Atlantic Hockey has announced the 2016-17 All-Conference Teams. The three teams are made up of 18 players from nine of the 11 institutions. Regular season champions Canisius College had the most representatives, placing four across the three teams.
The first team is comprised mostly of upperclassmen, following a 2015-16 season that saw two freshmen make the list. Robert Morris junior Brady Ferguson was a unanimous choice for First Team All-Conference after leading the league in conference scoring by a wide margin. He recorded 43 points on 16 goals and 27 assists, the only player to reach 40 points in conference play, and averaged 1.54 points per game.
Joining Ferguson as first-team forwards are Bentley’s Max French and Sacred Heart’s Justin Danforth. It is French’s second-straight year as a first-team selection. French is one of the top scorers in Atlantic Hockey history and finished his final regular season with 27 points in conference play. While Danforth did not have his best year offensively, accumulating 22 points in conference, he was a do-it-all forward for Sacred Heart, never missing a game and seeing more ice time than the rest of the Pioneers.
Making his second-straight appearance as a First-Team Defenseman is Lester Lancaster of Mercyhurst. The sophomore was tied for second in the league in defenseman scoring with 20 points in 27 games and finished the conference schedule with a plus-5 rating. Joining him is Air Force’s Phil Boje, who tallied 15 points and helped anchor one of the best defenses in the conference.
The catalyst behind Canisius’ first Atlantic Hockey Regular Season title was senior goaltender Charles Williams. Williams led the league in goals against average (1.69) and save percentage (0.947), and tied for the lead in shutouts (5). He and the Golden Griffins ended the season on a 15-game unbeaten streak, the longest in the nation.
Making up the All-Conference Second Team are forwards Ryan Schmelzer (Canisius), Derek Barach (Mercyhurst), and Jordan Himley (Air Force), defensemen Cameron Heath (Canisius) and Brady Norrish (RIT), and goalie Parker Gahagen (Army West Point).
Schmelzer, Barach, and Himley each ranked near the top of the league in scoring, with 27, 29, and 24 points respectively. Schmelzer and Himley tied for the conference lead with four game-winning goals and Schmelzer ranked as one of the best in the league at plus-16. Heath tied for fifth amongst defensemen in scoring while Norrish finished 11th despite only playing in 15 games. Norrish did finish with the best points per game average amongst Atlantic Hockey defensemen at 0.93.
Gahagen earned his second-straight Second Team All-Conference honor after leading Army to a third-place finish in the conference. He ranked second in goals against average and save percentage behind Williams and tied the Canisius netminder with five shutouts.
The All-Conference Third Team is mostly comprised of first-time honorees, with only Air Force’s Shane Starrett making a repeat appearance. Joining Starrett are forwards Danny Lopez (Holy Cross), Daniel Leavens (Robert Morris), and Dylan McLaughlin (Canisius), and defensemen Spencer Trapp (Holy Cross) and Eric Israel (Robert Morris).
Lopez had a breakout year, leading Holy Cross in scoring with 26 points and tying for the Atlantic Hockey lead with nine power-play goals. Leavens joined Ferguson and Alex Tonge to form one of the most potent lines in the league, with the senior ending conference play with 34 points on nine goals and 25 assists. McLaughlin matched Schmelzer in scoring with 27 points and tied for 11th in goal scoring.
Sophomores Israel and Trapp both make their debut appearances as All-Conference selections. Israel was the top-scoring defenseman in the league, recording 24 points on seven goals and 17 assists, and was especially strong on the power play, tallying 18 of his 24 points when a man up. Trapp was further down the list in scoring, with only 12 points in conference play, but he was a leading defenseman on a Holy Cross team that allowed 2.76 goals per game.
Starrett followed up a stellar freshman season with a strong sophomore campaign. He backed the league’s second-ranked scoring defense and the second-ranked penalty kill. He was third in the league in goals against average (1.90) and fourth in save percentage (0.924).
All but two All-Conference honorees are in action this weekend during the Atlantic Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals. Top-seeded Canisius welcomes rival Niagara to the HarborCenter, a pair of Falcons, Air Force and Bentley, square-off in Colorado, Army West Point hosts Mercyhurst, and Robert Morris brings Holy Cross to the 84 Lumber Arena for the first time this year. The four series winners will advance to the Blue Cross Arena for next week’s semifinals.
All-Conference First Team
F – Brady Ferguson, Junior, Robert Morris University
F – Max French, Senior, Bentley University
F – Justin Danforth, Senior, Sacred Heart University
D – Lester Lancaster, Sophomore, Mercyhurst University
D – Phil Boje, Junior, Air Force Academy
G – Charles Williams, Senior, Canisius College
All-Conference Second Team
F – Ryan Schmelzer, Junior, Canisius College
F – Derek Barach, Sophomore, Mercyhurst University
F – Jordan Himley, Junior, Air Force Academy
D – Cameron Heath, Sophomore, Canisius College
D – Brady Norrish, Junior, RIT
G – Parker Gahagen, Senior, Army West Point
All-Conference Third Team
F – Danny Lopez, Junior, Holy Cross
F – Daniel Leavens, Senior, Robert Morris University
F – Dylan McLaughlin, Sophomore, Canisius College
D – Spencer Trapp, Sophomore, Canisius College
D – Eric Israel, Sophomore, Robert Morris University
G – Shane Starrett, Sophomore, Air Force Academy
