My 2011 All-WCHA Ballot

By now, you probably know the drill.

Every year, the media who cover the WCHA are asked to vote on the league's annual awards and honors. As the radio voice at UMD, I am honored to receive a vote.

And I will -- every year -- post my ballot once it is submitted and the deadline for submissions has passed. I fully encourage all voters to take this step, though I am not going to look down on those who do not.

In the case of my 2011 ballot, I'm ready to be taken to the woodshed by North Dakota fans. Here goes. All lists are alphabetical where applicable.

ALL-WCHA
FORWARDS
First Team
Jack Connolly, UMD
Mike Connolly, UMD
Jason Zucker, Denver

Second Team
Justin Fontaine, UMD
Matt Frattin, North Dakota
Drew Shore, Denver

Third Team
Drew LeBlanc, St. Cloud State
Joey Martin, Nebraska-Omaha
Craig Smith, Wisconsin

Apologies to ...
Jacob Cepis, Minnesota
Jason Gregoire, North Dakota
Matt Read, Bemidji State
Garrett Roe, St. Cloud State

Comments
Tough choices up top. Basically, I looked at my top six, and saw very little separation. North Dakota fans will probably scream about Frattin not being on the first team, but I was jocking Zucker early in the season, and my mancrush only increased when I saw him play in person. One area I thought Zucker was a bit better was his all-around play. Frattin is underrated as a penalty kill guy/defensive player, in part, because people don't look at him that way. But his speed really makes him a factor in all zones.

In the end, though, I thought Zucker was a bit more impressive this season, and Jack Connolly would be a lot of people's choice for Player of the Year were it not for the fact that he has Mike Connolly as a teammate.

Killed me not to have Gregoire on the team, but LeBlanc has been really good for SCSU, and Cepis has stepped up big-time as his team was about to fall off the face of the earth.

DEFENSEMEN
First Team
Jake Gardiner, Wisconsin
Chay Genoway, North Dakota

Second Team
Matt Donovan, Denver
Justin Schultz, Wisconsin

Third Team
Kurt Davis, Minnesota State
Justin Faulk, UMD

Apologies to ...
Ben Blood, North Dakota
Gabe Guentzel, Colorado College
Eric Olimb, Nebraska-Omaha

Comments
In my opinion, Gardiner was the best defenseman in the league who didn't miss any games. I wasn't about to punish Genoway -- who was having a Hobey Baker season -- for catching his skate in bad ice along the boards in Colorado Springs. Genoway might be the best player in college hockey, and if he is, he'll show it in the next month.

Olimb impressed with his ability in all zones, but wasn't quite as dynamic as some above him on the list. I really like how Davis was able to control play at times for MSU, a team that lacks depth all over the ice, especially on defense.

GOALIES
First Team
Sam Brittain, Denver

Second Team
Kent Patterson, Minnesota

Third Team
Dan Bakala, Bemidji State

Apologies to ...
Aaron Dell, North Dakota
John Faulkner, Nebraska-Omaha

Comments
Brittain had some rocky starts, but everyone on this list did. He was the best overall goalie in the league, I believe. But it's close. Bakala could be a game-changer in the playoffs, but so could his counterpart this weekend, Faulkner. The latter was rock solid at Amsoil Arena, making some real nice saves to help his team to a split last weekend.

Patterson, meanwhile, could be the Gophers MVP, and Dell won a lot of games. Not on this list? Scott Gudmandson, who was too up-and-down in my opinion to make the top five.

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Forwards
J.T. Brown, UMD
Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College
Jason Zucker, Denver
Defensemen
Justin Faulk, UMD
David Makowski, Denver
Goalie
Sam Brittain, Denver

Apologies to ...
Erik Haula, F, Minnesota
Nick Jensen, D, St. Cloud State
Brock Montpetit, F, Nebraska-Omaha
Brock Nelson, F, North Dakota

Comments
This was actually pretty easy. Only kind of tough choice was Schwartz -- who missed a lot of time -- over Haula, who has really emerged. Jensen impressed for SCSU, but not enough to vault ahead of Faulk and Makowski.

WCHA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Mike Connolly, F, UMD
I've been beating this drum since December. Why stop now? Connolly's ability in all zones, his insane competitiveness (which is almost enough to make Alex Stalock look blasé in comparison), and his goal-scoring touch make him the league's best. Am I biased? We'll find out when the final results are released. There's a good chance I am, but in six years of seeing every player and every team, I haven't seen a guy with the ability to control all phases of a game the way Mike Connolly has multiple times this season.

Simply put, he doesn't play the game like a normal hockey player. You can't teach his fire, his intensity, or his competitive level, and when you mesh those things with talent that's equally tough to teach, and you make that player very coachable, you've created a dangerous player.

Is he the best UMD player (we'll add "non-goalie" here so Stalock is in a category by himself) of the Sandelin era? It's highly possible. He's a better two-way player than Junior Lessard was. He's a better goal scorer than Evan Schwabe or Tim Stapleton were. He's probably going to end up with more goals than Justin Fontaine, who's pretty damn good in that area.

WCHA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Jason Zucker, F, Denver
Watching the 2010 World Juniors, I saw a player in Zucker who had character, was a factor in all phases, but not one who struck me as a great skater.

I must have been blind. Zucker can fly. He made an impact at Denver from the start, something that's not easy for a freshman to do, and he's the first drafted player ever from the state of Nevada.

At some point, he's going to join the Wild, and boy will they be glad they burned a second-round pick on Zucker last summer. He'll make them very happy.

WCHA COACH OF THE YEAR
Dean Blais, Nebraska-Omaha
I'm not trying to make it sound like I was right when I was really wrong. When I voted the Mavericks eighth, I was dead wrong. But here's what I wrote.

I have the greatest respect for Dean Blais' coaching ability, and I think this UNO team will be better than the one he fielded last year. Throw out all the CCHA snark you want, but he won 20 games in a good league with a team that didn't appear to be that strong on paper.

The WCHA should and will be tougher on this Maverick team, but they're probably good enough to make a run at home ice.  

See? I was wrong, but I wasn't.

Actually, no, I was just wrong. Badly.

UNO finished third, threatened for a time to win the league, and was very impressive. There might not be a better coach in the country, and certainly not in this league. Props to Blais on the job he did.