MSU awards

The Minnesota State men's hockey team had its year-end banquet Thursday night and doled out its team awards. No real surprises here ...

MVP: Mike Zacharias ... The goalie was the Mavericks' best player for the last two years (he was also MVP last year). He ended up setting team records for career save percentage (.910) and goals-against average (2.71) and finished fourth on the team's all-time wins list (45). This season, he stopped at least 30 shots in a game 16 times. Zacharias leaves MSU as arguably the best goalie of the Mavericks' D-I era (he's at least a close second behind Eric Pateman).

Unsung Hero: Kael Mouillierat ... I'm not sure he was all that unsung, although maybe the team considered this to be the MVP runner-up award this year. The junior forward had a breakout second half of the season with 15 goals and nine assists over the last 23 games. He missed some time with injury and suspension and finished the year with a team-high 17 goals and was third on the team with 30 points. Mouillierat also got the Buffalo Wild Wings Star of the Year award for most three-stars-of-the-game selections during this year's home games.

Most Improved Player: Baylor Dieter ... It's hard to argue with this pick, considering the freshman defenseman didn't even get in a game until Jan. 17. By the end of the year he was an every-day D. I often wonder if this award should be for the player who improves the most over the course of the season or for the player who improves the most from the previous year. Dieter's certainly a good choice if you go by the former description. If you go by the latter, I'd probably have to go with Rylan Galiardi.

Mr. Hustle Award (hardest worker): Trevor Bruess ... This is the third year in a row that Bruess got this one. Again, it's hard to argue with the choice. Although his aggressive play got him in trouble -- especially late in the season -- penalty-wise, the emotional and physical Bruess rarely took a shift off, one of the reasons why the Washington Capitals signed him in the offseason.