Michigan State University Athletics
Hockey Dominates Awards at CCHA Banquet
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
March 18, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State hockey dominated the CCHA Awards Banquet Thursday night at Second City in Detroit, as Spartans took home four of the seven awards which were presented.
Senior center Mike York (Waterford, Mich.) was named the conference's Player of the Year, becoming the second straight Spartan to win the award (following Chad Alban last year). York is the team captain and leading scorer on the conference-champion Spartans, with 21 goals and 28 assists (49 points). He leads the CCHA with a +35 plus/minus rating and was a first-team all-conference selection.
"It's a fitting tribute to Mike, who has really been the dominant player in the conference this year," head coach Ron Mason said. "He does it all - offensively and defensively - and has been the one person most responsible for our team's success this season. He is the most unselfish player I have had here in 20 years, and because of that probably doesn't like all of this individual attention. But it's that unselfishness that makes him so great."
Mason earned CCHA Coach of the Year honors for the seventh time in his career and fourth time at Michigan State. Mason guided the Spartans, picked third in the CCHA preseason polls, to the conference championship and set a league record for team defense (1.33 goals against per game) along the way. It is the first time Mason has been honored by the league since 1989-90.
"It's always special to be honored by your peers," Mason said. "But this award is the product of a great group of players who give a consistent effort that any coach in the country would be proud of."
Michigan State's CCHA-record team defense, which allowed just 1.33 goals against per game and killed penalties at a 93.1-percent clip, earned its share of accolades. Junior Mike Weaver (Bramalea, Ont.) was named the Best Defensive Defenseman while York earned the Best Defensive Forward honor. Both York and Weaver were first-team All-CCHA selections.
Michigan State has now won the Best Defensive Defenseman honor three years in a row, as Weaver follows in the footsteps of his former defense partner, Tyler Harlton. Weaver stands second among CCHA defensemen with a +21 plus/minus rating and has made his mark with his shot-blocking, one-on-one defensive play and punishing body checks.
"Mike is the kind of defenseman who stands out when coaches watch games or watch films," Mason said. "He's an elite defenseman, and it's nice to see people who focus on the defensive part of the game get rewarded."
York becomes the first Spartan to win the CCHA's Best Defensive Forward Award in its 10 years of existence. In addition to being one of the league's most dangerous offensive weapons, York excelled defensively this season, as he led the CCHA with a +35 plus/minus rating. In 39 games, 857 shifts and more than nine hours of even-strength playing time, York has been on the ice just twice this year when the opponent has scored a five-on-five goal.
"Mike's commitment to defense has trickled down through our whole team," Mason said. "A player with his skills could spend the whole game looking for points, and he'd probably have a lot more. But without his effort defensively, we wouldn't have been as successful this year as a team."
Also honored at the banquet were several award winners who had been previously announced: junior center Shawn Horcoff (Castlegar, B.C.) on the All-Academic Team, freshman right wing Adam Hall (Kalamazoo, Mich.) on the All-Rookie Team and sophomore goaltender Joe Blackburn (Livonia, Mich.) on the All-CCHA second team.
Michigan State is 28-4-7 (20-3-7 CCHA) and ranked third in the nation entering tomorrow night's game against Northern Michigan in the CCHA semifinals. Faceoff is set for 5 p.m. at Joe Louis Arena and can be seen on FOX Sports Detroit.
CCHA AWARDS PRESENTED AT THURSDAY'S BANQUET
Best Offensive Defenseman: Mike Jones, Bowling Green
Best Defensive Defenseman: Mike Weaver, MSU
Best Defensive Forward: Mike York, MSU
Terry Flanagan Award (overcoming adversity): Ernie Hartlieb, Miami
Rookie of the Year: Mike Comrie, Michigan
Coach of the Year: Ron Mason, MSU
Player of the Year: Mike York, MSU
