UM's Kaufmann & MTU's St. Louis, UND's Finley, and CC's Sweatt Named Red Baron Pizza® WCHA Players of the week
North Dakota's Joe Finley is the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week. |
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March 6, 2007
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Red Baron® WCHA co-Offensive Players of the Week
Evan Kaufmann
Jr., RW, Minnesota
and
Justin St. Louis
So., LW, Michigan Tech
MADISON, Wisc. - A pair of wingers whose offensive heroics led their respective teams to key victories over the weekend - Evan Kaufmann of the University of Minnesota and Justin St. Louis of Michigan Tech University - have been named Red Baron Pizza WCHA co-Offensive Players of the Week for March 6.
Playing against each other in a regular-season ending league series at UM's Mariucci Arena last Friday (March 2) and Saturday (March 3), both players came up big in notching their first collegiate hat tricks.
Kaufmann, a 5-9, 167-pound junior from Plymouth, Minn., led the Golden Gophers with four goals and one assist in the series, including three scores on March 3, fired 10 shots on goal and earned a +3 plus-minus rating. His goal at 17:14 of the second period last Friday proved to be the game-winner as host Minnesota recorded a 3-1 victory over the Huskies that clinched their second straight WCHA championship.
St. Louis, a 6-3, 195-pound sophomore from Calgary, Alberta, scored his first collegiate hat trick last Saturday as well, leading Michigan Tech to a 5-4 upset win over the WCHA-champion Gophers. The win was the Huskies' 16th (16-15-5) of the season - the most since 1997-98 - and enabled them to finish sixth in the WCHA, their highest league finish since a fourth in 1992-93.
St. Louis scored Tech's first three goals, a game-opening tally at 6:03 of the first, a shorthanded goal at 11:10 of the first, and then completed the hat trick with a goal at 6:36 of the second that put Tech up 3-1. In addition to his three goals, St. Louis fired four shots on goal and earned a +2 plus-minus rating.
Also nominated were: Chad Rau, F, CC; and Brad Miller, F, UND.
Red Baron® WCHA Defensive Player of the Week Joe Finley So., D, North Dakota
MADISON, Wisc. - University of North Dakota sophomore blueliner Joe Finley, whose strong defensive play and physical presence played a pivotal role as the visiting Sioux took three of four points from St. Cloud State in a regular-season ending league series last weekend, has been named Red Baron® Pizza WCHA Defensive Player of the Week for March 6.
A 6-7, 252-pound defenseman from Edina, Minn., and draft choice of the NHL's Washington Capitals, Finley and his UND teammates tied (3-3 ot) and defeated (7-2) the No. 2-ranked Huskies on their home ice last Friday and Saturday (March 2-3) to secure a third place finish in the WCHA and earn a first round home playoff berth. The No. 6-ranked Sioux held SCSU to single digit shots on goal in three of six regulation periods and held them to two power-play goals in 13 series attempts.
Finley contributed offensively as well against SCSU, assisting on a career-high three goals last Saturday - including one on teammate Chay Genoway's game-winner - while carding a +3 rating. On the season now, Finley is tied for the UND team lead in plus-minus at +18, earning a +15 during the second half of the campaign to help the Sioux to a 12-2-4 mark since Christmas.
Also nominated were: Jack Hillen, D, CC; Derek Peltier, D, UM; Josh Johnson, G, UMD; Shane Connelly, G, UW.
Red Baron® WCHA Rookie of the Week Bill Sweatt Fr., LW, Colorado College
MADISON, Wisc. - Colorado College left winger Bill Sweatt, who produced four scoring points while helping the Tigers to three of four points in a critical home-and-home conference series against arch-rival Denver last weekend, has been named Red Baron® Pizza WCHA Rookie of the Week for March 6.
A 6-0, 186-pound freshman from Elburn, Illinois, Sweatt scored his second game-winning goal of the 2006-07 season last Friday (March 2) night in the Tigers' 3-1 road victory over the host Pioneers - a victory that clinched a first round home WCHA playoff berth.
Sweatt then came back with a career-high three assists last Saturday evening at the Colorado Springs World Arena as Colorado College and Denver played to a 5-5 overtime tie. Sweatt, a member of the 2007 U.S. National Junior Team at this season's IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden, had assists on three of the Tigers' first four goals enroute to a 4-1 second period lead. His older brother, Lee, is a CC defenseman and team captain.
Also nominated were: Mike Carman, F, UM; and Darcy Zajac, F, UND.
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