Minnesota Scene: Five St. Cloud State hockey players honored by National Collegiate Hockey Conference

Conference champion St. Cloud State landed five players on the All-NCHC first, second and honorable mention teams, while runner-up Denver had four players honored.

Making the first team at forward were Denver's Henrik Borgstrom, Colorado College's Nick Halloran and Omaha's David Pope. Defensemen were St. Cloud State's Jimmy Schuldt and Minnesota Duluth's Scott Perunovich. The goalie is Denver's Tanner Jalliet.

The second team has St. Cloud State's Mikey Eyssimont and Denver's Troy Terry and Dylan Gambrell at forward, North Dakota's Christian Wolanin and Miami of Ohio's Louie Belpedio (a Wild draft pick) on defense, and Minnesota Duluth's Hunter Shepard at goalie.

Huskies honorable mention players were forward Robby Jackson, defenseman Will Borgen and goalie David Hrenak.

Randy Johnson

The Big Ten announced finalists for its 2017-18 major season awards, and the Gophers have one player represented.

Forward Casey Mittelstadt is one of three finalists for freshman of the year. The Eden Prairie native is up against Michigan's Quinn Hughes and Michigan State's Mitch Lewandowski. Mittelstadt, a first-round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, has 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points in 38 games this season.

Randy Johnson

Snowboard athlete Mike Schultz of St. Cloud, who will compete in this month's Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, has been chosen to carry the U.S. flag in Friday's Opening Ceremony.

Schultz was elected Wednesday by fellow U.S. Paralympians to lead the 74-member delegation into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium. A multisport athlete, he has quickly become one of the world's top Paralympic snowboarders and will race in snowboard-cross and banked slalom in Pyeongchang.

"When I watch the Opening Ceremony and see that person carrying the flag, to me, it's a really big deal,'' Schultz said. "For me to be that guy for 2018 is an incredible honor. I'll be trying my hardest to hold back the tears.''

Schultz is one of three Minnesotans on the U.S. team for the Paralympics, which run through March 18. Mark Mann of Eden Prairie also will compete in snowboarding, and Park Rapids native Aaron Pike will compete in cross-country skiing and biathlon.

After six grueling races at the Pyeongchang Olympics, Jessie Diggins took only one weekend off from the World Cup schedule. On Wednesday, the cross-country skier from Afton earned a bronze medal in a classic sprint in Drammen, Norway.

Diggins, who teamed with Kikkan Randall to win the Olympic gold medal in the team sprint, had never won a World Cup medal in a classic sprint. Her strong finish on an uphill section of the course allowed her to outsprint Russia's Natalia Nepryaeva for third place. Wednesday's race came nine days after Diggins ended the Pyeongchang Winter Games with six top-seven finishes in six races.

The bronze kept her in third place in the overall World Cup standings and moved her up to fifth in the sprint standings.

"I'm really happy I could finally make the podium in the classic sprint,'' Diggins said. "My coaches and I have been working a lot on my classic. But still, I'm a bit surprised I got third today.''

RACHEL BLOUNT