The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) has announced that Minnesota State University graduate student Sam Morton has been voted CCHA Player of the Year. The CCHA Forward of the Year and All-CCHA First Team selection was one of three Finalists for the honor, along with Bemidji State's Kyle Looft and Mattias Sholl.
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Morton (Lafayette, Colo.) paced all CCHA skaters in goals (15), goals per game (0.63), power-play goals (8), shots (102), face-off wins (292) and face-off wins per game (12.2). Adding six assists, he was fourth in points (21) and face-off percentage (56.3%). The CCHA Forward of the Month in January after totaling six goals and three assists for nine points, he had four multi-point games, including three points on three different occasions. He opened the Mavericks’ CCHA schedule with a five-game point streak (six goals, 4 assists) and added a six-game streak in January (4 goals, 2 assists).
Through 36 games, Morton has 24 goals and 10 assists for 34 points. His nine power-play tallies rank eighth nationally, and he also has one game-winner. Totaling 149 shots on goal, he has blocked 27 shots defensively and won 55.0% of his face-offs (415-of-754). He has nine multi-point games to his credit, with a five and seven-game point streak. The CCHA Player of the Month in January, he paced all conference skaters in goals (6), goals per game (0.75), shots (38), shots per game (4.75), power-play goals (2) and plus-minus (+6).
Morton has appeared in 101 career games for Minnesota State, registering 44 goals and 32 assists for 76 points. He has 17 tallies while on the man advantage and six game-winners.
Voting for the 2023-24 All-CCHA Teams and year-end awards was conducted by the eight head coaches at each CCHA member institution, based on CCHA conference games only. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
The league's year-end award announcements continue on March 25 and 27, when the Coach of the Year Finalists and winner will be revealed.
The 2024 Mason Cup Playoffs resume this Saturday, with fourth-seeded Minnesota State traveling to third-seeded Michigan Tech (5:07pm ET) and top-seeded Bemidji State hosting seventh-seeded Lake Superior State (7:07pm CT), in the conference Semifinals.
Both games can be seen on FloHockey.tv! For complete bracket, links and news, visit ccha.com/masoncup.
For more information, contact:
Perry Laskaris
Director of Strategic Communications & Brand Advancement
Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA)
Laskaris@ccha.com
(651) 308-1065