Today, the Big Ten announced its postseason awards. Unsurprisingly, a plethora of Michigan players were represented.
Standout sophomores, defenseman Owen Power (three goals, 24 assists) and forward Matty Beniers (19 goals, 21 assists), were named to the conference’s first team. Power has been a mainstay on the Wolverines’ backend, providing them with lockdown coverage and poise in the offensive end. Beniers impacts both ends of the ice, too. He’s a fantastic shooter, passer and defensive forward who was in contention for player of the year.
The second team included sophomore goaltender Erik Portillo (28-9-1, 2.03 goals allowed average, 92.9 save percentage), sophomore forward Brendan Brisson (18 goals, 17 assists) and freshman defenseman Luke Hughes (17 goals, 19 assists). Portillo was up for goaltender of the year, but was beat out by Ohio State’s Jakub Dobes. Brisson has been a goal-scoring machine and one of Michigan’s most lethal weapons. Hughes, who was also named co-freshman of the year and a member of the first-team all-freshman team, is perhaps the most electrifying player on the team.
Freshman forward Mackie Samoskevich garnered all-rookie honors alongside Hughes. Finally, three Wolverines were honorable mentions. Senior defenseman Nick Blankenburg (14 goals, 14 assists) and sophomore forwards Kent Johnson (7 goals, 27 assists) and Thomas Bordeleau (10 goals, 21 assists) received recognition.
As Michigan gears up for the Big Ten Championship against Minnesota, the Wolverines will have an opportunity to rack up even more hardware.