Previous Winners
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After almost all National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) teams had strong showings in non-conference play last week, several players were worthy of conference honors, however the NCHC Players of the Week for the week of Oct. 12-18, 2015 are Omaha junior forward Austin Ortega for Offensive Player of the Week, North Dakota junior defenseman Troy Stecher for Defenseman of the Week, Miami freshman forward Jack Roslovic for Rookie of the Week and St. Cloud State junior netminder Charlie Lindgren for Goaltender of the Week.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Austin Ortega, Omaha
Junior Forward
Escondido, Calif.
Ortega continued his hot start to the 2015-16 season, tallying four of Omaha’s seven goals in a sweep at No. 20 Vermont to keep Omaha a perfect 4-0-0. The speedy junior tallied two goals each night, striking twice in a span of a little more than two minutes in the second period of Friday’s 4-3 win. His second goal was the game-winner as he was named the game’s second star. In the series finale, Ortega again scored two goals, the first of which came in the first period and turned out to be the game-winning goal in a 3-1 victory, while he sealed the sweep with an empty-netter in the final minute. He was named the game’s first star on Saturday. By tallying both game-winning goals, he leads the NCAA with three this season and his 15 career game-winners are an Omaha record and the most among all active NCAA players. His five overall goals this year also lead the NCAA this season. Ortega finished with a plus-5 rating on the weekend, including plus-3 on Friday, and put seven shots on goal, including five on Friday. The NCHC Offensive Player of the Week honor is the second of Ortega’s career, also earning it once last season.
DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK
Troy Stecher, North Dakota
Junior Defenseman
Richmond, B.C.
Stecher had a strong weekend at both ends of the ice, leading North Dakota to a win and a tie against Bemidji State. In Friday’s 4-4 tie on the road, he handed out a pair of assists and posted a plus-1 rating while blocking a shot. The next night, he scored the game-winning goal in a 5-2 victory, striking in the third period to break a 2-2 tie. He was named the game’s third star Saturday when he blocked another shot and was again plus-1, while he helped UND go 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. In the series, Stecher finished with three points, two blocked shots and a plus-2 rating, while helping limit the Beavers to just 41 shots on goal on the weekend. The honor is the third of Stecher’s career, claiming NCHC Defenseman of the Week once each of his first two seasons as well.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Jack Roslovic, Miami
Freshman Forward
Columbus, Ohio
Roslovic carried the RedHawks to a sweep against his hometown team as the Columbus, Ohio, native tallied three points, including both game-winning goals, in a pair of wins over Ohio State. In Friday’s 3-2 victory in Columbus, Roslovic broke a 2-2 tie with 1:33 remaining in regulation to lift Miami to the win. The next night in Oxford, the Winnipeg Jets prospect again came up big with his first career two-point outing, assisting on Miami’s first goal before breaking a 1-1 tie in the second period with his second game-winning goal of the weekend. Roslovic was named the game’s first star on Saturday when he also had a plus-1 rating. He put five shots on goal in the series and finished the weekend with a plus-1 rating. This is his first NCHC weekly honor.
GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Charlie Lindgren, St. Cloud State
Junior Goaltender
Lakeville, Minn.
Lindgren continued his incredible start to the season, pitching back-to-back shutouts over the weekend against No. 14/15 Minnesota State. Lindgren has now blanked three consecutive opponents dating back to Oct. 9, which set the SCSU record for consecutive whitewashes. On Friday, Lindgren turned aside all 30 shots that came his way in a 4-0 win while on Saturday he stopped all 24 shots he faced in a 3-0 victory, combining to stop all 54 shots he faced in the series. He also helped SCSU’s penalty kill go a perfect 4-for-4 on the weekend. Lindgren was named the game’s first star both nights against the Mavericks and also stopped a penalty shot in Friday’s game. In addition to having a perfect 1.000 save percentage and 0.00 goals-against average this weekend, he leads the entire NCAA with those numbers on the season while going 3-0-0 and saving all 68 shots he’s faced this season while his three clean sheets also lead the NCAA. This is Lindgren’s third career NCHC weekly honor, claiming NCHC Goaltender of the Week twice as a sophomore.
OTHER NOMINEES:
Offensive Player of the Week
Drake Caggiula, Sr., F, UND – In Saturday’s 5-2 win over Bemidji State, tied a career high with four points, scoring the game’s first goal while also tying a career high with three assists and tallying a plus-3 rating.
Matt Marcinew, Jr., F, Denver – Scored the first two goals in Saturday’s 3-0 shutout of Michigan State, including the game-winner, while he posted a plus-5 rating on the weekend.
Griffen Molino, Fr., F, WMU – Tallied a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Bowling Green while posting a plus-1 rating.
Patrick Russell, So., F, SCSU – Compiled four points in a sweep of Minnesota State, tallying a goal and an assist both nights, including the game-winning goal in Saturday’s shutout, while he was also plus-2 each night for a plus-4 rating on the weekend.
Defenseman of the Week
Oliwer Kaski, Fr., D, WMU – Notched two points in WMU’s only game of the week, scoring the game-winning goal, which was his first collegiate goal, and adding an assist in a 4-1 win over BGSU Tuesday, while he posted a plus-2 rating and helped WMU go 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
Niklas Nevalainen, Jr., D, SCSU – Handed out a pair of assists in a sweep of Minnesota State with a helper each night, while he helped the Huskies pitch back-to-back shutouts, blocked three shots and posted a plus-4 rating in the series as SCSU was 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Rookie of the Week
Brock Boeser, Fr., F, UND – Tallied a hat trick in Saturday’s 5-2 win over Bemidji State, which were his first collegiate points, while he posted a plus-3 rating in the game.
Jarid Lukosevicious, Fr., F, Denver – In his only game of the weekend, notched a goal and an assist in Saturday’s win over Michigan State for his first collegiate points, while he compiled a plus-3 rating.
Fredrik Olofsson, Fr., F, Omaha – Recorded a career-high four points in Friday’s 4-3 win at Vermont, scoring the first two goals, which were the first of his career, while assisting on the final two, including the game-winner, as he posted a plus-4 rating in the series.
Goaltender of the Week
Lukas Hafner, Sr., G, WMU – Made 25 saves (.962 save percentage) and allowed just one goal in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Bowling Green while stopping eight shots on BGSU power plays as WMU went 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
Matt Hrynkiw, Jr., G, UND – Made his first two career appearances against Bemidji State, earning a tie and win, posting an .879 save percentage and a 2.82 GAA in the series, combining to make 29 saves, including 19 in his first career start and win on Saturday.
Tanner Jaillet, So., G, Denver – Stopped all 16 shots he faced Saturday to shut out Michigan State in his only appearance of the weekend as he had a 1.000 save percentage while helping DU kill all three MSU power plays.
Kasimir Kaskisuo, So., G, UMD – Allowed just one goal all weekend while leading UMD to a sweep of Minnesota as he pitched a 21-save shutout Saturday and finished the series with a .978 save percentage and a 0.50 GAA.
Ryan McKay, Sr., G, Miami – McKay went 2-0 on the weekend, backstopping Miami to a sweep of Ohio State, as he allowed just three goals all weekend while compiling a .945 save percentage and a 1.50 GAA while denying OSU on all seven of its power plays in the series.
Jacob Nehama, Fr., G, CC – In his only start of the weekend, made a career-high 52 saves (.945 save percentage) in a 3-2 loss at UMass Lowell with only one goal allowed coming even strength.
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