Trio of Colorado NCAA players nab weekly NCHC awards
Underclassmen took over last weekend as all four Bauer National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Players of the Week for the week of Jan. 2-8, 2017, are either freshmen or sophomores.
Three have Colorado ties.
Earning Bauer NCHC Player of the Week honors for Week 12 are Denver sophomore forward Troy Terry for Offensive Player of the Week, DU freshman forward Henrik Borgström for Rookie of the Week and Colorado College freshman netminder Alex Leclerc for Goaltender of the Week.
The Offensive Player of the Week nod is Terry’s first career NCHC weekly honor. Borgström has now claimed NCHC Rookie of the Week twice this season, while Leclerc is the NCHC Goaltender of the Week for the second straight week and collected an NCHC weekly honor for the third straight week, also earning Rookie of the Week once.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Troy Terry, Denver
Sophomore Forward
Highlands Ranch, Colo.
After leading the U.S. National Junior Team to a gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship Wednesday and Thursday in Canada, Terry earned the night off Friday after returning to campus, but played his lone game of the weekend in Saturday’s series finale with Arizona State, when he tallied a career-high five points.
In the 6-1 victory, the Anaheim Ducks prospect tallied two goals, including the game-winner, and added three assists. Terry set up DU’s first goal, then scored the second, which was the eventual game-winner, while handing out primary assists on a pair of back-to-back power play goals in the second period. He capped his scoring with the Pioneers’ final goal in the third period. Terry posted a plus-3 rating in the win and put three shots on goal (scoring on two) en route to earning First Star of the Game honors.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Henrik Borgström, Denver
Freshman Forward
Helsinki, Finland
Borgström was dominant in his return to collegiate action, totaling six points in a sweep of Arizona State after missing Denver’s previous six games with either an illness or participating at the IIHF World Junior Championship for his native Finland.
Playing in his first DU game since Nov. 26, the Florida Panthers first-round draft pick tied a career high with three points, having a hand in three straight goals in the second period after DU fell behind, 1-0. He tied the game with his first goal of the night, then assisted on the game-winning goal, and put Denver ahead 3-1 with a power play goal seconds after the game-winner. Borgström put six shots on goal in the 5-1 win while earning First Star of the Game. He repeated his performance on Saturday with another three points, again scoring two goals, including the game’s first goal, while again setting up the game-winning goal en route to Second Star of the Game accolades.
Borgström finished the series with four goals, two assists, nine shots on goal and a plus-4 rating, including plus-3 in Saturday’s 6-1 victory.
GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Alex Leclerc, Colorado College
Freshman Goaltender
Longueuil, Quebec
Leclerc racked up his third straight NCHC weekly honor by leading the Tigers to a tie and a win at then-No. 1 Minnesota Duluth.
He allowed only three goals in the two games, while totaling 69 saves on 72 shots faced. In Friday’s 2-2 overtime tie, Leclerc compiled a career-high 43 saves, including 23 in the third period and overtime combined, as he was named Second Star of the Game. He also made 10 saves on UMD’s power plays, helping kill all five man advantages Friday. The next night, Leclerc turned aside 26 shots in a 2-1 victory, again earning the game’s Second Star, with nine saves coming on UMD’s power plays.
He finished the series with a 1-0-1 record, a 1.44 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage, while backstopping CC’s penalty kill to go 9-for-10 on the weekend.
Photos/DU Athletics, Colorado College Athletics
