WAKEFIELD, Mass. – The accolades continue to roll in for freshman forward Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) as he was named to the initial "Watch List" for the Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year Award as announced by the Hockey Commissioners Association on Thursday afternoon.
This year's "Watch List" consists of 32 first-year NCAA student-athletes and Fink is one of eight representing the Big Ten. The Tim Taylor Award as National Rookie of the Year is voted on by the nation's assistant coaches. At season's end, a ballot consisting of each Division I conference's Rookie of the Year will be presented to the assistant coaches, and they will vote, one vote per school, to identify the winner. This year's National Rookie of the Year will be announced during the Frozen Four in April.
Fink who was named this week's Big Ten Hockey's Third Star of the Week following a three-goal, four-point weekend in a home sweep over Ohio State was also named a 2024 Hobey Baker Award Nominee last week. The Calgary, Alberta native tallied back-to-back multi-point efforts to help Penn State to its first-ever sweep over the Buckeyes last weekend and he has three multi-goal games and nine multi-point efforts to his credit so far this season.
Fink's 32 points this season are tied for third in the Big Ten and 11th nationally while ranking first in the Big Ten among freshmen and tied for fourth in the nation for rookies. His 15 goals are tied for fourth in the Big Ten and 15th nationally while ranking tops in the Big Ten and third in the nation among rookies.
The Calgary, Alberta native is the Penn State single-season record holder for powerplay tallies with eight to his credit following three such goals last weekend. He ranks second in the Big Ten and tied for sixth in the country for man-advantage goals.
This past weekend Fink became one of just three Nittany Lions all-time to hit the 30-point mark as a freshman joining Denis Smirnov '20 and Nate Sucese '20. His 32 points rank third on the Penn State freshmen scoring list just four shy of Sucese for second, while his 15 goals stand alone in fifth all-time among Penn State rookies.
Penn State has an upcoming Bye Week before resuming Big Ten play with a trip to Minnesota to battle the ninth-ranked Golden Gophers on February 9-10.
For more information on the 2023-24 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
