HAMDEN, Conn. – Quinnipiac University men’s ice hockey player Bryan Leitch (Coquitlam, B.C.) today was named to the ECAC Hockey Second Team, as announced by the league office.
Leitch, who played for Merritt of the British Columbia Hockey League prior to coming to Quinnipiac, leads the nation in points (59) and assists (47).
Against ECAC Hockey teams, Leitch also carries league-highs in both categories, with 30 and 20 respectively, while earning three Player of the Week honors in 2008-09.
The honor is the latest in a growing list of accolades for the senior wing this season. Earlier this year, Leitch became just the third player in ECAC Hockey history to win Player of the Week honors three times in the same season.
He was also named a candidate for the prestigious Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to the nation’s top college hockey player. He was recently announced as one of 16 players who will participate in the 2009 NCAA Frozen Four Skills Competition in Washington, D.C. on April 10.
“For his entire collegiate career, Bryan has been a dynamic offensive player,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “He excels on the power play and is one of the best I’ve ever coached in those situations.”
Leitch enjoyed an impressive season offensively, breaking several Quinnipiac records. His 47 assists in 2008-09 are the most for a single season in Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey history, while his 59 points this year are the most for the program at the Division I level and third all-time.
His 169 career points match Quinnipiac’s Division I scoring record, previously held by former Surrey standout Brian Herbert, while his 116 career assists rank second all-time at Quinnipiac. He was also the first player in the nation to reach the 40- and 50-point marks.
In addition, he became the first Quinnipiac player to lead NCAA Division I in scoring through the regular season. In 39 games played this season, Leitch had multiple assists in 15 of them. He set career-high marks in points against Union on Nov. 14 with three goals and two assists for five points. It was the first of four consecutive games with two assists for Leitch heading into the semester break.
Against Merrimack at the Toyota UConn Hockey Classic, Leitch passed out two assists before following that performance with a three-assist game against nationally ranked, No. 11 Air Force in the tournament championship game. Leitch’s five points were a tournament-best, helping him to earn Most Valuable Player honors as Quinnipiac defeated the Falcons for the championship.
Against Harvard on Jan. 2 and Dartmouth on Jan. 3, Leitch and teammate Jean-Marc Beaudoin scored two goals apiece in both games, becoming the first Quinnipiac players to each score twice in back-to-back games. With a goal in his next game against Rensselaer, Leitch and linemate David Marshall had scored a point in 12 consecutive games, marking the longest concurrent scoring streaks in Quinnipiac’s Division I history.
Leitch also chipped in with four assists against Niagara, including three in the final period, to help Quinnipiac to a come-from-behind win. He would finish the year with four three-assist games in Quinnipiac’s final 15 games.
Leitch is the 26th player at the Division I level to collect all-league honors for Quinnipiac and the sixth since the Bobcats joined ECAC Hockey for the 2005-06 season.
That season, Leitch was named to the All-Rookie team while former Bobcat All-American Reid Cashman was named to the ECAC Hockey First Team. The following season, Cashman was named to the First Team again, while current Bobcat junior Brandon Wong (Victoria, B.C.) was named to the All-Rookie and Third Teams.
