Tim Coghlin
St. Norbert College senior forward Erik Cooper was named the 2016 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Year to pace the Green Knights’ league honors announced by the conference office on Tuesday night.
Cooper became the ninth different St. Norbert player to earn the Green Knights’ tenth NCHA Player of the Year award. In addition to Cooper, senior forward Michael Hill and junior defenseman Blake Thompson also earned All-NCHA honors.
St. Norbert coach Tim Coghlin was named NCHA Coach of the Year, his seventh overall and first since 2010.
Cooper led the Green Knights in scoring in the regular season with 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points. He has an active 17-game scoring streak which ties the school record held by Maris Ziedins, set back in 2001. Cooper has scored in 24 of 25 games this season.
Hill has a team-high 14 goals with nine assists for 23 points this season.
Thompson paced the Green Knights’ blue line with two goals and 16 assists for 18 points.
Coghlin led the top ranked Green Knights to a 21-2-2 regular-season record and a NCHA regular-season co-championship at 17-2-1. Coghlin, who won his 500th career game on Feb. 6, is in his 23rd season at St. Norbert. The school has won at least 18 games in each of the last 20 consecutive seasons.