Ex-Michigan Tech hockey player Matt Roy earns 4 Los Angeles Kings’ team awards
LOS ANGELES — Former Michigan Tech hockey player Matt Roy has received four team awards from the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings for the 2019-20 regular season, which has wrapped up as the Kings did not qualify for the 24-team NHL playoffs set to start in July.
Roy earned the Mark Bavis Memorial Award for best newcomer, Outstanding Defenseman, top Defensive Player and Unsung Hero.
The Unsung Hero award was voted on by Kings’ teammates, with the other three selected by media that covers the team, according to a sports news release from Michigan Tech.
Roy was one of only four NHL rookies to play in every one of his team’s games, which was 70 for Los Angeles, as he scored four goals and 14 assists for 18 points.
He led the Kings and was fourth among NHL rookies with a plus-16 rating, was fourth among NHL rookie defensemen with 112 shots, and 13th amongst all rookies by averaging 18 minutes, 7 seconds ice time per game. He also led L.A. with 100 blocked shots and was third with 132 hits.
He was also recently named the Kings’ NHL Players Association representative.
The NHL regular season was cut off on March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic with the Kings holding a 29-41-6 record.
Roy was a seventh-round, 194th overall, pick of the Kings in the 2015 NHL Draft and appeared in 115 games over three seasons for Michigan Tech from 2014-17, recording 55 points, including 12 goals, before signing with L.A. following his junior year in March 2017.
Roy, a two-time All-WCHA selection, also led Tech in assists with 21 his final season, which included assists on six game-winning goals.
He received his bachelor’s degree in sports and fitness management from MTU in December.