University of Connecticut Athletics
Scherer Named Walter Brown Award Semifinalist
2/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
STORRS, Conn. (February 1, 2007) — University of Connecticut men’s hockey senior forward Matt Scherer (Seattle, Wash.) has been named one of 15 semifinalists for the Walter Brown Award Gridiron Club of Greater Boston president Dave O’Brien announced Thursday.
Commemorating the life and works of America’s greatest sportsman, the Walter Brown Award is given annually to the outstanding American-born college hockey player in New England. The Walter Brown Award is the oldest nationally recognized honor according to individual players in the sport of American college hockey.
Brown coached the United States to its first world hockey championship in 1933. The U.S. team, the Massachusetts Rangers, comprised players from Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, and Boston Commerce High School. The Americans defeated the Toronto Nationals, 2-1, in overtime in the final game of the 1933 World Tournament at Prague, Czechoslovakia. It was also America’s first win over a team from Canada.
The U.S. team members established the Walter Brown award at their 20th reunion in 1953. Criteria for the selection committee include leadership, character, sportsmanship, and ability as well as on-ice achievement. The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston has been the steward of the Walter Brown Award since 1977.
This year’s candidates include nine players from Hockey East, four from the ECAC Hockey League and two from Atlantic Hockey. The slate comprises six forwards, five goalies and four defensemen. Boston College, Boston University and New Hampshire all have two players each among the candidates. Four of the nominees were also semifinalists for last year’s award, which was won by Boston College forward Chris Collins.
Scherer’s nomination makes him the first Husky to ever be named a Walter Brown Award semifinalist. He is currently tied for the team lead with 24 points and recently became the school’s all-time leading goal scorer at the Division I level. Holy Cross senior James Sixsmith joins Scherer as the only other Atlantic Hockey player selected to the list.
“This year has proven to be another competitive and well balanced one throughout Eastern hockey,” Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Committee chairman Tim Costello said. “Tight team defensive play and topnotch goaltending have been holding the scores down and making almost every game a close contest right up to the end. Once again, there was a large pool of worthy candidates for the Walter Brown Award, and not all of them could make the watch list. There’s a lot of action yet to come in the stretch runs leading up to the league playoffs, and our committee members have a lot more work to do in observing and evaluating our semifinalists the rest of the way.”
The Gridiron Club plans to announce the finalists and winner of the 55th Walter Brown Award in March, following league playoffs and before the start of NCAA Tournament play.
-UCONN-
