NCHC Players of the Month Archive
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – It was a November to remember for three National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) players as Western Michigan graduate student forward Ethen Frank earned NCHC Player of the Month for November, while Minnesota Duluth junior netminder Ryan Fanti gloved NCHC Goaltender of the Month and Denver freshman forward Carter Mazur garnered NCHC Rookie of the Month for the second month of 2021-22.
This is Frank’s first career NCHC monthly honor and he’s the first Bronco to earn the award since Sheldon Dries in February of 2017. These are also the first career NCHC monthly awards for Fanti and Mazur, with Mazur the second straight Pioneer to win Rookie of the Month, joining forward Massimo Rizzo for October. Hunter Shepard is the last UMD goalie to earn Goaltender of the Month in January of 2020.
Player of the Month
Ethen Frank, Western Michigan
Grad Student Forward
Papillion, Neb.
Frank was dominant in the month of November, tying for the NCHC scoring lead with 13 points (with his senior teammate Drew Worrad) in eight games, leading WMU to a 5-3-0 record, including three wins over top-five teams. He potted an NCHC-best nine goals in November, including two game-winners, and added four assists. The WMU assistant captain tallied at least a point in six of the Broncos’ eight November games and had three multi-point and multi-goal games in the month.
Frank opened November strong with a two-goal, three-point outing in a 4-3 win over Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 5, including scoring the game-winning goal late in the game. On Nov. 19, he tied an NCHC record with four goals in a 6-2 win over St. Cloud State and notched a career-high five points, again scoring the game-winner. He was named NCHC Forward of the Week for his efforts after becoming the first Bronco since 2006 to score four goals in a game. Frank also ended his month in style, burying three goals in a sweep at St. Lawrence on Nov. 26-27, including notching his 100th career point with his first goal on Nov. 27.
Three of Frank’s nine goals in November came on the power play, while one was short-handed (Nov. 5 vs. UMD). He fired 29 shots on goal in the eight November games and posted a +5 plus/minus. Frank’s effort wasn’t only on the offensive end, as one of the team’s top penalty killers he helped the penalty kill unit go 29-for-34 (85.2 percent) in the month.
On the season, Frank leads the NCAA with 15 goals and a 1.07 goals per game average, while his 22 points are fourth in the country and second in the NCHC behind only Worrad.
Frank is now eligible for Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) National Player of the Month, which will be announced on Thursday.
Goaltender of the Month
Ryan Fanti, Minnesota Duluth
Junior Goaltender
Thunder Bay, Ont.
Fanti was nearly unbeatable in November, allowing only eight goals in eight games, while posting a 5-2-1 record in the Bulldogs’ net. He allowed more than one goal only twice in his eight outings, while recording shutouts in half his games (four), which were the first four whitewashes of his career. He compiled a 1.00 goals-against average in November and a .957 save percentage, both of which were tops in the NCHC during the month, as Fanti turned aside 177 shots of the 185 he faced in over 480 minutes of action.
After dropping UMD’s first game in November, Fanti bounced back to shut out Western Michigan on the road with a career-high 35 saves on Nov. 6. The following weekend he kept his shutout streak going, blanking Colorado College back-to-back on Nov. 12-13 to give him three straight shutouts, while also denying CC on all three of their shootout attempts after a scoreless tie Nov. 13. Fanti earned NCHC Goaltender of the Week for his work after becoming the first Bulldog and NCHC goalie to pitch back-to-back-to-back shutouts since Hunter Shepard during the 2017-18 season.
Fanti saw his shutout streak end at 189 minutes on Nov. 19 at North Dakota (a 4-1 win), but he earned his fourth shutout of the month in his final game of the month on Nov. 27 against Alaska with a 19-save effort. Fanti again gloved NCHC Goalie of the Week honors for allowing only one goal in a sweep of the Nanooks.
On the season, Fanti is 9-2-1 in 12 starts with a .946 save percentage and a 1.25 goals-against average. Both his save percentage and GAA rank third nationally and first in the NCHC, while his four shutouts tie for third in the NCAA and lead all NCHC netminders.
Fanti is now eligible for Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) National Goaltender of the Month, which will be announced on Thursday.
ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
Carter Mazur, Denver
Freshman Forward
Jackson, Mich.
After tallying only three points in his first month as a Pioneer, Mazur erupted for seven points in six games in November, trailing only his teammate Massimo Rizzo (2-6-8) in NCHC freshman scoring. Five of his seven points were goals, again tops among NCHC freshmen in November, scoring a goal in each of his final four games of the month. The Detroit Red Wings draft pick notched two multi-point games in November, as well, to help Denver to a 4-2-0 record in the month.
Mazur recorded all seven of his points in his final four games of November, starting with a career-high three points in a 5-3 win over Western Michigan Nov. 12, tallying the game-winning goal. It was also his first multi-assist game as a Pioneer. He scored a goal the next night as well to help cap a sweep and earn NCHC Rookie of the Week honors. The following weekend, Mazur potted three goals in a sweep of Miami, including two in the series finale Nov. 20 for his second career multi-goal game.
Mazur fired 20 shots on goal in DU’s six November games and posted a +4 plus/minus, while blocking three shots. On the season, he is tied for the NCAA lead among freshmen with seven goals and has 10 points in 12 games so far.
Mazur is now eligible for Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) National Rookie of the Month, which will be announced on Thursday.
OTHER NOMINEES:
Player of the Month
Noah Cates, Sr., F, UMD
Kevin Fitzgerald, Gr., F, SCSU
Jake Sanderson, So., D, UND
Carter Savoie, So., F, Denver
Tyler Weiss, Sr., F, Omaha
Goaltender of the Month
Brandon Bussi, Jr., WMU
Magnus Chrona, Jr., Denver
Austin Roden, Jr., Omaha
Rookie of the Month
Cameron Berg, F, Omaha
Matteo Costantini, F, UND
Carter Loney, F, UMD
Jack Peart, D, SCSU
--#NCHCHockey--