COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After becoming the first freshman defenseman to ever win National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Player of the Month on Tuesday, Denver rookie blue liner Zeev Buium has been named the HCA Men’s National Co-Player of the Month for November, the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) announced Friday. Buium is the second straight Pioneer to be named HCA National Player of the Month after junior forward Massimo Rizzo earned the honor for October.
 
Buium (San Diego, Calif.) shared the men’s National Player of the Month spotlight with Lake Superior State senior forward Jared Westcott. Both players tied for the NCAA lead in November with 14 points.
 
Buium was dominant at both ends of the ice in November, helping Denver to a 6-2-0 record last month. He led all NCHC players in points (14), points-per-game (1.75), assists (11) and plus/minus (+13) during the month. Along with his 11 helpers, the 17-year-old scored three goals in November and had three multi-point outings. Buium tallied at least a point in all eight games in November for a career-long eight-game point streak, tying for the longest by a DU freshman defenseman since 2002 (with current junior Sean Behrens).
 
Buium dished out an assist each night in a sweep of rival Colorado College to start the month on Nov. 3-4. He scored his first goal of the month on Nov. 10 at Arizona State, before handing out two helpers in an 8-4 win the next night. The draft-eligible prospect had a four-point weekend in a split with Omaha Nov. 17-19, including a then-career-high three points (1g/2a) in an 8-4 victory in the opener Nov. 17.
 
Buium saved his best for the last weekend of November, tallying five points in a 14-0 sweep of Yale to earn NCHC Defenseman of the Week. He scored a goal in a 5-0 win on Nov. 24, then doled out a career-high four assists and points in a 9-0 win a night later when he was +5. The four-assist game was only the third by any NCAA freshman blue liner since 2016.
 
Along with his offense, Buium blocked three shots in November and played on a penalty kill unit that was 23-for-27 (85.2 percent) last month.
 
On the season, Buium leads all NCHC defensemen with 14 assists and 18 points, while adding four goals, which ties for the NCHC blue liner lead. His +16 plus/minus also leads all NCHC defensemen and is third overall in the NCHC.
 
Along with Buium and Westcott, Penn State freshman forward Aiden Fink was named HCA Men’s Rookie of the Month and American International College freshman Nils Wallstrom gloved Men’s Goaltender of the Month for November. Denver freshman Miko Matikka was a runner-up for National Rookie of the Month, while Western Michigan senior Cameron Rowe was a runner-up for National Goaltender of the Month, after both earned NCHC monthly honors for November.
 
Buium and the No. 3 Denver Pioneers host No. 2 North Dakota in a top-3 showdown at Magness Arena Friday and Saturday, with both games available on NCHC.tv.