Previous Winners

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – On the final weekend of the regular season, plenty of strong individual performances were put on display as teams jockeyed for playoff positioning while three teams produced a Bauer NCHC Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 29-March 6. Collecting Bauer NCHC Player of the Week honors for week 20 are North Dakota freshman forward Brock Boeser for Offensive Player of the Week, St. Cloud State senior blue liner Ethan Prow for Defenseman of the Week, Minnesota Duluth freshman defenseman Neal Pionk for Rookie of the Week and UMD sophomore netminder Kasimir Kaskisuo for Goaltender of the Week. These are the final Bauer NCHC Players of the Week this season.

Boeser earned his first NCHC Offensive Player of the Week honor while he is a four-time NCHC Rookie of the Week this season. Prow captured his third NCHC Defenseman of the Week accolade this season and seventh in his career, while Pionk claimed his first Rookie of the Week honor but was a Defenseman of the Week earlier this season. Kaskisuo garnered his second Goalie of the Week honor this season and the third of his career, while he has won four NCHC weekly honors in all.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Brock Boeser, North Dakota
Freshman Forward
Burnsville, Minn.

Boeser wrapped up a stellar regular-season freshman campaign with a six-point weekend, leading UND to a sweep of Western Michigan and the outright Penrose Cup title. The Vancouver Canucks first-round draft pick tallied three goals and three assists in the two games as he captured the NCHC scoring (35 points) and goal-scoring titles (20 goals) in conference play, the first freshman to do so. In Friday’s 8-1 victory, he tied a career high with four points on a pair of goals and assists each. Boeser had a hand in each of the first three goals, scoring the first and third markers while assisting on the game-winning goal. A night later, he logged another multi-point game with a goal and an assist in a 5-4 comeback win, scoring the first goal to tie the game and assisting on another goal that pulled UND even at 3-3. Boeser was named first star of the game both nights against WMU. He finished the series with a plus-4 rating, which all came on Friday, while putting five shots on goal.

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

Prow contributed at both ends of the ice, helping SCSU to a road sweep at Colorado College to close the regular season. The team captain tallied three points in the two wins, while also anchoring a penalty kill unit that finished 5-for-6 and scored four short-handed goals, including three of which Prow was on the ice for, on the weekend. In Friday’s 5-2 victory, he notched two points, scoring the go-ahead goal on the power play late in the first period, while assisting on the game-winning goal. The next night, he had the primary assist on SCSU’s first short-handed goal, which tied the game at 1-1, while posting a plus-4 rating in the 9-3 win. Prow finished the weekend with a goal and two assists while logging a plus-6 rating and blocking four shots, including three on Saturday. He also helped limit CC to 47 shots on goal while putting six shots on goal himself.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Neal Pionk, Minnesota Duluth
Freshman Defenseman
Hermantown, Minn.

Pionk had a strong weekend to lead UMD to a sweep of Miami, chipping in at both ends of the ice. On Friday, he tallied a career-high three points in a 5-0 win, scoring the game’s third goal on the power play while assisting on the Bulldogs’ first and last goals of the game. Pionk was plus-1 in the shutout while earning second star of the game. A night later, he was a force on the defensive end, blocking four shots while spear-heading a penalty kill that went 3-for-3 in a 3-1 victory. Pionk ended the series with a goal, two assists, a plus-1 rating and four blocked shots. He also led UMD’s penalty kill to go a perfect 4-for-4 on the weekend while the defense held Miami to 41 shots on goal and one goal scored in the two games.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Kasimir Kaskisuo, Minnesota Duluth
Sophomore Goaltender
Vantaa, Finland

Kaskisuo backstopped Minnesota Duluth to a sweep of Miami to close the regular season and help the Bulldogs get the final home ice spot for the NCHC Playoffs. He pitched his NCHC-leading fifth shutout of the season on Friday, stopping all 20 saves that came his way in a 5-0 victory, while tying the UMD single-season shutout record. He earned first star of the game for his efforts. A night later, Kaskisuo made 20 more saves in a 3-1 victory, while helping kill all three Miami power plays, stopping six shots on the RedHawks man advantages. He was tabbed third star of the game Saturday. The Finn finished the weekend with a .976 save percentage and a 0.50 goals-against average, while stopping 40-of-41 shots with only one goal allowed. Kaskisuo also helped UMD go a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill in the series while he finished the season as the NCHC’s leader in GAA in conference play (1.69).

OTHER NOMINEES:

Offensive Player of the Week
Kalle Kossila, Sr., F, SCSU – Tallied six points in a sweep at CC with two assists in Friday’s win and four points on a goal and three helpers in Saturday’s victory, while he finished with a plus-5 rating.

Defenseman of the Week
Troy Stecher, Jr., D, UND – Compiled three points in a sweep of WMU with an assist in Friday’s 8-1 win and a goal and an assist Saturday, while posting a plus-4 rating on the weekend.

Rookie of the Week
Dylan Gambrell, Fr., F, Denver – Tallied three points in a sweep of Omaha with a goal and an assist in Friday’s shutout while scoring the game-winner late in the third period of Saturday’s 2-1 win.

Robby Jackson, Fr., F, SCSU – Scored two goals in Saturday’s 9-3 win at CC, including one short-handed, while posting a plus-2 rating in the win.

Chris Wilkie, Fr., F, UND – Notched a career-high four points in Friday’s 8-1 win over WMU, scoring two goals and adding two assists while posting a plus-3 rating in the victory.

Goaltender of the Week
Tanner Jaillet, So., G, Denver – Pitched a 26-save shutout on Friday in a 3-0 victory over Omaha in his only action of the weekend for his third shutout of the season.

Charlie Lindgren, Jr., G, SCSU – Backstopped SCSU to a sweep at CC, posting a 2.22 GAA and a .907 save percentage while totaling 39 saves in the two games.

Kirk Thompson, Jr., G, Omaha – Made a career-high 44 saves in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Denver, making his first start since Jan. 23.

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