Naugler named AUS Coach of the Year, Welsh wins AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award for second straight year
Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2022-23 AUS men's hockey major award winners and all-stars as selected by the conference's seven head coaches following regular season play.
Second-year STFX forward Liam Hawel (Arnprior, Ont.) was chosen as the AUS most valuable player for the second consecutive season.
Other AUS major award winners announced today were UNB's Samuel Richard (Saint-Catherine, Que.) who was named rookie of the year; UPEI's Troy Lajeunesse (Sturgeon Falls, Ont.) who was chosen as the most sportsmanlike player; Saint Mary's Matt Welsh (Halifax, N.S.), who was awarded student-athlete community service honours; and Saint Mary's head coach Tyler Naugler who is the AUS men's hockey coach of the year.
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD (The Godfrey Award): Matthew Welsh, Saint Mary's Huskies
The 2022-23 recipient of the Godfrey Award for student-athlete community service and AUS nominee for the prestigious Dr. Randy Gregg Award is Matthew Welsh from the Saint Mary's Huskies.
Named for Dr. Bill Godfrey, this award is given annually to the player who best represents the spirit of intercollegiate hockey by his leadership both on and off the ice and by his conduct throughout the season.
This is Welsh's second consecutive season earning this honour.
A commerce student from Halifax, N.S., aiming to pursue an MBA, he's been named to the Dean's list and is a two-time Academic All-Canadian.
In his second year of eligibility, the Saint Mary's goaltender started in 14 games for the Huskies this season and finished with a .904 save percentage.
He was also selected to represent his country at the 2023 FISU World University Games held in Lake Placid, NY last month, where he brought home a gold medal as a member of Team Canada.
Welsh is a player-ambassador for Hockey Gives Blood, an organization that promotes the need for blood, plasma and stem cell donation in partnership with Canadian Blood Services. As part of this volunteer role, Welsh has been involved in organizing blood drives and promoting the organization on social media platforms.
In 2020 he was given the Dayna Brons Honorary Award for an individual in the hockey community who exhibits outstanding dedication towards patients who rely on blood and stem cell products in Canada.
Welsh now becomes the AUS nominee for the Dr. Randy Gregg Award.
The most recent players from the Atlantic conference to earn the honour were Acadia's Liam Maaskant in 2019-20 and UNB's Randy Gazzola in 2018-19.
COACH OF THE YEAR (Bob Boucher Trophy): Tyler Naugler, Saint Mary's
In his third season leading the Saint Mary's Huskies men's hockey team, Tyler Naugler has been chosen by his peers as the 2022-23 AUS coach of the year.
Coach Naugler led the Huskies to a 20-10 regular reason record, a second-place finish in the conference standings, and a first-round bye through to the semifinals of the AUS playoffs.
In the 2022-23 regular season, Saint Mary's scored an average of 3.50 goals per game, had the second-highest save percentage in the league (.916) and the second best power play percentage (24.4).
Naugler is the first Huskies coach to win the Bob Boucher Trophy since Trevor Stienburg earned the honour in the 2012-13 season.
He now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the Father George Kehoe Memorial Award as the U SPORTS coach of the year. Dalhousie's Chris Donnelly is the most recent Atlantic conference recipient of the national honour, he was named U SPORTS coach of the year last season.
2022-23 AUS ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
First Team All-Stars
Goaltender: Samuel Richard, UNB (1st year – Sainte-Catherine, Que.)
Defence: Matt Brassard, UPEI (3rd year – Barrie, Ont.)
Defence: Justin MacPherson, Saint Mary's (2nd year – East Gwillimbury, Ont.)
Forward: Liam Hawel, STFX (2nd year – Arnprior, Ont.)
Forward: Troy Lajeunesse, UPEI (4th year – Sturgeon Falls, Ont.)
Forward: Matthew Struthers, STFX (2nd year – Milton, Ont.)
Second Team All-Stars
Goaltender: Jonah Capriotti, UPEI (4th year – Charlottetown, P.E.I.)
Defence: Adam McCormick, UNB (2nd year – Waterville, N.B.)
Defence: Ross MacDougall, UNB (4th year – St. Stephen, N.B.)
Forward: Andrew Coxhead, Saint Mary's (2nd year – Bedford, N.S.)
Forward: Simon Pinard, UNB (1st year – Drummondville, Que.)
Forward: Jason Willms, UNB (2nd year – Kitchener, Ont.)
All-Rookie Team
Goaltender: Samuel Richard, UNB (Ste. Catharine, Que.)
Defence: Jacob Dion, Moncton (Sherbrooke, Que.)
Defence: Jaxon Bellamy, Saint Mary's (Hampton, NB)
Forward: Simon Pinard, UNB (Drummondville, Que.)
Forward: Cody Morgan, UNB (Gilford, Ont.)
Forward: Jérémy Michel, Moncton (Lévis, Que.)
The semifinals of the Subway AUS Men's Hockey Championship are set to begin later this week. The UNB Reds will face off against the Moncton Aigles Bleus in one best 3-of-5 series, while the Saint Mary's Huskies take on the Acadia Axemen in the other.
The full schedule is available here.
The winners of each series will advance to the Subway AUS Men's Hockey Championship Finals best 2-of-3 series.
All games will be webcast at www.AUStv.ca.
The 2023 U SPORTS University Cup is being hosted by the UPEI Panthers March 16 to 19 in Charlottetown, P.E.I. The Atlantic conference has three berths in the national championship. UPEI receives one as host. The other two berths will be awarded to the AUS champion and runner up.