September 30, 2009 - 1:35am
Caporusso, Hogan named to preseason all-CCHA teams
BY GJON JUNCAJ
The 12 head coaches of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association recently selected their first and second all-conference squads, which were made public Monday. Michigan junior center Louie Caporusso was a unanimous first-team selection, receiving all 11 first-place votes (coaches are not permitted to vote for their own players). Wolverine junior goaltender Bryan Hogan, who will assume the full-time starting role this season, received second-team All-CCHA honors. Junior captain and defenseman Chris Summers was one of six conference players to earn an honorable mention.
Caporusso was one of two players to receive unanimous first-team honors - the other being Miami (OH) junior forward Carter Camper. Hogan received an equal amount of first-place votes - five - as first-teamer Brian Stewart of Northern Michigan.
Caporusso and Hogan's selection should be no surprise. Caporusso was fifth in the nation last season with 24 goals and was one of the top face-off men in the CCHA with a .577 mark. Hogan's win percentage (.800) and goals-against average (1.82) ranked second and third, respectively.
What is slightly unexpected, though, is that Northern Michigan has a forward (Mark Olver), a defenseman (Erik Gustafsson and a netminder (Brian Stewart) all on the first-team. The Wildcats were the popular preseason surprise-team heading into the 2008-09 campaign, only suffer through a lengthy streak of futility in the first-half before a respectable second-half run and an appearance in the CCHA semifinals salvaged the season. Northern certainly has the talent to be a top-four team in the conference, but the Wildcats have had poor fall semester campaigns each of the last two years. They will be the league's biggest enigma heading into the new year.
For the full story and complete first and second-team selections, visit the CCHA website's story here: http://www.ccha.com/sixth_annual_ccha_preseason_all-conference_team_anno...
