Spartans Honored at Annual Hockey Awards Program
4/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
EAST LANSING - The Michigan State hockey team held its annual awards program on Monday, April 20 at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing. Nine different Spartans took home awards, led by Jake Hildebrand who was named team MVP for the third consecutive year. Jason Muzzatti, who ranks second among all Spartan goaltenders with 83-career wins, was honored with the Distinguished Spartan Award.
Hildebrand is just the fourth player in program history to become a three-time team MVP. The junior netminder garnered first-team All-America, Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Goaltender of the Year honors as he led the conference in nearly every statistical category, including save percentage (.930), goals-against average (2.18) and shutouts (six). The native of Butler, Pennsylvania, allowed two or fewer goals 20 times in playing all 35 games between the pipes.
In Big Ten play, Hildebrand posted a 1.94 goals-against average and .940 save percentage. He allowed two or fewer goals in 13 of 20 league games and recorded five shutouts.
Matt Berry led the Spartans in points (29) and assists (17) and was named the winner of the Outstanding Offensive Player award. His 12 goals tied Michael Ferrantino for the team lead. The honorable mention All-Big Ten selection produced points in 10 of the final 15 games, including six multi-point games. He finished the year with a team-high 10 multi-point games.
Junior Travis Walsh was selected as the winner of the Dr. John Downs Outstanding Defensive Player Award. Walsh, who was selected to the All-Big Ten second team, was tops among all Spartan defenseman with 14 points (2g, 12a), which tied for fifth among all Big Ten blueliners.
Outstanding Rookie Award honors went to defenseman Josh Jacobs. Jacobs was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team as he produced nine assists in 35 games. He also led the team and ranked second in the Big Ten in blocked shots with 72.
Ferrantino, the team captain, was the recipient of the Amo Bessone Award, honoring athletic and academic achievement and community participation. The junior finance major was an Academic All-Big Ten selection and produced a career-high 23 points, while his 12 goals tied for the team lead.
Ryan Keller's breakout season netted him the Most Improved Player Award. The junior posted a career-best 19 points and 11 goals. The native of Farmington Hills had 11 points over the final nine games and led all Spartan forwards with a plus-10 rating.
Keller also received the Goofus Award for the third consecutive year as the team humorist.
Brent Darnell was named the winner of the Bill Burgess Outstanding Senior Award. Darnell produced 16 points (7g, 9a) in his final season wearing the Green and White. Darnell produced 11 points over an eight-game span during the middle of the season that included scoring game-winning goals in the GLI semifinals and then against Ohio State.
Sophomore defenseman Rhett Holland garnered the Spartan Fitness Award for the second straight year and goaltender Zack Cisek took home the Blue Line Club President's Award as the team's top scholar-athlete in the senior class. Muzzatti became the 27th recipient of the program's Distinguished Spartan Award. Muzzatti ranks as one of the best goaltenders in MSU history as he ranks second in wins with 83, third in games played at 130 and third in career saves with 2,928.
From 1987-91, Muzzatti helped guide the Spartans to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the Frozen Four in 1989, two CCHA Tournament titles and two CCHA regular season championships.
Following his collegiate career, Muzzatti went on to play in the National Hockey League and then in Europe for eight seasons. In 2006, he became just one of 15 Spartans to have the honor of competing in the Olympic Games as Muzzatti joined fellow Spartan Tony Tuzzolino in playing for Italy in the winter games in Torino, Italy.
2015 Spartan Hockey Team Award Winners
Distinguished Spartan Award - Jason Muzzatti
Team MVP - Jake Hildebrand
Outstanding Offensive Player - Matt Berry
Dr. John Downs Outstanding Defensive Player - Travis Walsh
Outstanding Rookie - Josh Jacobs
Amo Bessone Award - Michael Ferrantino
(honoring athletic and academic achievement and community participation)
Most Improved Player - Ryan Keller
Bill Burgess Outstanding Senior - Brent Darnell
Blue Line Club President's Award - Zack Cisek
(Top scholar-athlete in the senior class)
Spartan Fitness Award - Rhett Holland
Goofus Award - Ryan Keller
(team humorist)
