NEWS

Former Stouffville Spirit Chris Porter (photo credit - Richard Orr/AIC Athletics), now with the American International College (AIC) Yellow Jackets, was named an Atlantic Hockey Student Athlete of the Year and leads 37 former OJHL players that were named to the All-Academic Team.

The Sophomore captures the award for the second consecutive year after finishing with a 4.0 or better Grade Point Average in 2013-14.  The Stouffville, Ontario native played three full seasons with his hometown Spirit, tasting the most success as an alternate captain with the club in 2011-12.  He would finish second in league goal scoring with 39 goals and third in points with 80 points to be named a 2nd Team All-Star and runner-up as the OJHL Most Improved Player.  He continued that success in the post-season, helping lead the club to its first OJHL Championship with a six game series victory over the Whitby Fury.

Joining Porter on the All-Academic Team, were 36 former OJHL players, all of whom had a GPA of 3.0 or better during 2013-14:

• AIC - Daniel Clairmont (Couchiching, Huntsville, Aurora)
• AIC - Sean Federow (Oakville, Buffalo)
• AIC - Jason Popek (Oakville, Burlington)
• AIC - Chris Porter (Stouffville)
• Canisius - Tony Capobianco (North York, Georgetown)
• Canisius - Shane Conacher (Burlington, St. Michael's)
• Canisius - Ralph Cuddemi (Georgetown, Mississauga)
• Canisius - Cody Freeman (Markham)
• Canisius - Matt Grazen (Buffalo)
• Canisius - Josh Kielich (Buffalo)
• Canisius - Taylor Law (Stouffville, Durham/Whitby)
• Canisius - Braeden Rigney (Newmarket)
• Canisius - Tyler Wiseman (Burlington)
• Mercyhurst - Spencer Bacon (Markham, Pickering, Oakville)
• Mercyhurst - Kyle Dutra (Mississauga, Upper Canada/Toronto Lakeshore)
• Mercyhurst - Anthony Mastrodicasa (Bramalea, Vaughan)
• Mercyhurst - Tyler Shiplo (Mississauga, Georgetown)
• Niagara - Michael Benedict (Buffalo)
• Niagara - Matt Chiarantano (Orangeville, Aurora, Georgetown)
• Niagara - Matt Dineen (Newmarket)
• RIT - Stuart Brownell (Burlington, Streetsville, Georgetown)
• RIT - Michael Colavecchia (Markham, Aurora, Dixie, Lindsay)
• RIT - Jordan Ruby (Wellington)
• Robert Morris - Brandon Denham (Oakville)
• Robert Morris - David Friedmann (Toronto, Georgetown)
• Robert Morris - Greg Gibson (Oakville, Hamilton, Huntsville)
• Robert Morris - Daniel Leavens (Hamilton, Newmarket)
• Robert Morris - Rob Mann (Whitby, Markham)
• Sacred Heart - Jeff Carroll (Wellington)
• Sacred Heart - Justin Danforth (Cobourg)
• Sacred Heart - Erlich Doerksen (Aurora, Bramalea, Upper Canada, St. Michael's, Trenton)
• Sacred Heart - David Iacono (Markham, Aurora)
• Sacred Heart - Evan Jasper (Bowmanville, Cobourg)
• Sacred Heart - Daniel Lisi (Aurora)
• Sacred Heart - Jordan Minello (Huntsville, Trenton)
• Sacred Heart - Josh Phillips (Markham, Toronto, Newmarket)
• Sacred Heart - Tyler Shaw (Markham, Aurora)

Congratulations to all our alumni on their continued successes in the NCAA!

Below is the official press release from the Atlantic Hockey website (www.atlantichockeyonline.com):

In its eleventh year of existence, Atlantic Hockey has set a new standard in the class­room for student-athletes, as 202 have earned a spot on the Atlantic Hockey Association All-Academic Team. The 202 student-athletes eclipses the mark of 184 that were honored after the 2012-13 season. This season 115 student-athletes have been named multiple times on the All-Academic Team, with 22 players earning their fourth appearance. In addition, 31 are appearing for the third time, while 62 are being honored for the second time.

Atlantic Hockey is proud to honor 10 student-athletes as the Student-Athletes of the Year for the 2013-14 season, by posting a 4.0 or better GPA during the season. Of the 10 student-athletes, there is one graduate student; three seniors; two juniors; three sophomores and a freshman.

Sophomores Chris Porter (American International) and Stephen Miller (Canisius) will be honored for the second straight season as Atlantic Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year. Joining Porter from American International as a Student-Athlete Award winner is junior Matt Cassidy.  Canisius had two award winners, in addition to Miller, senior Ryan Bohrer garners an award.  Both Niagara and RIT had a pair of Student-Athlete Award winners.  Gradute student Kevin Ryan and freshman Kevin Patterson represent the Purple Eagles, while senior Greg Noyes and junior Anthony Hamburg are the pair from the Tigers. The final two student-athletes that have been named Student-Athlete of the Year are: sophomore Willie Faust (Army) and senior Nick Jones (Mercyhurst).

American International and Robert Morris led the way with 25 members on the All-Academic Team with Canisius following the Yellow Jackets and Colonials. AIC and Robert Morris both had the most members returning, 17, while Canisius followed with 15. There were 10 student-athletes that garnered both All-Academic and All-Conference awards. All five members of the All-Rookie Team were also named to the Atlantic Hockey All-Academic squad.

To qualify for the Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team an individual must post a 3.0 grade point average or higher in all of the academic semesters during which his team was actively competing. Atlantic Hockey’s Top Scholar Athlete is an award given annually to the player or players who achieves the highest grade point average over the course of the academic se­mesters of competition.

The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) was created on June 30, 2003 when nine institutions joined together to form a new Division I men’s ice hockey conference. The conference currently consists of twelve members: the United States Air Force Academy, American International College, the United States Military Academy, Bentley University, Canisius College, the University of Connecticut, the College of the Holy Cross, Mercyhurst University, Niagara University, Robert Morris University, Rochester Institute of Technology and Sacred Heart University. The AHA spans Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado geographically, with its conference office located in Winthrop, MA.