Rink and Run blog: UMD MVP, Jack Connolly

  This Monday release from Minnesota Duluth on men's hockey team award winners for 2009-10:

Jack Connolly, who earlier this spring became the 23rd All-American in Minnesota Duluth history, was bestowed with the 2009-10 Mike Seiler Award as the Bulldogs' Most Valuable Player at the team's annual awards banquet Sunday night .

A 2009-10 All-Western Collegiate Hockey Association first team selection, Connolly sported the fifth best points per game average (1.23) of any league combatant this past season and finished second in power play points (26) and fourth in assists (31). He also topped the 2009-10 Bulldogs in both scoring (a career-high 49 points), total shots (137) and plus-minus rating (plus-8, which earned him the the club's Bob Junkert Award). The sophomore center from Duluth, who was chosen the winner of the Stauber Brothers Fan Favorite Award this year as well, has skated in all 83 games since joining the Bulldog program in 2008.

Calgary, Alberta native Wade Bergman landed the Jerry Chumola Award as UMD's Rookie of the Year after closing out his debut collegiate season with one goal and five assists for six points and ranking third on the club with a plus-4.

The Mike Sertich Award (Most Improved Player) went to junior Rob Bordson, who placed in a tie for third on the UMD scoring charts this past winter with 40 points on 12 goals and 28 assists after going without a point in 15 outings as a sophomore. That represented the second largest one-year scoring improvement of any Bulldog in 17 years. Named insidecollegehockey.com’s WCHA Breakthrough Player of the Year for 2009-10, Bordson ranked eighth among WCHA skaters in overall assists and fifth in power play points (23). The Duluth product passed up his final year of college eligibility signing a contract with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks last month.

Senior center and team-captain Drew Akins was the recipient of both the Goldie Wolfe Award (Most Inspirational Player) and the Bulldog Community Service Award.

The Bulldogs closed out the 2009-10 season with a 22-17-1 overall record -- their second straight 22-win season -- and placed in a tie for fourth place in the WCHA standing at 14-8-0.