With a house full of Boston fans, and a Hobey Hat Trick finalist slate 2/3 full of Terriers, the awards portion of the evening kicked off with the Hockey Humanitarian Award.
The Hockey Humanitarian Award can be summed up with the motto:
"In the end, it's not how many times you touch the puck, but how often you touch a life."
Finalists are selected based on their contributions off the ice, recognizing that they are typically not household names, and go on to excel outside of hockey.
This year's winner was Missy Elumba, from Northeastern.
She thanked God a lot in her acceptance speech, belying the spirituality that helped her win this award.
Next up was the Hobey Baker Memorial Hockey Award, given annually to the nation's top men's collegiate hockey player. Boston had both front runner Matt Gilroy as well as rookie of the year Colin Wilson. Northeastern junior goalie Brad Thiessen rounded out the Hat Trick.
And the winner was...
Gilroy, largely favored to take home the award, thanked his rather large family, his teammates, and his coaches for giving him the chance to play for Boston as a walk-on. He's the second Terrier to win the award (the other being Chris Drury, currently of the New York Rangers) and the 5th defenseman.
Needless to say, the large Boston contingent was thrilled for Gilroy. It would certainly bode well for the East in the Skills Competition, which was coming up next.
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