May 13, 2006
DENVER - Former All-American and current San Jose Sharks defenseman Matt Carle (Anchorage, Alaska) earned Most Valuable Player and Best Defensive Player honors as the University of Denver celebrated its 50th Annual Hockey Awards Evening tonight at the Denver Marriott Tech Center. Carle is currently playing with the Sharks in the NHL Playoffs and was not able to attend the banquet.
In addition to honoring Carle, the Pioneers celebrated their 2005-06 season and said goodbye to seniors Gabe Gauthier (Buena Park, Calif.), Ted O'Leary (Arvada, Colo.) and Brock McMorris (Cherry Hills, Colo.). Head coach George Gwozdecky honored his seniors and thanked departing assistant coach Seth Appert for nine years of outstanding service. Appert was named the new head coach at RPI on April 20.
Carle earned the Bill Masterton Memorial Award (MVP) and Keith Magnuson Memorial Award (Best Defensive Player) after a stellar junior season. He became the first DU Pioneer to win the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's top player and was the first person to win the WCHA Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors in the same season. Carle led the nation in assist scoring and earned his second consecutive consensus All-America honor. He led all NCAA defensemen with 53 points and 42 assists and tied for second with 11 goals. He finished tied for second in league scoring and led all WCHA defensemen in points, goals and assists in league play. Carle set DU's single-season assist record for defensemen and his 53 points rank second on DU's single-season points list for blueliners. Carle netted a career-high five assists in a 7-4 win over Minnesota State on Feb. 10. In addition, Carle was named to the All-WCHA All-Academic Team for the second consecutive season. Carle finished his career as the fourth-most prolific scoring defenseman in school history with 122 points in 112 games.
Gauthier earned the Player's Bench "Star of the Year" Award, the Dr. Ralph Verploeg Award as Most Inspirational Player and the Bob Martin Award for Community Service. Gauthier led the Pioneers to 10 wins at Magness Arena en route to a second-place finish in the WCHA. Gauthier was named the Number One star in one game and earned the Number Two star in five contests. Gauthier participated in the "Skate with the Pioneers" event to benefit the Starlight Foundation and visited local children's hospitals and elementary schools. He worked Coach Gwozdecky's summer hockey camps and volunteered for the D.U. Youth Hockey program. Gauthier participated in the Qwest Food Drive and made several personal appearances on behalf of the Pioneer hockey program. He co-captained the Pioneers to their fifth consecutive 20-win season while tallying 39 points on 15 goals and 24 assists. The two-time All-WCHA performer earned All-America honors his junior season and finished his brilliant DU career ranked 16th on the all-time scoring list with 155 points in 164 games.
Chris Butler (St. Louis, Mo.) earned the Barry Sharp Memorial Award as DU's Top Freshman. Butler hit the college hockey scene by leading all WCHA freshmen defensemen with 17 points in league play. Overall, Butler tallied 22 points on seven goals and 15 assists in 35 games. The WCHA All-Rookie Team member recorded six multi-point games, including two career-best three-point efforts.
Sophomore Ryan Dingle (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) captured the Murray Armstrong Award as DU's Most Improved Player. Dingle enjoyed a 25-point improvement from his freshman season by leading the Pioneers with 27 goals, 15 power-play goals, seven game-winning goals and three shorthanded goals. Dingle earned All-WCHA Third-Team honors and his 15 power-play goals and seven game-winning ranked third nationally. Dingle's 27 goals were the most by a Pioneer since Eric Murano netted 33 in 1989-90.
Sophomore J.D. Corbin (Littleton, Colo.) earned the Dr. Ken Bredesen Award for Sportsmanship. Corbin committed just eight penalties for 16 minutes and tallied a career-high 20 points on 5 goals and 15 assists. Corbin tallied a career-high three assists in DU's 5-4 win over in-state rival Colorado College on March 2 and setup both of teammate Geoff Paukovich's (Englewood, Colo.) game-winning goals in a two-game sweep at then-No. 1 and 2006 NCAA National Champion Wisconsin on Jan. 20-21.
Junior Danny King (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Corbin were co-recipients of the Dr. Art Mason Award as Denver's Top Student-Athletes. King posted a 3.96 grade-point average in finance and marketing during his junior season. He earned his second WCHA All-Academic honor for his efforts in the classroom. Corbin tallied a 3.96 GPA in real estate and construction management and earned his second consecutive WCHA All-Academic Team honor.
Sophomore Paul Stastny (St. Louis, Mo.) earned the Leading Scorer Award after winning the WCHA Scoring Title with 44 points on 15 goals and 29 assists. Stastny shared the team-scoring lead with 53 points and his 19 goals ranked second behind Dingle's 27. Stastny earned his first All-America honors and was named to the All-WCHA First Team. The high-scoring Stastny led DU with 18 multi-point games, including two career-high four-point efforts. The talented forward has netted 98 points on 36 goals and 62 assists in just 81 career games as a Pioneer.
Dr. Nancy Sampson recognized DU's 12 All-WCHA Academic honorees. Zach Blom (Englewood, Colo.), Steven Cook (Denver, Colo.), Glenn Fisher (Edmonton, Alberta), Ryan Helgason (Woodbury, Minn.), Jon James (Arnold, Md.), Andrew Thomas (Bow, N.H.), Carle, Corbin, King, McMorris, O'Leary and Stastny all earned a 3.0 GPA or better this season. In addition, Blom, Cook, Corbin, King, McMorris and O'Leary were recognized for winning WCHA Scholar-Athlete Awards for GPA's above 3.5.
