ECAC Hockey hosted its annual awards dinner on Thursday night in Ithaca, NY, prior to the conference tournament semifinals to be held tomorrow at Lynah Rink.  St. Lawrence University head coach Chris Wells was named Coach of the Year, while five players earned All-League recognition.

Coach Wells guided the Saints to a 14-6-2 record in conference play this season as his team climbed from seventh place in 2011 to a tie for fourth this year.  The Saints posted a 20-win season and advanced to the ECAC Hockey semifinals for the second time under Wells, whose team owns a 16-2-1 record since December 1.  It is the first Coach of the Year honors in Wells' career.

"This award truly is a team honor, and recognizes the work by everyone associated with our program," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells.  "I'm proud of each and every one of our players, as they've worked very hard to earn a date with Harvard tomorrow night."

Meanwhile, St. Lawrence junior forward Kelly Sabatine, who was nominated for the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, was named to ECAC Hockey's Second Team.  It is the second consecutive season that the Hamilton, ON native earned All-League status.  Meanwhile, classmate Brooke Fernandez and sophomore Rylee Smith each landed on the conference's Third Team, netting their first All-League honors.

First-year students Carmen MacDonald and Amanda Boulier were also honored by the conference's coaches, as they were named to ECAC Hockey's All-Rookie team.  Joining the duo were Sarah Robson (Brown), Eleeza Cox (RPI), Jillian Saulnier (Cornell) and Sarah Edney (Harvard).

Sabatine, who is tied with Smith for the team lead with 43 points, was joined on the Second Team by Saulnier, Kelly Babstock (Quinnipiac), Josephine Pucci (Harvard), Sasha Nanji (Dartmouth) and Rachel Weber (Princeton).  Smith and Fernandez joined Kelly Foley (Dartmouth), Lyndsey Fry (Harvard), Regan Boulton (Quinnipiac) and Aubree Moore (Brown) on the Third Team.

ECAC Hockey's First Team honorees included Jillian Dempsey of Harvard, Rebecca Johnston, Brianne Jenner, Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau of Cornell and Clarkson goaltender Erica Howe.

Johnston was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year, beating out Dempsey, Howe and Sabatine.  Howe won Goaltender of the Year and Saulnier earned Rookie of the Year honors.  Rougeau was awarded Best Defensive Defenseman, while Reagan Fischer (Dartmouth) and Chelsea Karpenko (Cornell) shared Best Defensive Forward honors.

The ECAC Hockey semifinals get underway tomorrow, Friday, March 2 at 3:30pm when nationally-ranked No. 3 Cornell hosts Quinnipiac at 3:30pm.  Nationally-ranked No. 10 St. Lawrence will then square off with No. 8 Harvard at 7:00pm for a spot in the conference title game on Saturday.