Babson College senior forward Ryan Black (Pomfret, Conn.) and Endicott College senior goalie Conor O’Brien were announced as the co-winners of the 21st Joe Concannon Award by The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston on Tuesday. The award, named after the longtime Boston Globe sportswriter, is presented annually to the top American-born college hockey player in...
Babson College senior forward Ryan Black (Pomfret, Conn.) and Endicott College senior goalie Conor O’Brien were announced as the co-winners of the 21st Joe Concannon Award by The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston on Tuesday.
The award, named after the longtime Boston Globe sportswriter, is presented annually to the top American-born college hockey player in New England at the Division 2/3 level.
Black and O'Brien are the first co-winners of the award since 2005.
Black produced career highs of 19 goals and 20 assists for 39 points over 27 games this winter as the Beavers (20-6-2) captured their first NEHC tournament championship since 2014 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, where they fell to No. 3 Geneseo on Saturday, 3-2.
He was selected as the NEHC Player of the Year and recorded the most goals and points by a Babson player since Johnny Kim in 2004-05, and the most assists since PT Donato finished with 23 in 2012-13.
"This a great award for Ryan, who has been a selfless star for us," said Babson coach Jamie Rice (Newton, Mass.). "In my time here, nobody has done what he did this year, at the level he did, with such consistency. He is amazingly humble and always happy. He carries himself with a lot of humility and has always just been one of the guys on the team. He has tremendous hockey sense and an innate ability to put himself in the right place on the ice."
O'Brien backstopped Endicott to an appearance in the Commonwealth Coast Conference title game, where the Gulls fell in overtime to the University of New England. Statistically, he produced arguably the best season among all Division 3 netminders with a 19-6-1 record, 1.41 goals against average, a .949 save percentage (665 saves total) and four shutouts.
O'Brien currently ranks No. 1 in Division 3 in save percentage, No. 2 in GAA and No. 15 in goalie winning percentage (.750). He is only the third goalie ever to win the Concannon Award, joining Jim Panczykowski (Wesleyan, 2004) and two-time winner Jamie Murray (Babson, 2015-16) on the list.
"From day one, Conor has made our program and community a better place," said Endicott coach R.J. Tolan (Waltham, Mass.). "He's the most self-confident and competitive person I have coached. He is so committed to his craft, and he has made it almost impossible not to play him in every game, not only over the last season, but for his entire career here at Endicott.”
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