Mike Connolly, who enjoyed an All-American-calibre season this past winter, was voted the winner of the 2010-11 Mike Seiler Award as the University of Minnesota Duluth's Most Valuable Player.
The junior left winger from Calgary, Alberta, was also bestowed with the Goldie Wolfe Award (Most Inspirational Player) after placing seventh among all NCAA skaters in scoring with a career-high 54 points on 28 goals and 22 assists. Connolly, the 2010-11 insidecollegehockey.com Western Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Year and American Hockey Coaches Association All-American second team selection became just the second NCAA I-era Bulldog to ever open his career with three consecutive 40-point seasons. A member of the 2010-11All-WCHA first team 2011 American Hockey Coaches Association All-American second team, Connolly amassed 136 points -- good for 27th place on the all-time among Bulldogs scoring charts -- in 123 lifetime games and was a +34 for his career. During his three years in Duluth, the Bulldogs rolled up 70-40-15 record, captured their first national championship (2011), won one WCHA playoff title (2009) and earned two NCAA tournament berths (2008 and 2010).
In addition, right winger J.T. Brown landed the Jerry Chumola Award as UMD's Rookie of the Year as a reward for a debut season in which he racked up racked up 16 goals (the most by a Bulldog newcomer in 25 years) and 21 assists for 36 points (the fifth highest total among NCAA freshman). For his efforts, the Burnsville, Minn., product was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team before closing out the year by skating off with the Most Valuable Player award at the NCAA Frozen Four.
The Mike Sertich Award (Most Improved Player) went to sophomore center Jake Hendrickson, who had one goal and four assists in 38 games after mustering just two points the previous winter while senior left winger Kyle Schmidt was the recipient of the Bulldog Community Service Award.
The Bulldogs amassed a 26-10-6 overall record in 2010-11 and won six of their last seven games, including a 3-2 overtime victory over the University of Michigan in the NCAA Frozen Four title game on April 9.
