COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – On the final weekend of non-conference play, four first-time winners emerged as the KJ Branding National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Players of the Week for the week of Jan. 2-8, 2023, with three teams represented. Earning KJ Branding NCHC honors for week 14 are Denver sophomore Massimo Rizzo for Forward of the week, North Dakota junior Tyler Kleven for Defenseman of the Week, St. Cloud State senior Jaxon Castor for Goaltender of the Week and UND forward Ben Strinden for Rookie of the Week.

These are the first NCHC weekly honors of the season for all four recipients and the first career NCHC weekly honor for Kleven, Castor and Strinden. Rizzo earned NCHC Rookie of the Week once last season.
 
FORWARD OF THE WEEK
Massimo Rizzo, Denver
Sophomore Forward
Burnaby, B.C.

Rizzo recorded three points in a split with Alaska last weekend, while stretching his point streak to a career-long nine games (6g/5a in that span). In Friday’s opener with the Nanooks, Rizzo scored DU’s lone goal on the power play in a 3-1 loss. A night later, the Carolina Hurricanes draft pick tallied a goal and an assist in a 7-2 victory. His goal broke a 1-1 tie in the first period, while he had the primary assist on a power play goal to make it a 4-1 contest in the third period.

Rizzo compiled two goals and an assist in the series, while firing five shots on goal against UAF. He was +2 on Saturday and finished the weekend +1. Rizzo also won 16-of-28 faceoffs against the Nanooks.

On the season, Rizzo leads the Pioneers and ranks fifth nationally (third in the NCHC) with 29 points, including 10 goals and 19 assists.

DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK
Tyler Kleven, North Dakota
Junior Defenseman
Fargo, N.D.

Kleven had a massive weekend offensively, scoring four goals in a sweep of Lindenwood, including both game-winning goals. The Ottawa Senators prospect tallied two goals both nights for the first two multi-goal games of his college career. They were only his second and third career multi-point games as a Fighting Hawk, as well. In Friday’s series opener, Kleven helped UND rally from 3-1 down to a 4-3 win. He blasted a power play goal to make it a 3-2 game, before scoring the game-winner on the power play with 3:15 left in regulation. A night later, Kleven did it again, helping turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 victory. On Saturday he tied the game at 2-2 even strength, then scored his third power play goal and second game-winner of the weekend to break the 2-2 tie with 8:04 left in regulation.

Kleven completed the series with four points, tying for the most of any NCHC player on the weekend, while his four goals led all NCHC players. He fired a career-high seven shots on goal in Saturday’s win and ended with an NCHC-best 11 shots on the weekend. Kleven also posted a +3 plus/minus, while helping UND finish the weekend 3-for-7 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill against the Lions.

Kleven now has seven career game-winning goals, tying for the second-most among defensemen in North Dakota history. On the season, he now has five goals and 11 points after entering with only one goal and seven points all year.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Jaxon Castor, St. Cloud State
Senior Goaltender
Phoenix, Ariz.

Castor was stellar between the pipes for the Huskies, backstopping SCSU to a win and overtime loss against then-No. 3/1 Minnesota. In Saturday’s series opener, the senior stopped all 23 shots he faced for his first career shutout in a 3-0 victory at home. It was SCSU’s first whitewash of the Golden Gophers since 2001 and marked the first time in 59 games (since March 28, 2021) Minnesota was held scoreless. A day later in Minneapolis, Castor made 28 more saves in a 2-1 overtime loss, with neither goal on Sunday coming 5-on-5 (one power play and one in 3-on-3 overtime).

Castor finished the series with a 0.96 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage, both tops in the NCHC on the weekend. He compiled 51 saves on 53 shots faced in the split with Minnesota, while helping SCSU go 5-for-6 on the penalty kill with four short-handed saves.

On the season, Castor is now 8-3-0 while lowering his GAA to 1.90 and upping his save percentage to .927. Both Castor’s save percentage and GAA rank in the top-10 nationally, with his save percentage fifth and his GAA ranking eighth.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Ben Strinden, North Dakota
Freshman Forward
Fargo, N.D.
 
Strinden doubled his season point total last weekend, picking up three points in a sweep of Lindenwood. In Friday’s opener, he dished out the primary assist on the game-tying goal in the third period to complete a two-goal comeback as UND went on to win, 4-3. The next night, he recorded his second career multi-point game, again helping North Dakota rally for a 4-2 win. Trailing 2-0, Strinden scored his second goal of the season early in the second period to get UND on the board, then assisted on the game-tying goal less than five minutes later.
 
Strinden completed the series with a goal and two assists, while firing four shots on goal, including three on Saturday. He also posted a +2 plus/minus. Strinden now has two goals and four assists for six points in 12 games this season.
 
OTHER NOMINEES:
 
Forward of the Week
Luke Loheit, Sr., Minnesota Duluth
Nick Portz, So., North Dakota

Defenseman of the Week
Mike Benning, Jr., Denver
Wyatt Kaiser, Jr., Minnesota Duluth

Goaltender of the Week
Jakob Hellsten, So., North Dakota
Zach Stejskal, Jr., Minnesota Duluth
 
Rookie of the Week
None