Atlantic Hockey has announced the 2016-17 Gladiator Custom Mouthguards All-Rookie Team. The team is made up of six players from five teams, with only Army West Point placing more than one player on this year’s All-Rookie squad.
The three forwards to make up the 2016-17 All-Rookie Team are Canisius’ Nick Hutchison, Army West Point’s Dominic Franco, and Bentley’s Ryner Gorowsky.
Hutchison tied for the league lead in rookie scoring, tallying 20 points on nine goals and 11 assists. The Hicksville, NY native helped lead Canisius to their first regular season title, ranking third on the team in scoring and helping to fill some of the scoring void left by Ralph Cuddemi and Shane Conacher.
Hutchison is joined on the forward line by Dominic Franco of Army West Point and Ryner Gorowsky of Bentley, who both registered 17 points in conference play.
Franco was one of Army’s top players this season, with his 17 points in Atlantic Hockey games ranking second on the team. Those points came on seven goals and 10 assists, with his seven goals putting him in a tie for fifth amongst rookies in goals.
Gorowsky was the best freshman scorer in the league on a per game basis, earning his 17 points in only 21 games played after a bout with mono kept him out of the lineup for the first two months of the season. Upon his return, Gorowsky scored five goals and added 12 assists and ended up third in scoring for Bentley.
The two defensemen named to the 2016-17 Gladiator Custom Mouthguards All-Rookie Team were RIT’s Adam Brubacher and Army West Point’s Alex Wilkinson. Brubacher was the only player voted on this year’s team to receive all 10 possible first-place votes.
Brubacher was not only the top-scoring rookie defenseman in 2016-17, but he also ranked tied for second amongst all defensemen with 20 points on six goals and 14 assists in conference play. He had a knack for scoring big goals with three of his six goals going as game-winners. He helped steady a RIT defense that sustained injuries to the Norrish twins, Brady and Chase, who for the first two years of their careers ranked as two of the top defensemen in the league, by posting a plus-11 rating in 28 Atlantic Hockey games.
Wilkinson recorded 13 points on three goals and 10 assists in 22 league games, ranking him third amongst rookie defensemen in points per game. He was whistled for just two penalties in conference play and finished the league slate with a plus-seven rating. He was a key player in Army’s defense, which tied for second in Atlantic Hockey in scoring defense, allowing 2.00 goals per game, and third in penalty kill at 86.6 percent.
The last player left to be named is the 2016-17 All-Rookie goaltender, Robert Morris’ Francis Marotte. Marotte was far and away the top rookie goaltender in the conference and was a key reason as to why Robert Morris, after graduating a stellar Class of 2015 and being selected to finish sixth in the preseason poll, finished fourth and received a bye into their home quarterfinal series next week.
Marotte started 21 conference games, posting an 11-6-3 record with one shutout. He posted a goals against average of 2.05 in 1,083 minutes played, and recorded 509 saves on 546 shots faced for a 0.932 save percentage. He ranked fourth in goals against average and third in save percentage amongst league goalies.
The Atlantic Hockey Tournament kicks-off later tonight with three series playing game one of their best-of-three series. Sixth-seeded RIT hosts 11th-seeded Niagara, Seventh-seeded Mercyhurst plays 10th-seeded AIC, and eighth-seeded Bentley welcomes ninth-seeded Sacred Heart.
