NCHC Players of the Month Archive

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Starting the 2022 calendar year strong, four National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) players from four different teams have earned NCHC monthly honors for January, including two sharing Rookie of the Month honors. St. Cloud State senior defenseman Nick Perbix garnered NCHC Player of the Month for January, while Denver junior Magnus Chrona gloved NCHC Goaltender of the Month accolades. Western Michigan forward Max Sasson and Miami forward Red Savage split the rookie honors as both earned Co-Rookie of the Month.

This is Perbix’s first career NCHC monthly award, while he’s the first defenseman to earn NCHC Player of the Month since Scott Perunovich in February of 2020. Chrona captured his second career NCHC Goalie of the Month award and first since his first month in collegiate hockey in October of 2019. It’s the first Rookie of the Month nod for both Sasson and Savage.

Player of the Month

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

Perbix was an offensive machine from the blue line for the Huskies in the first month of the new year, leading all NCHC skaters with 12 points and 10 assists in January, while also scoring two goals in five games. The 2022 U.S. Olympian recorded points in four of his five games in January and had multiple points in three contests, averaging 2.4 points per game in the month.

Perbix opened the month and calendar year by handing out an assist on SCSU’s first goal of 2022 in a 5-2 win over Bemidji State on New Year’s Day. He then tied an NCHC record for points in a game by tallying six points in an 11-1 win over Miami on Jan. 21. The Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick scored a goal and handed out five assists, becoming the first NCHC blue liner to record six points in a game and only the second NCHC skater to put up six points in a game, which also tied an SCSU program record. The 11 goals also tied an NCHC record for goals in a conference game. Perbix handed out two more helpers to complete the sweep a night later, while helping blank Miami, 8-0, en route to NCHC Defenseman of the Week honors. He then closed out January strong with three points in his final game before heading to China for the Winter Olympics. Perbix had a hand in all three SCSU goals in a 3-3 tie at North Dakota on Jan. 29, assisting on the first and third goals, while scoring the second on a breakaway.

Five of Perbix’s 10 assists in January came on the power play, helping quarterback the Huskies’ power play to an NCAA-leading 37.8 percent success rate on the season. Defensively, he blocked seven shots in the month and posted a +1 plus/minus, while firing six shots on goal from the blue line. On the season, Perbix now ranks third nationally among defensemen in assists with 20 and is ninth in points with 23.

Perbix is now eligible for Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) National Player of the Month, which will be announced on Thursday.

Goaltender of the Month

Magnus Chrona, Denver
Junior Goaltender
Stockholm, Sweden

Chrona went undefeated in the month of January, backstopping Denver to a 6-0-1 record in the month while playing every minute in net, including winning his final six starts. He allowed only 12 goals in seven games, stopping 138 of 150 shots faced for a .920 save percentage in January, which led all NCHC goalies. Chrona also posted a sparkling 1.67 goals-against average, again tops in the NCHC last month, while recording three straight shutouts, becoming only the sixth NCHC goalie ever to log three straight whitewashes and only the third in Denver program history.

After a 20-save win over Omaha on Jan. 15, 5-2, Chrona started his shutout streak by blanking the Mavericks in the series finale with a 31-save effort, his most stops ever in one of his seven career shutouts. The San Jose Sharks prospect kept the momentum going by blanking rival Colorado College both nights of a sweep Jan. 21-22, totaling 37 saves in the 5-0 and 4-0 wins, the first time CC had been blanked on a weekend in the history of the Gold Pan rivalry. Chrona’s career-long shutout streak of 198:10 came to an end at Miami on Jan. 28, but marked the fifth-longest shutout streak in NCHC history, the third-longest in Denver history and the longest this season in the NCHC. Chrona garnered back-to-back NCHC Goaltender of the Week awards for his outings against Omaha and CC.

Chrona pushed his unbeaten streak to eight games in the month of January (7-0-1), tying the longest of his career. He has now started 18 straight games for DU, going 14-1-1 in his last 16 starts. On the season, Chrona has four shutouts, tying for the NCHC lead and fifth nationally, while he carries a .911 save percentage and a 2.11 GAA, with the latter ranking 13th nationally.

Chrona is now eligible for Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) National Goaltender of the Month, which will be announced on Thursday.

Co-Rookie of the Month

Max Sasson, Western Michigan
Freshman Forward
Birmingham, Mich.

Sasson had a breakout month of January, helping WMU go 3-1-0 in four games. He compiled five points in the month, tallying at least a point in all four games to average 1.25 points per game, tops among NCHC rookies in the month. Sasson potted pair of goals and dished out three assists in January.

Sasson opened January with two assists in a 4-1 win over then-No. 9/10 North Dakota on Jan. 21, assisting on the Broncos’ first and fourth goals of the game, for his second career multi-point game. He then netted the game-winning goal on his first career short-handed goal the following night in a 2-0 win over the Fighting Hawks. He was named NCHC Rookie of the Week following his work against UND. Sasson scored his other goal of the month in a 5-4 loss at then-No. 7 Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 28. He then closed January with an assist on the overtime game-winner in the 3-2 victory over the Bulldogs the following night.

Sasson doubled his season point total in January, as he now has 10 points (5g, 5a) on the season in 24 games. He also fired 11 shots on goal in the month, including a career-high five at UMD on Jan. 28, and posted a +3 plus/minus in January.

Sasson is now eligible for Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) National Rookie of the Month, which will be announced on Thursday.

Co-Rookie of the Month

Red Savage, Miami
Freshman Forward
Scottsdale, Ariz.

Savage had a strong month of January, more than doubling his season point total, as he tied for the NCHC rookie lead with eight points in nine games for Miami. Savage’s five goals in January led all NCHC freshmen by himself, as he entered the month with one goal all season, but recorded his first two career multi-goal games. The Detroit Red Wings draft pick also handed out three assists in the month, tallying a point in six of nine games.

Savage opened the month with a bang, potting two goals against Mercyhurst on Jan. 4 for his first career multi-goal game, staking Miami to a 2-0 lead. After an assist against Colorado College, Savage scored a goal at Minnesota Duluth in the opener Jan. 14. He then assisted on the tying goal in a draw at UMD a night later, when he also scored in the shootout to earn Miami the extra NCHC point. Savage capped his month with three points against then-No. 5 Denver. He potted two goals on Jan. 28 for his second multi-goal game, which put Miami up 4-2 in an eventual, 5-4 defeat, before adding an assist in the finale. He was named NCHC Rookie of the Week twice in January.

Savage fired 25 shots on goal in Miami’s nine January games, giving him a .200 shooting percentage for the month. On the season, he now has 15 points on six goals and nine assists in 25 games, tying for third on the team in scoring.

Savage 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
Nicklas Andrews, So., D, CC
Blake Biondi, So., F, UMD
Bobby Brink, Jr., F, Denver
Riese Gaber, So., F, UND
Brett Stapley, Sr., F, Denver

Goaltender of the Month
None

Rookie of the Month
Sean Behrens, D, Denver

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