Sophomore defender Geoff Fortman (Crystal Lake, Ill.) of the Canisius College hockey team earned Atlantic Hockey Scholar Athlete of the Year accolades, announced by the conference on Monday. In addition, 22 Griffs (of a possible 24 student-athletes on the roster) collected Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team honors.
Fortman posted a perfect 4.0 grade point average to collect the league’s top academic honor, marking the seventh time in the last 10 years that a Griff has received the accolade. In 30 games during the 2014-15 campaign, Fortman registered five assists, while helping the team post the best scoring defense in the program’s Division I history.
Joining Fortman on the league’s All-Academic Team include seniors Cody Freeman (Toronto, Ontario), Matthew Grazen (Clarence, N.Y.), Doug Jessey (Langdon, Alberta), Mitch McCrank (Haileybury, Ontario) and Tyler Wiseman (Burlington, Ontario), who all earned the accolade for the fourth time in their career.
Seniors Stephen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario) and Braeden Rigney (Singhamton, Ontario) and junior Chris Rumble (Seattle, Wash.) collected all-academic team honors for the third time during their tenure with Fortman, senior Keegan Asmundson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), junior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) and sophomores Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) and Josh Kielich (Orchard, Park, N.Y.) earning the distinction for a second time.
Senior Doug Beck (Plymouth, Mich.), junior Mathew Backhouse (Thompson, Manitoba) and freshmen David Bennett (Ottawa, Ontario), Jeff Murray (Newmarket, Ontario), David Parrottino (Rochester Hills, Mich.), Mike Sabatini (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.), Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo, N.Y.), Jack Stander (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) and Reilly Turner (Temiscaming, Quebec) were named to the all-academic team for the first time.
To qualify for the Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team, an individual must post a 3.0 grade point average or higher in each academic semester during the 2014-15 year. The 22 selections to the team are the second-most in program history (23-of-27 student-athletes earned the honor last year).
Canisius ended the 2014-15 season with an 18-12-7 record and matched the program’s best Atlantic Hockey finish with a two seed for the conference tournament. The Griffs then advanced to the conference final four for the third-consecutive year – a first in the program’s history.
