Slate of American-born Division One hockey players in New England includes 19 forwards, four defensemen, and two goaltenders
BOSTON – February 2, 2026 – Gridiron Club of New England president Tim Whelan, Jr. announced today that 25 NCAA Division One players are semifinalists for the74th Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born Division I college hockey player in New England.
The nation’s oldest nationally-recognized college hockey honor, the Walter Brown Award was established in 1953 by the members of the 1933 Massachusetts Rangers, the first American team ever to win the World Championship Tournament. Brown coached the Rangers to the title in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where the team defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime in the championship game.
Fifteen teams are represented in the slate of candidates that includes 19 forwards, four defensemen, and two goaltenders. Eighteen semifinalist nominees are from teams in Hockey East; fivenominees are from ECAC Hockey; and two are from Atlantic Hockey. Boston College, Boston University, and the University of Connecticut lead the way with three semifinalists each; Bentley, Dartmouth, Providence, and Quinnipiac all have two; Harvard, Maine, Merrimack, New Hampshire, Northeastern, UMass, UMass-Lowell, and Yale each have one.
The following is the complete list of semifinalists, by team, with statistics through February 1:
Bentley: Senior forward Jake Black (Pomfret, CT) 13-13-26, 1.00 ppg; sophomore forward Michael Mesic (Ft. Myers, FL) 11-13-24, .96 ppg.
Boston College: Sophomore forward James Hagens (Hauppauge, NY) 12-13-25, 1.19 ppg; senior Andre Gasseau (Garden Grove, CA) 4-7-11, 1.10 ppg; and sophomore forward Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, MA) 4-10-14, .74 ppg.
Boston University: Sophomore defenseman Cole Hutson (North Barrington, IL) 8-15-23, 0.92 ppg; sophomore forward Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, MA) 10-6-16, .73 ppg; and junior forward Jack Harvey (Stacy, MN) 7-8-15, .75 ppg.
Connecticut: Junior forward Joey Muldowney (Lake View, NY) 13-8-21, .84 ppg; senior goalie Tyler Muszelik (Long Valley, NY) 2.16 gaa, .93 save pct.; and junior forward Jake Richard (Jacksonville, FL) 7-15-22, .88 ppg.
Dartmouth: Sophomore forward Hayden Stavroff (Dublin, OH) 22-1—32, 1.39 ppg; and sophomore forward Hank Cleaves (Riverside, CT) 13-12-25, 1.09 ppg.
Harvard: Senior forward Philip Tresca (Newton, MA) 9-10-19, .90 ppg.
Maine: Senior defenseman Brandon Holt (Grand Forks, ND) 5-27-22, .92 ppg.
Massachusetts: Junior forward Jack Musa (Orange Park, FL) 10-14-24, .96 ppg.
UMass-Lowell: Senior forward Dillan Bentley (Peoria, IL) 11-9-20, .87 ppg.
New Hampshire: Senior forward Morgan Winters, (Osprey, FL) 9-9-18, .82 ppg..
Northeastern: Senior defenseman Vinny Borgesi (Philadelphia, PA) 4-13-17, .71 ppg.
Providence: Sophomore forward John Mustard (Oradell, NJ) 10-9-19, .79 ppg., and freshman goalie Jack Parsons (Ithaca, NY) 2.09 gaa, .922 save pct.
Quinnipiac: Sophomore forward Chris Pelosi (Sewell, NJ) 16-14-30, 1.03 ppg; and freshman forward Ethan Wyttenbach (Roslyn NY) 15-26-41, 1.46 ppg.
Yale: Sophomore forward Ronan O’Donnell (Fairfield, CT) 10-8-18, 1.00 ppg.
“This is a superb field of semifinalists. There’s plenty of hockey yet to be played, with almost six weeks remaining in the regular season, so we’ll be following all the semifinalists very closely to see who separates themselves from the pack,” said committee chairman Tim Costello
The Gridiron Club will announce the winner of the 74th Walter Brown Award in the final week of March.
