SPRINGFIELD – Pope Francis’s Ryan Leonard has been named the Amo Bessone Award winner, the awards committee announced recently. The Amo Bessone Award is presented to the most valuable player in high school ice hockey in Western Massachusetts.
Leonard, the freshman phenom who led Division I players statewide in goal scoring and helped his team to a Division IA Super 8 state co-championship, was one of five players nominated for the prestigious Bessone Award. Ryan’s brother John Leonard, recently signed with the San Jose Sharks, won the Bessone Award in 2015.
The Bessone Committee annually presents nine major player awards, each with a $500 scholarship, as well as awards for rookies, Coach of the Year and outstanding contributions to high school hockey. The awards usually are presented at a banquet held at the Dante Club, where players and coaches also are honored. This year’s banquet was canceled due to coronavirus restrictions. The trophies and scholarships that accompany the major Bessone Committee awards will be presented as circumstances allow.
Pope Francis goaltender Ben Zaranek, West Springfield goaltender Casey Bridges, Greenfield forward Brian Baumann and Longmeadow defenseman Luke McHugh were also nominated for the Bessone Award.
Longmeadow High’s Jordan Kowalski, of Westfield takes the puck behind the net and looks for an option to get it out front during a 2019-20 regular season contest. (THE WESTFIELD NEWS FILE PHOTO)
“It’s unfortunate we had to forego the banquet this year, but the season was virtually complete, and we wanted to carry on the Bessone tradition and make sure that players receive the recognition they deserve,” Bessone Committee Chair Bill Sapelli said.
While the virus ended the season prematurely, the only games left to play were the state championship final games, except for Division III-A. As a result, co-champions were declared in each division by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, with Pope Francis named the Division IA Super 8 co-champion and Longmeadow High School named the Division III co-champion. Greenfield High School won the Division III-A state championship outright before virus-related cancelations.
“I believe this is the first time ever that we’ve had Western Massachusetts teams winning state championships in all three boys’ divisions,” Sapelli said. “High school hockey in Western Mass. is very much alive and improving.”
The Longmeadow and Westfield high school boys ice hockey teams have combined for 18 of the last 19 Western Massachusetts Division 3 championships. The Bombers had won five of the six WMass titles prior to the Lancers’ back-to-back titles celebrated the last two years.
The only girls high school hockey program in Western Mass., Longmeadow High School’s co-op team, comprised of players from Longmeadow and Westfield, among other Western Mass. schools, made it into the Division I playoffs again this year but lost 2-1 in overtime in the first round of the tournament.
Greenfield’s Baumann, who led the Green Wave to the Division III-A state championship with 22 goals and 23 assists, including game-winning goals in both the regional final and state championship games, will receive the Kevin J. Major Award, which recognizes the most valuable Division III-A player. Other candidates for the Major Award were Jake Risley of Waconah and Kouji Ishida of Amherst.
Jordan Kowalski, a senior captain of the Longmeadow girls’ co-op team, is the recipient of the Kacey Bellamy Girls MVP Award, capping a four-year career in which she notched 50 goals and 41 assists. Kowalski, a Westfield High School graduate, will be playing at SUNY Plattsburg next season. Her senior teammates Ashley Barron (Longmeadow High School/Bryant College) and Lexi Pfalzgraf (East Longmeadow High School/Boston University) also were nominated for the Bellamy Award.
Pope Francis senior defenseman and captain Logan Dapprich is the recipient of the Eddie Shore Award, presented to the region’s top defensive player. In addition to strong leadership on and off the ice, Dapprich contributed four goals and 21 assists in his team’s championship season, ending with a rating of plus-21. Also nominated for the Shore Award were Pope Francis senior Matt Pelletier and Longmeadow’s junior captain Luke McHugh.
Longmeadow senior Videep Vemulapalli will receive the Gene Grazia Award, which recognizes an outstanding offensive player. Vemulapalli returned to Longmeadow after a year with the Springfield Jr. Pics and contributed 11 goals and 17 assists to the Lancers’ championship season with a plus-6 rating. Other Grazia Award nominees were Ryan Leonard of Pope Francis and senior Mike Mazza of South Hadley.
Casey Bridges, whose goaltending led West Springfield into the Division III Western Mass. final for the first time in nearly two decades, earned the Bruce Landon Award for goaltending excellence. A four-year varsity player and a team captain, Bridges notched four shutouts during the season and finished with a goals-against average of 2.79. Other nominees for the Landon Award were Zaranek of Pope Francis, who won the award last year, and Greenfield goalie Riley Drew.
Minnechaug captain Stephen Mushenko will be presented the Rob Murray Award, which recognizes a player with the level of leadership, skill, physical play and dedication that often makes a difference in the outcome of a game. Mushenko completed the 2019-20 season with 23 goals, 19 assists and an amazing +35 rating. Other nominees for the Murray Award were Luke Castor of West Springfield and Greenfield’s Bryan Baumann.
The Bill Ryan Sportsmanship Award will be presented to Simon Higgins of Longmeadow. In addition to being a highly disciplined and team-focused player, Higgins contributed to his team’s success in multiple ways.
Eli Slovin of Amherst is the recipient of the Harold Passerini Award for outstanding athletic, academic and community achievement. Sloven, a three-sport athlete with high academic standing, is also a Class Officer who volunteers with youth sports and tutors at Pelham Elementary School.
Greenfield Coach Adam Bouchard and West Springfield Coach Rick Williams each will receive the Joe Buchholz Coach of the Year Award for the 2019-20 season. Bouchard, in his fifth season as head coach, guided the Green Wave to its first-ever state championship. Greenfield finished the season with an overall record of 19-3 and a conference record of 10-0, outscoring opponents 86-32 along the way.
The 2019-20 season was a comeback year in many respects for West Springfield. Williams, in his first year as the Terriers head coach, led the team to the Division III Western Mass. finals for the first time in nearly 20 years. Others nominated for Coach of the Year were Jim Joyce of Longmeadow and Adam Bouchard of Greenfield.
Ron Navone, an off-ice high school hockey official and familiar voice as the announcer at Olympia high school games, will receive the Matthew J. Ryan Jr. Award for outstanding contributions to high school hockey in Western Mass. Navone, an off-ice official since 1995 and scheduler since 2015, also serves on and provides valuable insight to the Bessone Committee.
The Aldo Altobelli Rookies of the Year for the 2019-20 season are West Springfield’s Chris Torres in the Berry Division, Ludlow’s Sam Cocchi in the Fay Division, Shane Prusak of Greenfield in the Wright Division and Jane O’Connor of Longmeadow in the Girls Division.
The Bessone banquet and awards are the legacy of Amo “Betts” Bessone, who grew up in West Springfield and gained national recognition as NCAA Division I Coach of the Year when his Michigan State hockey team won the national championship in 1966. Bessone coached Michigan State for 28 years and recruited many players from Western Massachusetts, including Aldo Altobelli, Henry Campanini, Harold Passerini, Ken Mattoon and Gene Grazia, who was a member of the 1960 USA Olympic Gold Medal team.
In 1967, friends of Bessone established the Bessone Award and banquet, which started with a single award but has grown with assistance from the Exposition Area Alumni Scholarship Fund, the Dante Club and a growing list of business and individual sponsors.
Awards presented at the banquet recognize several of Bessone’s players as well as the region’s hockey legends, including Eddie Shore, Bruce Landon, Joe Buchholz, Rob Murray, Billy Ryan, and more recently, Kacey Bellamy, of Westfield. – Information from the Bessone Awards Committee was used in this article
