All-WCHA teams were announced today, with junior goaltender Kent Patterson Minnesota’s lone representative. He made the second team, (presumably) barely edged by North Dakota’s Aaron Dell. Various media members have publicized their WCHA ballots in recent days and judging by the small and unscientific sample, it seemed a tight race for first-team honors between Patterson and Dell.
In league play, Patterson led the conference with a .926 save percentage and was second with a 2.31 goals against average. Dell allowed only 1.97 goals per game but was seventh in WCHA play with a .912 save percentage. In this reporter’s humble opinion, Patterson was more valuable to his team, but then I saw him play live all season and relied only on NoDak’s box scores to determine Dell’s contribution (needless to say, that doesn’t tell the whole story).
The WCHA also announced its All-WCHA Academic team, given to players with a GPA the previous two semesters above 3.0. Twelve Gophers made the team: Jay Barriball, Zach Budish, Jacob Cepis, Cade Fairchild, Mike Hoeffel, Jake Kremer, Nick Larson, Taylor Matson, Joe Miller, Aaron Ness, Kent Patterson and Nico Sacchetti.
Below is the complete list of WCHA awards:
2010-11 WCHA Major Award Winners
WCHA Player of the Year
Matt Frattin
University of North Dakota
WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year
Chay Genoway
University of North Dakota
WCHA Defensive Player of the Year
Justin Schultz
University of Wisconsin
WCHA Rookie of the Year
Jason Zucker
University of Denver
WCHA Scoring Champion
Matt Frattin
University of North Dakota
WCHA Goaltending Champion
Aaron Dell
University of North Dakota
WCHA Coach of the Year
Dean Blais
University of Nebraska Omaha
2010-11 All-WCHA First Team
Pos Name Team
F Matt Frattin North Dakota
F Jack Connolly Minnesota Duluth
F Mike Connolly Minnesota Duluth
D Justin Schultz Wisconsin
D Chay Genoway North Dakota
G Aaron Dell North Dakota
2010-11 All-WCHA Second Team
Pos Name Team
F Jason Zucker Denver
F Drew Shore Denver
F Justin Fontaine Minnesota Duluth
D Jake Gardiner Wisconsin
D Matt Donovan Denver
G Kent Patterson Minnesota
2010-11 All-WCHA Third Team
Pos Name Team
F Jason Gregoire North Dakota
F Jaden Schwartz Colorado College
F Drew LeBlanc St. Cloud State
D Kurt Davis Minnesota State
D Justin Faulk Minnesota Duluth
G John Faulkner Nebraska Omaha
2010-11 All-WCHA Rookie Team
Pos Name Team
F Jason Zucker Denver
F Jaden Schwartz Colorado College
F J.T. Brown Minnesota Duluth
D Justin Faulk Minnesota Duluth
D David Makowski Denver
G Sam Brittain Denver