Bauer Players of the Week Archive

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Three teams are represented among the Bauer National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Players of the Week for the penultimate week of the regular season Feb. 24 through March 1, 2020. Garnering Bauer NCHC week 21 honors are Miami junior Casey Gilling for Forward of the Week, Minnesota Duluth junior Scott Perunovich for Defenseman of the Week, St. Cloud State forward Jami Krannila for Rookie of the Week and Miami senior Ryan Larkin for Goaltender of the Week.
 
This is Gilling’s second Forward of the Week honor this season and of his career, while it’s his third career NCHC weekly award of any kind (one-time Rookie of the Week). Perunovich is now a five-time Defenseman of the Week the season, while it’s the eighth of his career and his 11th career NCHC weekly honor of any kind. Larkin gloved his first Goaltender of the Week nod of the season, while it’s the fourth of his career and fifth NCHC weekly honor overall. This is Krannila’s first NCHC weekly honor.

Forward of the Week

Casey Gilling, Miami
Junior Forward
Gaylord, Mich.
 
Gilling broke out of a slump with an NCHC-best five-point weekend to lead Miami to a sweep of Omaha, the RedHawks first conference sweep since January of 2017. Prior to the weekend, Gilling had only one point in his last eight games, but earned Second Star of the Game both nights after multi-point outings.
 
In Friday’s opener, Gilling dished out a pair of assists on Miami’s first two goals, with his first helper coming on the game-winning goal and his second occurring on the power play in a 3-0 victory. He fired four shots on goal Friday and was +1. A night later, Gilling chipped in three points on a goal and two more helpers in a 4-0 blanking. He had a hand in MU’s final three goals, handing out another power play assist to make it 2-0, while scoring the RedHawks’ third goal and picking up his final assist a few minutes later in the third period to cap the scoring. Gilling was +3 Saturday with five shots on goal.
 
Gilling completed the sweep with a goal, four assists, a +4 plus/minus and nine shots on goal. Two of his assists came on the power play, while he also blocked two shots and won 19 faceoffs in the series. On the season, Gilling is third on the team with a career-best 28 points on nine goals and 19 assists.

Defenseman of the Week

Scott Perunovich, Minnesota Duluth
Junior Defenseman
Hibbing, Minn.
 
Perunovich led all NCHC defensemen with four points last weekend, tallying two each night, while leading Minnesota Duluth to a road sweep at Colorado College. Defensively, he also helped limit CC to three goals all weekend, while playing on both special teams units.
 
On Friday, Perunovich had a hand in UMD’s final two goals to break a 2-2 tie and lead UMD to a 4-2 victory. He had the primary helper on the game-wining goal, which came on the power play late in the second period to break a 2-2 tie, while he sealed the win with an empty-net goal from the complete opposite end of the ice. The next night, the St. Louis Blues draft pick compiled two more points on a pair of assists, the first a primary helper to make it 4-0, while his last assist capped the scoring at 6-1. He also put two shots on goal, was +4 and helped UMD’s penalty kill go 2-for-3 in Saturday’s victory.
 
Perunovich finished the weekend with a goal, three assists, a +4 plus/minus and two blocked shots, blocking one each night. He also fired four shots on goal and anchored a penalty kill unit that finished 3-for-4 in the series. On the season, Perunovich leads all NCHC defensemen and is second in overall NCHC scoring with 39 points on six goals and 33 assists.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Ryan Larkin, Miami
Senior Goaltender
Clarkston, Mich.
 
Larkin was perfect in net for Miami in the final home games of his career, not allowing a single goal against Omaha, while backstopping the RedHawks to their first NCHC sweep since January of 2017. It marked the first time Miami posted shutouts in both games of a weekend series since Senior Weekend in 2016. They were the second and third shutouts of the season for Larkin, tying his career high.
 
In Friday’s opener, Larkin stopped all 19 shots he faced from the Mavericks in a 3-0 victory for his first whitewash against an NCHC opponent in his career. Five of his saves came short-handed as he helped kill all four Omaha power plays and earned Third Star of the Game. The next night on Senior Night, the RedHawks’ career saves leader made 29 more stops, including 13 in the second period, in a 4-0 victory. Of the 29, eight saves came short-handed as he killed off all three UNO man advantages. Larkin was named First Star of the Game in his final game at Steve Cady Arena.
 
Larkin totaled 48 saves in the series to finish with a perfect 1.000 save percentage and a 0.00 goals-against average. Of his 48 saves, 13 came short-handed to help Miami’s penalty kill finish 7-for-7 on the weekend. His two shutouts gave him eight whitewashes for his career, while he upped his season save percentage to .904 and lowered his season GAA to 3.33. Larkin is now 7-11-2 on the season.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Jami Krannila, St. Cloud State
Freshman Forward
Nokia, Finland
 
Krannila tied for the NCHC rookie scoring lead last weekend with two points, tallying a goal each night in a split with No. 6 Denver. In Friday’s series opener, the Finn opened the game’s scoring with a goal midway through the first period to put SCSU in front in a 5-1 victory. He was also +1 Friday. On Saturday, Krannila scored an extra-attacker goal late in the third period as the Huskies looked to rally, bringing SCSU within 4-2 in a 5-2 defeat. He was again +1 in the series finale.
 
Krannila ended the series with a perfect 1.000 shooting percentage, scoring a goal on both of his shots on goal against DU. He finished with a +2 plus/minus and one blocked shot, while winning six faceoffs. On the season, the freshman now has 13 points on five goals and eight assists. After going 12 games without a point, Krannila now has points in his last three games.

OTHER NOMINEES:

Forward of the Week
Collin Adams, Jr., F, UND – Scored the game’s first goal Saturday in a 2-1 OT win over WMU.
 
Kevin Fitzgerald, Jr., F, SCSU – Tallied three points in Friday’s win over Denver, scoring two goals, including the game-winner, and adding an assist.
 
Emilio Pettersen, So., F, Denver – Scored a goal each night in a split at SCSU.
 
Justin Richards, Jr., F, UMD – Compiled four points in a sweep of CC while going 30-12 on faceoffs, tallying two assists Friday and adding a goal and an assist on Saturday.
 
Defenseman of the Week
Ian Mitchell, Jr., D, Denver – Tallied three points in a split at SCSU, with an assist each night while scoring the game-winning goal on Saturday.
 
Colton Poolman, Sr., D, UND – Dished out assists on both goals in UND’s 2-1 win over WMU Saturday, including on the OT game-winner, and was +3 in the series.
 
Goaltender of the Week
Adam Scheel, So., G, UND – Allowed only one goal each night in a sweep of WMU, compiling 41 saves for a .953 save percentage and a 0.98 GAA.
 
Hunter Shepard, Sr., G, UMD – Surrendered just three goals in a sweep at CC, racking up 47 saves for a .940 save percentage and a 1.50 GAA.
 
Rookie of the Week
Shane Pinto, Fr., F, UND – Scored the overtime game-winning goal on Saturday to lift UND to a 2-1 win over UMD and the Penrose Cup.
 
Ryan Savage, Fr., F, Miami – Scored a power play goal each night in a sweep of Omaha.