Alumni Player for South Shore Kings of the Eastern Junior Hockey League (Formerly Walpole Stars) Gilroy named 2009 Sjoberg Award winner Defenseman voted by media as the top rookie in training camp
Thursday, 09.24.2009 / 4:50 PM / Team

The New York Rangers are proud to announce today that defenseman Matt Gilroy has been selected as winner of the 2009 Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award.  Since 1988, the award has been given annually to the best rookie at Rangers Training Camp, as voted by select New York media.

Matt Gilroy, the top player in college hockey last year, celebrates his remarkable goal against New Jersey during the Rangers' second preseason game.

Gilroy, 24, has recorded one goal and a plus-three rating in four pre-season contests.  Last season, he captured the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top player in collegiate hockey, and was named as a First Team All-American. 

He became the second player in Boston University history to win the Hobey Baker Award, as Rangers’ Captain Chris Drury won the award in 1998. He also became the first defenseman in Hockey East history to be honored as a First Team All-Star three times. 

Captain of the Hockey East regular season and playoff champion Boston University Terriers, Gilroy registered eight goals and 29 assists for 37 points in 45 games.  He led the Terriers to their fifth NCAA championship, assisting on the game-tying goal with 17 seconds remaining in regulation in the championship game, after entering the tournament as the #1 seeded team. 

The senior defenseman established career-highs in games played (45), assists (29) and points (37).  In addition, the North Bellmore, New York native led all Hockey East defensemen in scoring and ranked third among all defensemen in the nation.

The award is named in tribute to Lars-Erik Sjoberg, one of the first European players to compete professionally in North America and captain of the Winnipeg Jets for six seasons.  He later became a European scout for eight years with the Rangers.  Sjoberg played a key role in the Rangers drafting of Swedish stars Tomas Sandstrom, Ulf Dahlen, Kjell Samuelsson, and Jan Erixon. He passed away in 1987 and the award was created to honor his memory.