Three M. Hockey Players Honored

ALBANY, N.Y.—The Harvard men’s hockey team enjoyed its most decorated ECAC awards banquet in nearly a decade last night, as senior center Dominic Moore and junior wing Tim Pettit were named first team All-ECAC at the Albany Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Sophomore defenseman Noah Welch made the second team, giving the Crimson three players on the top two teams for the first time since 1994, when current assistant coach Sean McCann was one of four players honored.

“I’m very pleased for them,” said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni. “You look at Dominic Moore and Timmy Pettit, and the way they impacted our team this year—they’re very, very deserving, as is Noah. It’s a reflection of the success the team had.”

“It’s a tremendous honor,” said Moore, who was a second-team selection two years ago. “There are a lot of great players in this league, so I feel very honored to receive this.”

Moore and Pettit were considered strong candidates for the ECAC Player of the Year Award, but that honor was shared by Cornell goaltender Dave LeNeveu and Yale forward Chris Higgins. It was the first time in the ECAC’s 42-year history that two players were awarded.

Asked if he was disappointed that neither he nor Pettit received the award, Moore said, “No, not really. I’m not too concerned with that right now, to be honest. We’re just focusing on the task at hand, which is our game [against Dartmouth].”

LeNeveu and Higgins, who are both among the 10 Hobey Baker Award finalists, became the first Ivy League players to win the award since Yale’s Ray Giroux in 1998.

This is the second consecutive year that the ECAC Player of the Year Award has not gone to a senior. Rensselaer forward Marc Cavosie, then a junior, won last season before signing with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

LeNeveu, who is also the Ivy League Player of the Year, is the nation’s best statistical goaltender. He should finish with the lowest goals against average in the nation for the second consecutive season and could set a new NCAA record if his mark of 1.14 holds through the postseason. LeNeveu’s eight shutouts are a Cornell single-season record—the mark was previously held by NHL legend Ken Dryden.

LeNeveu had an awkward walk to the hotel elevator after the banquet, as he had to carry two more plaques with him: the Dryden Award as the league’s top goaltender, and first-team All-ECAC honors.

Higgins, last season’s ECAC Rookie of the Year, led the ECAC in goals (18) and was third to Pettit and Moore with 34 points. He is sixth in the nation in goals per game (.71) and 11th in points per game (1.46).

Yale coach Tim Taylor ’63 accepted the award on Higgins’ behalf. With Yale on spring break, Higgins was at home in Smithtown, N.Y., spending time with his father, a New York City firefighter.

“I asked him if he wanted me to say anything on his behalf, and he said that he was really amazed to get the honor because there were so many tremendous players in the league,” Taylor said. “But [Chris] is a very special player. He’s extremely hard-working and very focused and motivated.”

Harvard was the only team among the top four in the regular season standings not to have an individual award-winner. Cornell had five: LeNeveu (twice), Doug Murray (Defensive Defenseman of the Year), Stephen Bâby (Defensive Forward of the Year) and Mike Schafer (Coach of the Year).

“It’s no secret that the better players you have, the better coach you are,” Schafer quipped.

Dartmouth’s Hugh Jessiman rounded out the individual awards as Rookie of the Year. Joining Moore and Pettit on the first team were Higgins, Murray, LeNeveu and Clarkson defenseman Randy Jones.

The second team included Welch, Bâby, Cornell forward Ryan Vesce, Colgate forward Scooter Smith, and Brown goaltender Yann Danis. Jessiman received All-ECAC honorable mention, along with his linemate, Lee Stempniak, and Cornell defenseman Mark McRae.

Notable omissions from that group included Harvard forward Brett Nowak – a second-team All-ECAC selection last season when he finished with 24 points, eight fewer than he had this year – and Crimson goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris, who ranks second nationally in save percentage (.930) and is tied for third in goals against average (2.19).

“It’s great to be honored, but there are a lot of guys on our team that deserved to get awards that didn’t,” said Pettit, who led all scorers during ECAC play with

37 points.

Dartmouth had two ECAC All-Rookie team selections, Jessiman and defenseman Sean Offers. Others on that team included forwards Kevin Croxton (Rensselaer) and John Zeiler (St. Lawrence), defenseman Jaime Sifers (Vermont) and goaltender Kris Mayotte (Union).

-Staff writer Jon P. Morosi can be reached at morosi@fas.harvard.edu. Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald contributed to this report.