CCHA Best Defensive Defenseman

The CCHA Best Defensive Defenseman is an annual award given out at the conclusion of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) regular season to the best defensive defenseman in the conference as voted by the coaches of each CCHA team.[1]

CCHA Best Defensive Defenseman
SportIce hockey
Awarded forBest Defensive Defenseman in the CCHA
History
First award1990
Most recentKyle Looft

The Best Defensive Defenseman was first awarded in 1990 and every year thereafter until 2013 when the original CCHA was dissolved as a consequence of the Big Ten forming its men's ice hockey conference.[2]

The CCHA was revived in 2020, with play resuming in the 2021–22 season, by seven schools that left the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, with an eighth school joining before play started. The revived league chose to fold its previous awards for Best Defensive and Best Offensive Defenseman into a single CCHA Defenseman of the Year award. The award was revived in 2024.[3]

Three players (Tyler Harlton, Mike Weaver and Danny DeKeyser) have received the award two separate times, each doing so in consecutive years. Additionally, Andy Greene is the only defenseman to win both the "Best Defensive" and "Best Offensive" Defenseman in the same year (2005–06).

Award winners

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Winners by school

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School Winners
Michigan State 7
Miami 4
Lake Superior State 3
Michigan 3
Western Michigan 3
Notre Dame 2
Bemidji State 1
Northern Michigan 1
Ohio State 1

See also

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References

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General

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  • "CCHA Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  • "NCAA (CCHA) Best Defensive Defenseman". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 2013-07-24.

Specific

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  1. ^ "Henderson and Odegard Recipients of CCHA Major Awards". Alaska Nanooks. 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  2. ^ "The CCHA is going away, but its history will have a final resting place". USCHO.com. 2013-03-06. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  3. ^ "Kyle Looft Tabbed Best Defensive Defenseman". CCHA. March 13, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
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