Thursday, May 03, 2007

Ferris, NMU recruits among NAHL's best

The North American Hockey League announced Wednesday its individual awards winners for the 2006-07 season, as voted on by the league’s coaches, and three winners are bound for Michigan colleges.

St. Louis Bandits forward Pat Maroon was named the NAHL/Sherwood Most Valuable Player. The 19-year-old led the NAHL in scoring this season with 40 goals and 95 points. Maroon, a Ferris State University recruit, is also on the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau’s final rankings for 2007 draft-eligibles. Maroon was also named to the All-NAHL First Team.

Bandits goaltender Pat Nagle was voted the NAHL Rookie of the Year. In 24 appearances, the 19-year-old Ferris State recruit from Bloomfield fashioned a 24-8-4 record to compliment a 2.28 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Nagle was named to the All-NAHL Second Team.

The Academic Achievement Award was presented to Traverse City North Stars forward Kory Kaunisto. Holding a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, Kaunisto, a Marquette native, is in the top one percent of his class at Traverse City Central High School. With a full scholarship to Northern Michigan University in hand, Kaunisto is also a longstanding member of the National Honor Society.

St. Louis defenseman Scooter Vaughan was also named to the Second Team and All-Rookie Team. He'll be heading to Michigan this fall.

No comments: