If you just looked at the lists of awards handed out by the WCHA yesterday you’d think the Badgers had a pretty good season and that’s a bit surprising because it was one of the worst in
terms of results we’ve had in Badger history. However, it also shows just how good some of the individuals that make up the Badger roster are.
Leading the way for Wisconsin was Justin Schultz who was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Year. The award is given to the best defensive player in the conference and given by a vote of the leagues 12 coaches. He was also named to the all-WCHA 1st team.
The WCHA player of the year was Miinestoa-Duluth Center Jack Connolly who joined Schultz, UMD forward J.T. Brown, Minnesota center Nick Bujstad, Denver defenseman Joey LaLeggia, and Minnesota goalie Kent Patterson.
Schultz is on the verge of being the first defender to ever lead the Badgers in goals and is a year removed from leading the team in points.
The award also marked the 4th straight year a Badger defender took down the honor. (Jamie McBain, Brendan Smith, and Schultz last year)
Joining Schultz with an indivdual award for the Badgers was Mark Zengerle, who was named to the all-WCHA 3rd team.
More impressive might be the eight Badgers that made the WCHA all-academic team. Those players were Zengerle, Tyler Barnes, Chase Drake, Joe Faust, Gavin Hartzog, Ryan Little, Mitch Thompson, and Frankie Simonelli.
We’ll have you covered as Wisconsin takes on Denver this weekend in Denver with a trip to the Frozen Five in St. Paul, MN on the line.
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