Devon Bobak of Trinity College Wins Sid Watson Award As 2023-24 AHCA Division III Men’s Player of the Year
Devon Bobak (Northwood, OH), a sophomore goaltender from Trinity College,
is the recipient of the 2024 Sid Watson Award. The award, voted on by the nation’s
Division III head coaches, is presented to the best player at the men’s NCAA Division
III level by the American Hockey Coaches Association. The announcement was made
on the eve of the NCAA Men's Division III Ice Hockey Championships hosted by Trinity
College. Bobak is the ninth NESCAC player to receive this award but the first from
Trinity.
During his sophomore campaign, Bobak holds a 24-3-1 record with a career-best 1.25 goals against average, a career-best .943 save percentage and a career-high 550 saves. Bobak logged a program-record seven shutouts on the season, including back-to-back shutouts against Tufts in the New England Small College Athletic Con- ference (NESCAC) Championship and Elmira College in the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals. Nationally, Bobak ranks third in goals against average and eighth in save percentage. Bobak led the NESCAC in goals against average, save percentage and shutouts on the year.
Trinity will take on Adrian College in the second semifinal game on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. ET. (Hobart plays Uticas in the other semifinal). Trinity brings a 12-game win streak into the contest.
Goaltending success is nothing new for Bobak.He was chosen All-NESCAC Second Team a year ago as a freshman. He was fourth in the nation for goals against average (1.41) and posted a .934 save percentage, with five shutouts.
The runner-up for this year’s Sid Watson Award was Artem Buzoverya, a senior forward from Hobart College and Kharkiv, Ukraine. Sponsored by the American Hockey Coaches Association, the Sid Watson Award honors the memory of former Bowdoin College head coach and athletic director Sid Watson. A three-time AHCA Coach of the Year, Watson served Bowdoin for more than 30 years, winning 326 games in 24 seasons as head coach.
| Winners of the Sid Watson Award | |||
| 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 |
| 2018 | Colin Larkin | UMass Boston | Forward |
| 2019 | Devin McDonald | Geneseo | Goalie |
| 2020 | Tom Aubrun | Norwich | Goalie |
| 2021 | Not Awarded | ||
| 2022 | Peter Bates | St. Norbert | Forward |
| 2023 | Matus Spodniak | Adrian | Forward |
| 2024 | Devon Bobak | Trinity | Goalie |
