MSU shut out of WCHA awards (update)

Minnesota State was shut out of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association postseason awards for the first time since 2002. The awards were announced on Thursday during a ceremony before the beginning of the WCHA Final Five. (UPDATE: PucKato's picks are posted next to the award for a comparison. A * means it was the same)

Denver junior goaltender Marc Cheverie was named player of the year and DU coach George Gwozdecky was named coach of the year after leading the Pioneers to the conference’s regular-season title.

Other individual awards went to: Michigan Tech’s Eli Vlaisavljevich, who was named student-athlete of the year; Wisconsin’s Brendan Smith, who was named defensive player of the year; and Danny Kristo, who was named rookie of the year. Here are the all-conference teams:

FIRST TEAM

F-Rhett Rakhshani, DU * 

F-Blake Geoffrion, UW * 

F-Jack Connolly, UMD * 

D-Brendan Smith, UW *

D-Patrick Wiercioch, DU *

G-Marc Cheverie, UW *

SECOND TEAM

F-Justin Fontaine, UMD * 

F-Ryan Lasch, SCSU *

F-Tyler Ruegsegger, DU * 

D-Ryan McDonagh, UW *

D-Nate Prosser, CC *

G-Brad Eidsness, UND *

THIRD TEAM

F-Michael Davies, UW (PucKato: Chris VandeVelde, UND)

F-Joe Colborne, DU * 

F-Garrett Roe, SCSU (PucKato: Kevin Clark, UAA)

D-Garrett Raboin, SCSU *

D-Chay Genoway, UND (PucKato: Ben Youds, MSU)

G-Dan Dunn, SCSU (PucKato: Scott Gudmandson, UW)

ROOKIE

F-Danny Kristo, UND *

F-Craig Smith, UW (PucKato: Tyler Pitlick, MSU)

F-Rylan Schwartz, CC *

D-Matt Donovan, DU *

D-Justin Schultz, UW * 

G-Joe Howe, CC *

Certainly, Minnesota State defensemen Ben Youds and Kurt Davis deserved voters' consideration, as did freshman forward Tyler Pitlick for the rookie team. But these were tough lineups to crack. The biggest surprise had to be Genoway, who was having a great season before being knocked out for the year with a concussion. But he only played in nine games, seven in the WCHA.