BOSTON - Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) is proud to recognize its outstanding individual achievers from this year's competition.

On Tuesday, the conference announced its 2025-26 Player of the Year, Forward of the Year, Defenseman of the Year, Goaltender of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Best Defensive Forward, Individual Sportsmanship Award, Team Sportsmanship Award, and Coach of the Year, along with the AHA Scoring and Goaltending Champions.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD
FORWARD OF THE YEAR AWARD
AHA SCORING CHAMPION
Felix Trudeau, SR, Sacred Heart (Terrebonne, Quebec)
Sacred Heart senior forward Felix Trudeau claimed both the Player of the Year and Forward of the Year Awards after he finished the 2025-26 AHA campaign leading the league in both goals (16), power play goals (7) and also earned the title of AHA Scoring Champion as he topped all skaters in conference play in points (33). The Terrebonne, Quebec native recorded one hat trick in AHA play (Nov. 14 vs. Canisius) and tied for the second-most assists (17). Nobody in the conference had more than Trudeau’s 11 multi-point AHA contests or three multi-goal conference efforts.

Finalists for Player of the Year
JJ Cataldo, G, SO, Army West Point (Stuart, Fla.)
Chris Hedden, D, SR, Air Force (Kalamazoo, Mich.)

Finalists for Forward of the Year
Jake Black, SR, Bentley (Pomfret, Conn.)
Jack Stockfish, JR, Holy Cross (North Bay, Ontario)

DEFENSEMAN OF THE YEAR
Chris Hedden, SR, Air Force (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
Air Force senior Chris Hedden earned the title as AHA Defenseman of the Year after tallying 24 points (9G-15A) in league play, the most among all Division I blueliners in conference play during 2025-26. Additionally, no defenseman in the nation had more goals in conference play than the Kalamazoo, Mich. native’s nine, which was a single-season career high. Hedden netted two shorthanded goals during the conference portion of Air Force’s schedule. Over the course of the season, Hedden became the only active defenseman in Division I collegiate hockey to surpass the century mark, tallying 108 points (34G-74A) in 149 career games played.

Finalists for Defenseman of the Year
Mikey Adamson, SR, Sacred Heart (Quincy, Mass.)

GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR
JJ Cataldo, SO, Army West Point (Stuart, Fla.)
Army West Point sophomore JJ Cataldo was named the conference’s Goaltender of the Year thanks to his solid performance in net for the Black Knights during conference play. The netminder posted a 7-14-3 record through 24 games. Between the pipes, Cataldo tied for the conference lead with three shutouts and outright led all netminders with 664 saves. The sophomore had a 2.65 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. Cataldo also finished second in minutes played among AHA netminders during league games with 1,427:45 played.

Finalists for Goaltender of the Year
Jakub Krbecek, SO, RIT (Prague, Czech Republic)

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Zach Wigle, F, RIT (Oakville, Ontario)
RIT freshman Zach Wigle’s 17 points (7G-10A) in 26 contests were the second-most among all AHA freshmen. The Oakville, Ontario native tied for the lead among AHA freshmen with three game-winning goals, 253 faceoff wins and tied for second with two game-winners. Wigle’s 17 points in league play were tied for the third-most among all RIT skaters.

Finalists for Rookie of the Year
Evan Konyen, F, RIT (Newmarket, Ontario)
Lukas Swedin, G, Bentley (Stockholm, Sweden)

BEST DEFENSIVE FORWARD
Kellan Hjartarson, JR, Bentley (Calgary, Alberta)
Bentley junior Kellan Hjartarson was named the league’s Best Defensive Forward for 2025-26. In 26 games, the Bentley forward recorded 24 points (7G-17A). The Calgary, Alberta native finished fourth among AHA forwards and led Bentley’s group with a plus-12 rating. Hjartarson helped Bentley to an AHA regular season title and ranked among the top Falcons on the man-advantage netting three power play goals.

Finalists for Best Defensive Forward
Cameron Garvey, JR, Robert Morris (Oakville, Ontario)
Simon Isabelle, SR, RIT (Whitehorse, Yukon Territory)

INDIVIDUAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Mack Oliphant, D, SR, Holy Cross (Northbrook, Ill.)
Holy Cross senior defenseman Mack Oliphant is the fourth Crusader to win the Individual Sportsmanship Award. The Northbrook, Ill. native had only eight penalty minutes in the AHA campaign, skating in 26 conference games for Bill Riga’s team. The blueliner had 10 points (4G-6A) in conference competitions during 2025-26.

Finalists for Individual Sportsmanship Award
Barrett Brooks, F, SR, Mercyhurst (Stevens Point, Wis.)
Stephen Castagna, F, SR, Bentley (North Vancouver, British Columbia)

AHA Goaltending Champion
Nicholas Bevilacqua, SO, Bentley (Abington, Mass.)
Bentley sophomore goaltender Nicholas Bevilacqua earned the title of AHA Goaltending Champion after leading the league with a .940 save percentage during conference play. In 10 games played, Bevilacqua posted an 8-1-1 record, led the league with a 1.59 goals-against average and 250 saves.

COACH OF THE YEAR
Andy Jones, Bentley
Bentley’s Andy Jones becomes the second coach in program history to win AHA Coach of the Year. The last Bentley coach to earn the honor was Ryan Soderquist in 2011-12. In AHA play, the Falcons tied a program high in wins and put together a 16-6-4 record and took their first-ever regular season title under Jones. Excluding 2020-21, Bentley also allowed only 56 goals, which is the fewest it has given up to conference opponents since AHA’s founding in 2003-04.

Finalists for Coach of the Year
Derek Schooley, Robert Morris
Matt Thomas, RIT

TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Robert Morris
Robert Morris had 211 team penalty minutes during the conference schedule during 2025-26, the least of any AHA program. Head coach Derek Schooley’s squad earned its first Team Sportsmanship Award in program history, thanks to being the least penalized team (in minutes) in the league.

ABOUT ATLANTIC HOCKEY AMERICA
Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) is in its second season following the merger between the Atlantic Hockey Association and College Hockey America. The conference fields 10 Division I men's teams and seven women's teams. For more information, visit atlantichockeyamerica.com.

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