College hockey’s final weekend of the season is underway with Minnesota and Quinnipiac winning semi-final games yesterday and now both teams will meet tomorrow in the national title game. Between those nights of on-ice action is the off-ice awards ceremony and part of that was the NCAA announcing its First All-American Teams. College hockey splits the country in two halves and names a First All-American Team East team and a First All-American West team.
Per Chris Peters of Flo Hockey, those teams were:
First Team All American East:
Goaltender: Devon Levi, Northeastern (Buffalo Sabres)
Defenseman: Lane Hutson, Boston University (Montreal Canadiens)
Defenseman: Henry Thrun, Harvard (San Jose Sharks)
Forward: Sean Farrell, Harvard (Montreal Canadiens)
Forward: Collin Graf, Quinnipiac (UFA)
Forward: Aidan McDonough, Northeastern (Vancouver Canucks)
Goaltender: Blake Pietila, Michigan Tech (UFA)
Defenseman: Luke Hughes, Michigan (New Jersey Devils)
Defenseman: Brock Faber, Minnesota (Minnesota Wild)
Forward: Logan Cooley, Minnesota (Arizona Coyotes)
Forward: Matthew Knies, Minnesota (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Forward: Adam Fantilli, Michigan (NHL Draft 2023)
- Another award handed out was for college hockey’s top goaltender. Per a team release, the Mike Richter Award went to standout goaltender Devon Levi of Northeastern. Levi, in his second season of NCAA action, posted a 2.24 GAA and a .933 SV% in 34 games, six of which were shutouts for the star goaltender. Levi was a seventh-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers in 2020 but has since been traded to the Buffalo Sabres in a deal that brought Sam Reinhart to Florida. Levi has already signed an entry-level contract, bringing a close to a fantastic college career where he put up a 1.90 GAA and a .940 SV% in two seasons.
- In other college news, it sounds like Michigan will get one of its star players back for a second season after losing many top players following a strong freshman season in recent years. According to Murat Ates of The Athletic, Rutger McGroarty will return to Michigan for his sophomore season. The Winnipeg Jets selected McGroarty with the 14th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft scored 18 goals and 39 points in 39 games for Michigan this season, but has decided not to rush to the pro level and should be a key player on the Wolverines team next season.