HAMILTON- First-year defenceman Brian Birkhoff has been named to the all-rookie team by Ontario University Athletics (OUA) when it released its East division major award-winners and all-stars.

The Richmond Hill, Ont. native led all Ryerson defencemen with three goals and 13 points, and helped the Rams to seventh place in the OUA East with a 13-12-3 record this past season.  Birkhoff also picked up a goal and two assists in the playoffs, where the Rams were defeated by UQTR 2-1 in the best-of-three series. 

This is the men's hockey team's first all-rookie nod since Mike Kavanagh garnered the honour in 2006-07.

OUA EAST DIVISION MAJOR AWARD WINNERS AND ALL-STARS

MAJOR AWARD WINNERS

MVP - Marc-Andre Dorion (McGill)
Defenceman of the Year - Marc-Andre Dorion (McGill)
Top Goaltender - Riley Whitlock (Queen's)
Top Rookie - Corey Bureau (Queen's)
Randy Gregg Award nominee - Jonathon Lawrance (Queen's)
Most Sportsmanlike - Matthieu Methot (Ottawa)
Coach of the Year - Darren Lowe (Toronto)

FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS

G - Riley Whitlock (Queen's)
D - Marc-Andre Dorion (McGill)
D - Pierre-Luc Lessard (UQTR)
F - Brandon MacLean (Carleton)
F - Felix Petit (UQTR)
F - George Lovatsis (Concordia)

SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

G - Huber Morin (McGill)
D - Brodie Beard (Nipissing)
D - Eric Begin (Concordia)
F - Francis Verreault-Paul (McGill)
F - Byron Elliott (Toronto)
F - Michael Stinziani (Concordia)

ALL ROOKIE TEAM

G - Russell Abbott (Ottawa)
D - Matt Stanisz (Carleton)
D - Brian Birkhoff (Ryerson)
F - Corey Bureau (Queen's)
F - Alexandre Touchette (Ottawa)
F - Scott Domenico (RMC)