Brickley named All-American

Minnesota State sophomore defenseman Daniel Brickley was named a Second Team West All-American on Friday, becoming the sixth player in the program's Division I era to earn honors from the American Hockey Coaches Association.

Brickley, who was the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-WCHA selection, was the top-scoring defenseman in the conference with 26 points in 22 league games. He had 31 points in 31 games overall, with his point-per-game average ranking second in the country among defensemen. He was also plus-9 with 70 shots on goal and 72 blocked shots and led the Mavericks with 23 assists.

The native of Sandy, Utah, was one of two WCHA players to earn All-American honors. Bemdiji State goaltender Michael Bitzer, the conference's Player of the Year, was a First Team West pick.

Considered one of the top undrafted free agents in college hockey, Brickley recently said that he intents to return to Minnesota State for his junior season.

Other Minnesota State players to be named All American were forward Matt Leitner (First Team, 2015), defenseman Zach Palmquist (Second Team, 2015), forward David Backes (Second Team, 2006), forward Grant Stevenson (Second Team, 2003) and Shane Joseph (Second Team, 2003).

Here are this year's AHCA/CCM All-Americans:

First Team West 
G: Michael Bitzer, Bemidji State
D: Will Butcher, Denver
D: Tucker Poolman, North Dakota
F: Henrik Borgstrom, Denver
F: Alex Iafallo, Minnesota Duluth
F: Tyler Sheehy, Minnesota

First Team East 
G: Charles Williams, Canisius
D: Adam Fox, Harvard
D: Charlie McAvoy, Boston University
F: Zach Aston-Reese, Northeastern
F: Spencer Foo, Union
F: Mike Vecchione, Union

Second Team West 
G: Tanner Jaillet, Denver
D: Daniel Brickley, Minnesota State
D: Luc Snuggerud, Omaha
F: Mason Jobst, Ohio State
F: Luke Kunin, Wisconsin
F: Austin Ortega, Omaha

Second Team East 
G: Kyle Hayton, St. Lawrence
D: Gavin Bayreuther, St. Lawrence
D: Jake Walman, Providence
D: Dylan Zink, UMass Lowell
F: Anders Bjork, Notre Dame
F: Tyler Kelleher, New Hampshire
F: Alexander Kerfoot, Harvard

Denver defenseman Will Butcher on Friday was named the 2017 Hobey Baker Award winner sa the national player of the year.