Boston College Athletics
Tuch Claims Hockey East Rookie of the Week Honors
February 16, 2015 | Men's Hockey
Hockey East release (hockeyeastonline.com)
WAKEFIELD, Mass. – Freshman forward Alex Tuch earned his first conference award after claiming Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors on Monday afternoon.
The 6-foot-4 rookie scored a goal with 9.6 seconds left to force overtime against Vermont on Friday, Feb. 13, before netting the eventual game-winning tally and an assist on BC’s 6-5 victory over the Catamounts the following evening.
Tuch has scored four goals and six points in his last three outings after scoring a pair of goals an assist at Merrimack on Friday, Feb. 6.
Following this past weekend, the Baldwinsville, N.Y., native leads the Eagles in points, having logged 12 goals and 13 assists in 29 games played. Tuch is tied for fourth in plus/minus (+13) on the club and is tied with sophomore Ryan Fitzgerald at 92 shots on goal for the team lead.
On the national landscape, Tuch is 10th amongst all rookies in college hockey with 0.86 points per game and is the fifth highest-scoring freshmen in Hockey East. In all of college hockey, Tuch is tied for 81st in scoring.
Tuch is tied with sophomore Adam Gilmour for the team lead with seven multi-point performances this season. He has notched a two-goal, one assist performance twice this season, including outings at Boston University (Jan. 16) and Merrimack (Feb. 6).
Boston College has now had a freshman score 25 points or more in a season for the last four season. Fitzgerald and sophomore Austin Cangelosi recorded 29 and 26 points last season while junior captain Michael Matheson reached 25 points in 2012-13. Johnny Gaudreau turned in 44 points as a rookie in 2011-12.
The first round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild joins Northeastern’s Kevin Roy (Warrior Hockey Player of the Week) and Notre Dame’s Cal Peterson (Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week) as the week’s conference honorees.
Boston College will have all week to prepare for a one-game showdown against UMass Lowell on Friday, Feb. 20, at Kelley Rink. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Boston College, in second place and four points behind Boston University, is two points clear of third-place Lowell. That following Monday, Feb. 23, the Eagles will finally close out the 63rd annual Beanpot at 4:30 p.m. at TD Garden.
