Finalists Named for League’s Best Defensive Defenseman Award
ALBANY, N.Y. -- ECAC Hockey today announced the finalists for
the 2010-11 Men’s Best Defensive Defenseman Award. Taylor
Fedun from Princeton, Jimmy Martin of Yale, and Union’s Brock
Matheson have each been nominated for the honor by the
League’s coaches.
A four-year letterwinner at Princeton, Fedun served as team
captain for the 2010-11 season following an outstanding junior year
in which he was a key player on a defensive unit. The Edmonton,
Alberta native was a team leader on the both the Tigers’
power-play unit and penalty-kill team. Fedun finished his career at
Princeton with 20 goals and 48 assists which ranks second all-time
among his counterparts. Fedun was also a vital cog on the
Tiger’s special teams, scoring six of his eight conference
goals on the power-play and being one of the first players that
head coach Guy Gadowsky looked for in defending a power-play.
Another finalist for the league’s top defenseman award is
Jimmy Martin from Yale. The senior defender has developed into a
solid two-way player for the Bulldogs. Martin has played a critical
role on Yale’s penalty-kill units, which was fifth in the
conference action with a success rate of 83.5% and tied for first
in shorthanded goals with six. The St. Louis, Missouri native was
often matched up against opponent’s top offensive line each
game, a challenge that he has accepted. Martin helped guide the
Yale defense, which only surrendered 46 goals in 22 games (2.09
G/GM), second-best in the league. Martin has also been a
contributor on the offensive end registering six points in his last
nine games. His five goals this season are a career-high and he now
has 51 career points for the Bulldogs.
The third finalist is senior Brock Matheson from Union. The
Ganonoque, Ontario native led ECAC Hockey with a plus/minus rating
of +19 this season. He set a career-high with a +25 rating in
overall games. Matheson is a key force for the Dutchmen on all
special teams units, where he registered a plus rating in 19 games
and only had a minus rating seven times this season. The senior is
one of two defenseman to start in all 36 games that the Dutchmen
have played this season. Matheson has taken a leadership role being
the only senior defenseman on a squad that leads the nation in
scoring defense only allowing 2.03 goals per game. On the other end
of the ice Matheson set career-highs with seven assists and ten
points.
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