University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Take Home B1G Awards
3/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) - After capturing its fourth-straight Big Ten regular-season championship over the weekend, the No. 4/5 Gopher Hockey claimed the league's Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Goaltender of the Year awards as well as two-thirds of this year's First Team All-Big Ten selections.
Tyler Sheehy led the way for the Maroon & Gold as the Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Co-Scoring Champion, Jake Bischoff was tabbed the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and Eric Schierhorn repeated as Big Ten Goaltender of the Year. The Gophers claimed four First Team All-Big Ten picks with Justin Kloos joining the trio of individual award honorees.
Meanwhile, Rem Pitlick and Ryan Lindgren were named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team while Lindgren and senior Vinni Lettieri added All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades. Lettieri was also recognized as Minnesota's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
A native of Burnsville, Minn., Sheehy leads the Big Ten and ranks tied for seventh nationally with 52 points (20 goals, 32 assists) this season including 34 points in league play. The sophomore's point total is the most by a Gopher since Ryan Potulny's 63 in 2005-06.
Bischoff leads all Big Ten defensemen and ranks tied for sixth among NCAA defenseman with 32 points (five goals, 27 assists) while his 85 blocked shots are tied for eighth nationally. The senior defenseman from Grand Rapids, Minn., is currently on a career-long 10-game point streak.
A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Schierhorn earned his second-straight Big Ten Goaltender of the Year and First Team All-Big Ten honors. The sophomore leads the Big Ten with 23 wins (tied for third in NCAA), five shutouts (tied for fourth in NCAA) and 899 saves.
Kloos ranks 28th all-time in scoring at Minnesota with 149 career points - a figure that leads all active Big Ten skaters and ranks third among active NCAA skaters. A native of Lakeville, Minn., the senior captain, who was a Second Team All-Big Ten pick last season, ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) this year while his six game-winning goals are tied for second in the nation.
A native of Excelsior, Minn., Lettieri is in the middle of his best season with the Gophers with 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists) in 36 games. Meanwhile, Pitlick has 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) this year while Lindgren had seven points (one goal, six assists) as well as 50 blocked shots.
The top-seeded Gophers (23-10-3 overall, 14-5-1-0 Big Ten) now head to the 2017 Big Ten Tournament at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, where they'll play the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal matchup between Penn State and Michigan. Minnesota's semifinal game is slated for Friday, March 17 at 7 p.m. CT.
-Pride on Ice-
