BOSTON – Graduate student captain Devin Lowe of the Suffolk men's hockey team has been selected as a semifinalist for the Joe Concannon Award, given annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England at the NCAA Division II/III level, Gridiron of Greater Boston President Tim Whelan, Jr., announced Thursday morning. Lowe is one of 38 of the top hockey players across two divisions in New England collegiate hockey and highlights the early hopefuls of the 23rd annual honor.
The Joe Concannon Award, established by the Gridiron Club in 2001, honors Joe, a lifelong devotee of college hockey, former member of the Walter Brown Award Selection Committee and, as a journalist, a staunch advocate for the amateur athletes he knew and covered. A native of Litchfield, Connecticut, Joe graduate from Boston University in 1961. He served as Sports Information Director (SID) at Holy Cross before joining The Boston Globe in the late 1960's to cover college sports. Joe declined frequent invitations by his editors to write about Boston's major professional sports teams, preferring to concentrate on the colleges, distance running and golf. He wrote the book Marathoning with Bill Rodgers and established the highly successful Litchfield Road Race in his hometown. Joe was a world traveler and was especially proud of his Irish heritage, frequently sojourning to the Emerald Isle. He passed away in 2000.
Lowe, a co-captain from Owings Mills, Maryland, has had a stand-up fifth-year, pacing the Rams scoring with team-best numbers in points (17) and assists (13) to go along with four goals, which sits third on the squad.
In his final year of collegiate eligibility, the forward aims to Suffolk into the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) postseason for the first time since 2021-22.
Twenty-five institutions are represented in the slate of candidates including 10 from the CCC, nine from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), seven from the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) and five each for the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) and Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10). Two independent programs, Anna Maria and Albertus Magnus, also have nominees this season.
Position wise, there are 27 forwards, six defensemen and five goaltenders.
Lowe is the first Suffolk player to make the list since Mikhail Bryan '19 in 2019 and sixth Ram to receive the distinction since the inception in 2001.
"This year has seen an incredibly competitive landscape at the DII/DIII level," said Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Committee chairman Tim Costello. A watch-list over eighty outstanding players showcased a large number of outstanding players throughout the season to date which has made this year's group of nominees the most balanced the committee has seen in the history of the ward."
Costello continued, "The 38 semifinalist represent our largest field in the 23-year history of the Concannon Award, and it was a great challenge to reduce the list to that number. We always expect to see the strongest contenders for the award emerge over the final weeks of the regular season, conference championship tournaments and the NCAA title chase in March. The committee will be watching closely to see which players rise to the top for this year's Concannon.
The Gridiron Club will announce the finalist and winner of the 23rd Joe Concannon Award in March, following league playoffs and before the start of the NCAA Division III Championships March 22-24 on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. The award will be presented to the winner at the New England College Hockey Writers' Dinner in April.
2023 JOE CONCANNON, SEMIFINALIST
Tim Manning, Junior Forward, Albertus Magnus
Ryan Tucker, Senior Forward, Amherst
Cam Tobey, Graduate Student Defenseman, Anna Maria
Ronny Paragallo, Junior Forward, Assumption
John Woernle, Freshman Defenseman, Assumption
Shane Sullivan, Graduate Student Forward, Assumption
Ryan Murphy, Sophomore Forward, Babson
Luke Wheeler, Junior Forward, Bowdoin
Jack Sullivan, Senior Defenseman, Colby
Sean Dynan, Senior Goaltender, Connecticut College
Gage Dill, Sophomore Forward, Curry
Shane Soderwall, Freshman Goaltender, Curry
Tao Ishizuka, Senior Forward, Curry
Andrew Kurapov, Senior Forward, Endicott
Jackson Sterrett, Senior Forward, Endicott
Kevin Craig, Senior Defenseman, Endicott
Brendan Doyle, Sophomore Forward, Johnson & Wales
Jake Maynard, Senior Defenseman, UMass Dartmouth
Clark Kerner, Junior Forward, Norwich
Connor Tait, Junior Forward, Plymouth State
Will Pray, Freshman Forward, Plymouth State
Erik Larsson, Senior Forward, Salem State
Zach Dill, Sophomore Forward, Salem State
Johnny Mulera, Senior Forward, Salve Regina
Matthew Fawcett, Junior Forward, Salve Regina
Austin Marini, Senior Forward, Southern Maine
Hunter Brackett, Junior Forward, St. Anselm
Brennan McFarland, Junior Forward, St. Michael's
Devin Lowe, Graduate Student Forward, Suffolk
Ned Blancahrd, Senior Defenseman, Trinity
Devon Bobak, Sophomore Goaltender, Trinity
Christian Hayes, Senior Forward, Trinity
Tyler Sedlak, Junior Forward, Tufts
Peyton Durand, Senior Goaltender, Tufts
Billy Girard IV, Junior Goaltender, University of New England
Andrew Stefura, Junior Forward, Vermont State Castleton
Gianluca Marini, Senior Forward, Westfield State