Kunin named to Big Ten All-Freshman Team

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin men's hockey forward Luke Kunin came into the season as one of the most heralded freshman in the country, and he didn't disappoint during his first season as a Badger.

After leading Wisconsin with his 18 goals and finishing second in the Big Ten among freshmen with his 31 points, Kunin was named to the Big Ten's All-Freshman Team, announced by the conference on Monday afternoon.

With the distinction, Kunin becomes the first Badger in the first three years of the Big Ten to be named to the All-Freshman Team and the seventh UW player total to be named to an All-Big Ten team.

Dating back to the inception of an All-Rookie Team in the 1990-91 season during UW's tenure in the WCHA, Kunin is the 20^thBadger to be named to an all-rookie team and the 12^th in the tenure of Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves. Wisconsin last had a player named to an all-rookie team in 2009-10, when both forward Craig Smith and defenseman Justin Schultz were named to the WCHA's All-Rookie Team.

Kunin started the season somewhat slowly with just one goal over the course of his first five games, but has closed out the season on a tear. In his last nine games, Kunin has eight goals, with nine goals in his last 11 games. That recent hot stretch has seen the Chesterfield, Missouri, native put up four different multi-point games, which included his first career multi-goal game against Michigan on Feb. 13 in a 4-4 tie with the Wolverines.

Kunin has been especially good this season for Wisconsin on both the power play and late in periods. He's tied for the team lead with his five power-play goals, and has four goals in the last 60 seconds of a period, which is tied for second in the country. Between the first and last minutes of periods this season, Kunin has totaled nine goals and 14 points, with both figures leading the country. He's also seventh in the country among freshmen with his average of 0.94 points per game.

Michigan led the way in the conference's postseason awards, with Kyle Connor receiving both Player and Freshman of the Year as the league's scoring champion, Zach Werenski getting Defensive Player of the Year, and Red Berenson garnering Coach of the Year. Minnesota's Eric Schierhorn was named the Big Ten's Goaltender of the Year.

Wisconsin's other postseason honoree was senior captain and defenseman Kevin Schulze, who was the Badgers' recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The honor is given to six Big Ten athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition to those qualifications, each school's recipient must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

With the regular season complete, Wisconsin opens postseason play with the Big Ten tournament this weekend, facing Penn State on Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The entire tournament will air on BTN.

University of Wisconsin Athletics

Kunin named to Big Ten All-Freshman Team

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Luke Kunin

Kevin Schulze

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