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Roman Augustoviz spends Minnesota's winters covering college hockey, specifically the Gophers, and other University of Minnesota sports. During the summer, he writes about the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, with a dose of U sports sprinkled in. Follow him on Twitter @RomanStrib.
Posts about Gophers awards and honors
National rookies of the month in men's, women's hockey both Gophers
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: December 6, 2012 - 1:27 AM
At the start of this season, the great unknown with the Gophers men's hockey team was in the nets. Could Adam Wilcox or Mike Shibrowski handle the job?
Shibby is hurt now and not playing. Wilcox is playing at an elite level. So well that on Wednesday Wilcox was named the Hockey Commissioners Association's (HCA) rookie of the month for November.
Wilcox, a freshmen who played for Tri-City of the USHL last season and hails from South St. Paul, was 5-2-2 with a 1.75 goals-against average last month and a .925 save percentage.
He gave up two or fewer goals in eight of his nine starts and had a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2).
Justin Johnson, in his fourth season as a volunteer men's goalie coach at the U, works with Wilcox and the other goalies on the men's team.
Here is where Wilcox stands among WCHA goalies in key categories in overall games:
1st -- 1.61 goals-against average
1st in wins -- 9-2-2
3rd -- .925 save percentage
He is a Tampa Bay draft pick.
WOMEN'S NATIONAL ROOKIE ALSO GOPHER
Freshman center Hannah Brandt of the Gophers women's hockey team is the American Hockey Coaches Association's rookie of the month for November.
Brandt had six goals and eight assists for 14 points. She has 18 goals overall and 45 points, second in the nation behind only teammate Amanda Kessel who has 48 points.
The Gophers are 18-0 this season and have won 26 games in a row, an NCAA record. They also have 15 consecutive road wins, which ties another NCAA mark. They can break it Friday in the first game of a two-game series at Bemidji State.
MEN'S PLAYER OF MONTH FROM ROSEMOUNT
The HCA's national player of the month is another Minnesotan, junior forward Ryan Walters of Nebraska Omaha.
The Mavericks were 7-0-0 last month and Walters was a big reason why. The 6-0, 196-pound Walters, who is from Rosemount and played for St. Thomas Academy, had six goals and nine assists for 15 points in seven games.
He had no points in the first game of the month, then had multi-points the next six. He also had a five-game streak with at least one goal.
Walters, who originally committed to the Gophers, leads the WCHA in points (6-14-20) and has played in 89 consecutive games.
He left St. Thomas Academy after his sophomore season to play in the USHL for two years. But when the Gophers asked him to play a third, instead of bringing him in after high school, he started looking at other schools.
Walters was a plus-8 in November and had 31 shots on goal, an average of 4.4 per game.
RATY ON ROLL
Senior goalie Noora Raty of the Gophers women's hockey team also earned an honor Wednesday. She was named the WCHA defensive player of the week for the second time this season and the 11th time in her career.
She made 41 saves as the Gophers swept Wisconsin in a series for the first time since 2005. She had 22 saves in the first game, 19 in the second which the Gophers won 2-0.
She had seven shutouts this season, 33 in her her career; 39 is the national record. Raty has 92 career victories, 100 is the NCAA record in women's hockey.
Andy Kent, a former Augsburg College goalie, works with Raty. He is in his first season as the volunteer goalie coach for the Gophers women's hockey team. Kent also coaches goalies for the Roseville boys' hockey team and at a goalie school called MEGA goaltending.
ROAD WARRIORS
Alabama-Huntsville, one of the teams in the Mariucci Classic, is having a rough season. The Chargers are 1-12-1.
Last season, it looked like the school would drop the program which really played havoc with this season's schedule. Many team dropped UAH and, when the program was revived, the Chargers had to take any games they could get.
That's why UAH, an independent for the third season, is playing 20 of it 22 games against Division I opponents on the road, either at neutral sites -- like Minneapolis in the Mariucci Classic later this month -- or in opponents' arenas.
But the Chargers keep plugging away, hoping they will be the 10th team in the new WCHA. For a story on the program, go here.
Two Gophers among WCHA women's players of week
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: November 7, 2012 - 12:01 PMJunior forward Amanda Kessel of Madison, Wis., is the WCHA's offensive player of the week. She had one goal and three assists as the U of M swept Minnesota Duluth 4-1, 4-0 on the road.
She has 15 goals and 17 assists for 32 points in 11 games for the No. 1-ranked Gophers (12-0-0).
Center Hannah Brandt, of Vadnais Heights, is the conference's rookie of the week. She had two assists in both UMD games. So for the season, she has 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points -- one ahead of Kessel -- in 12 games.
Kessel has received the same award twice, Brandt three times.
The defensive player of the week is Wisconsin junior goalie Alex Rigsby of Delafield, Wis. She shut out Minnesota State Mankato 2-0 and 5-0. She had 36 saves in the two games. ... Gophers defenseman Megan Bozek also was nominated for this award.
Two Gophers women hockey players earn WCHA honors
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: October 25, 2012 - 1:49 AMSenior goalie Noora Raty is nearing the end of a wondrous career at the U of M. Raty won her 82nd and 83rd games last weekend as the Gophers swept Ohio State 7-2 and 8-0. She is now tied in career victories at the U with Jody Horak for first on the all-time list.
She also earned her 10th WCHA defensive player of the week award. She was actually co-defensive player this week with sr. goalie Jorid Dagfinrud of North Dakota. Dagfinrud is from Sarpsborg, Norway and was in nets for UND's 3-1 and 1-0 sweep of St. Cloud State. She stopped 34 of 35 shots.
