ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team held its annual awards banquet at the Lake Watch Inn on Saturday night, announcing its postseason award-winners for the 2014-15 season. Senior defenseman Joakim Ryan took home the night's top honor by winning the Nicky Bawlf Award as the team's most valuable player.
 
Ryan was also presented the Ironman Award, which is presented to the player who showed determination to overcome injuries. He was one of two players to receive two awards — senior Cole Bardreau was the other. Seniors Madison Dias, Joel Lowry, Jacob MacDonald and John McCarron, junior Christian Hilbrich, sophomores Eric Freschi and Ryan Coon, and freshmen Hayden Stewart and Dan Wedman also received awards. Each award is voted upon by the players on the 2014-15 roster.
 
An injury in the Big Red's first game of the season forced the 21-year-old Ryan to miss all eight of the team's November games this year, but he was nothing short of terrific the rest of the campaign. He earned his third All-Ivy League honor, finding a place on the First Team for a second straight season, and he was also placed on the All-ECAC Hockey First Team. He accumulated 78 career points on 19 goals and 59 assists in 123 career games, giving him the most offensive output from a Big Red defenseman since longtime NHLer Doug Murray (84 points) and Mark McRae (98 points) finished their careers during the 2002-03 season. After the season, Ryan signed a two-year entry-level contract with the NHL's San Jose Sharks.
 
Bardreau was presented the Mark Weiss Memorial Award, which is awarded to a senior with a career-long dedication and passion for the sport of hockey. Bardreau suffered a career-threatening spinal injury during his sophomore season, but returning to competition the following season. He emerged as Cornell's leading scorer this year, netting five goals — four on the power play — to go with a team-high 17 assists for 22 points. He was also named the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward and was a key component of one of the top team defenses in the country. Bardreau was named to the All-Ivy League First Team and the All-ECAC Hockey Third Team. After the season, he signed a two-year entry-level contract with the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers. He was also presented the Joe DeLibero-Stan Tsapis Award for skilled efficiency, unselfish dedication and hard-nosed competitive desire.
 
McCarron was tabbed for the Bill Doran Sportsmanship Award after serving as the team's sole captain for his final two seasons on East Hill. He served as a vocal leader for the Big Red, but also was one of the team's most consistent players in terms of effort and mental preparation. He had 145 penalty minutes in his first two seasons at Cornell, but whittled that total down to 71 minutes over his two years as captain.
 
The Cornell Hockey Association Award went to Dias. The award is given annually to the player whose contributions to the team don't show up in the box score, but rather are in the form of energy, heart and hustle. Dias played in all 31 of the team's games, and was a key contributor to a penalty kill that was the nation's best (91.1 percent) at the end of the regular season.
 
The Sam Woodside Award for overall career improvement by a senior went to Jacob MacDonald, who was a work horse for the Big Red and one of just three defensemen to play in all of the season's 31 games. He had two goals and seven assists for nine points, which ranked second among defensemen on the team and seventh overall. After playing in just eight games as a freshman, he played in all but one of Cornell's games for the next three years, logging tons of minutes at even strength and on the penalty kill. MacDonald's plus-6 rating was tied for the team lead in 2013-14, when he posted five points in the final five games. After the season, MacDonald signed a standard player contract with the ECHL's Elmira Jackals.
 
Freschi claimed the Crimson Cup, given to the player who was the standout performer in the season series against Harvard. The Big Red won the season series against the eventual league champions, earning an exhilarating 3-2 victory on Jan. 23 at Lynah Rink on Freschi's winning goal with 41 seconds remaining in the third period. Cornell tied the other game against Harvard, 3-3, on Feb. 14 in Cambridge, Mass.
 
The Greg Ratushny Award for the most promising rookie went to Stewart, who won ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honors after each of his two shutouts on the season — Nov. 22 vs. Brown and Jan. 10 at Clarkson. He became the first Cornell freshman to earn at least two shutouts since future All-American David McKee in 2003-04.
 
Lowry, Hilbrich, Coon and Wedman were presented The Wendall and Francelia Earle Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. This annual award is presented to the member in each class who has achieved the highest cumulative grade point average.
 
The team also issued awards to players who scored shorthanded goals during the season — Freschi (who had two) and junior John Knisley. Stewart and sophomore Mitch Gillam were also acknowledged for their three shutouts over the course of the season.
 
The Big Red will announce its captains for the 2015-16 season and the schedule at a later date.