Martin Paquet and Eddy Fehri Headline Pre-Season All-MAAC Teams; Sacred Heart Picked Preseason Third in MAAC
9/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Sept. 20, 2002
Fairfield, CT (September 15, 2002) - The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announce its 2002-03 Hockey League Preseason awards on Thursday, and two Sacred Heart seniors came away with top-honors. Forward Martin Paquet (Ste. Catherine, PQ) was named MAAC Preseason Co-Player-of-the-Year, while netminder Eddy Ferhi (Charenton, France) was chosen Preseason Goalie-of-the-Year. Paquet shares Player-of-the-Year honors with Mercyhurst's Adam Tackaberry. Both Pioneers were also chosen to the Preseason All-MAAC First Team.
Paquet needs 33 points to pass Jon Yackmack ('93-'97) and become Sacred Heart's all-time leading scorer with 133 points. The Pioneer forward led the team in scoring in 2001-02 for the third straight year, netting 16 goals and 19 assists. He was voted to the ITECH All-MAAC second team in 2001-02. Paquet is within striking distance of SHU's career goals mark, needing 13 goals to pass Aaron Foust ('93-'97). Paquet scored 13 goals and tallied 17 assists for the Pioneers last season in conference play.
Ferhi is also poised to rewrite the Pioneer record book this season. The senior netminder could break the career games played (91, Alexis Jutras-Binet '91-'01), career minutes played (4,700, Alexis Jutras-Binet '91-'01 ), and career victories (31, Alexis Jutras-Binet '91-'01) records in 2002-03. He currently ranks first all-time with a career 2.81 goals-against-average. Fehri posted a .910 save percentage (.905 overall) and a 2.82 goals-against-average (3.04 overall) in 2001-02 MAAC play.
Senior Les Hrapchak (Wakaw, SK) was voted to the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team for the second straight season. The senior defensman played in all 34 games in 2001-02 and finished the season fourth on the team with 23 points. Hrapchak led all Pioneer defensemen with five goals and 18 assists. Hrapchak ranked fourth in the MAAC in defensemen scoring with 21 points in 26 conference games a year ago.
Sacred Heart was picked to finish third in the MAAC preseason poll receiving three first-place votes. The Pioneers return 21 letterwinners from a team that finished 15-8-3 and in third place in the MAAC in 2001-02. SHU made their first ever MAAC semifinal appearance last season before falling to eventual conference champion Quinnipiac, 3-2.
