The awards keep coming for the Greenfield hockey team.
Following the best season in program history that culminated in the MIAA Division 3A championship, the Green Wave took home several individual honors as the Amo Bessone Awards Committee announced its annual honors on Wednesday.
The Bessone Committee annually presents nine major player awards, each with a $500 scholarship, as well as awards for rookies, Coach of the Year and outstanding contributions to high school hockey. The awards usually are presented at a banquet held at the Dante Club of West Springfield, but this year’s banquet was canceled due to coronavirus restrictions. The trophies and scholarships that accompany the major Bessone Committee awards will be presented as circumstances allow.
Greenfield senior Bryan Baumann, who attends Frontier Regional School, received the Kevin J. Major Award, which recognizes the most valuable player in Division 3A. Baumann, who led the Green Wave with 22 goals and 23 assists, including game-winning goals in both the regional final and state championship games, was also one of five finalists for the coveted Bessone Award — the top honor in WMass high school hockey. That award went to Ryan Leonard of Pope Francis, the top-scoring Division 1 player in the state who helped the Cardinals to a share of the Super 8 title.
Others nominated for the Bessone Award were Pope Francis goaltender Ben Zaranek of South Deerfield, West Springfield goaltender Casey Bridges and Longmeadow defenseman Luke McHugh.
“It’s unfortunate we had to forego the banquet this year, but the season was virtually complete, and we wanted to carry on the Bessone tradition and make sure that players receive the recognition they deserve,” said Bessone Committee Chair Bill Sapelli.
Baumann was also a nominee for the Rob Murray Award, which recognizes a player with the level of leadership, skill, physical play and dedication that often makes a difference in the outcome of a game.
Greenfield head coach Adam Bouchard and West Springfield coach Rick Williams will each receive the Joe Buchholz Coach of the Year Award for the 2019-20 season. Bouchard, in his fifth season as head coach, guided the Green Wave to its first-ever state championship. Greenfield finished the season with an overall record of 19-3 and a perfect Wright Division mark of 10-0, outscoring opponents 86-32 along the way.
Greenfield’s Shane Prusak took home one of the Aldo Altobelli Rookie of the Year Awards, as he was named the top rookie in the Wright Division.
Greenfield goalie Riley Drew was a finalist for the Bruce Landon Award for goaltending excellence, which went to West Springfield’s Casey Bridges.
The Bessone banquet and awards are the legacy of Amo “Betts” Bessone, who grew up in West Springfield and gained national recognition as NCAA Division I Coach of the Year when his Michigan State hockey team won the national championship in 1966. Bessone coached Michigan State for 28 years and recruited many players from Western Massachusetts, including Aldo Altobelli, Henry Campanini, Harold Passerini, Ken Mattoon and Gene Grazia, who was a member of the 1960 USA Olympic gold medal team.
In 1967, friends of Bessone established the Bessone Award and banquet, which started with a single award but has grown with assistance from the Exposition Area Alumni Scholarship Fund, the Dante Club and a growing list of business and individual sponsors.