DE PERE – St. Norbert College men’s hockey player Peter Bates was recently named the nation’s top Division III Player of the Year.
The Sid Watson Award recipient is voted on annually by Division III head coaches.
Bates tallied 28 goals and 30 assists in 31 games for the Green Knights, who finished 24-7 and advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III quarterfinals before losing to Augsburg University, 4-1.
“I’m not a guy who worries about individual goals,” Bates, an Evanston, Illinois, native, said. “Having said that, it’s nice to win the award, but I had lots of good players around me these last few years to help me achieve this.”
Bates was also selected as the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Year for the second time in 2022.
His 28 goals and 58 points this season are the second-most in St. Norbert history, while his 30 assists are tied for third-most.
Bates finished with 17 multi-point games this season, including each game in a seven-game stretch from Nov. 19 to Jan. 1 that saw him score 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points.
He had a five-point game (4-1-5) against Lake Forest College Jan. 14 and added a second (3-2-5) against Trine University Jan. 29.
Bates played in 123 career games, tied for the most ever at St. Norbert.
His career totals of 65 goals, 92 assists and 157 points are all third in school history, while his 15 career game-winning goals is a school record.
Bates is St. Norbert’s fifth Sid Watson Award winner.
He joins forward Rob Smillie (1999), forward Maris Ziedins (2003), goaltender David Jacobson (2014) and goaltender Kyle Jones (2018) as St. Norbert Sid Watson Award winners.
St. Norbert’s five Sid Watson Awards are the most for any school.
“One of my friends told me I was the fifth (St. Norbert player to win the award),” Bates said. “I wasn’t aware of that before they told me.”
Bates was one of three St. Norbert players to come back this season after the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t allow the Green Knights to compete during the 2020-21 season.
“It meant lots to play this year, especially because we didn’t get to last season,” Bates said. “I would give up my individual awards this season if we could have won a national championship, though. It was a disappointing way to end.”
Bates also recently signed a standard player contract with the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL.
The Gladiators are affiliates of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and the AHL’s Belleville Senators.
“In my first three games (with the Gladiators), we won two and lost one,” Bates said. “I recorded an assist, and it’s going well so far. Players are better, bigger, faster and stronger, but I thought I did fine for my first weekend.”
Through six games played with the Gladiators, Bates has two goals and two assists.
Bates said he’s not sure what his hockey future looks like.
“I only know I want to keep playing hockey,” he said.
Bates said he’s hoping to make a good impression with the Gladiators and eventually get the call to move up.
“Most (good hockey) players get drafted (into the NHL) when they’re 18 or 19, but I was nowhere close to getting drafted when I was that age,” he said. “The end goal is to get to the NHL, but I’m not sure how realistic that is. You work hard and hope to get a break.”
Editor’s note: Sports Editor Rich Palzewic also contributed to this story.