Re: All things Denver XXVII: From Boonetown to Motown - It's not a Ford, it's a Chevy
DU team awards from Hockey Banquet:
DENVER - Junior goaltender Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) earned his second consecutive Most Valuable Player honor, while senior captain Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was named Most Inspirational Player as the University of Denver celebrated its 54th Annual Hockey Awards Evening tonight at the Cable Center on the DU campus.
The Pioneers (27-10-4) captured their 12th WCHA regular-season title, Gold Pan Trophy and 14th Wells Fargo Denver Cup championship. In addition, the Pioneers advanced to their third consecutive NCAA Tournament and posted its school-record ninth straight 20-win season. Denver enjoyed a 10-game winning streak from Jan. 29-Feb. 27 and swept four-game, regular-season series' from North Dakota and Minnesota in the same season for the first time in school history. Denver also landed a WCHA-record 19 members on the All-WCHA Academic Team.
In addition, the Pioneers said goodbye to seniors Cody Brookwell (Calgary, Alberta), Brian Gifford (Moorhead, Minn.), Matt Glasser (Calgary, Alberta), Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood), Brandon Vossberg (St. Paul, Minn.) and Rakhshani, and junior Cheverie, who signed a pro contract with the Florida Panthers. DU also said goodbye to sophomores Joe Colborne (Calgary, Alberta) and Wiercioch, who signed pro deals with Boston and Ottawa, respectively. Rakhshani also signed a pro deal with the New York Islanders.
Rakhshani, Ruegsegger, Glasser, Brookwell, Gifford and Glasser finished their careers with 97 wins, three NCAA Tournament appearances, one WCHA Final Five championship, one WCHA regular-season title and three Wells Fargo Denver Cup titles.
Cheverie earned the Bill Masterton Memorial Award (MVP), Keith Magnuson Memorial Award for best defensive player and "Star of the Year" Award (most star of the game points) after posting 24-6-3 record with a 2.08 goals against average, .932 save percentage and six shutouts. The Hobey Baker Award Top-10 finalist and consensus All-American led the WCHA in goals against average (2.05), save percentage (.934), wins (17) and shutouts (4) in league games. Cheverie set the DU shutout minutes mark at 223:51 and tied Peter Mannino's school record with three consecutive shutouts.
Rakhshani, who was the first forward since 1999-2000 to captain the Pioneers, earned the Dr. Ralph Verploeg Award for most inspirational player and Leading Scorer Award. Rakhshani was a Hobey Baker Award Top-10 finalist and consensus All-American after posting a career-high 50 points on 21 goals and 29 assists. Rakhshani captured the WCHA scoring title with 35 points on 15 goals and 20 assists in league games and was a three-time Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week honoree. Rakhshani finished his four-year career tied for 18th on DU's all-time scoring list with 151 points on 60 goals and 91 assists in 156 games.
Matt Donovan (Edmond, Okla.) earned the Barry Sharp Memorial Award as top freshman, while Nate Dewhurst (Johnston, Iowa) and Chris Nutini (Centennial) shared the Murray Armstrong Award as most improved players.
Glasser earned the Dr. Ken Bredesen Award for sportsmanship and shared the Dr. Art Mason Award for top scholar-athlete with Ruegsegger. Vossberg earned the Bob Martin Memorial Award for community service for the fourth consecutive season.
DU Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. Nancy Sampson recognized DU's record 19 All-WCHA Academic honorees and school-record eight WCHA Scholar-Athlete winners. Jon Cook (Denver), Dustin Jackson (Omaha, Neb.), John Lee (Moorhead, Minn.), Jesse Martin (Edmonton, Alberta), Kyle Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta), Lars Paulgaard (Vettre, Norway), John Ryder (Colorado Springs), Luke Salazar (Thornton), Brookwell, Cheverie, Colborne, Dewhurst, Gifford, Glasser, Nutini, Rakhshani, Ruegsegger, Wiercioch and Vossberg were all honored for earning a 3.0 GPA or better this season. In addition, Colborne, Gifford, Glasser, Nutini, Ostrow, Rakhshani, Ruegsegger and Wiercioch were recognized for GPA's of 3.5 or better.
