Alexa Martin, staff writer

Over the course of this year, the Mens Hockey Team has given us plenty to write about with their wildly successful season. The team climbed the ranks all the way to the NCAA Frozen Four, where they capped off their year with a showdown in New York.

The Auggies ended their season with 25 wins and only five losses this year. In addition, the team was ranked fourth in the USCHO.com Division III national poll for most of the season. The 2021-2022 team secured the second most wins in Augsburg’s history, and was the first team to make it to the Frozen Four since 1998. 

Though the team was not able to bring home the NCAA III Championship after a loss to Adrian College in the Semi-Finals, the team is still walking away with many wins for both the team and its individual players. Fritz Belisle, Jarod Blackowaik, Austin Dollimer, Gavin Holland, Austin Martinsen, Patrick O’Connor, Mason Palmer and Jack Robbel are all players that made the All-Conference Team this season. Logan Kons, Nick Woodward, and Samual Vyletelka are our Honorable Mentions from this season. The All-Sportsmanship Team award went to Andrew Hicks and the All-Rookie Team award went to Samual Vyletelka. Martinsen also received the honor of being named Player of the Year this season, making him the ninth player in Augsburg history to receive this award. A huge congratulations to all of these players and the whole team. 

There is, however, one more person that earned an award this season from the team, that person would be Head Coach Greg May. Coach May was awarded the Coach of the Year Award this season, making him the fourth head coach in Augsburg’s history to receive this award. If you are a frequent reader of the Echo, you may recall that we did an article early this year with Coach May where he was described as “a new-old face this season” since he himself is an alumni and former forward of the Mens Hockey Team. This was his first time coming back to Augsburg since his time as a player has been over. Congratulations Coach May on such an award. 

“Our job is to get better every single day, and our hope at the end of the week when we have our games is to reveal what we have been doing through the week,” said May of their resolutions as a team. “At the end of the day, it is our job to be playing the best hockey we can.”