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Players are often recognized for their outstanding contributions to their team's success on the ice. What sometimes goes unnoticed are the great deeds that these student-athletes perform in the classroom and in the community on a day-to-day basis.
The Senior CLASS Award is one way the NCAA hopes to honor a player from each sport for his or her dedication to being an all-around student-athlete and staying in school to complete a degree. A player must be a fourth-year senior to be up for consideration for the award.
CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. The 2013 winner of the award for men's ice hockey was Cheyne Rocha of the US Military Academy. The Army alum was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Engineering Branch of the US Army after graduation last spring.
Here are the 20 candidates for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award for men's ice hockey.
| Player | School | Position | Hometown |
| Mac Bennett | Michigan | Defense | Narragansett, RI |
| Jack Berger | Princeton | Forward | St. Louis, Mo. |
| Sam Brittain | Denver | Goalie | Calgary, Alberta |
| Greg Carey | St. Lawrence | Forward | Hamilton, Ontario |
| Scott Czarnowczan | Ferris State | Defense | Macomb, Mich. |
| Nic Dowd | St. Cloud | Forward | Huntsville, Ala. |
| Kyle Gibbons | Canisius | Forward | Westlake, Ohio |
| Kevin Goumas | New Hampshire | Forward | Long Beach, NY |
| Jordan Heywood | Merrimack | Defense | Regina, Saskatchewan |
| Brock Higgs | RPI | Forward | Kingston, Ontario |
| Cole Ikkala | Union | Forward | Romansville, Pa. |
| Andy Iles | Cornell | Goalie | Ithaca, NY |
| Stephen Johns | Notre Dame | Defense | Wampum, Pa. |
| Nick Jones | Mercyhurst | Defense | Cranberry Township, Pa. |
| Dennis Robertson | Brown | Defense | Fort St. John, British Columbia |
| Kevin Ryan | Niagara | Defense | Eden, NY |
| Steven Shamanski | Providence | Defense | Carberry, Manitoba |
| Dillon Simpson | North Dakota | Defense | Edmonton, Alberta |
| Ryan Walters | Nebraska-Omaha | Forward | Rosemount, Minn. |
| Matt Zarbo | Clarkson | Forward | Grand Island, NY |
Jeff Cox covers college and junior hockey, NCAA recruiting, NHL Draft prospects and the AHL for SBNation. Follow him on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.