Posted: Apr 03, 2018

Seahawks garner All-New England recognition

Head coach Zech Klann along with forward Jack Billings and goaltender Blake Wojtala have all been recognized by the New England Hockey Writers.

BOSTON - The New England Hockey Writers Division II/III All-Star teams and awards have been finalized after tallying votes from all Division II/III coaches and respective media outlets throughout New England. This year's banquet will be held on Wednesday, April 11 at the Prince Restaurant in Saugus, Mass. The banquet will start at 6 p.m. All awards and All-Star teams will be presented at the gala.

UMass Boston senior Colin Larkin was selected as the Division II/III Player of the Year after completing an outstanding final season with the Beacons which earned him First Team All-American status. The Waterford, Mich. native collected 46 points on 24 goals and 22 assists in 27 games and signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers. He finished sixth in scoring nationally and is one of 10 forwards to be honored as an All-Star. Larkin had six games with three-or-more points including a hat trick in the second game of the season against Curry College. He finished second nationally with 10 power play goals and he concluded the season with 20 points in the final 12 games.

Zech Klann of Salve Regina and Blaise MacDonald of Colby have been named Co-Coaches of the Year for leading their teams to the Frozen Four. Klann brought the Seahawks to the national championship game for the first time in program history where they fell in double overtime to St. Norbert. Salve Regina finished with a 22-6-2 record. MacDonald brought the Colby Mules to the Frozen Four for the first time in program history where they too lost to St. Norbert. The Mules went 17-11-2 and finished with four more wins than in 2016-17.

The 2017-18 Division II/III All-Star team is comprised of three goaltenders, six defensemen and 10 forwards. Nine players listed below were also Division II/III All-Americans.

This year's goaltenders are Blake Wojtala (First Team All-American) of Salve Regina, Connor Rodericks (Second Team All-American) of Connecticut College and Sean Lawrence of Colby.

Rounding out this year's defensemen are Nick Albano (Second Team All-American) of UMass Boston, Victor Bergström of Plymouth State, Ryan Burr (Third Team All-American) of New England, Logan Day (First Team All-American) of Endicott, Liam Feeney of Trinity and Jerry Laakso of UMass Dartmouth.

The forwards on this year's All-Star team are Larkin, Jack Billings (Second Team All-American) of Salve Regina, Ryan Bloom (Third Team All-American) of New England, Scott Cuthrell of Nichols, Nick DiNicola of Fitchburg State, Brady Fleurent (First Team All-American) of New England, Ross Olsson of Endicott, Nolan Redler of UMass Boston, Jonathan Ruiz (Third Team All-American) of UMass Dartmouth and Ryan Stevens of Plymouth State.

All coaches, student-athletes, family members and friends are encouraged to attend Wednesday's banquet. Please contact Carolyn Stacey or Meghan Pflieger at (781) 245-2122 or by email (intern@hockeyeastonline.com) for information on attending this event. Cost is $40 per person.