Previous Bauer NCHC Players of the Week

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Following a weekend with a slew of shutouts and full of record-breaking performances, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) has named five Bauer NCHC Players of the Week for the week of Jan. 17-23, 2022. Garnering Bauer NCHC weekly honors for week 15 are Denver senior Cole Guttman for Forward of the Week, St. Cloud State senior Nick Perbix for Defenseman of the Week, Western Michigan forward Max Sasson for Rookie of the Week and WMU junior Brandon Bussi and Denver junior Magnus Chrona, who shared Goaltender of the Week.

Chrona repeats his honor, while it’s the third of the season for both him and Bussi. Perbix picked up his second Defenseman of the Week nod this season and fifth of his career, while Guttman garnered his first NCHC honor of the season and second career Forward of the Week award. This is Sasson’s first NCHC weekly honor of any kind.

Forward of the Week

Cole Guttman, Denver
Senior Forward
Los Angeles, Calif.

Guttman powered the Pioneers to a sweep of in-state rival Colorado College, helping DU retain the Gold Pan for the third straight season. In Friday’s opener, the DU captain scored the game’s first goal only 3:20 into the contest on the power play. Guttman’s tally served as the game-winner in a 5-0 victory, which kept the Pioneers unbeaten on home ice. A night later, the Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick potted two goals for his first multi-goal game of the season. He scored DU’s second and third goals to stretch the Pioneers lead in an eventual 4-0 victory on the road to seal the home-and-home sweep. The two goals also put Guttman in the Century Club with 100 points (45g/55a) for his collegiate career (121 games played).

Guttman finished the weekend with three goals, including a game-winner, on nine shots on goal, seven of which he fired on Saturday. He also posted a +3 plus/minus in the series.

On the season, Guttman now has 24 points, tying for third on his team, on nine goals and 15 assists in 22 games. His 15 helpers are second among the Pioneers.

Guttman is now a two-time NCHC Forward of the Week, first earning the award as a sophomore, while he was also a two-time NCHC Rookie of the Week as a freshman in 2018-19.

Defenseman of the Week

Nick Perbix, St. Cloud State
Senior Defenseman
Elk River, Minn.

Perbix had a monster weekend on the blue line to lead St. Cloud State to a record-setting weekend against Miami. The Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick compiled eight points in the sweep of the RedHawks, helping the Huskies rack up an NCHC record 19 goals on the weekend. Perbix set an NCHC record himself with six points in Friday’s 11-1 victory, becoming the first NCHC defenseman to tally six points in a game, while he’s also the first skater at any position to record six points in a conference game (only one other player has a six-point game in NCHC history in any game). On Friday, Perbix handed out a career-high five assists, four of which were primary and two of which came short-handed, while scoring SCSU’s fifth goal even strength. He’s only the second NCHC defenseman to record five assists in game.

A night later, Perbix helped blank Miami in an 8-0 victory. He also handed out two more primary assists, both on the power play, giving him three power-play helpers in the series. Perbix had the primary assist on the game-winning goal both nights against the RedHawks, with both coming on the man advantage.

Perbix ended the series with a goal, seven assists (six primary), three shots on goal, a blocked shot and a +2 plus/minus, which he earned Friday. He also anchored a penalty kill unit that went 10-for-10 in the sweep with three short-handed goals and played on a power play that went 4-for-5 in the series.

On the season, Perbix, a member of the 2022 U.S. Olympic Team, now has 20 points (2g/18a), with 15 of those points coming in his last six games. His 18 assists tie for fourth nationally among blue liners. This is Perbix’s second Defenseman of the Week honor this season and fifth of his career.

Co-Goaltender of the Week

Brandon Bussi, Western Michigan
Junior Goaltender
Sound Beach, N.Y.

Bussi was stellar in net to backstop Western Michigan to a sweep of North Dakota, allowing only one goal all weekend. In Friday’s 4-1 win, he made 34 saves, including seven short-handed, to kill off all three UND power plays. The next night, Bussi made 24 more stops for his third shutout of the season and his career, again helping kill off all three North Dakota man advantages. He earned First Star of the Game in Saturday’s 2-0 victory.

On the weekend, Bussi compiled 58 saves on 59 shots for a .983 save percentage and a 0.50 goals-against average. He also helped kill off all six UND power plays in the series. Bussi improved to 16-5-0 in 21 starts this season and carries a .923 save percentage and a 2.21 GAA on the year, the latter two of which both rank in the top 17 nationally.

This is Bussi’s third NCHC Goalie of the Week award this season and fourth of his career.

Co-Goaltender of the Week

Magnus Chrona, Denver
Junior Goaltender
Stockholm, Sweden

Chrona was perfect all weekend against rival Colorado College to glove his second straight Goaltender of the Week award. The San Jose Sharks prospect did not allow a goal in either game to backstop DU to a sweep and secure the Gold Pan trophy for the third straight season. On Friday, he turned aside all 19 shots he faced, including 16 in the final 40 minutes, to earn First Star of the Game in a 5-0 win. A night later in Colorado Springs, Chrona made 16 more saves for his third straight shutout, including five saves short-handed to kill off all four CC power plays, in a 4-0 victory.

Chrona compiled 35 saves in the two wins for a perfect 1.000 save percentage and a 0.00 GAA. He now has four shutouts on the season, tying for fifth nationally, and seven whitewashes in his career. Chrona is now riding a shutout streak of 183:16 into next weekend’s series at Miami.

On the season, Chrona improved to 15-4-1 in his 20 starts with a .916 save percentage and a 2.02 GAA, with his GAA ranking 10th nationally.

This is Chrona’s second straight NCHC Goalie of the Week nod, third of the season and fourth of his career. He now has five career NCHC weekly honors, also earning Rookie of the Week once.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Max Sasson, Western Michigan
Freshman Forward
Birmingham, Mich.

Sasson had three points in the sweep of then-No. 9/10 North Dakota to extend his point streak to three games. In Friday’s 4-1 win he had the primary assist on WMU’s opening goal, dropping a no-look pass to Ronnie Attard on the power play. Sasson then helped seal the win with another primary assist on the power play on WMU’s fourth goal. In Saturday’s 2-0 shutout, he netted the game-winning goal with 46.1 seconds left in the first period, intercepting a pass for a short-handed breakaway goal, his first career short-handed tally. It was the only non-empty-net goal of the game and earned him Second Star of the Game.

Sasson ended the series with a goal, two assists, four shots on goal (all on Saturday) and a +2 plus/minus. It was also his first career game-winning goal. On the season, he now has four goals and eight points in 21 games.

This is Sasson’s first career NCHC weekly honor.

OTHER NOMINEES:

Forward of the Week
Kyler Kupka, Jr., SCSU

Defenseman of the Week
Ronnie Attard, Jr., WMU
Mike Benning, So., Denver

Goaltender of the Week
Dávid Hrenák, Gr., SCSU

Rookie of the Week
Sean Behrens, D, Denver
Jakob Hellsten, G, UND
Jack Peart, D, SCSU

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