Men's Ice Hockey 12/15/2015 2:00:00 AM By NCHC

Bauer NCHC Players of the Week: Dec. 7-13

SCSU’s Kossila, Prow; WMU’s Molino and UND’s Johnson honored for week 10

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With the first half of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) season wrapping up last weekend, the final Bauer NCHC Players of the Week of 2015 were announced Monday for week 10. Claiming Bauer NCHC Players of the Week for the week of Dec. 7-13 are St. Cloud State senior forward Kalle Kossila for Offensive Player of the Week, SCSU senior blue liner Ethan Prow for Defenseman of the Week, Western Michigan freshman forward Griffen Molino for Rookie of the Week and North Dakota sophomore netminder Cam Johnson for Goaltender of the Week. The next NCHC Players of the Week will be announced Jan. 4.

Kossila has now claimed NCHC Offensive Player of the Week twice in his career, also earning it once as a sophomore, while Prow earned his honor for the second time this season and the sixth time in his career. Johnson has now captured NCHC Goaltender of the Week three straight weeks and has won the award four times this season, while Molino picked up his first career NCHC weekly honor.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kalle Kossila, St. Cloud State
Senior Forward
Kauniainen, Finland

After entering the weekend with three goals all season, Kossila exploded for five goals to lead St. Cloud State to a sweep at Denver. In Friday’s 5-2 victory, he scored a pair of goals for his first multi-goal game of the season, tying the game at 2-2 late in the second period and adding an insurance goal to make it 4-2 in the third period. He was named the game’s first star Friday while putting five shots on goal and posting a plus-1 rating. The next night, Kossila was even better, recording his second career hat trick and first since his sophomore season, leading SCSU to a 6-2 victory. He was named the game’s No. 1 star for the second straight night as he scored twice in the second period, the first of which put the Huskies in front, 2-1, while he capped his hat trick in the third period. He put five more shots on goal Saturday and had a plus-3 rating. Kossila finished the series with 10 shots on goal and a plus-4 rating while winning 22-of-37 faceoffs on the weekend (59.5 percent).

DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK
Ethan Prow, St. Cloud State
Senior Defenseman
Sauk Rapids, Minn.

Prow contributed to St. Cloud State’s road sweep of Denver at both ends of the ice, handing out four assists in the series while posting a plus-5 rating and helping limit the Pioneers to four goals all weekend. On Friday, the team captain jump-started the Huskies offense with a power play assist on SCSU’s first goal while he also set up the game-winning goal in the third period and compiled a plus-2 rating in the 5-2 win. A night later, Prow was even better, again handing out two assists, including the primary helper on the first goal of the game, while he also blocked two shots in the 6-2 victory. Prow was named third star of the game Saturday when he logged a plus-3 rating. He finished the weekend with two shots on goal and two blocked shots as SCSU allowed only 48 shots on goal all weekend, while also anchoring a penalty kill unit that went 3-for-4 in the series.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Griffen Molino, Western Michigan
Freshman Forward
Trenton, Mich.

Molino had a career weekend to lead WMU to a sweep of Colorado College, racking up seven points and a plus-7 rating in the two wins. On Friday, Molino recorded a career-high three points, assisting on a pair of go-ahead goals in the second period, while scoring the Broncos’ sixth goal in the third period in a 7-3 victory. He also put four shots on goal and posted a plus-4 rating in the victory, while earning first star of the game honors. Molino then upped his game even more Saturday with a career-high four points while again earning first star of the game honors. He book-ended WMU’s goals, opening the scoring in the first period while adding an empty-net goal to seal the win late, while also assisting on the Broncos’ second and third goals in the 5-3 win. Molino put three shots on goal and posted a plus-3 rating in Saturday’s victory. He finished the series with three goals, four assists, a plus-7 rating and seven shots on goal.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Cam Johnson, North Dakota
Sophomore Goaltender
Troy, Mich.

Johnson continued his hot streak after returning from injury to collect his third straight NCHC Goaltender of the Week honor as he did not allow a goal all weekend at Minnesota Duluth. Johnson stopped all 78 shots that came his way in the series for a perfect 1.000 save percentage and a 0.00 goals-against average. With his two shutouts on the weekend, he has now pitched three straight shutouts, only the second NCHC goaltender and third UND goaltender to achieve the feat, while extending his shutout streak to 218:38. On Friday, Johnson compiled a career-high 40 saves in a 3-0 win while helping the Fighting Hawks go 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. A night later, he turned aside 38 shots in another 3-0 victory while helping kill all four UMD power plays as UND was 9-for-9 on the penalty kill with Johnson in net. He was named first star of the game both nights. Johnson is now 6-0-0 in net since returning from injury three weeks ago.

OTHER NOMINEES:

Offensive Player of the Week
None

Defenseman of the Week
Chris Dienes, Sr., D, WMU – Tallied three assists in a sweep of CC while posting a plus-5 rating and blocking two shots in the series.

Tucker Poolman, So., D, UND – Led a penalty kill unit that went 9-for-9 in the sweep of UMD while posting a plus-2 rating and blocking two shots in the series and assisting on a goal Friday and scoring the game-winner on Saturday.

Rookie of the Week
Brock Boeser, Fr., F, UND – Scored a goal in each 3-0 win at UMD, including the game-winning goal on Friday, while putting seven shots on goal and posting a plus-1 rating in the series.

Colt Conrad, Fr., F, WMU – Tallied three goals in a sweep of CC, striking twice on Friday for his first collegiate multi-goal game and adding the game-winning goal Saturday, while he had a plus-3 rating in the series.

Andrew Farny, Fr., D, CC – Compiled three points at WMU, scoring the first two goals of his career Friday, while handing out an assist on Saturday and blocking a shot.

Patrick Newell, Fr., F, SCSU – Dished out three assists in a sweep at Denver, assisting on the game-winning goal each night, while posting a plus-4 rating on the weekend.

Goaltender of the Week
Charlie Lindgren, Jr., G, SCSU – Posted a 2.00 GAA and a .917 save percentage while backstopping SCSU to a pair of wins at Denver, combining for 44 saves in the series.

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