Men's Ice Hockey 11/3/2015 2:30:00 AM By NCHC

NCHC Players of the Week: Oct. 26-Nov. 1, 2015

WMU’s Hadley and Conrad, DU’s Butcher and SCSU’s Lindgren honored

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With the first weekend of conference play in the books and three teams earning sweeps, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Players of the Week for the week of Oct. 26-Nov. 1, 2015 (week four) are Western Michigan junior forward Aaron Hadley for Offensive Player of the Week, Denver junior blue liner Will Butcher for Defenseman of the Week, WMU freshman forward Colt Conrad for Rookie of the Week and St. Cloud State junior netminder Charlie Lindgren for Goaltender of the Week. This is the first career NCHC weekly honor for both Hadley and Conrad and the second career honor for Butcher, earning it once last season. Lindgren has now garnered NCHC Goaltender of the Week twice this season and four times in his career.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aaron Hadley, Western Michigan
Junior Forward
Castlegar, B.C.

Hadley had a career weekend in helping WMU sweep then No. 2/1 Omaha, tallying four points in the series after having just one point in his career entering the weekend. On Friday, he scored his first collegiate goal in his 48th career game, adding an insurance goal in the third period to seal a 4-2 victory, which marked UNO’s first loss of the season. He also put five shots on goal and posted a plus-1 rating in the win. The next night Hadley was even better, tallying a career-high three points, all assists, while logging a plus-4 rating. He set up each of WMU’s first three goals Saturday to put WMU in front 3-0 in the first period, handing out the primary assists on two of the goals, including on the eventual game-winner. The goal and three assists were his first points of the season and first since an assist Dec. 13, 2013. Hadley finished the weekend with a plus-5 rating and five shots on goal.

DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK
Will Butcher, Denver
Junior Defenseman
Sun Prairie, Wis.

Butcher was strong at both ends of the ice in a pair of road games in Boston, totaling four points on the weekend. In Friday’s 4-3 loss at No. 4 Boston College, Butcher scored on the power play in the closing minutes of the third period to knot the game at 3-3 before the Eagles scored in the final seconds. The Avalanche prospect also blocked a shot and helped DU go 3-for-4 on the penalty kill in the game. The next day at No. 8 Boston University, Butcher tied a career high with three points on a goal and two assists. He scored the Pioneers’ first goal of the game while handing out the primary assist on both DU third-period goals as Denver rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game with the tying goal coming short-handed. Butcher was named the No. 2 star in Saturday’s overtime loss when he put four shots on goal and had a plus-2 rating. He finished the weekend with a plus-2 rating, six shots on goal and led a DU penalty kill that went 6-for-8, in addition to his two goals and two assists.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Colt Conrad, Western Michigan
Freshman Forward
St. Alphonse, Manitoba

Conrad had a breakout weekend to help WMU sweep then No. 2/1 Omaha on the opening weekend of conference play. In Friday’s 4-2 victory over the Mavericks, he had the lone assist on WMU’s final goal of the game, which helped seal the win in the third period, while he also had a plus-1 rating. The next night, Conrad led the Broncos to complete the sweep as he tallied a career-high three points in the 6-1 victory. He scored his first collegiate goal in the first period, which turned out to be the game-winning goal, while dishing out primary assists on WMU’s first and fifth goals of the contest. Conrad was named the game’s third star on Saturday when he also posted a plus-4 rating. He finished the weekend with four points, a plus-5 rating, three shots on goal and won 7 of 10 faceoffs in the series.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Charlie Lindgren, St. Cloud State
Lakeville, Minn.
Junior Goaltender

Lindgren continued his stellar start to the season, posting a pair of wins in net while allowing just one goal all weekend in a sweep of then No. 15 Miami. On Friday, he pitched his NCAA-leading fourth shutout of the season and seventh of his career by turning aside all 15 shots that came his way in a 3-0 win. The next night he racked up 33 saves while backstopping SCSU to a 3-1 win to complete the sweep. Lindgren also helped the Huskies go a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in the series, including 3-for-3 on Friday. He was named the game’s No. 2 star both nights of the series. On the weekend, Lindgren compiled 48 saves on 49 shots for a .980 save percentage while tallying a 0.50 goals-against average.

OTHER NOMINEES:

Offensive Player of the Week
Shane Gersich, Fr., F, UND – Tallied two goals in a sweep at CC with a goal each night while posting a plus-3 rating in the series.

Defenseman of the Week
Will Borgen, Fr., D, SCSU – Handed out three assists in a sweep of Miami while posting a plus-2 rating and helping SCSU go 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in the series.

Chris Dienes, Sr., D, WMU – Notched a pair of points in a sweep of Omaha with an assist Friday and a goal on Saturday, while he blocked five shots, was plus-2 and helped WMU go 7-for-7 on the penalty kill in the series.

Teemu Kivihalme, So., D, CC – Scored a power play goal in Friday’s loss to UND and blocked five shots in the series while helping CC go 7-for-8 on the penalty kill.

Christian Wolanin, Fr., D, UND – Totaled three points in a sweep at CC with two assists in Friday’s win and the game-winning goal on Saturday, while he was plus-3 in the series and played on a penalty kill unit that was 11-for-12.

Rookie of the Week
Will Borgen, Fr., D, SCSU – Handed out three assists in a sweep of Miami while posting a plus-2 rating and helping SCSU go 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in the series.

Dylan Gambrell, Fr., F, DU – Dished out four assists in a pair of losses at BC and BU, including a career-high three assists in the loss at Boston College.

Goaltender of the Week
Lukas Hafner, Sr., G, WMU – In his only action of the weekend, made 37 saves and allowed just one goal in a 6-1 win over Omaha Saturday for a .973 save percentage while helping kill all four UNO power plays.

Matt Hrynkiw, Jr., G, UND – Backstopped UND to a sweep at CC with a .960 save percentage and a 1.00 GAA, allowing just two goals all weekend, including pitching a 29-save shutout on Saturday.

Tyler Marble, Jr., G, CC – In his only start of the weekend, made 40 saves in a 2-0 loss to UND Saturday for a .952 save percentage while helping kill all four UND power plays.

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