Irish freshman center T.J. Tynan garnered another of what is sure to be many postseason awards Wednesday, winning the College Hockey News Rookie of the Year Award.
The forward from Orland Park, Ill. bested Colorado College's Jaden Schwartz, Denver's Jason Zucker and fellow teammate and forward freshman Anders Lee to win the award. Tynan leads the Irish in scoring with 53 points on the season. Tynan's 21 assists are also tied for the most on the Irish roster. Irish senior wing Calle Ridderwall said Tynan's balance of playmaking and goal scoring is rare in the college game.
"You know, he's a playmaker — and a playmaker that knows how to score goals. That's rare to find. Usually guys are either playmakers or goal-scorers," Ridderwall said. "In T.J., you have both of them. He just sees plays very well. He's really good mentally. When he's in the hockey game, he can see how things will develop."
Tynan has already received a number of accolades during his brief stint on campus. The 5-foot-8-inch playmaker was named to the CCHA All-Rookie Team along with Lee last week, and the duo was also named to the All-CCHA Second Team. During the season, Tynan won multiple CCHA Rookie of the Week nominations and notched both CCHA and national Rookie of the Month honors in February.
Tynan's success has been surprising given the late-minute nature of his addition to the Irish roster. He was scheduled to join the Irish during the 2011-12 season, but the early departure of Kyle Palmieri and Jarred Tinordi to the NHL left a spot open for Tynan. Irish senior center Ben Ryan said the move was instrumental to Notre Dame's success this season.
"It's unbelievable to think that he wasn't even going to come in this year is incredible," Ryan said.
