Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Capping terrific seasons, three MacEwan Griffins men's hockey players were named to Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference all-star teams on Friday.
Forward Cam Gotaas and defenceman Cameron Reagan made the ACAC first all-star team, while goaltender Marc-Olivier Daigle ends his university career with a selection to the second all-star team. All three were also named ACAC Academic All-Canadians.
The trio made major impacts for a young Griffins team that finished 20-7-1-0 in the standings and made it to the ACAC semifinals before their series against Red Deer College was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's really unfortunate with everything that's going on in the world," said head coach Mike Ringrose, whose team was questing after a fourth-straight ACAC Championship at the time of cancellation. "There are some things that are bigger than hockey. The health and well-being of people is first. You understand why it happened, but it's nonetheless disappointing for those three guys to have such great seasons and not to be able to finish it off.
"That said, for them to be honoured by the coaches and the league it's a little bittersweet, but a nice way to finish off for them, for sure."
Gotaas became the first Griffins player in 16 years to net 40 points in a season when he notched 15 goals and 25 assists in 28 games to finish fourth in the ACAC scoring race. This is the first time the fourth-year captain has made an ACAC all-star team.
"Unbelievable season," said Ringrose. "He always was a pretty good offensive player, but this year took the step to become an elite offensive guy. To put up 40 points in an ACAC is a very, very difficult thing to do and shouldn't be understated.
"For all the intangibles he brings, to also have that kind of offence, too, makes him a pretty valuable player."
Griffins defenceman Cameron Reagan had an impressive regular season with 26 points in 28 games and earned an ACAC first all-star team selection (Jake Bradley photo).
Reagan took a leap in his second year with the Griffins, leading all MacEwan blueliners with six goals and 26 points in 28 regular season games. That's a major improvement from the 10 points in 27 games he had in 2018-19 and marks the first ACAC all-star inclusion for Reagan.
"Obviously, he took a big step this year," said Ringrose. "He came in last year and was a really big part of a pretty deep back end. We had a pretty veteran group. Cam stepped in right away with that group and had a pretty good year.
"But losing as many guys as we did here, someone needed to step up and take the bull by the horns offensively and defensively back there. Cam was up to the challenge and had an excellent season. It's a very deserved honour."
Marc-Olivier Daigle's selection to the ACAC second team means he was named an all-star in all four of his seasons at MacEwan (Jake Bradley photo).
Daigle remarkably was an ACAC all-star in all four years of his MacEwan Griffins career as the second team honour follows being awarded second team in 2016-17, and first-team in both 2017-18 and 2018-19. His crowded career trophy cabinet also includes the 2017-18 ACAC playoff MVP and 2018-19 MacEwan male athlete of the year.
Daigle's 2019-20 season saw him post a 2.35 goals against average and .930 save percentage in 1354:24 minutes played.
"It's another feather in his cap," said Ringrose. "He's obviously well decorated. He's had a really, really impressive ACAC career here and is deserving of all the honours he's received including this latest one.
"He's a fifth-year guy and the impact that he's had on our program the last four years in his time at MacEwan is one that shouldn't be understated. I'm really, really excited he can cap his ACAC career off with that."
