Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
March 17, 2005
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Head coach George Gwozdecky was named Coach of the Year and Paul Stastny (St. Louis, Mo.) was named Rookie of Year, it was announced today at the 2005 Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Awards Ceremony at the RiverCentre. Sophomore Matt Carle (Anchorage, Alaska) and junior Brett Skinner (Brandon, Manitoba) earned All-WCHA first-team honors, while junior Gabe Gauthier (Buena Park, Calif.) was named to the All-WCHA second team as the league kicked off the 2005 Red Baron WCHA Final Five.
The league honor is the third for Gwozdecky, who also earned the honor in 1995 and 2002. He led the Pioneers to their second WCHA championship in his 11 years as head coach of Denver. Gwozdecky has recorded eight seasons of 20 or more wins and five seasons of 25 or more wins. He became the first individual to capture an NCAA Title as a student-athlete (Wisconsin '77), assistant coach (Michigan State '86) and head coach (Denver '04) last season. The Pioneers will be gunning for their third WCHA Playoff title under Gwozdecky, who sports a 399-285-54 (.577) overall and 332-255-52 (.560) mark in Division I programs.
Stastny led all WCHA rookies with 31 points in league play. He is the first Pioneer to be named Rookie of the Year since Rick Berens in 1988. Stastny is second in the nation in rookie scoring at 1.14 points per game and second among WCHA (all games) rookies with 41 points on 15 goals and 26 assists. He was named Red Baron WCHA Rookie of the Week three times (Jan. 4, Jan. 24 and Jan. 31) and racked up 11 multi-point games and three, two-goal games this season.
Carle earned his first All-WCHA first-team honor after leading all WCHA defensemen with 30 points on eight goals and 22 assists in 28 league games. He leads all WCHA defensemen with 12 goals overall and ranks second in the NCAA in points per game (1.00) for defensemen. Carle was named Red Baron WCHA Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 25. He tallied his third career four-point game (1g, 3a) in an 8-4 win over Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 28.
Skinner has enjoyed a breakout season with 34 points on four goals and a team-leading 30 assists. He finished second behind Carle with 26 points on three goals and 23 assists. Skinner is tied for third in the NCAA in points per game (.92) for defensemen and ranks tied for eighth in WCHA (all games) with 22 power-play points. He scored a career-high four points (1g, 3a) in a 6-1 win over Massachusetts on Nov. 26 and added three assists in an 8-4 win over Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 28.
Gauthier leads the Pioneers in scoring for the second consecutive season with a career-high 44 points on 16 goals and 26 assists. He became the 86th member of the Pioneer Century Club for 100-point scorers with two assists in 5-0 win over Colorado College on March 4. He leads Denver in faceoff percentage (58%) and multi-point games (15). Gauthier is tied for the team lead in shorthanded goals (2) and power-play goals (8). He is second on the team with a +25 plus/minus rating and is currently tied for fifth in the WCHA (all games) in scoring.
The Pioneers also landed 13 student-athletes on the All-WCHA Academic Team. Carle, J.D. Corbin (Englewood, Colo.), Glenn Fisher (Edmonton, Alberta), Jussi Halme (Nokia, Finland), Michael Handza (Glenshaw, Pa.), Ryan Helgason (Woodbury, Minn.), Jon James (Arnold, Md.), Danny King (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Matt Laatsch (Lakeville, Minn.), Brock McMorris (Cherry Hills, Colo.), Ted O'Leary (Arvada, Colo.), Jeff Rogers (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Kevin Ulanski (Madison, Wis.) represented the Pioneers on the All-WCHA Academic Team. To earn a position on the All-WCHA Academic Team, student-athletes must meet the following criteria: 1) have completed at least one year of residency at present institution prior to current academic year; 2) have a grade point average of at least 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) for the previous two semesters or three quarters, or may qualify if his overall GPA is at least 3.00 for all terms at his present institution; and 3) have competed in at least one-half of his institution's varsity intercollegiate ice hockey games during the current season (goaltenders must have played at least 33% of his team's minutes during the course of the season to be eligible).
The top-seed University of Denver Pioneers (26-9-2) will play fourth-seed Wisconsin (23-12-4) or fifth-seed North Dakota (20-13-5) in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Five on Friday, March 18 at Xcel Energy Center (18,064). Puck drop is scheduled for 1:37 p.m. MT. The game will be televised live by FSN-Rocky Mountain, North and Detroit and broadcast live locally in Denver on KKFN AM 950 "The Fan." Denver will play third-seed Minnesota (26-12-1) or second-seed Colorado College (28-7-3) in the third-place game (1:37 p.m. MT) or championship tilt (6:37 p.m. MT) on Saturday, March 19. Those games will be televised live by FSN-Rocky Mountain, North and Detroit and broadcast live locally in Denver on KKFN AM 950 "The Fan." All three games can be heard live via the Internet at DenverPioneers.com.
