Men's Ice Hockey 2/26/2019 4:30:00 AM By NCHC

Bauer NCHC Players of the Week: February 18-24, 2019

CC’s Copeland, SCSU’s Schuldt and Hrenák, and UND’s Senden honored for week 19

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Three different teams are represented among the Bauer National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Players of the Week for the week of February 18-24, 2019. Garnering Bauer NCHC weekly honors for week 19 are Colorado College freshman forward Ben Copeland for Offensive Player of the Week, St. Cloud State senior blue liner Jimmy Schuldt for Defenseman of the Week, North Dakota freshman forward Mark Senden, who repeated as Rookie of the Week, and St. Cloud State sophomore netminder Dávid Hrenák for Goaltender of the Week.

This is Copeland’s first career NCHC weekly award, while Schuldt nabbed his third Defenseman of the Week nod this season and seventh of his career. Senden brought home his second straight Rookie of the Week award, his only two this season, and Hrenák collected his second Goaltender of the Week accolade this season and of his career, while he is now a five-time NCHC weekly award winner (three-time Rookie of the Week).

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Ben Copeland, Colorado College
Freshman Forward
Edina, Minn.

Copeland had a monster weekend to power CC to a split with then-No. 8/9 Western Michigan. Entering with four goals all season, Copeland more than doubled his season total last weekend against the Broncos. He started his weekend with a goal in Friday’s 5-4 overtime loss, his first goal since Dec. 14, as he put the Tigers up 4-2 in the third period before WMU rallied. The next night, Copeland tied an NCHC record with four goals in an 8-2 beatdown of the Broncos, becoming only the third NCHC player to achieve the feat and only second in conference play (St. Cloud State’s Joey Benik on Nov. 14, 2015). Copeland is the second Division I men’s player in the country to score four goals in a game this season (Arizona State’s Johnny Walker on Oct. 27 vs. Omaha) and the first D-I freshman to score four goals in a game since New Hampshire’s Patrick Grasso on Oct. 29, 2016 vs. Merrimack. Copeland scored the game’s first goal Saturday on the power play, tallied the game-winner in the second period to break a 2-2 tie, and added two more in the third period to cap his first career hat trick. Copeland put five shots on goal and was +3 on Saturday to earn First Star of the Game. He finished the series with five goals on eight shots on goal and a +3 plus/minus.

Defenseman of the Week

Jimmy Schuldt, St. Cloud State
Senior Defenseman
Minnetonka, Minn.

Schuldt anchored SCSU’s blue line, which allowed only one goal in a sweep at Omaha, helping the Huskies clinch their second straight Penrose Cup. On Friday, the three-time team captain posted a +1 plus/minus and helped kill both Omaha power plays in a 4-1 win. The following night, Schuldt handed out a pair of primary assists, setting up the game’s first goal only 3:23 into the game, which was the game-winner, while he had the lone helper on the Huskies’ fourth goal in a 5-0 win. He finished +4 in Saturday’s shutout, while helping kill all three UNO man advantages. Schuldt ended the series with two assists, a +5 plus/minus, which tied for the NCHC lead on the weekend, and blocked five shots, while leading a perfect penalty kill that finished 5-for-5.

Rookie of the Week

Mark Senden, North Dakota
Freshman Forward
Medina, Minn.

Senden repeated as Rookie of the Week after a three-point showing in a split with No. 3/3 Minnesota Duluth. In Friday’s 4-1 victory, he opened the scoring only 44 ticks into the game, while he also had an assist on the game-winning short-handed goal that broke a 1-1 tie later in the first frame. Senden put two shots on goal in the win and was +3 to earn First Star of the Game. The next night, he had the primary assist on UND’s second goal, late in the second period, in a 3-2 defeat. Senden finished the series with a goal, two assists, two shots on goal and a +4 plus/minus. He also blocked three shots and won 16 of his 28 faceoffs in the series (.571).

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Dávid Hrenák, St. Cloud State
Sophomore Goaltender
Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia

Hrenák was stellar in net, allowing only one goal in SCSU’s sweep at Omaha, which clinched the Huskies’ second straight Penrose Cup. On Friday, the L.A. Kings draft pick turned aside 22 shots in a 4-1 victory. A night later, Hrenák compiled 30 saves in a 5-0 shutout, which was his fourth shutout of the season and seventh of his career. His 18th win of the season sealed the regular-season title for SCSU, while he earned First Star of the Game. Hrenák completed the series with 52 saves on 53 shots faced for a .981 save percentage and a 0.50 goals-against average, both tops in the NCHC on the weekend. He also helped SCSU go a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill against the Mavericks.

OTHER NOMINEES:

Offensive Player
Hugh McGing, Jr., F, WMU – Scored three goals in WMU’s split at CC, tallying twice in Friday’s OT win, including the game-winner.

Defenseman
Zach Berzolla, So., D, CC – Dished out an assist in Friday’s OT loss to WMU, but ended the split series with a +4 plus/minus, five shots on goal and six blocked shots.

Ian Mitchell, So., D, DU – Scored DU’s lone goal in a loss to Miami Friday, while dishing out two assists in Saturday’s win, finishing even on plus/minus with four shots on goal.

Hayden Shaw, Sr., D, UND – Scored the short-handed game-winning goal in Friday’s win over UMD, while finishing the split series +2 with four blocked shots.

Nick Wolff, Jr., D, UMD – Handed out an assist in each game of a split at UND, while blocking three shots in the series.

Rookie
None

Goaltender
Ryan Larkin, Jr., G, Miami – Racked up 84 saves in a split at Denver, including a season-high 46 saves in Friday’s win, while he posted a .944 save percentage and a 2.53 GAA in the series.

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