Bauer Players of the Week Archive

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A pair of juniors, including one repeat winner, and a pair of freshmen captured Bauer National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Player of the Week honors for the week of Jan. 20-26, 2020. Taking home Bauer NCHC Players of the Week for week 16 are Denver junior Kohen Olischefski for Forward of the Week, North Dakota junior Matt Kiersted, who repeats as Defenseman of the Week, Western Michigan defenseman Ronnie Attard for Rookie of the Week and WMU freshman Brandon Bussi for Goaltender of the Week.

This is the first Forward of the Week honor for Olischefski and his second career NCHC weekly award, earning Rookie of the Week as a freshman. Kiersted earned his third Defenseman of the Week nod this season (second straight) and of his career. Attard collected his first Rookie of the Week accolade from the NCHC, but it’s his second weekly honor, earning Defenseman of the Week in November. This is Bussi’s first NCHC weekly honor of any kind.

Forward of the Week

Kohen Olischefski, Denver
Junior Forward
Abbotsford, B.C.

Olischefski had a monster weekend to power Denver to a sweep at Miami, extending DU’s unbeaten streak to an NCAA-best 11 games. He recorded multiple points both nights, while leading the NCHC with five points on the weekend. He was also named First Star of the Game both nights.

In Friday’s 3-2 win, Olischefski helped erase a 2-0 deficit by scoring DU’s first two goals, both on the power play, to tie the game, with the second coming early in the second period. It was his third career multi-goal game and first in conference play, while he fired four shots on goal. The next night, he recorded a career-high three points in a 5-2 victory, having a hand in DU’s first three tallies. The junior handed out primary assists on DU’s first goal, which came on the power play, and the game-winning goal, which made it 3-1, while he scored the second goal late in the first frame to break a 1-1 tie.

Olischefski finished the weekend with three goals, two assists, seven shots on goal and a +1 plus/minus. He also blocked two shots and won five-of-six faceoffs he took (.833), while chipping in three points on the power play. On the season, he now has 17 points on eight goals and nine assists.

Defenseman of the Week

Matt Kiersted, North Dakota
Junior Defenseman
Elk River, Minn.
 
Kiersted continued his offensive productive from the blue line last weekend, helping North Dakota to a split at then-No. 11 Minnesota Duluth. He totaled four points with a goal and an assist each game, as he now has four straight multi-point games, repeating as Defenseman of the Week.
 
In Friday’s opener, Kiersted handed out the primary assist on UND’s second goal, which came on the power play, while he scored UND’s third goal to go up 3-1 in an eventual 7-4 defeat. He also blocked two shots. The next night, Kiersted helped break open a tight game with another primary assist on the game’s first goal early in the second stanza. He then scored his second goal of the weekend midway though the third period to tie the game at 2-2 in an eventual 3-2 victory. He was +2 in Saturday’s win, blocked three more shots and earned Third Star of the Game.
 
Kiersted completed the series with two goals, two assists, a +2 plus/minus and five blocked shots. He also fired three shots on net (scoring on two), committed three minor penalties and played on a penalty kill that finished 5-for-8. He now has nine points (2g, 7a) during his four-game point streak and 23 points (19 assists) on the season, which are second on the team. His 23 points also rank second among NCHC defensemen.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Brandon Bussi, Western Michigan
Freshman Goaltender
Sound Beach, N.Y.
 
Bussi continued his strong freshman season, backstopping Western Michigan to a sweep of St. Cloud State, his and the team’s second straight sweep. He compiled 44 saves in the pair of 6-2 wins over the Huskies, while he was the lone NCHC goalie to earn two wins last weekend.
 
In Friday’s opener, Bussie turned aside 19 shots to get the win, making two short-handed saves to help kill both SCSU power plays. The next night, he totaled 25 stops and earned Second Star of the Game. He made four more short-handed saves Saturday to help kill all four Husky man advantages in the win.
 
Bussi ended the sweep with a .917 save percentage and a 2.00 goals-against average in the two wins. He also helped WMU finish a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill. With the results, he improved to 11-9-3 on the season, starting all but one game this season, while lowering his GAA to 2.73 on the season and slightly upping his save percentage to .909 on the year.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Ronnie Attard, Western Michigan
Freshman Defenseman
White Lake, Mich.
 
Attard was strong at both ends of the ice to lead Western Michigan to a sweep of St. Cloud State. He totaled three points on the offensive end, with a goal each night, while helping limit the Huskies to two goals each night. The Philadelphia Flyers draft pick also played on a penalty kill that finished a perfect 6-for-6 in the series, and he scored on the power play.
 
In Friday’s 6-2 victory, Attard sealed the win with an empty-net goal to push the lead to 5-2, while he was +2 in the game and helped kill off both SCSU power plays. In the series finale, he opened the game’s scoring with a power play goal and assisted on another power play goal to make it 2-0 in a third-straight 6-2 victory. He earned Third Star of the Game and helped kill all four Husky power plays.
 
Attard finished the series with two goals, an assist, a +2 plus/minus and three shots on goal. He also blocked two shots in the sweep. Attard now has six goals and nine points in 18 games this season.

OTHER NOMINEES:

Forward of the Week
Hugh McGing, Sr., F, WMU – Totaled four points in a sweep of SCSU, with two each night, tallying a game-winning goal and three assists.
 
Westin Michaud, Sr., F, UND – Scored a goal each night in a split at UMD and added an assist in Friday’s loss.
 
Defenseman of the Week
Michael Joyaux, So., D, WMU – Compiled four points in a sweep of SCSU with two goals and two assists, while helping the penalty kill finish 6-for-6.
 
Dean Stewart, Sr., D, Omaha – Tallied two points, five blocked shots and was +2 in a sweep at CC, scoring a goal in Friday’s win and adding an assist on Saturday’s game-winner.
 
Rookie of the Week
Shane Pinto, Fr., F, UND – Dished out an assist each night in a split at UMD and finished +2.
 
Goaltender of the Week
Peter Thome, Jr., G, UND – In his only start of the weekend, made 22 saves in a 3-2 win at UMD Saturday for a .917 save percentage.