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2025 Bentley vs Holy Cross - Men's

Player Of The Year Liam McLinskey Highlights AHA Award Winners

Player Of The Year Liam McLinskey Highlights AHA Award Winners

Atlantic Hockey America announced its 2024-25 award winners highlighted by a number of Holy Cross connections.

Mar 18, 2025 by Chris Peters
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It has been a banner year for Holy Cross hockey and the accolades continue to pour in as Atlantic Hockey America named its end of season award winners highlighted by Player of the Year Liam McLinskey.

Here's a look at who was honored by the AHA for the 2024-25 season as we head into Saturday's championship game between Holy Cross and Bentley.

Atlantic Hockey America’s 2024-25 Award Winners

  • Player of the Year: Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross
  • Forward of the Year: Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross
  • Best Defenseman: Mac Gadowsky, Army
  • Goaltender of the Year: Thomas Gale, Holy Cross
  • Rookie of the Year: Trevor Hoskin, Niagara (CGY)
  • Best Defensive Forwards: Austin Schwartz, Air Force and Ethan Leyh, Bentley
  • AHA Individual Sportsmanship Award: Mac Gadowsky, Army
  • Coach of the Year: Bill Riga, Holy Cross

Player/Forward of the Year

Liam McLinskey has been one of the biggest stars in Atlantic Hockey since he arrived at Holy Cross. A goal-scoring machine, McLinskey led the conference in points with 20 goals and 23 assists during the regular season. He added eight more points in five AHA postseason games to surpass the 50-point mark this season. One of the best undrafted free agents that NHL teams are showing interest in this year, McLinskey is hoping to lead Holy Cross to the AHA championship Saturday against Bentley to earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. McLinskey is the first player in Atlantic Hockey/Atlantic Hockey America history to win the player of the year award in consecutive seasons.

Best Defenseman

Mac Gadowsky was a revelation in Brian Riley’s final season at Army. A coach’s son himself, Gadowsky’s game has really taken off in his second collegiate season. His 42 points is tied for the NCAA scoring lead among blueliners. He had 35 points in AHA play this season. Gadowsky is a 6-foot-3, left-shot blueliner with mobility and skill. He had 16 goals this season, which remains tops among NCAA defensemen. 

Goaltender of the Year

Thomas Gale orchestrated one of the best seasons by any goalie in NCAA hockey this year. He has a .930 save percentage including a .940 mark in conference play, which was best among all AHA goalies. He backstopped Holy Cross to the AHA championship game with some of his best goaltending performances of the season and has 24 wins in his first full season as as No. 1 goalie. Competition for this award was pretty stiff this season with Connor Hasley and Ajeet Gundarah pressuring Gale, but the 24-year-old’s performance in leading Holy Cross to one of its best-ever seasons got him over the hump.

Rookie of the Year

Trevor Hoskin is one of the few drafted players in AHA, selected in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames, and did he ever look like a gem in his first season with Niagara. He is tied for the national scoring lead among freshmen with 39 points, 29 of which came in conference play. He was fourth among all skaters with 20 assists. It was an impressive first-year showing after putting up 100 points in his last year of junior hockey with the OJHL’s Cobourg Cougars.

Coach of the Year

The job Bill Riga has done at Holy Cross has been especially impressive. The former Quinnipiac assistant has brought in some high-end recruits and transfers with McLinskey joining three years ago being the major coup. The Crusaders won their third AHA regular-season title and first in almost 20 years. Holy Cross currently sits in the top 20 in the major NCAA men’s hockey polls and will push for a postseason title and trip to the NCAA tournament.

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