BC Bulletin

Five Eagles Earn Women’s Hockey East Honors Ahead of Start of the Postseason

Emma Conner and Grace Campbell each capture awards as trio Boston College freshman are named to Hockey East’s All-Rookie Team.
Chris Vogel|
Grace Campbell turns away a shot during her shutout of Boston University in the final game of the regular season.
Grace Campbell turns away a shot during her shutout of Boston University in the final game of the regular season. | John Sexton

Ahead of the conference’s opening round matchups, Hockey East announces its first set of award winners for the 2025-26 season, alongside the All-Rookie team. After a third-place finish in the regular season, five different Eagles were honored by the league as winners of individual awards or as members of the All-Rookie team.

After leading Hockey East with 54 blocked shots, redshirt senior Emma Conner has been given the conference’s Best Defensive Forward Award. Across all games, Conner blocked 73 shots to tie for the Hockey East lead and eighth nationally. No other Hockey East forward finished inside the top 20 or cleared the 50 blocked shots marks for the season. Conner was named Hockey East Player of the Week earlier this week after a three-goal weekend, that included two goals over New Hampshire to clinch third place and a home quarterfinal against Vermont this upcoming Saturday.

Following a senior day shutout over rival Boston University, Grace Campbell has formally been announced as the winner of the Hockey East Three Stars Award, marking the second consecutive year the senior netminder has captured the award. The Three Stars Award is given to the player that accumulates the most points through being named the first, second, or third star in Hockey East games. Across 23 starts in Hockey East action, Campbell posted a 13-9-1 record with 2.18 goals against average and a .937 save percentage. Her 738 saves were the most in conference play by 119. 

Boston College led the conference with three selections on the Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team, with forwards Ava Thomas and Maxim Tremblay being joined by defensewoman Madelyn Murphy on the six women team. Both Thomas and Murphy were unanimous selections to the team after finishing near the top of their respective position groups in scoring this season, regardless of class. Thomas places second in the conference with 14 goals and 33 points, while leading the conference with 19 assists in Hockey East play. Murphy led all defensewomen with 19 points, tied for 15th among all skaters. Her eight goals were second only to teammate Olivia Maffeo’s nine amongst defensewomen. Maxim Tremblay reached double digits in both goals and assists, with her ten goals finishing tied for sixth amongst all skaters and her 20 points ranking 12th. The three selections mark the third consecutive year the Eagles have had multiple freshmen named to the team, including three in 2022-23, the last time a team had three players make the team. 

In addition to being named to the All-Rookie Team, Madelyn Murphy finished as the runner up to Northeastern senior Jules Constantinople for the Army ROTC Defender of the Year. Ava Thomas was recognized as the runner up to Hockey East Scoring Champion and fellow freshman Stryker Zablocki. The two were tied into the closing minutes of the regular season, before Zablocki netted an empty netter to pull ahead of Thomas.

These five and other Eagles are likely to add to their accolades, as Hockey East will announce its All-Star Teams on Friday, February 27th and announce its Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year on Monday, March 2nd. After being named as the runner up for Defender of the Year, Murphy is a strong contender to be included on a First All-Star team that should also feature Ava Thomas. Thomas will be in contention for both the Player of the Year and Rookie of the year with Zablocki of Northeastern being amongst the top opposition for both awards, as well as Lily Shannon, a senior at Northeastern, for the Player of the Year award. Beyond the first team, Forwards Emma Conner, Sammy Taber, and Maxim Tremblay, defensewoman Olivia Maffeo, and goaltender Grace Campbell should receive consideration for the Hockey East All-Star teams, among others on the Boston College roster.

Read More:

Published
Chris Vogel
CHRIS VOGEL

Chris Vogel has spent the last five years in sports media; including as a play-by-play broadcaster for ACC Network Extra and Hockey East on ESPN. He’s a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and in his final year as a graduate student at Boston College, where he serves as the radio voice of Boston College Women’s Hockey on WZBC 90.3; the flagship radio network of Boston College Women’s Athletics. He’s the host of the “All Things Hockey” podcast, and cover women’s college hockey for College Hockey On SI.

Share on XFollow chrisvogel26
Home/Hockey