Sports
East Grad Leads Union College into NCAA Hockey Frozen Four
Troy Grosenick was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, presented to the top player in college hockey. He's also a superstar student. Learn more about him, then follow Union as it plays Thursday in the semifinals against Ferris State.
Brookfield native Troy Grosenick continues a dream season of college hockey Thursday as he leads Union, NY, College against Ferris State in the NCAA’s “Frozen Four,” the national semifinals of Division I hockey.
The game is at 3:30 p.m. CST and can be seen live online on ESPN3.com or on television on ESPNU. The winner meets the winner of Boston College and Minnesota for the national championship.
From out of nowhere
Five years ago, the Brookfield East graduate was a hotly recruited student with no interest from Division I hockey programs, according to an article in the Albany Times Union. But he wasn’t ready to give up hockey, so he deferred college for a year and played club hockey. That led to a three-year stint with the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders of the United States Hockey League. The USHL is a junior league that sends players both to the professional ranks and to colleges, and Grosenick was a USHL All-Star in 2009-10 and helped his team to consecutive second-place finishes in the Eastern Division, according to the Union College web site.
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From among about 30 suitors he selected Union, the non-scholarship private school in Schenectady. During his freshman year he played only three games, but under new coach Rick Bennett he has been phenomenal.
The sophomore goaltender was one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, presented to the top player in college hockey. Grosenick played 33 of the Dutchmen’s 40 games this season. He allowed just 1.64 goals per game and posted a record of 22-5-3 as Union advanced to the Frozen Four for the first time.
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Also incredible off the ice
As was said earlier, Grosenick was pursued by many colleges from an academic standpoint when he was at Brookfield East. He dazzles his professors at Union, where he studies economics, spends spare time with the Wall Street Journal and offers his class notes up for disabled students. For his History of Mexico class, according to the Times Union, he read and analyzed texts from 16th-century European explorers.
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