The Clare Drake Award is the annual "Rookie of the Year" award presented to the U Sports men's ice hockey player who is judged by a committee of the U Sports Men's Hockey Coaches Association to be "the most outstanding first-year player in the U Sports who has exhibited exemplary skill and leadership".
First awarded following the 1985–86 season, the award is named after Clare Drake, who is the coach with the most wins in U Sports men's hockey history.
Winners 1985–86: Claude Lefebvre (forward) 1989–90: Wayne Hynes (centre) 1992–93: John Spoltore (centre) 1993–94: Jarret Zukiwsky (right wing) 1994–95: Sylvain Rodrigue (goaltender) 1995–96: Jason Becker (defenceman) 1997–98: Ryan Lindsay (centre) 1998–99: Eric Schneider (forward) 1999–00: Clayton Pool (goaltender) 2000–01: Alexandre Tremblay (left wing) 2001–02: Matt Dzieduszycki (forward) 2002–03: Dean Beuker (right wing) 2003–04: Kevin Young (defenceman) 2004–05: Mathieu Poitras (goaltender) 2005–06: Aaron Sorochan (goaltender) 2006–07: Mark Shefchyk (left wing) 2007–08: Craig Voakes (left wing) 2008–09: Steve DaSilva (right wing) 2009–10: Jared Gomes (centre) 2010–11: Jason Bast (centre) 2011–12: Zach Harnden (right wing) 2012–13: Mitchell Porowski (left wing) 2013–14: Kevin Bailie (goaltender) 2014–15: Spencer Abraham (defenceman) 2015–16: Brett Welychka (centre) 2016–17: Anthony DeLuca (left wing) 2017–18: Kris Bennet (centre) 2018–19: Étienne Montpetit (goaltender) 2019–20: Mitchell Balmas (centre) 2020–21: Not awarded due to COVID-19 2021–22: Liam Hawel (centre) 2022–23: Samuel Richard (goaltender) 2023–24: Connor Ungar (goaltender) 2024–25: Sean Tschigerl (centre)
References
CIS Past Awards