26 River Hawks Earn Hockey East All-Academic Honors

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LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell ice hockey team had 26 players named to the 2022-23 Hockey East All-Academic Team, tying for first in the league, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

“The coaching staff is proud to learn that our hockey team led the league with the most players on the Hockey East All-Academic Team,” said Head Coach Norm Bazin. “We are proud of the fact that our players strive towards excellence both on the ice and in the classroom. We also recognize the fact the team had six seniors who achieved this honor every year they were at UMass Lowell.”

To be eligible for the All-Academic Team, student-athletes must attain a 3.0 GPA or higher. Massachusetts was the other team with 26 honorees, while Maine trailed just behind with 25.

Leading the way for UMass Lowell was graduate student defenseman Jon McDonald (Livonia, Mich.), who capped off his career as one of three Hockey East student-athletes to earn his fifth straight All-Academic Team honor. McDonald was pursuing an MBA at the UMass Lowell Manning School of Business.

Seniors Carl Berglund (Hammaro, Sweden), Brian Chambers (Weymouth, Mass.), Zach Kaiser (Orangeville, Ontario), Marek Korencik (Zilina, Slovakia), and Blake Wells (Blackie, Alberta) joined McDonald in being named Hockey East Distinguished Scholars for qualifying for the All-Academic Team in each of their four college seasons.

Freshman defenseman Mark Cooper (Cambridge, Ontario) shared the honor of Top Scholar-Athlete, which goes to the student-athlete(s) with the highest GPA in all of Hockey East. He finished his rookie campaign with a 4.0 as a Quantitative Economics major.

Cooper was joined by sophomore goaltender Edvard Nordlund (Nacka, Sweden) on the Hockey East All-Academic All-Star Team, which is made up of the 12 student-athletes who held the top GPA at each position this year. Nordlund, a business administration student with a 3.98 GPA, was one of two goalies named to the All-Star Team, while Cooper is one of four defensemen.

Junior Nik Armstrong-Kingkade (Mannheim, Germany) concluded his junior year with his third straight All-Academic Team selection.

Six River Hawks became two-time honorees, as well. Sophomores Owen Cole (Dunnville, Ontario), Isac Jonsson (Angelholm, Sweden), and Nordlund all earned the recognition for the second consecutive year, and juniors Brehdan Engum (Burnsville, Minn.), Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.) and Henry Welsch (Lakeville, Minn.) were tabbed for the second time in their careers.

Rounding out the list of honorees are the All-Academic Team first-timers. In addition to Cooper, that list includes freshmen Mitchell Becker (Rogers, Minn.), Dillan Bentley (Peoria, Ill.), Jack Collins (Canton, N.Y.), Owen Fowler (Tewksbury, Mass.), TJ Schweighhardt (Manahawkin, N.J.) and Scout Truman (Lethbridge, Alberta), sophomores Gabe Blanchard (East Aurora, N.Y.) and Matt Crasa (South Setauket, N.Y.), seniors Ryan Brushett (Montreal, Quebec) and Jake Stella (Karstad, Sweden), and graduate students Filip Fornää Svensson (Linkoping, Sweden) and Gustavs Davis Grigals (Riga, Latvia).

A total of 202 total student-athletes across the league were included on the Hockey East All-Academic Team after posting a 3.0 GPA or higher during 2022-23.

Full List of 2022-23 UMass Lowell Hockey East All-Academic Honorees
Nik Armstrong-Kingkade ***
Mitchell Becker
Dillan Bentley
Carl Berglund +
Gabe Blanchard
Ryan Brushett
Brian Chambers +
Owen Cole **
Jack Collins
Mark Cooper ^
Matt Crasa
Brehdan Engum **
Filip Fornaa Svensson
Owen Fowler
Gustavs Davis Grigals
Isac Jonsson **
Zach Kaiser +
Marek Korencik +
Jon McDonald!
Ben Meehan **
Edvard Nordlund **
TJ Schweighardt
Jake Stella
Scout Truman
Blake Wells +
Henry Welsch **

** two-time honoree
*** three-time honoree
^ Top Scholar-Athlete (Highest GPA in Hockey East)
+ Distinguished Scholar (3.0 in each semester of four varsity seasons)
! Five-time Honoree