Ten players on No. 3 Denver’s hockey team have achieved all-NCHC academic honors, and four of them were selected NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, the conference announced this week.

The Distinguished Scholar-Athletes are sophomores Erich Fear and Tyson McLellan and juniors Logan O’Connor and Colin Staub. The honor reflects their cumulative GPA of 3.5 or more and being selected to the league’s academic all-conference team.

The six other players on the academic all-conference team (3.0 GPA and completed at least one year of school) are: sophomore Michael Davies, junior Dylan Gambrell, junior Blake Hillman, senior Rudy Junda, junior Sean Mostrom and senior Adam Plant.

The four Distinguished Scholar-Athletes also have made their mark on the ice this season, though McLellan has missed the past 15 games while recovering from a shoulder injury. With seven points in 13 games, the center was on pace to top his 12 points of a season ago.

Fear has played in 18 games after dressing for six as a freshman and scored his first NCAA goal a few weeks ago. Staub’s 17 points are three away from his career best of 20, while O’Connor (15 points) also is three away from his career high of 18.

DU freshman who build the requisite GPA would be eligible to be added to the teams after the completion of the school year in June.

Last season, the Pioneers had a total of 19 players on the academic all-conference team once Davies, Fear and McLellan joined in the spring.

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