Five Men's Ice Hockey Players Named Semifinalists for Joe Concannon Award

Courtesy Gridiron Club of Greater Boston

BOSTON, Mass. - Gridiron Club of Greater Boston president Tim Whelan announced today that sixteen NCAA Division II/III players are semi-finalists for the ninth Joe Concannon Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England playing at the D-II/III level. A total of five NESCAC players were among the semi-finalists, and a NESCAC student-athlete has claimed the award in six of the previous eight years.

The list comprises eleven forwards, three defensemen and two goalies, including two nominees from the D-II ranks. Representing the NESCAC are Amherst senior defenseman Jeff Landers (Hanover, Mass.), Middlebury senior forward Jamie McKenna (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Trinity senior defenseman Chris Diozzi (Belmont, Mass.), Connecticut College junior forward Brett Moore (Medfield, Mass.) and Tufts sophomore forward Tom DeRosa (Charlestown, Mass.)

Landers is Amherst’s top scorer while and a mainstay of the Lord Jeffs’ defense, the country’s best thus far. McKenna leads Middlebury in scoring, clearing the 100-point career mark and notching five game- winning goals for the resurgent Panthers.  Diozzi leads the strong defense and power play unit for defending NESCAC champion Trinity College. Moore leads the Camels in scoring with 19 points. DeRosa, a transfer from Merrimack College, leads the Jumbos in scoring and has tallied four game-winning goals.

“This season more than any other has showcased great competition and individual talents throughout the leagues across New England. It seems that each and every season gets a bit tighter and the level of play continues to improve. That makes it ever more challenging to single out worthy nominees for the Concannon Award,” said Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Committee chairman Tim Costello. “Our committee believes this is a strong group of nominees, it’s going to take both remainder of the regular season and conference tournaments before we’ll be able to single out the most worthy nominee.”

The Gridiron Club plans to announce the finalists and winner of the ninth Joe Concannon Award in March, prior to the start of NCAA Frozen Four Tournament play and present the award during the New England Hockey Writers dinner in mid-April.

The Gridiron Club established the Joe Concannon Award in 2001 to honor Joe, a lifelong devotee of college hockey, former member of the Walter Brown Award Selection Committee and, as a journalist, a staunch advocate for the amateur athletes he knew and covered. A native of Litchfield, Connecticut, Joe graduated from Boston University in 1961. He served as sports information director (SID) at Holy Cross before joining the Boston Globe in the late 1960’s to cover college sports. Joe declined frequent invitations by his editors to write about Boston’s major professional sports teams, preferring to concentrate on the colleges, distance running and golf. He wrote the book Marathoning with Bill Rodgers and established the highly successful Litchfield Road Race in his hometown. Joe was a world traveler and was especially proud of his Irish heritage, frequently sojourning to the Emerald Isle. He passed away in 2000.

Previous Joe Concannon Winners
2001 - Keith Aucoin, Norwich
2002 - Michael Carosi, Bowdoin
2003 - Nick Stauder, Salem St.
2004 - Jim Pancyzkowski, Wesleyan; Michael O’Sullivan, Curry
2005 - Brian Doherty, Curry; Joseph Ori, Trinity
2006 - Adam Dann, Bowdoin
2007 - Greg Osborne, Colby
2008 - Tom Maldonado, Middlebury