Gophers' opponents keep being honored by WCHA

Picking DU goalie Marc Cheverie as WCHA Defensive Player of the Week was an easy decision. Here is the slightly edited WCHA release:

Cheverie had back-to-back shutouts as the Pioneers won twice on the road at Minnesota last weekend.

The 6-3, 180-pound junior from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia and a draftee of the NHL's Florida Panthers, Cheverie became the first goaltender to ever post back-to-back shutouts against the Golden Gophers in Minnesota. He also has posted three shutouts in a row this season and owns a scoreless streak of 203:19 to rank second all-time at DU behind Peter Mannino's 208:42.

Cheverie had 30 saves in each of the Pioneers' 3-0 victories at Minnesota and he also led DU's penalty-killing units to a perfect 11-of-11 performance in the series. It marked the first time Minnesota had been shutout in two consecutive games since 1930.

He is 4-0-0 record with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .966 saves percentage to rank first among all WCHA goaltenders. Cheverie was an all-WCHA second team pick in 2008-09.

Also nominated for this award were Alaska Anchorage goalie Bryce Christianson -- he will probably play at least one game this weekend against the U -- CC defensman Gabe Guentzel and Wisconsin defenseman Brendan Smith.

Offensive Player of Week: Bill Sweatt, CC

A 6-0, 193-pound senior from Elburn, Ill., and a draftee of the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks, Sweatt scored one goal and set up six others, including one game-winner.

In a 4-1 CC victory last Friday night, Sweatt scored the game's first goal on a power-play at 9:23 of the first period and then assisted on teammate Rylan Schwartz's second period game-winner at 10:55 on another power-play. He also had two other assists.

Last Saturday evening, Sweatt had three assists as CC overcame 3-1 and 4-2 second-period deficits to win 8-5.

Through six games, Sweatt leads all WCHA players with eight points in league play and is tied for first in scoring overall with 10 points (3g, 7a).

Others nominated for this award were DU forward Rhett Rakhshani, St. Cloud State forward Jared Festler and Wisconsin defenseman Brendan Smith again.

A 5-10, 182-pound freshman from Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Schwartz produced three scoring points and had six shots on goal in the two games.

In the Tigers' 4-1 triumph over the MTU Huskies last Friday night in Colorado Springs, Schwartz scored his first game-winner on a power-play at 10:55 of the second period.

In Colorado College's 8-5 win in the series finale last Saturday, Schwartz drew an assist on teammate Addison DeBoer's game-opening first period goal before netting the game-winner, this time on a power-play at 6:21 of period three.

Through six games as a Tiger, Schwartz is the top scoring rookie in the WCHA with two goals, five assists and seven points overall.

Also nominated for this award were DU forward Drew Shore, North Dakota goalie Aaron Dell and St. Cloud State forward Ben Hanowski.

This is a slightly edited release from the WCHA office:

Wisconsin has imposed an additional one-game suspension on freshman Craig Smith as a result of a checking from behind incident that occurred in a game on Saturday at Minnesota State, Mankato.

Smith was originally assessed a five-minute major penalty for checking from behind and a 10-minute game disqualification penalty at the 7:00 mark of the third period. That penalty carried an automatic one-game suspension.

The WCHA approved Wisconsin's decision. "The WCHA fully concurs with the additional one-game suspension handed down today by the University of Wisconsin," said WCHA Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod. "We appreciate the University's initiative on this matter and their pro-active approach in creating a learning experience out of a difficult circumstance."