NAHL Alumni Update

March 6, 2019

The senior forward guided the Wildcats to a weekend sweep of Michigan Tech in WCHA action. On Friday, he had a hat trick in a 4-2 victory against the Huskies. On Saturday, he had two more goals, including the game-winner in a 3-0 win in Marquette, Mich. The Huntington Beach, California native finished the weekend with a nation’s leading five goals on 13 shots on goal and a +4 rating. He now has a team-leading 37 points on 22 goals and 15 assists.

 

The Lindstrom, Minnesota native led the nation in points as he led the top-ranked Huskies to two victories at Western Michigan. The sophomore forward had three assists, including one on the game-winner in Friday’s 5-4 victory over the Broncos. He scored three points, which included the game-winning goal in Saturday’s 8-2 series finale. For the weekend he totaled six points on two goals and four assists to go along with nine shots on goal and a +5 rating. He is now second on the team in scoring with 34 points on 13 goals and 21 assists.

 

The junior netminder saved his best for the biggest weekend of the season for the Nanooks. In the American Airlines Governors Cup rivalry games against Alaska Anchorage, he stopped 46 of 47 shots to lead Alaska to the sweep. The Klippan, Sweden native saved all 22 Seawolves shots on Friday in a 4-0 victory for his second shutout of the season. On Saturday, he stopped 24 of the 25 UAA shots on goal in leading the Nanooks to a narrow, 2-1 win. He finished the weekend with a .979 save percentage and a 0.50 goals-against average. He also lowered his season goals-against average to 2.61, while increasing his save percentage to .914.

 

Newell led the top-ranked Huskies to an unbeaten February and the Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champions, totaling 10 points in six games to help SCSU go 5-0-1 during the month. His 10 points and 1.67 points per game both led the NCHC, while he tied for fourth in the conference with four February goals and tied for second with six assists. Newell notched points in four games, including three multi-point outings, while firing 23 shots on goal and leading the entire NCAA with a +11 plus/minus during the past month. Newell opened February with three points in a sweep of Miami. On Feb. 1, he notched the final goal in a 5-1 victory, while a night later he dished out two assists, including on the game-winner, to cap the sweep by the same score. He was named Third Star of the Game on Feb. 2. The following weekend, Newell notched a career-high four points in a 5-4 overtime win against Colorado College on Feb. 9. He scored the game-tying goal late and the game-winner in overtime, while also dishing out two assists against CC to earn First Star of the Game and NCHC Offensive Player of the Week. After being held off the scoreboard in a 4-1 win Feb. 22 at Omaha, Newell bounced back with a three-point effort the next night to complete the sweep of the Mavericks and secure SCSU’s second straight Penrose Cup. He scored the final goal in the 5-0 shutout Feb. 23 and also doled out a pair of helpers to close out his month. On the season, Newell leads St. Cloud State with both 16 goals and 35 points, while chipping in 19 assists to go with his team-best +25 plus/minus. His 35 points lead the NCHC, as well.

Stenlund started the month of February by tying the Niagara record for most consecutive games with a goal (5) during a two-goal game on February 1 at AIC, then continued to break it the following day before the streak eventually ended at eight games on February 9. He scored eight times in nine total games and added four assists for a 12-point month. Those rallies included four power play goals and a short-handed strike. Stenlund leads the nation’s freshmen with 19 goals, nine PPG, 34 points and three SHG.

 

Drew O’Connor earns Rookie of the Week for the second time this season after also receiving the award in October. The freshman had a strong close to the season, recording four points on the weekend (3G, 1A). His output was not only best among ECAC Hockey first-year players this weekend, but also among the nation’s rookies.

 

Northern Michigan's Atte Tolvanen set a school single-game record with 58 saves in Friday's win at Michigan Tech. He followed that up with a 20-save performance Saturday night to shutout the Huskies and complete NMU's two-game sweep. The shutout was the 13th of his career, which is also an NMU record. The Vihti, Finland, native also played in his school record-setting 133rd career game in the series finale. In addition to his success defending the net, he also notched an assist Saturday night. This is Tolvanen's fifth Goaltender of the Week award and his second in a row.

 

Ian Keserich of the Tulsa Oilers has been named the CCM ECHL Goaltender of the Week for the week of Feb. 25-March 3. It is the second time in his career that he has received the weekly honor. Keserich went 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and a save percentage of .944 in three appearances last week. The 33-year-old stopped 34 shots in a 5-3 win at Allen on?Friday, made 24 saves in a 2-1 victory against the Americans on Saturday and turned aside 26 shots in a 3-1 win over Kansas City on Sunday. A native of Parma, Ohio, Keserich came out of retirement and signed with the Oilers last month. He has seen action in eight games, going 5-1-0 with a 1.78 goals-against average and a save percentage of .931.