Sophomore goaltender Marc Cheverie (Nanaimo Clippers/BCHL) earned Most Valuable Player honors as the University of Denver celebrated its 53rd Annual Hockey Awards Evening tonight at the Cable Center on the DU campus.
Cheverie earned the Bill Masterton Memorial Award (MVP) and “Star of the Year” Award (most star of the game points) after leading the Pioneers with a 23-12-5 record, 2.21 goals against average, .921 saves percentage and four shutouts. He earned All-WCHA second-team honors and was the National Player of the Month for December.
The Pioneers also said goodbye to senior Julian Marcuzzi (Salmon Arm SilverBacks/BCHL) and sophomore Tyler Bozak (Victoria Grizzlies/BCHL), who signed an NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Meanwhile, Patrick Wiercioch (Burnaby Express/BCHL) shared the Barry Sharp Memorial Award as top freshmen with Joe Colborne (Calgary, Alberta).
DU also celebrated its WCHA-record 18 All-WCHA Academic Team honorees. Included in that group were Bozak, Cheverie, Marcuzzi, Stephen Cunningham (Burnaby Express/BCHL) and Kyle Ostrow (Nanaimo Clippers/BCHL), who were all honored for earning a 3.0 GPA or better this season. In addition, Cheverie and Ostrow were recognized for GPA's of 3.5 or better.
The Pioneers (23-12-5) posted their school record-tying eighth consecutive season with 21 or more wins, placed second in the WCHA, advanced to the WCHA Final Five Championship game and appeared in its 20th NCAA Tournament. DU recorded a season-high, seven-game winning streak from Nov. 22-Dec. 13 and finished 5-0 against WCHA-rival Wisconsin.
