The Big Ten announced its postseason awards for hockey, and as expected, there was a lot of love for both Michigan and Michigan State.

The conference's player of the year is Michigan forward Gavin Brindley, who has 51 points in 36 games, including a league-leading 29 points in 23 Big Ten matchups. The 5-foot-9 sophomore from Estero, Florida, helped USA win the gold medal in the World Juniors earlier this winter, scoring six goals and 10 points in seven games. He was a second-round pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in last year's NHL draft.

Brindley was a first-team All-Big Ten selection along with two other sophomores, forward Rutger McGroarty and defenseman Seamus Casey. McGroarty is fourth in the nation, averaging 1.59 points per game. He had 16 goals and 35 assists in 31 games. The captain of the U.S. World Juniors team this season was the 14th overall pick in the 2022 draft by the Winnipeg Jets.

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Casey, who also played on Team USA, leads all college hockey defensemen with 44 points (seven goals, 37 assists). He carries a plus-10 rating and has 45 blocked shots this season.

The Spartans had their share of accolades, too, starting with Artyom Levshunov, who is the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. The 6-2, 210-pound defenseman from Belarus has nine goals and 23 assists in 35 games while carrying a plus-25 rating this season. He will likely be a high draft pick in this summer's NHL draft.

Levshunov was also named to the All-Big Ten first team and All-Freshman Team, who is on that team with MSU goalie Trey Augustine. The youngest starting goalie in college hockey has .919 save percentage and a 2.86 goals-against average, winning 21 times in 32 games. The starting goalie for the USA in the World Juniors was a second-round pick by the Detroit Red Wings last summer. He was also on the All-Big Ten second team.

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MSU's Adam Nightingale was named Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading the Spartans to the regular season title. In just his second season at the helm, Michigan State was ranked in the top 10 much of the season. His 41 years over the first two seasons as coach are second-most for any coach in program history over his first two years.

The Wolverines and Spartans will face off for the Big Ten tournament title on 8 p.m. Saturday at Munn Ice Arena. The 16-team NCAA tournament field will be revealed on Sunday, and both U-M and MSU are expected to make the cut. MSU won three of the four matchups against U-M this season.

Other honorees include: Michigan's Dylan Duke, second team; U-M's T.J. Hughes and Frank Nazar III, MSU's Karsen Dorwart, Isaac Howard and Joey Larson, honorable mention; U-M's Garrett Schifsky, All-Freshman team.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Big Ten hockey honors: Michigan, Michigan State lead in accolades