Finalists Named for League’s Player-of-the-Year Award
ALBANY, N.Y. -- ECAC Hockey today announced the finalists for
the 2010-11 Men’s Player of the Year Award. James Mello,
Dartmouth, Yale’s Brian O’Neill, and Chase Polacek,
Rensselaer have each been selected as finalists for the honor by
the League’s coaches.
Prior to the 2010-11 season Dartmouth netminder James Mello had
only played in 17 career games, but has made his mark on the league
appearing in 28 of Dartmouth's 32 games this season, including
starting the last 19 games for the Big Green for a career-high. He
earned his first-career shutout on Nov. 6 against Union and his
first shutout victory against Brown on Feb. 4. The junior logged
1246:14 minutes between the pipes, only surrendering 40 goals for a
1.93 goals-against average, which ranked second in conference play.
Mello made 603 saves on the season in conference action for a .938
save percentage, tops in the league among his counterparts. Mello
is also a finalist for this season’s Ken Dryden Award,
honoring the league’s top goaltender.
Forward Brian O’Neill helped spark the high-scoring Bulldogs
offense once again this season. The junior forward ranked in the
top ten in nearly every offensive category this season in
league-play. O’Neill was third in the conference in scoring
with 25 points; second in goals scored with 12; fourth in
power-play points with 11; first in power-play goals with six; and
ninth in assists with 13. The Yardley, Pennsylvania native helped
lead Yale to a program win record (25) and ranks 20th nationally
with .56 goals per game and 1.25 points in overall games.
The reigning ECAC Hockey Player of the Year, Chase Polacek is the
third finalist for this season’s top award. The senior
forward led the league in scoring for the second consecutive season
netting 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points. The Edina, Minnesota
has been a clutch performer for the Engineers during his four
season. He led the conference with five game-winning goals in 22
conference games this season. He has registered 160 points in 153
games in Troy (65g-95a) during his four-year career.
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