Finalists Named for League’s Best Defensive Forward Award
ALBANY, N.Y. -- ECAC Hockey today announced the finalists for the 2009-10 Men’s Best Defensive Forward Award presented by Gladiator Custom Mouthguards. Joe Scali, Cornell, Travis Vermeulen, St. Lawrence, and Brown’s Aaron Volpatti have each been nominated as finalists for the honor by the league’s coaches.
Scali has established his role with Cornell as the team's top penalty killer and has been touted as one of the best defensive forwards in the league. The senior was called upon to direct the Big Red’s special team unit which led the conference in killing penalties at a 87.3% success rate. The Coquitlam, BC native was also a major contributor to the unyielding Big Red defense, which only allowed 43 goals in 22 conference games, also tops in league action. Cornell’s defense was the only team in the conference to allow under two goals per contest in league play.
Vermeulen, the Saints’ captain this season, has been a gifted two-way student-athlete throughout his career in Canton, NY. Vermeulen was outstanding on faceoffs, undoubtably the best penalty killer on the team, and played on both the power-play and team’s top line. The Centerville, MN native led the Saints in scoring with career highs of 17 goals, 23 assists for 40 points and was second on the team with plus/minus rating of plus-11 on the season. St. Lawrence head coach Joe Marsh often referred to Vermeulen as “the best defensive forward he has ever coached.”
Rounding out the group of talented finalists is Aaron Volpatti from Brown. Another leader on the ice, the senior captain has currently played in more career games (118) than any other student-athlete on the Bears’ roster. Volpatti has been a pure two-way player during his four seasons at Brown. The Revelstoke, BC native not only has amassed nearly 60 points on offense (29g-29a) in his career, but has been the team director on the penalty kill unit for the Bears. A third-team all-league selection this season by the conference’s coaches, Volpatti’s offensive numbers this year (14g-14-a-28pts) are career-highs for him (old highs were - 6g-7a-13pts). He is only two points away from equaling his total (15g-15a-30pts) from the previous three seasons combined. The senior leads Brown with a +3 plus/minus rating this season, one of six members on the team who currently have a positive plus/minus rating.
