COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With only four regular-season games played by National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) teams this past weekend and several strong performances put in over the holiday break, the NCHC Players of the Week this week will span a three-week period since the last awards were handed out Dec. 16. The Bauer NCHC Players of the Week from Dec. 16 to Jan. 5 are Nebraska Omaha junior forward Josh Archibald for Offensive Player of the Week, Denver sophomore defenseman Nolan Zajac for Defenseman of the Week, DU freshman forward Trevor Moore for Rookie of the Week and Western Michigan sophomore goaltender Lukas Hafner for Goaltender of the Week.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Josh Archibald, Nebraska Omaha
Junior Forward
Brainerd, Minn.
Archibald showed little signs of rust after the long layoff, totaling four points on three goals and an assist in the Mavericks series at New Hampshire, Jan. 3-4. In Friday’s contest, he scored two goals for his first multi-goal game of the year, including the first tally of the game, with his second goal coming unassisted after blocking a shot and racing the other way. On Saturday, he picked up two more points, again scoring the game’s first goal while assisting on UNO’s lone other tally, which came on the power play, in the 5-2 loss. The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect now leads the NCHC with 14 goals on the year after his three-goal weekend, as he scored on three of the five shots he put on goal. Archibald has now earned NCHC Offensive Player of the Week twice this year, also doing so for the week of Oct. 28.
DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK
Nolan Zajac, Denver
Sophomore Forward
Winnipeg, Alta.
Zajac helped lead Denver to a win and a tie over the holiday break, tallying four assists, including three on the power play, in two games. On Dec. 17, he dished out a pair of helpers in a 5-3 win at UMass, including on the game’s first goal and DU’s final goal that helped seal the victory on the man advantage. Zajac also posted a +1 rating in the contest and finished +1 in the two games. He then book-ended his holiday break by handing out two more assists in a 3-3 tie with Brown Jan. 3. Both helpers came on the power play as he helped put DU ahead 1-0 and 2-1 during the contest. The two points tied his season high while he blocked two shots in the two contests and aided the Pioneers’ penalty kill, which went 6-for-9 over the break. He was not on the ice for any of the opponent power play goals, however.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Trevor Moore, Denver
Freshman Forward
Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Moore continued his strong play of late over the holidays, totaling two goals and posting a +3 rating in two contests. On Dec. 17, he scored a pair of goals for his third multi-goal game of the year to lead DU to a 5-3 win at UMass. His first goal put the Pioneers up 3-1 in the second period while he notched the eventual game-winning goal late in the third period. Moore was +3 in the game with three shots on goal. He then returned to the ice Jan. 3 as he helped Denver to a 3-3 tie against Brown, putting a shot on goal while also blocking a shot. Moore leads all NCHC rookies with eight goals and 16 points this season while he has now claimed NCHC Rookie of the Week twice, also doing so the week of Nov. 18.
GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Lukas Hafner, Western Michigan
Sophomore Goaltender
Toledo, Ohio
Hafner had the best weekend of his young career Dec. 26-27, backstopping Western Michigan to its first Great Lakes Invitational title since 1986 while earning GLI MVP honors. In the semifinal Dec. 26, he made 30 saves, including 11 on seven Michigan power plays, to lead the Broncos to a 3-2 overtime win over the third-ranked team in the country in WMU’s first ever outdoor game. The next night in the championship game, he recorded 33 stops in a 1-0 overtime win against Michigan Tech for his second career shutout. Hafner finished the weekend with a .969 save percentage (63/65) and a 0.96 goals-against average while giving up just two goals and killing all 10 opponent power plays. In addition to being Tournament MVP, he was named to the GLI All-Tournament Team.
OTHER NOMINEES:
Offensive Player of the Week
Justin Kovacs, Jr., F, WMU – Totaled two points at the Great Lakes Invitational Dec. 26-27 to help WMU capture the tournament title, assisting on a goal in an overtime win over No. 3 Michigan, while scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to clinch the title vs. Michigan Tech en route to All-Tournament Team honors.
Defenseman of the Week
Jordan Oesterle, Jr., D, WMU – Dished out two assists in WMU’s 3-2 overtime win vs. No. 3 Michigan Dec. 26, including on the game-winner, to help the Broncos win the Great Lakes Invitational, as he blocked seven shots in two tournament games and earned GLI All-Tournament Team accolades.
--NCHCHockey--