Raty stopped 15 shots the first night, 20 the second in her 30th shutout. The Gophers play at UND this weekend, so Raty, of Espoo, Finland, will probably face Dagfinrud.
FRESHMAN STAYS HOT
Hannak Brandy of Vadnais Heights, a forward for the Gophers, is the offensive player of the week. She had two goals and two assists for the U in the first game against the Buckeyes and two more assists in the second.
She has 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points in eight games. She was a plus-7 for the weekend.
* Tracy McCann, a junior forward for Minnesota State, was named the offensive player of the week. She had one goal and two assists as the Mavericks tied UMD 3-3 and then won the shootout on another goal of hers. She also had the goal as MSU Mankato beat the Bulldogs 1-0 in their second game.
Gophers center Bjugstad named WCHA's offensive player of week
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: October 16, 2012 - 10:33 PMGophers forward Nick Bjugstad is the WCHA's offensive player of the week. He had two game-winners -- the fifth and sixth of his career --as the U beat Michigan State 5-1 and 7-1.
He also had one assist in the series and his llne had nine points.
Bjugstad has 35 goals, 30 assists and 65 points in 71 games. This is his fourth weekly WCHA award. He was the rookie of the week twice as a freshman and was named offensive player of the week once as a sophomore.
The five other nominees were Matt Bailey, F, Alaska Anchorage; Archie Skalbeck, F, Colorado College; Milos Gordic, F, Michigan Tech; Mike Seidel, F, Minnesota Duluth and Chase Grant, F, Minnesota State.
Colorado College senior defenseman Mike Boivin, Delta, British Columbia, is the defensive player of the week.
He had two assists, 12 shots on goal and earned a +1 plus/minus rating as the Tiger swept Clarkson by 5-4 scores twice. Gophers junior goalie Michael Shibrowski was the lone other nominee. He had a shutout against the Spartans until the closing minutes the first game.
UMD forward Austin Farley, Niles, Ill., is the rookie of the week. Farley had a goal and two assists as the Bulldogs beat Ohio State 6-2 on Friday. He also had an assist the second game which UMD lost 3-2.
Gophers defenseman Brady Skjie and CC forward Hunter Fejes also were nominated.
DU LOADED ON DEFENSE
Denver coach George Gwozdecky could go with a three-man rotation in the nets if he wanted to.
“Any successful team has to be strong down the middle,” Gwozdecky said during Pioneers' media day. “We have three outstanding goaltenders in Sam Brittain, Adam Murray and Juho Olkinuora all returning, and all of whom give us a chance to win any game.
"We’re going to be extremely strong on the blueline with great depth, not only with the incoming talent we have, but from our returning players as well, led by captain Paul Phillips. And last but not least, we’re going to be pretty strong down the middle up front. Nick Shore and Shawn Ostrow, just to name a few of our outstanding centermen. What we don’t know is where we’re going to get the offense from our wings. We’re hoping the guys like Ty Loney, Daniel Doremus, Chris Knowlton and Zac Larraza, just to name a few, will be able to add the firepower we need.”
Denver was picked to finish third in the WCHA and is No. 7 and 8 in the two national polls.
“The history of the [Denver] program has a lot of success, and a lot of tradition,” Gwozdecky said. “No matter where you go and no matter what year it is, I think people know DU is going to have one of the top teams in the conference and one of the top teams in the country.
"They’ll look at [this year’s] team a little differently, but I think no matter who is playing for us, and no matter who is in our lineup, we’re capable of winning any game that we’re in.”
Phillips talked about how the Pioneers are not overlooking anyone, including UMass-Lowell this weekend.
“We’re stressing the importance of these games, because last season we had some lapses in nonconference games,” Phillips said. “[The game against] Alabama Huntsville comes to mind, and that will not happen this year. It can’t happen this year. That’s a focal point for us going forward.”
* Referee Peter Friesema has been suspended indefinitely by the WCHA pending a review of an off-ice incident that occurred at the Anchorage International Airport on Sunday.
Gophers picked No. 1 in one very early preseason hockey poll
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: May 25, 2012 - 1:52 AMWhat does the calendar say? May 25.
No matter. College hockey web sites write about hockey year round.
INCH has come out with is preseason top 10 and at the top are the Gophers. Michigan is No. 2 and North Dakota No. 3.
Here is INCH's blurb on the Gophers:
Assuming Bjugstad returns for his junior season instead of turning pro, the Gophers’ lineup will boast seven players who scored 20 or more points last season. Good thing they’ll score a ton, because Minnesota must break in a pair of untested goaltenders—junior Mike Shibrowski (20 career minutes played) and rookie Adam Wilcox, a South St. Paul, Minn., native who spent the last two seasons in the USHL with Green Bay and Tri-City.
Comment: Not sure the defense will be a huge concern. Shibrowski or Wilcox just have to be average. They might not see a lot of shots. Top six defensemen return from last season, plus the Gophers add two potential stars on the blue line: freshmen Brady Skjei of the national development team in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Mike Reilly of Penticton of the BCHL.
Skjei is expected to be a lower first round pick in the NHL draft next month. Reilly said a Vees' team record for points in a single regular season. He had more than 80 points before the playoffs, which ended with the Vees winning the national Junior A title.
Bjugstad still has not said whether he will sign with the NHL's Florida Panthers, who have his rights, or return to the Gophers for his junior year. He had 25 goals last season.
To read the INCH top 10, click here.
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