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Manny Rowe Named Rookie of the Year!

By UA Hockey, 05/04/17, 11:15AM MDT

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Every year the Wildcat players cast their votes for Rookie of the Year and this year’s 2016-17 winner is Manny Rowe.

Manny Rowe, from Phoenix, AZ, came to the Wildcats this season after competing as team captain for the Syracuse Stampede (NA3HL). Standing at 6-foot, 185-pounds, Rowe came as a player with a lot of versatility; since he can play forward and defense. However, Rowe remained a defensemen for all 31 games this past season due to his consistent upward trend of improvement.

“When recruiting Manny there were a couple of things really stood out on film,” said coach Berman. “First off, he can really skate. As a coach, that’s exciting because you can’t teach a kid to skate like he does. As a result, Manny as the ability to jump into little pockets on breakouts to buy a little extra time and space so that he can make a great first pass out of the zone.”

“The other thing that stood out was the intangibles. Every single reference I called on Manny stressed how great of a teammate he was. Coach’s all said the same thing; he is a great locker room guy and this is what makes him a natural leader. He is very coachable and wants to get better. So, when you get a kid with this kind of a skill set – who is still very raw in his development – wants to put in the work, it’s a coach’s dream because you know you have all the ingredients for a kid to maximize his potential.”

During his 31 game stretch he put up 15 points during his freshmen campaign; tallying 9 goals and 6 assists. With another summer of training and an additional season of experience under his belt, we can expect big things from Manny Rowe for the years to come.

“It was a great first year; a big step from what I was used to,” said Manny Rowe. “All the vets really helped to show me the way and point out the little details that I maybe wasn’t focusing on before. I loved the competition in practice and I think that helped to push my development me every day and I think it transferred into the games.”

We can all look forward to another year of improvement from Manny and the rest of the Wildcats as they return to action in September.