman year and earning one point from his lone goal, Hammond played 40 games this season and earned ten points (1G, 9A) in addition to becoming a dominant physical force for the team.
The award for Most Inspirational Player was given to senior captain Grant Arnold (Centennial, Colorado). Arnold was captain for two consecutive years and poured his heart and soul into the Denver hockey program. He was truly the fearless leader of this team.
The Sportsmanship and the Top Scholar-Athlete awards were both given to senior Gabe Levin (Marina del Rey, California). This was Levin’s third consecutive Sportsman of the Year award after a season with no penalties. Levin was awarded the NCAA’s Elite 90 Award, given to the college hockey player with the highest cumulative GPA. Levin’s GPA is 3.96. Levin was also the NCHC’s Scholar Athlete of the Year and he received the inaugural NCHC post-graduate scholarship. The scholarship is funded by the El Pomar Foundation and Levin will be awarded $7,500 to further his studies past the undergraduate level.
Best Defensive Player honors were split between senior Nolan Zajac (Winnipeg, Canada) and junior Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin). Zajac had an impressive streak of 140+ games played consecutively. Butcher was named the NCHC Defensive Player of the Week on four occasions.
The award for Community Service was shared between junior Evan Ritt (Lakewood, Colorado) and junior Brad Hawkinson (Aurora, Colorado). Both spent time volunteering with the Junior Pioneers program. Ritt also volunteered at Aspen Academy. Hawkinson dedicated his time to work with Best Buddies International.
Best Offensive Player and Most Valuable Player were both awarded to sophomore forward Danton Heinen (Langley, Canada). Heinen led the team in points per game and had 20 goals and 28 assists this season. Heinen just signed an entry level contract with the Boston Bruins and he will not be returning to the Pioneer program next season.
Finally, the Daniel Ritchie Spirit Award was given to Gerry Powers. Powers was a goalie for the Pioneers and a member of the 1968 and 1969 University of Denver national championship teams. In 1969, Powers recorded the first shutout championship game in NCAA history by defeating the University of North Dakota 4-0.
Each senior, including Levin, Arnold, Zajac and Quentin Shore (Denver, Colorado), had the opportunity to give speeches to thank the program and the community for their support.
Levin artfully acknowledged the disappointing Frozen Four and managed to put a positive spin on the situation.
“A lot of people have said over the last week just how close we were to a national championship. Coming that close made me think about why I wanted to win a national championship so badly, because I wanted this more than anything. There are two reasons why I really wanted to win,” said Levin. “The first one is because I wanted all of you to be national champions and when I say all of you, I mean everyone in this Pioneer community. The second reason, maybe the more important reason, is because we’re a family and I thought that if we won a national championship, we would stay a family. If we stay a family and we stay together I will feel like I won a national championship.”
Arnold became emotional in his speech, especially when he thanked his family. He extended a special thank you to his younger sisters.
“[They] make me realize there is more to life than hockey.” He ended his speech by saying, “I will be a member of this Pioneer family forever.”
Across the board, every senior agreed that their time at DU was the best four years of their lives.
This year saw some incredible improvements from the first half of the season to the second. After a four game losing streak in early December, the Pioneers were able to make a massive comeback that included an 11–game winning streak and a trip to the NCAA Frozen Four.
Despite a heartbreaking loss to the University of North Dakota in the semifinals, the Pioneer hockey program will continue striving for success and capturing an eighth championship in the coming season.
Levin said it best: “Stay selfless and stay committed to each other and get that national championship.”
