Dutchmen Hand Out Team Awards

SCOTIA, NY -- Senior Mario Valery-Trabucco was named the Union College men's ice hockey most valuable player at the annual, year-end banquet hosted by the Garnet Blades at the Glen Sanders Mansion on Sunday. The 2009-10 team, which won a school-record 21 games and was ranked for 14 consecutive weeks, was honored for having the most successful season in the program's Division I history.

Trabucco led the team in scoring, producing a program-best 45 points and 23 goals. He was named to the All-ECAC Hockey Second Team and an InsideCollegeHockey.com All-ECAC Hockey First Team. During his senior season, Trabucco produced two hat tricks and 12 multi-point games. He was honored as the InsideCollegeHockey.com National Player of the Week (Feb. 9) and the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week three times (Dec. 7, Dec. 14, Feb. 8).

The Montreal native was also voted as the das Design 7th PLAYER Award winner. The The honor is co-sponsored by das Design and Lee’s Trophies and is presented to the Union hockey player recognized by the fans as an individual who, with extra effort and skill, consistently creates excitement and aggressive play, resulting in a team advantage..

Head coach Nate Leaman along with associate head coach Rick Bennett and assistant coach Ben Barr gave the Coaches’ Award to senior defenseman Mike Schreiber. A finalist for ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman, Schreiber was named First Team All-League, marking the second consecutive season the Dutchmen have had a defenseman on the first team – Lane Caffaro in 2008-09. This season Schreiber set a Union record for most points by a defenseman with 29, which also led the conference.

Another senior blueliner, Mike Wakita, was also honored. The Dutchmen captain was given the Charles N. Morrison Award. The accolade is an endowed scholarship that was created from the gifts of friends in the memory of Charles N. Morrison, Union's head hockey coach from 1978 to 1988. It is given annually to a student who participates in extracurricular activities while demonstrating academic interest and achievement.

For the second straight year junior forward Stéphane Boileau was given the Thomas VanArden Dukehart Award, which originated during the 1977-78 season to preserve the memory of Thomas VanArden Dukehart and is presented annually to the Union hockey player with the highest grade-point average.

The Rookie of the Year Award went to freshman netminder Keith Kinkaid, an All-ECAC Hockey Third Team and All-Rookie Team selection. He posted an 12-8-2 record with a .912 save percentage. His honors this season include being named to the Hockey Commissioners’ Association Honorable Rookie Mention for November, a two time ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week (Nov. 30 and Feb. 22) and a two time ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week (Nov. 16 and Dec. 7).

Junior forward Andrew Buote took home the The Scott Richardson Unsung Hero Award for the third straight season. Buote, a staple on Union’s penalty kill, registered 12 points (five goals and seven assists) in 38 games.

The team’s Most Improved Player Award was given to sophomore forward Luke Cain, who produced 11 points, including seven goals in 29 games. Cain, who missed the majority of his first season due to injury, netted two game-winning goals in 2009-10.