CORTLAND, N.Y. – Oswego State men’s ice hockey senior forward Paul Rodrigues(Etobicoke, Ontario) has been named the 2013 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Herb Hammond Most Valuable Player as announced by SUNYAC Commissioner Azure Davey Monday afternoon.
The Player of the Year award is named after Herb Hammond who coached at Oswego State (1969-1980) and Plattsburgh (1981-83). At Oswego State, he compiled a 176-122-5 mark and at Plattsburgh a 52-17-4 record. He was named the 1982 Division III Coach of the Year. He also coached at Division I Brown University from 1983-88. He left coaching to become a National Hockey League scorer for 11 seasons before his death in 2009.
Rodrigues, a First Team All-SUNYAC pick, paced the conference in points at 25 and assists at 20 and tied for the league lead in power-play points with 12 on a goal and 11 assists over 16 games. The 2012 Second Team All-SUNYAC honoree currently leads the team in overall scoring at 42 points on 14 goals and 28 assists and ranks second in the nation in points per game at 1.62. He joined the 100-point club earlier this season, and now has 129 points on 48 goals and 81 assists in his career. Rodrigues was a two-time SUNYAC Player of the Week, earning the honor on October 29 and December 10.
He is the ninth Oswego State player to receive SUNYAC Player of the Year recognition and the first since Eric Selleck won the award in 2010.
The Lakers, who are 22-4-0, host Plattsburgh, which is 19-6-1, in the SUNYAC Championship on Saturday, March 2 at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center Ice Arena.
