Michigan, Penn State Lead Season Awards

The Big Ten announced its end of the year awards Monday morning. Michigan and Penn State tied for nine awards a piece, with Michigan's freshman phenom Dylan Larkin being a unanimous selection in three categories. Michigan State netminder Jake Hildebrand made an impression this year. His outstanding play between the pipes -- where he led the conference in every goaltending category -- earned him Player of the Year and Goaltender of the Year. Minnesota's Mike Reilly also found himself in a familiar place, winning the Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.



Here's a look at the breakdown by school:

Michigan: 3 First Team, 2 Second Team, 2 All-Freshman Team, Freshman of the Year and Scoring Champ TOTAL - 9 awards

Penn State: 1 First Team, 6 Honorable Mention, 1 All-Freshman Team, Coach of the Year TOTAL - 9 awards

Minnesota: 1 First Team, 3 Second Team, 1 Honorable Mention, Defensive Player of the Year TOTAL - 6 awards

Michigan State: 1 First Team, 1 Second Team, 1 Honorable Mention, 1 All-Freshman Team, Goaltender of the Year TOTAL - 5

Ohio State: 1 Honorable Mention, 1 All-Freshman TOTAL: 2

Wisconsin: NONE

First Team
Zach Hyman, F (Michigan)
Dylan Larkin, F (Michigan)
Casey Bailey, F (Penn State)
Zach Werenski, D (Michigan)
Mike Reilly, D (Minnesota)
Jake Hildebrand, G (Michigan State)

Second Team
Andrew Copp, F (Michigan)
Travis Boyd, F (Minnesota)
Kyle Rau, F (Minnesota)
Michael Downing, D (Michigan)
Travis Walsh, D (Michigan State)
Adam Wilcox, G (Minnesota)

Honorable Mention
Matt Berry, F (Michigan State)
Anthony Greco (Ohio State)
David Goodwin, F (Penn State)
Taylor Holstrom, F (Penn State)
Brady Skjei, D (Minnesota)
Nate Jensen, D (Penn State)
Luke Juha, D (Penn State)
Patrick Koudys, D (Penn State)
PJ Musico, G (Penn State)

All-Freshman Team
Dylan Larkin, F (Michigan)
Matthew Weis, F (Ohio State)
Scott Conway, F (Penn State)
Zach Qerenski, D (Michigan)
Josh Jacobs, D (Michigan State)

Player of the Year
Jake Hildebrand, G (Michigan State)

Defensive Player of the Year
Mike Reilly, D (Minnesota)

Goaltender of the Year
Jake Hildebrand, G (Michigan State)

Freshman of the Year
Dylan Larkin, F (Michigan)

Coach of the Year
Guy Gadowsky (Penn State)

Scoring Champion
Zach Hyman, F (Michigan)

I can't say that I disagree too much with this. Penn State might have deserved a few more Second Team accolades rather than just an honorable mention. Still Dylan Larkin and Jake Hildebrand deserved their respective awards the most, no question about it. Larkin finished the season with 32 points, 16 more than any other freshman in the conference. Hildebrand registered a .940 save percentage and a 1.94 goals-against average. Should make a potential second round match-up between the two in-state rivals very interesting.

Also to know surprise, Wisconsin dropped a goose egg in the awards department this season. It's been a rough year and I am sure we'll see that reflected in offseason front office changes for the Badgers...