COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With the first month of 2023 in the books, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) announced its January Players of the Month on Wednesday, with three different teams earning the honors. Starting the new year with a bang, St. Cloud State senior forward Jami Krannila captured NCHC Player of the Month for January, while North Dakota freshman forward Jackson Blake earned Rookie of the Month and Omaha freshman netminder Simon Latkoczy gloved Goaltender of the Month.
 
This is Krannila’s first NCHC Player of the Month honor and second career NCHC monthly award, earning Rookie of the Month in December of 2019. These are the first career NCHC monthly honors for both Blake and Latkoczy.
 
All three NCHC monthly honorees – Krannila, Blake and Latkoczy – are now eligible for Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) January National Player, Rookie and Goaltender of the Month, respectively. HCA national monthly honors will be announced next Tuesday, Feb. 7.
 
PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Jami Krannila, St. Cloud State
Senior Forward
Nokia, Finland
 
Krannila helped lead the Huskies to three wins over top-3 teams in January and a 4-4 team record, racking up five goals and eight points in eight games. His five goals tied for the NCHC lead during the month, while he also dished out three assists. Krannila recorded four multi-point games in January, all in his last five games of the month, including a pair of multi-goal efforts.
 
Krannila opened his scoring in 2023 on Jan. 14 with a two-point outing, tallying a goal and an assist on the game-winner in a 4-0 shutout of Colorado College. The following Friday, the Finn scored two goals, including the game-winner, in a 7-3 victory over then-No. 3 Denver. He chipped in two primary assists in the series finale with the Pioneers on Jan. 21, setting up both goals in a 2-0 shutout, to cap a four-point weekend and earn NCHC Forward of the Week. Krannila notched his second multi-goal game of the month on Jan. 28 at Minnesota Duluth, striking twice on the power play.
 
Krannila posted a +4 plus/minus in January and now ranks fifth nationally in plus/minus at +20. The SCSU assistant captain also won 52.8 percent of his faceoffs last month, going 47-42 in the center circle. Krannila fired 23 shots on goal in January and blocked three shots.
 
On the season, Krannila is tied for 12th nationally and fourth in the NCHC with 31 points in 26 games, scoring 15 goals and adding 16 assists. His 15 goals tie for sixth in the NCHC and 14th in the NCAA.
 
ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
Jackson Blake, North Dakota
Freshman Forward
Eden Prairie, Minn.
 
Blake continued his stellar freshman season with a stellar start to 2023, helping North Dakota post a 5-3-0 record. The Carolina Hurricanes draft pick tallied nine points in January, tying for the NCHC scoring lead last month. The nine points led all NCHC rookies in January by two, as Blake scored three goals and dished out six assists. The six helpers tied for second in the NCHC and first among freshmen last month. Blake tallied a point in five of UND’s eight games in January, including three multi-point outings.
 
Blake started 2023 by winning a bronze medal with Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Championship on Jan. 5 in Nova Scotia, then flew directly to Grand Forks and dished out an assist a day later in a win over Lindenwood. He doled out two more helpers against Western Michigan on Jan. 14 and made it back-to-back multi-point games with a goal and an assist on the game-winner against Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 20. Blake then wrapped up the month with four points in a sweep at Miami on Jan. 27-28. He scored a goal both nights, including the opening goal on Friday, before notching a career-high three points in Saturday’s 8-0 shutout with a pair of assists on UND’s first three goals and scoring the fourth himself.
 
Of Blake’s three goals in January, two came on the power play. He fired 17 shots on goal in the month and also blocked six shots.
 
On the season, Blake has a team-best 30 points, which ranks second among NCHC freshmen and sixth among all NCHC skaters. His 12 goals are 10th in the NCHC and second among NCHC freshmen, while he’s also dished out 18 assists to rank sixth in the conference. Blake is the first UND rookie to record 30 points in a season since Tyson Jost in 2016-17.
 
GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH
Simon Latkoczy, Omaha
Freshman Goaltender
Trencin, Slovakia
 
Latkoczy was nearly unbeatable in January, allowing only three goals in four games played, while posting a perfect 3-0-0 record as the starter in net. The Slovak recorded shutouts in two of his three January starts, for a sterling 0.82 goals-against average last month. His 0.82 GAA led the NCHC and was first nationally in January, while his .974 save percentage was second in the NCAA and first among all players with more than one game played in the month. Latkoczy totaled 112 saves and averaged an NCHC-best 28.0 saves per game in January, as well.
 
Latkoczy opened 2023 with 31 saves in a 6-1 win over Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 14. The following Saturday, he earned his first collegiate shutout with a 21-save performance in a 2-0 victory over Miami.  Latkoczy entered in relief on Friday, Jan. 27 at then-No. 9 Western Michigan, allowing only two goals while making 20 saves over the final 40 minutes after Omaha already trailed 4-1. He got the nod in net the next night and made a career-high 40 saves in another 2-0 shutout, blanking the Broncos, who were averaging an NCAA-best 4.37 goals per game. Latkoczy was named NCHC Co-Goaltender of the Week for his efforts at WMU.
 
On the season, Latkoczy improved to 7-2-0 with the three wins. He upped his season save percentage to .932 and lowered his GAA to 1.82, both of which are tops in the NCHC this year and second nationally.
 
OTHER NOMINEES:
 
Player of the Month
Riese Gaber, Jr., F, North Dakota
 
Goaltender of the Month
Magnus Chrona, Sr., Denver
Drew DeRidder, 5th, North Dakota
 
Rookie of the Month
Aidan Thompson, F, Denver