University of Minnesota Athletics
Keith Ballard and Thomas Vanek Named AHCA All-Americans
4/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Ballard, native of Baudette, Minn., earned his first career All-America honor and became the 35th player in Golden Gopher hockey history to be named a First Team All-American. Ballard was a 2004 Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist after finishing the season with 11 goals and 25 assists for 36 points in 37 games. Among WCHA defensemen, he is first in scoring in all games and finished tied for first in conference games with 8-11--19. His 0.97 points per game ranks second in the nation among defensemen. Ballard also had five game-winning goals to rank second in the WCHA and tied for fifth in the nation. The Golden Gophers were 26-9-2 with him in the lineup and 1-5-1 without him in the lineup.
Ballard, an All-WCHA First Team selection, scored 11 goals this season, putting his career total at 33 in three seasons. He is alone in seventh place on UM's all-time list for goals by a defenseman. Ballard also became the 11th defenseman in school history to tally 100 points. He has 33-67--100 for 11th place on Minnesota's points by a defenseman list.
Vanek, a native of Graz, Austria, also garnered his first All-America honor this season. An All-WCHA Second Team pick, Vanek led the Golden Gophers in scoring with 26-25--51 in 38 games this season. In the WCHA, he is tied for fifth in scoring in all games and finished third in conference contests with 18-16--34. Vanek ranks fifth in the nation in points per game with 1.34 and second in goals per game with 0.68. He led UM with 16 multi-point games and six multi-goal games this season. Vanek stands in 56th place on Minnesota's career 100-point club with 57-56--113 in 83 games. He is in 38th place on the school's career goals list with 57.
The entire West First Team is comprised of players from the WCHA - two from North Dakota and one each from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Denver and Minnesota-Duluth. Ballard was also named a First Team All-American by InsideCollegeHockey.com and was selected to the All-USCHO.com First Team. Vanek was a Second Team All-USCHO.com selection.
2003-04 JOFA All-America Teams (chosen by members of the AHCA)
West First Team
F - Junior Lessard, Minnesota Duluth
F - Zach Parise, North Dakota
F - Brandon Bochenski, North Dakota
D - Keith Ballard, Minnesota
D - Ryan Caldwell, Denver
G - Bernd Bruckler, Wisconsin
West Second Team
F - Derek Edwardson, Miami (Ohio)
F - Jim Slater, Michigan State
F - Thomas Vanek, Minnesota
D - A.J. Thelan, Michigan State
D - Beau Geisler, Minnesota Duluth
G - Al Montoya, Michigan
East First Team
F - Steve Saviano, New Hampshire
F - Lee Stempniak, Dartmouth
F - Tony Voce, Boston College
D - Andrew Alberts, Boston College
D - Thomas Pock, Massachusetts
G - Yann Danis, Brown
East Second Team
F - Patrick Eaves, Boston College
F - Todd Jackson, Maine
F - Ryan Shannon, Boston College
F - Colin Shields, Maine
D - Prestin Ryan, Maine
D - Stephen Wood, Providence
G - Jim Howard, Maine
