News and Notes 3/19/13: USCHO Awards, End of Year Polls and Steubenville reaction

USCHO Awards

Amherst's La Rose won USCHO D-IIIPlayer of the Year in 2012

United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) will be releasing their Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and All-America teams this week. They have already released their choice for D-III Player of the Year, Oswego's Paul Rodrigues. Last week, Rodrigues won the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA)'s Sid Watson Award, given to the best player in D-III men's ice hockey; Wesleyan's Keith Buehler was also a finalist. The Sid Watson Award is named after legendary Bowdoin coach/Athletic Director and former NFL athlete Sid Watson. In 2012 Amherst senior goaltender Jonathon La Rose took home both the Sid Watson Award and USCHO D-III Player of the Year.

 USCHO Player of the Year: Paul Rodrigues

End of the Year Rankings
Both USCHO and D3Hockey.com took it upon themselves to do a final poll now that D-III hockey is over for the 2012-13 season. USCHO has Bowdoin at 7, Williams at 13 and Amherst/Middlebury receiving votes. D3Hockey had the same ranks for the Polar Bears and Ephs, with the Lord Jeffs, Panthers and Trinity receiving votes.

Final USCHO Rankings
Final D-3 Hockey.com Rankings 

Locker Room Culture
The 2012 Steubenville, Ohio high school rape case and subsequent 2013 trial and conviction of two high school football players has created a slew of serious conversations from the role of social media in the sexual assault to journalistic ethics in coverage and high school culture.

Using the Steubenville case as a springboard (but not dealing with the case directly), former Bowdoin goalie Nick Smith ('09) presents his musings on a locker room culture that can promote team loyalty but at the same time can be a bastion of "vile, homophobic, and sexist attitudes." Smith relays an experience of a gentlemanly hockey role model from his youth and calls for more role models, who would promote respectful attitudes towards women, in locker rooms.

The piece appears on the website for "Speak About It," a "performance-based presentation about consent, boundaries and healthy relationships." Smith, now a med student at Boston University, was a cast member for Speak About it in 2010 and 2011.

Nick Smith's Reaction To Steubenville 

Hat tip to Benet Pols for the link