The State University of New York Athletic Conference released its 2009-10 Post-Season Men’s Ice Hockey awards on Wednesday and Oswego State garnered the majority of the awards. Sophomore forward Eric Selleck (pictured) was named the Herb Hammond Most Valuable Player, freshman forward Jon Whitelaw was named Rookie of the Year, and Ed Gosek was selected as the Coach of the Year. Three players received First Team All-Conference recognition including junior forward Chris Laganiere, junior defenseman Stephen Mallaro, and Selleck, while senior forward Neil Musselwhite was named to the Second Team. In addition, senior defenseman Tyler Lyon and senior goaltender Kyle Gunn-Taylor received honorable mention All-Conference honors. After finishing the SUNYAC regular season with a record of 15-1-0, the Lakers, who are 23-2-0 overall, earned the top seed in the conference post-season tournament.
Eric Selleck, a native of Spencerville, Ontario, led the league in the majority of offensive categories including points (39), assists (25), goals (14), power play points (14). He was tied for the league-lead in goals scored at 14. Last year’s SUNYAC Rookie of the Year was named SUNYAC Player of the Week on November 9 and December 14. Selleck is the second player in conference history to receive both SUNYAC MVP and Rookie of the Year honors following Oswego State’s Ryan Ellis and is the first to accomplish this in consecutive seasons.
Chris Laganiere, an Owego, N.Y. native, led the conference with four game-winning goals and ranked second in the conference at 30 points. He tied Selleck for a league-best 14 goals and was tied for first in power play goals at six. Laganiere also ranked second in power play points at 11 and fourth in assists at 16. Stephen Mallaro (right), a defenseman from Syracuse, N.Y., was fourth among conference defensemen in scoring with 11 points on four goals and seven assists. He also posted three game-winning goals for Oswego State.
Assistant captain Neil Musselwhite led the conference with four short-handed goals and was tied for third in the league with 11 goals. The Burlington, Ontario native was selected as the SUNYAC Player of the Week on December 7 and January 11. He became the ninth player in NCAA history to tally a short-handed natural hat trick on December 4 against Brockport. Jon Whitelaw (right), a forward from Hunstville, Ontario, led all league rookies with 22 points on eight goals and 14 assists and was fourth among all players with nine power play points. Whitelaw was named the SUNYAC Player of the Week on February 1 and was a three-time SUNYAC Rookie of the Week selection. He is the ninth Laker to be selected as Rookie of the Year and the seventh since the 2000-01 season.
Captain Tyler Lyon (left), who hails from Foxboro, Ontario, anchored a defense that allowed the fewest goals in the league at 1.75 goals per game, and helped set up the offense for the top-scoring squad in the SUNYAC at 5.44 goals per game. Lyon, who started all 16 conference games this season, was also a key figure in the Laker penalty kill.
Kyle Gunn-Taylor, an honorable mention selection, registered a conference record of 11-1-0 and posted a 1.69 goals against average, which was second among SUNYAC goalies, and a .927 save percentage. The West Seneca, N.Y. native was also chosen as the SUNYAC Goaltender of the Week three times during the season.
Head Coach Ed Gosek (left) was chosen as the SUNYAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his seven-year tenure. Gosek led Oswego State to its first No. 1 seed in the SUNYAC Post-Season Tournament since 2003 despite 15 newcomers on the team. His squad finished the season atop every conference team statistical category including scoring offense (5.44 goals per game), scoring defense (1.75 goals per game), power play efficiency (28.1 percent), and penalty kill (86.8 percent). Gosek was named Coach of the Year for the 2004-05 season.The Lakers start post-season play on Saturday when they face Morrisville at 7 p.m. in the semifinal round of the SUNYAC Playoffs.The game will be broadcasted live on Time Warner Cable Sports, WTOP-10, and on the radio on WNYO-FM 88.9.
Courtesy of Oswego State Sports Information