Post-Season Awards - Flying Under the Radar and Freshman of the Year

This is the first installment of a series of post-season awards blogs. In this post I will name the winners of two awards: the somewhat nebulous "Flying Under the Radar" award, and the "Freshman of the Year" award.

As always, my picks and opinions are open to debate, and I welcome feedback and criticism in the comments.

Now, on to the awards.

Flying Under the Radar

The Flying Under the Radar award, as I have said previously, was mostly dreamed up as a way to point out what I thought was a great deal of potential in mid-season winner Wade Finegan. He's a strong, hard-working player with a bit of a mean streak, and I like the Falcons to have a few players like that. With the physical Kai Kantola graduating and moving on to an amateur tryout with the Norfolk Admirals and trusty captain Kyle Page joining the Toledo Walleye, the Falcons are going to need someone to step up and fill that void.

But this post isn't about the previous winner, it's time to name the post-season winner - Andrew Hammond.

Hammond's season, to me, was the definition of un-tapped potential. His stat line for the season was fairly disappointing: 13 starts, 0-12-2 record, 4.30 GAA, and 88.0 save %.

That being said, every time I looked at his stats, I was absolutely shocked to see that he hadn't won a game in overtime or regulation. He showed many flashes of greatness, standing on his head to keep the Falcons in games, but just never got the breaks to put a notch in the win column. Considering his play in the Miami and Michigan State series, I don't think it will take long before Hammond makes a big impact on the BGSU hockey team.

Also, a quick story to share. During pre-season practices, I went for a ride around campus and decided to stop for a moment at the Ice Arena. I went inside and noticed the team preparing for a practice, so I sat in Section D and watched for a while. As players made their way to the ice one-by-one, others were already taking shots on the empty net and working on passing. Just as one player shot the puck around the boards, a goalie was just stepping onto the ice. The puck whipped around at face-level, but the player snagged the puck with his glove-hand without having more than a second to react. I seem to remember at the time thinking it was Hammond. It may not have been, but having seen some of the saves he made, especially in the closing moments of the MSU series, it certainly wouldn't surprise me. Maybe Andrew or someone in the know could confirm this one for me.

Of course, there are plenty of other players whose futures I am excited about as well. Cameron Sinclair, Marc Rodriguez, and Max Grover showed a ton of heart and grit in the second series with Notre Dame, helping the Falcons to buck the years-long winless streak against Notre Dame. Also on the radar is Ian Ruel, whose size and physical play brought early comparisons to a young Rob Blake.

Anyway, moving on to award #2.

Freshman of the Year

At mid-season, there was really no room for debate on this one. Jordan Samuels-Thomas wasn't just leading the Falcons in scoring, he was near the top of a number of other conference and national lists as well. He took the ice by storm and won the appreciation of many of the Falcon faithful. Naming him as the winner of the award was really just a formality. Now that the season has come to a close, the winner is:

Jordan Samuels-Thomas

I'll give you a moment to compose yourself.

It was very tempting to name a different winner for this award, but ultimately I didn't think I could. JS-T ended the season in the same position statistically as he held at the break - the top. Samuels-Thomas finished the season with 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points, a one goal edge over late-season hero Tomas Petruska.

Samuels-Thomas' play was a key to the Falcons successes this season, as he frustrated opponents early and often, making them work hard to account for him, and opening up the ice for other players in the process.

The reason I was tempted to choose a different winner, though, was that his production dropped off in the second half. Hampered by a short-lived illness and facing teams who had learned a thing or two about slowing him down, JS-T's numbers faded a bit. Through the first half of the season, he collected six goals and nine assists for 15 points. In the final 18 games, he recorded only five goals and five assists, for a total of 10 points.

Another player I strongly considered for this award was Nathan Pageau. His hustle and offensive spark bode well for the Falcons' future, and his ability to step up against high-profile opponents should make him a hit with the fans. Of Pageau's 11 points this season, six came during games against Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Notre Dame.

Well, there you have it. My picks for the Flying Under the Radar award and the Freshman of the Year award.

The next two awards to be named will be Offensive MVP and Defensive MVP, followed by Most Improved Player and Team MVP.

As always, feel free to give your opinions in the comments. Tell my why I'm right, tell me where I messed it up, suggest someone for the upcoming awards, or just tell me about your day. As long as I see a couple of comments on the post, I'm a happy guy.