Walter Brown Award Winners
1953 Ray Picard Northeastern
1954 Bob Babine Boston College
1955 Bill Cleary Harvard
1956 R.J. Cavanaugh Northeastern
1957 Bob Cleary Harvard
1958 Bob Cleary Harvard
1959 Mike Karin Middlebury
1960 Art Chisholm Northeastern
1961 Tom Martin Boston College
1962 Dave Grannis Harvard
1963 Bill Hogan Boston College
1964 Richie Green Boston University
1965 Bob Gaudreau Brown
1966 John Cunniff Boston College
1967 Jerry York Boston College
1968 Tim Sheehy Boston College
1969 Paul Hurley Boston College
1970 Tim Sheehy Boston College
1971 Joe Cavanagh Harvard
1972 Bob McManama Harvard
1973 Tom Mellor Boston College
1974 Ed Walsh Boston University
1975 Ron Wilson Providence
1976 Richie Smith Boston College
1977 Bob Miller New Hampshire
1978 Joe Mullen Boston College
1979 Ralph Cox New Hampshire
1980 Bill Army Boston College
1981 Mark Switaj Boston College
1982 Chuck Marshall Northeastern
1983 Mark Fusco Harvard
1984 Cleon Daskalakis Boston University
1985 Tim Army Providence
1986 Scott Fusco Harvard
Scott Harlow Boston College
1987 Brian Leetch Boston College
1988 Mike McHugh Maine
1989 Lane MacDonald Harvard
1990 Greg Brown Boston College
1991 Dave Emma Boston College
1992 Rob Gaudreau Providence
1993 Dave Sacco Boston University
1994 Jacques Joubert Boston University
1995 Mike Grier Boston University
1996 Jay Pandolfo Boston University
1997 Chris Drury Boston University
1998 Chris Drury Boston University
1999 Mike Mottau Boston College
Mike Omicioli Providence
2000 Mike Mottau Boston College
2001 Ty Conklin New Hampshire
Brian Gionta Boston College
2002 Jim Fahey Northeastern
2003 Mike Ayers New Hampshire
2004 Steve Saviano New Hampshire
2005 Dov Grumet-Morris Harvard
2006 Chris Collins Boston College
2007 John Curry Boston University
2008 Kevin Regan New Hampshire
2009 Matt Gilroy Boston University
2010 Bobby Butler New Hampshire
2011 John Muse Boston College
2012 Brett Gensler Bentley University
2013 Steve Whitney Boston College
2014 Johnny Gaudreau Boston College
2015 Jimmy Vesey Harvard
2016 Jimmy Vesey Harvard
2017 Joe Gambardella UMass-Lowell
2018 Adam Gaudette Northeastern
2019 Adam Fox Harvard
2020 Jeremy Swayman Maine
2021 Bobby Trivigno Massachusetts
2022 Bobby Trivigno Massachusetts
2023 Lane Hutson Boston University
2024 Cutter Gauthier Boston College
2025 Ryan Leonard Boston College
The Walter Brown Award
Commemorating the life and works of America’s greatest sportsman, the Walter Brown Award is given annually to the outstanding American-born college hockey player in New England. The Walter Brown Award is the oldest nationally recognized honor accorded to individual players in the sport of American college hockey. Brown coached the United States to its first world hockey championship in 1933. The U.S. team, the Massachusetts Rangers, comprised players from Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, and Boston Commerce High School. The Americans defeated the Toronto National Sea Fleas, coached by Harold Ballard, 2-1 in overtime in the final game of the 1933 World Tournament at Prague, Czechoslovakia. It was also America’s first win over a team from Canada and the first loss ever suffered by the Canadians in international play. The U.S. team members established the Walter Brown Award at their 20th reunion in 1953. Criteria for the selection committee include leadership, character, sportsmanship, and ability as well as on-ice achievement. The Gridiron Club of New England has been the steward of the Walter Brown Award since 1977.
2026 Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Selection Committee and Advisory Board: Tim Costello, Chairman; Tom Burke, Jim Connelly, Dick DeCaprio, Tim Flynn, John Gravallese, Dave Lezenski, Paul McNamara, John Powers, William J. Stewart III, and Dick Umile.
Press Contacts: Tim Costello, Committee Chairman Phone: 732-425-5922 Tim.costello@ymail.com
Tom Burke, Communications Director Phone: 617-803-4826 tomburke99@aol.com
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