Courtesy Gridiron Club of Greater Boston

BOSTON, Mass. – Gridiron Club of Greater Boston president Steve Grogan announced today that senior defenseman Jeff Landers (Hanover, Mass.) of Amherst College is the winner of the ninth annual Joe Concannon Award, which recognizes New England’s best American-born hockey player at the Division II-III level. It is the fourth year in a row and seventh time in the award's history that a NESCAC skater has earned the honor.

Landers finished his career at Amherst with an outstanding season, leading the Lord Jeffs in scoring with nine goals and 33 assists for 42 points. During his senior season the durable defenseman led Amherst to its first NESCAC championship and first trip to the NCAA tournament in a decade. He was team captain, an All-NESCAC First Team selection and the NESCAC Player of the Year.

Amherst head coach Jack Arena noted, “Jeff has certainly had an outstanding season and was a major factor in our team’s success this season. He has been unique here at Amherst as it is unusual to have a single captain named for the team but Jeff more than ably filled that role on and off the ice. He had great vision and made plays that many other players don’t see on the ice and made all his teammates better players when he was on the ice in the way that he orchestrated play and distributed the puck.”

Arena further noted, “Among a class of strong seniors, Jeff has provided incredible direction and leadership to the team in a way that brought everyone closer. Our results this season are clearly representative of our overall team game and his terrific numbers and contributions on the ice each and every game this season.”

“This is a very deserving candidate for the Concannon Award and Jeff’s overall play, statistics and leadership represent the core values of the award – it’s a great honor for Jeff and for Amherst hockey.”

A very strong field of finalist candidates vied with Landers for this year’s Concannon Award. They included senior captains and forwards Jamie McKenna from Middlebury College, Brad Baldelli from Babson College and Jeff Hazelwood from Curry College; along with junior goaltender Jon Dryjowicz-Burek from UMass-Dartmouth.

“This year has surpassed past seasons of competitive hockey at the Division II and III levels in New England,” noted committee chairman Tim Costello. “Every one of our nominees had an outstanding season; our five finalists from the very talented field of nominees truly distinguished themselves among their peers. They were leaders in the locker room, on campus as well as on the ice. Jeff Landers displayed terrific hockey skills as well as leadership and sportsmanship. He most definitely has earned his place among the group of distinguished winners of the Concannon Award.”

The 2009 Joe Concannon Award will be presented at the New England Hockey Writers’ Dinner on Monday, April 13. Last year’s winner was Tom Maldonado from Middlebury College and The Bronx, New York.

Previous Joe Concannon Winners
2001 - Keith Aucoin, Norwich
2002 - Michael Carosi, Bowdoin
2003 - Nick Stauder, Salem St.
2004 - Jim Pancyzkowski, Wesleyan; Michael O’Sullivan, Curry
2005 - Brian Doherty, Curry; Joseph Ori, Trinity
2006 - Adam Dann, Bowdoin
2007 - Greg Osborne, Colby
2008 - Tom Maldonado, Middlebury
2009 - Jeff Landers, Amherst