Drew O'Connor Named All-ECAC Hockey First Team for 2019-20

HANOVER, N.H. – The 2019-20 Men's All-ECAC Hockey Teams were announced Tuesday by the league office with Dartmouth sophomore forward Drew O'Connor earning a spot on the first team.

O'Connor becomes the first Big Green player to earn a spot on the All-ECAC Hockey First Team since 2007-08 when Nick Johnson earned the distinction. In total, the New Jersey native becomes the eighth Dartmouth player to earn a spot on the league's first team.

This is one of several year-end accolades for O'Connor who was tabbed as the Ivy League Co-Player of the Year in addition to being unanimously named to the All-Ivy First Team. He was a three-time ECAC Hockey Player of the Week in 2019-20, the only conference player to be recognized more than once.

All these awards come after a season in which O'Connor became the first Dartmouth player ever to lead the entire league in goals, finishing the year with 21. His 16 goals in ECAC Hockey play were the most of any player, making him the first Big Green student-athlete to accomplish that since Ross Brownridge did so in 1979-80.

In Ivy play, the forward produced a league-leading seven tallies and 14 points in 10 games. Nearly all of those came at even strength as he notched five goals and six helpers when playing five-on-five, all of which helped him become just the fourth Dartmouth player to earn the league's top player honor.

O'Connor's 21 goals this season not only were the most of any player in ECAC Hockey, but ranked fifth in the nation, the highest finish by a Dartmouth player in a half century. His 0.68 goals per game ranked fourth, while his 4.74 shots on goal per game were second, more than one shot better than any player in ECAC Hockey.

In his final regular season games, O'Connor notched the first hat trick of his career with a tri of goals against Union, following that up with his first career shorthanded goal the next night against Rensselaer.

Dartmouth's leading scorer this season, O'Connor finished with 33 points (21-12-33), becoming the first Big Green skater to break the 30-point mark in five seasons (Eric Neiley, 30 in 2014-15). His goal total gave the Green and White its first 20-plus goal scorer since Scott Fleming had 22 in 2009-10 a decade before.

Following the conclusion of the season, O'Connor signed an NHL contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins that will begin at the start of the 2020-21 campaign.

First-Team All-League
Goaltender: Frank Marotte (Clarkson)
Defenseman: Yanni Kaldis (Cornell)
Defenseman: Jack Rathbone (Harvard)
Forward: Morgan Barron (Cornell)
Forward: Nick Abruzzese (Harvard)
Forward: Drew O'Connor (Dartmouth)

Second-Team All-League
Goaltender: Owen Savory (RPI)
Defenseman: Will Reilly (RPI)
Defenseman: Connor McCarthy (Clarkson)
Forward: Curtis Hall (Yale)
Forward: Odeen Tufto (Quinnipiac)
Forward: Jack Drury (Harvard)

Third-Team All-League
Goaltender: Matthew Galajda (Cornell)
Defenseman: Alex Green (Cornell)
Defenseman: Peter Diliberatore (Quinnipiac)
Forward: Haralds Egle (Clarkson)
Forward: Josh Dunne (Clarkson)
Forward: Devin Brosseau (Clarkson)

All-Rookie Team
Goaltender: Mitchell Gibson (Harvard)
Defenseman: Henry Thrun (Harvard)
Defenseman: Dylan Anhorn (Union)
Forward: Nick Abruzzese (Harvard)
Forward: Gabriel Seger (Union)
Forward: John Farinacci (Harvard)

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