Former Penticton Vee Joey LaLeggia came out of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference awards celebration with more trophies to add to his collection.
The Burnaby native was named the NCHC's player of the year, defenceman of the year and offensive defenceman of the year. In 34 games this season, LaLeggia has 13 goals, 25 assists for 38 points. The Edmonton Oilers prospect leads all NCHC defensemen in goals, assists, points, game-winning goals (three), power play goals (five) and shots on goal (129), while tied for second among conference blueliners in plus/minus rating with a mark of 15.
A five-time winner of the NCHC's defenceman of the week this season, LaLeggia also captured conference player of the month honours in January and February. He finished second in the NCHC's in-conference scoring race with 12G-17A-29P, finishing 13 points ahead of any defenseman in what is inarguably the National Collegiate Athletic Association's toughest conference.
The Pioneers (22-12-2) enter the 2015 Frozen Faceoff as the No. 3-ranked team on the national PairWise Chart. Denver will face [6/5] Miami (23-13-1) tomorrow night in NCHC semifinal action with the conference's championship game and consolation final both slated for Saturday.