Previous Winners
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After both teams exploded on offense and earned key conference wins last weekend, all four Bauer National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Players of the Week for week seven come from Minnesota Duluth or St. Cloud State. The Bauer NCHC Players of the Week for the week of Nov. 16-22 are Minnesota Duluth senior forward Austin Farley for Offensive Player of the Week, St. Cloud State junior blue liner Niklas Nevalainen for Defenseman of the Week, SCSU freshman defenseman Jon Lizotte for Rookie of the Week and UMD sophomore netminder Kasimir Kaskisuo for Goaltender of the Week.
This is Farley’s second career NCHC Offensive Player of the Week honor after winning once last season, while Kaskisuo earned his second NCHC Goalie of the Week honor, also winning once last year. He also won NCHC Rookie of the Week once last season. This marks the first career NCHC weekly honor for both Nevalainen and Lizotte.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Austin Farley, Minnesota Duluth
Senior Forward
Niles, Ill.
Farley exploded for seven points in a sweep at Colorado College, scoring four goals and notching three assists over the weekend. He was named the game’s No. 1 star in both victories. On Friday, he compiled three points in a 5-0 victory, book-ending UMD’s goals by scoring the opening goal 1:12 into the game, which was the game-winner, while finding the net on the power play in the third period. He also handed out the primary assist on UMD’s second goal, posted a plus-2 rating in the win and put four shots on goal. The next night he upped his point total even more, tying a career high with four points on a pair of goals and assists each. Again he scored the game’s opening goal, which again was the game-winning goal, with Saturday’s game-winner coming on the power play, while his other goal came in the third period. His two helpers came in the second stanza as he finished the night with a plus-4 rating. Farley compiled a plus-6 rating and seven shots on goal on the weekend.
DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK
Niklas Nevalainen, St. Cloud State
Junior Defenseman
Pori, Finland
Nevalainen helped the Huskies earn a split against then No. 4/4 North Dakota, chipping in three points from the blue line while posting a plus-5 rating in the series. On Friday, he handed out an assist on SCSU’s final goal to pull the Huskies within one in an eventual 4-3 loss, while he also posted a plus-2 rating in the game. The next night Nevalainen was even more productive, tallying his first goal of the season late in the second period on the power play to put SCSU up 4-1 in an eventual 6-1 victory. He also assisted on the Huskies’ first goal of the game and posted a plus-3 rating in the win. Nevalainen was tabbed the first star of the game Saturday when he also led a SCSU penalty kill that was 3-for-3 and limited the Fighting Hawks to just one goal. He finished the weekend with a goal, two assists, one blocked shot and played on a penalty kill that was 4-for-6 in the series.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Jon Lizotte, St. Cloud State
Freshman Defenseman
Grand Forks, N.D.
Lizotte had a breakout weekend on SCSU’s blue line, racking up three assists in a split with then No. 4/4 North Dakota, while posting a plus-5 rating and blocking five shots. On Friday, he assisted on the game’s opening goal to put SCSU in front while he posted a plus-1 rating and blocked a shot. A night later, Lizotte recorded his first career multi-point game with a pair of helpers, assisting on SCSU’s third goal to put the Huskies up 3-0 and handing out the primary assist on SCSU’s final tally of the night in a 6-1 victory. He was also a career-best plus-4 in the contest and blocked four shots. Lizotte helped the Huskies’ penalty kill go 4-for-6 on the weekend against UND, including 3-for-3 in Saturday’s win when they allowed only one goal. After tallying four assists in his first nine games this season, he dished out three over the weekend.
GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Kasimir Kaskisuo, Minnesota Duluth
Sophomore Goaltender
Vantaa, Finland
Kaskisuo was perfect on the weekend, pitching shutouts in both nights of a sweep at Colorado College, becoming the first varsity UMD netminder (since joining the NCAA in 1961-62) to record a whitewash in both games of a weekend series. In Friday’s 5-0 victory, he turned aside all 19 shots he faced, while helping kill both CC power plays. The next night, Kaskisuo was just as good, denying all 26 shots CC put on goal while killing all four power plays, making a save on the man advantages. He was also named the game’s third star on Saturday. On the weekend, Kaskisuo saved all 45 shots that came his way for a pristine 1.000 save percentage and 0.00 goals-against average. He now has an active shutout streak of 170:20 dating back to Nov. 14, which is a UMD record, breaking the mark of 166:45 from 2011. Kaskisuo also now has three shutouts on the season and four for his career.
OTHER NOMINEES:
Offensive Player of the Week
Drake Caggiula, Sr., F, UND – Recorded his first career hat trick in a 4-3 win over SCSU Friday, including scoring the game-winner, while he posted a plus-2 rating in the series.
Anthony Louis, Jr., F, Miami – Scored a goal in both games against Omaha and added an assist on Saturday when he was plus-1.
David Morley, Sr., F, SCSU – Scored a goal in both games of a split with UND while also handing out an assist Friday and posting a plus-3 rating on the weekend.
Tyler Vesel, So., F, Omaha – Notched a goal in Friday’s OT tie at Miami while assisting on the overtime game-winner Saturday as he was plus-2 in the series with five blocked shots.
Defenseman of the Week
Carson Soucy, Jr., D, UMD – Tallied a goal and two assists in a sweep at CC, while posting a plus-4 rating, helping pitch two shutouts and anchoring a penalty kill unit that was 6-for-6.
Troy Stecher, Jr., D, UND – Handed out two assists in Friday’s win at SCSU while scoring the lone UND goal in Saturday’s loss when he had a plus-1 rating.
Nolan Zajac, Sr., D, Denver – Handed out two assists in Saturday’s 6-2 win at Wisconsin, including on the game-winning goal, while he blocked five shots and was plus-1 in the series.
Rookie of the Week
Dylan Gambrell, Fr., F, Denver – Compiled three points against Wisconsin with an assist in Friday’s tie and a goal and an assist in the win Saturday, while he put nine shots on goal in the series.
Rhett Gardner, Fr. F, UND – Scored a goal and added an assist, both on the power play, in Friday’s 4-3 win at SCSU.
Fredrik Olofsson, Fr., F, Omaha – Tallied a goal and an assist in a 3-3 overtime tie at Miami on Friday while posting a plus-2 rating in the series.
Goaltender of the Week
Tanner Jaillet, So., G, Denver – Posted a .940 save percentage and a 1.87 GAA in two games against Wisconsin, allowing one goal in relief in a tie Friday and two goals in a win Saturday when he made 31 saves, finishing with 50 saves on the weekend.
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