Michigan State University Athletics
KRUG EARNS CCHA TOP HONORS
3/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
March 15, 2012
WATCH: CCHA Awards Show Highlights
Detroit, Mich. - Junior defenseman Torey Krug (Livonia, Mich.) earned two of the CCHA's top honors at its year-end awards show on Thursday evening, as he was voted the league's Player of the Year in addition to being selected as the CCHA's Best Offensive Defenseman for the second consecutive season.
"Obviously, this is a great honor," noted the captian. "I have to thank my teammates and coaches for putting me in a position to be honored by our conference coaches. Hockey is the ultimate team game, and I could not have achieved anything this year without the hard work and support of my teammates and coaching staff."
Krug, who has been honored by the CCHA in each of his three playing seasons, was a unanimous selection to the All-CCHA First Team last week, and had a history-making campaign as a junior. With his game-winning goal in the final game of the season at Notre Dame, Krug shared the CCHA scoring title with Irish forward TJ Tynan. Krug became just the second defenseman in CCHA history - and the fifth overall in the college game - to win his league's scoring title.
In addition, the conference coaches selected Krug as the league's Best Offensive Defenseman. Krug owns a 12-21-33 scoring line, his best offensive season at MSU and his second consecutive season as the top goal-scoring defenseman in the conference. He ranks seventh overall in the conference in scoring, is eighth in assists, and 19th overall in goals. He tied for third in power-play goals (7) and owns the fourth- most game-winning tallies (3) in the CCHA as well. Krug plays in excess of 29 minutes per game, and plays in all situations.
Krug's +18 is eighth among blueliners nationally, and he is fifth in the country in defenseman scoring.
Krug is just the fourth defenseman in conference history to win the league's Player of the Year honors, and the first in 25 years; the most recent defenseman to earn CCHA Player of the Year honors was Western Michigan's Wayne Gagne in 1987, a season in which he won the CCHA scoring title. Other blueliners to win the award were Ken Morrow (Bowling Green) in 1979, and Don Waddell (Northern Michigan) shared the 1978 honor with Bowling Green's John Markell.
Krug becomes the seventh Spartan all-time to be selected the CCHA Player of the Year by the conference coaches; he joins Kip Miller (1990), Dwayne Norris (1992), Chad Alban (1998), Mike York (1999), Shawn Horcoff (2000) and Ryan Miller (2001, 2002).
He is the fourth Spartan to be the league's Best Offensive Defenseman, and is in the distinct company with John-Michael Liles (2002, 2003) to earn the award twice. The other two-time winners are Northern Michigan's Erik Gustafson (2009, 2010), and Miami's Andy Greene (2005, 2006).
In addition to the major awards, Krug was also MSU's Perani Cup winner. The Perani Cup goes to the player who receives the most distinctions as one of the "Three Stars of the Game" at the conclusion of each CCHA contest.
Brock Shelgren was MSU's Scholar-Athlete designee. Each of the 11 teams selects one Scholar-Athlete
to represent its program. Shelgren, a 3.7 student as a finance major, has been MSU's CCHA Scholar- Athlete Award winner each of the last two seasons. He has earned Academic All-Big Ten honors twice in his career and was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in 2010. The standout blueliner is enjoying his best offensive season at MSU, with a 3-10-13 scoring line. He leads the CCHA with 105 blocked shots.
Also under consideration for recognition at the CCHA Awards Show was head coach Tom Anastos, who was one of three finalists for CCHA Coach of the Year. Anastos guided the Spartans to a fifth-place finish in the CCHA standings, an improvement of five spots from the previous season. With a 19-15-4 overall record, MSU will learn on Sunday whether it has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. If selected, it will be the Spartans' first NCAA Tournament bid since 2008. The CCHA Coach of the Year award went to Bob Daniels, head coach of the regular-season champion Ferris State Bulldogs.
2011-12 CCHA Award Winners
RBC Player of the Year: Torey Krug, Michigan State
Coach of the Year: Bob Daniels, Ferris State
Rookie of the Year: Alex Guptill, Michigan
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Chad Billins, FSU
Terry Flanagan: Domenic Monardo, Lake Superior
Ilitch Humanitarian: Cody Reichard, Miami
Best Offensive Defenseman: Torey Krug, MSU
Best Defensive Defenseman: Dan DeKeyser, WMU
Best Defensive Forward: Luke Glendening, Michigan
