Hamilton's Buitenhuis Named Sid Watson Award Winner As NCAA D-III Ice Hockey Player Of The Year

Evan Buitenhuis, a junior goaltender from Hamilton College and Burlington, Ontario, has been chosen by the nation's ice hockey coaches as the 2017 winner of the Sid Watson Award, symbolic of the best NCAA Division III men's ice hockey player. The 6-2, 180-pound netminder went 17-5-4 this year with a 1.78 GAA and a save percentage of .941. In 54 career games, he has a remarkable .943 save percentage.

"Evan has a tremendous passion and work ethic for the game," said Hamilton head coach Rob Haberbusch. "He is literally, the first person on the ice for practice and the last to leave. His accomplishments are a result of his constant drive to improve. Evan is equally as tremendous a person and teammate. He is selfless, humble and brings a positive attitude to the rink each day. He keeps constant watch over the morale of the team and especially his fellow goaltenders."

Buitenhuis finished the NESCAC Regular Season first in both GAA (1.47) and SP (.948). As a team, Hamilton finished first in Team Scoring Defense in NESCAC conference play during the 16-17 season (1.56). After an injury riddled freshman year, Buitenhuis was named First Team All-Conference as a sophomore and First Team All-Conference and Conference Player of the Year this current season, his junior year. Added Haberbusch, "Evan has been a major factor in Hamilton's improvement during the last three seasons. As a team, we moved from a 6th place finish in the NESCAC during Evan's freshman year, to 4th in his sophomore year, to first this current season, his junior year. This season was just the second time that Hamilton won the NESCAC Regular Season Title and the first time that Hamilton reached the NESCAC Playoff Championship Game. This season also marks the first time that Hamilton has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in our 99-year history of varsity hockey."

The award is named in honor of former Bowdoin College head coach Sid Watson, a three-time winner of the Edward Jeremiah Award as Division III Coach of the Year. Watson won 326 games at Bowdoin in a career that spanned from 1959 to 1983. He was also the school's athletic director.

The runner-up for the 2017 Sid Watson Award, for the second year in a row, was Stephen Collins, a senior forward from SUNY Geneseo and Pittsford, New York.

Winners of the Sid Watson Award AHCA Men's Ice Hockey Division III Player of the Year
1993	Frank Cirone	Wisconsin-Stevens Point	Forward
1994	Ray Alcindor	Middlebury	Forward
1995	Charlie Gaffney	Bowdoin	Forward
1996	Ian Smith	Middlebury	Defense
1997	Steve Toll	RIT	Forward
1998	Mark Spence	Middlebury	Forward
1999	Rob Smillie	St. Norbert	Forward
2000	Steve Aronson	St. Thomas	Forward
2001	Keith Aucoin	Norwich	Forward
2002	Jerry Galway	RIT	Defense
2003	Maris Ziedins	St. Norbert	Forward
2004	Kevin Cooper	Middlebury	Forward
2005	Kurtis McLean	Norwich	Forward
2006	Adam Hanna	St. John's	Goalie
2007	Andrew Gallant	Manhattanville	Goalie
2008	Kyle Jones	St. Norbert	Goalie
2009	Jeff Landers	Amherst	Defense
2010	David Martinson	Gustavus Adolphus	Forward
2011	Chris Berenguer	Hamline	Defense
2012	Jonathan LaRose	Amherst	Goalie
2013	Paul Rodrigues	SUNY Oswego	Forward
2014	David Jacobson	St. Norbert	Goalie
2015	Drew Fielding	St. Thomas	Goalie
2016	Jamie Murray	Babson	Goalie
2017	Evan Buitenhuis	Hamilton	Goalie