Joining the most elite ranks of collegiate ice hockey, Dartmouth winger and assistant team captain Lee Stempniak '05 has been chosen as a NCAA Division I First Team All-American player. The last Big Green player to be named a First Team All-American was Ross Brownridge '80.
Stempniak led the Big Green in scoring this season, putting up 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points. On Feb. 21, Stempniak posted the 100th point of his collegiate career, becoming only the 30th player in Dartmouth hockey history to accomplish the feat. Stempniak also became the first Big Green player since 1979 to do so in his junior year.
In addition to his First Team All-America selection, Stempniak has also been named to the First Teams of both the Eastern College Athletic Conference and the Ivy League. Stempniak was also named Academic All-ECAC and the team's most valuable player. And it has already been announced that the rising senior standout will captain the Big Green squad come next season.
"It's a great honor to be named with all of these other great players, but it was a huge surprise to me," said Stempniak of the All-America designation.
"I was already focusing on preparing for next season and working towards those goals, and this was a very welcome surprise."
Stempniak, a fifth-round selection of the St. Louis Blues in last year's NHL entry draft, is acutely aware of how his most recent accolades will result in expectations for him to perform at an even higher level in the future.
"This recognition will put some more pressure on me and raise my expectations for next season," said Stempniak.
"But I think it will be good pressure. I play my best when games are on the line or when our backs are against the wall, and I look forward to the added pressure because I think it will only help."
In addition to thanking his mother, father and brother, Stempniak also paid homage to his teammates, four of whom he wished to thank in particular.
"I'd especially like to thank Hugh Jessiman, Mike Ouellette and Nathan Szymanski, who are the three guys I played most of the season with on a line," Stempniak said.
As a testament to Stempniak's play-making ability, Jessiman, Ouellette and Szymanski finished second, third and fifth on the team in scoring, respectively.
Stempniak also thanked his coaches -- without whom, he said, he would not have had the opportunity to attain the ranks of collegiate hockey's elite.
"As a team, we are proud and pleased that Lee's skills have been recognized," said head coach Bob Gaudet '81 of his recruit's most recent achievement.
"He's a special player and a special student-athlete and this is a wonderful accomplishment for him and for Dartmouth."
