NAHL Alumni Update

February 4, 2016

John Scott (Chicago Freeze, 2001-02), the Most Valuable Player of the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game, was named the NHL's #1 star of the week for the week ending Sunday, Jan. 31. Scott was named MVP of the NHL All-Star Game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Sunday after scoring two goals with a plus-2 rating for the Pacific Division in its 9-6 win against the Central Division in the semifinals. The Pacific went on to win the All-Star Game with a 1-0 win against the Atlantic Division in the final. Scott was named Pacific Division captain while a member of the Arizona Coyotes. He was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 15 and sent to St. John's of the American Hockey League. He tipped a Brent Burns shot for his first goal and beat goalie Devan Dubnyk on a breakaway for his second of the game.  Scott played a full season in the NAHL for the Chicago Freeze in 2001-02, where he played in 53 games, recording 12 points and 240 penalty minutes.  During that season, he committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at Michigan Tech, where he then spent the next four seasons.

 

Mueller collected a pair of goals and added an assist during a weekend set at Mercyhurst. Mueller netted his first collegiate goal during a 3-1 setback to Lakers on Friday night and followed that up with a one goal and one assist contest as part of a 5-3 loss on Saturday evening. He also added five blocks in the two games.

 

Smith totaled five points (4g, 1a) in a weekend sweep of Arizona State, including his first hat trick in an 8-1 win Saturday. Smith finished the weekend with 13 shots on goal and a plus-two rating.

One of only two league freshmen to record a point in both games last weekend, Poulson helped Alabama Huntsville remain alive in the WCHA postseason race with a big road win at Alaska Anchorage. The rookie from Arvada, Colo. assisted on the game-opening goal in UAH's 2-1, series-opening victory Friday night, and then scored a marker of his own in a 4-3 setback Saturday. This is Poulson's first career WCHA weekly honor.

 

Nelson tied for the NCAA lead among all defensemen with three points last weekend, all coming off assists (also tied for the national lead). All three of his helpers came on the Mavericks' power play, including on the tie-breaking, third-period game-winning goal in Sunday's 3-2 victory over then-No. 20 Minnesota in the third-place game of the North Star College Cup. The junior from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. now leads WCHA blue-liners with 15 assists and 19 points this season. This is Nelson's second career WCHA weekly award, both coming during the 2015-16 campaign.

Barach paced the Lakers with 11 points during January, on four goals and seven assists. He had a point in seven of Mercyhurst's 10 games, including multiple points in four games. He had a four-game point streak in the middle of the month, a stretch which saw the Lakers go 3-1-0. Overall, Mercyhurst went 5-2-0 in games in which Barach notched a point. He moved into a tie with Jack Riley for the Mercyhurst lead in points. Barach's best series of the month was the final one of January, as he totaled three goals and one assist in two victories over American International. He scored the game-winning goal in the Lakers' 3-1 victory on January 29th, then followed it up with a pair of goals, his best single-game scoring performance of the year, in Mercyhurst's 5-3 win on January 30th.

 

The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled former Corpus Christi IceRays goalie Anthony Stolarz (2011-12). Stolarz, who recently appeared in the AHL All-Star Classic, is 15-10-3 with a 2.45 goals-against average and .915 save percentage in 29 games for the Phantoms this season.

 

Former USNTDP and NAHL Alum Jack Campbell (2008-09) was named the ECHL Goalie of the Month. The 24-year-old went 8-3-0 with three shutouts, a 1.27 goals-against average and a save percentage of .956 in 11 appearances during the month. Campbell allowed two goals or less in eight of his 11 games and nine times made at least 25 saves. He recorded back-to-back 1-0 shutouts on Jan. 2 against Colorado and Jan. 8 against Utah and posted his third shutout of the month in a 2-0 victory at Alaska on Jan. 22.

 

The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) on Wednesday announced goaltenders David Jacobson (Janesville Jets, 2010-11) and Kyle Rank of the Peoria Rivermen are the Easton Co-Players of the Month for January. The duo led the Rivermen to 11 consecutive wins in January, en route to an SPHL record 14-game winning streak that ended with a home loss to Fayetteville on January 30.  Included with the January streak were eight straight victories on the road, which allowed Peoria to extend their current consecutive road win streak to 11 games, also a new SPHL record. After signing with the Rivermen on December 29, Jacobson went 6-0-0 in January with a 1.84 goals against average and .936 save percentage, giving up more than two goals in a game only once.

 

The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) on Tuesday announced Scott Henegar (Michigan Warriors/Marquette Rangers, 2008-11) of the Huntsville Havoc is the Easton Player of the Week for January 25-31.Henegar scored six goals, including two game-winners, and added two assists as the Havoc won two of three games last week. On Tuesday, the Trenton, MI native scored two goals as Huntsville defeated Mississippi 4-2.  After being held scoreless in Huntsville’s 6-1 loss to Louisiana on Friday, Henegar came back on Saturday with a four-goal, two-assist performance in the Havoc’s 6-1 win over the IceGators.  In recording his first professional hat trick, Henegar scored once in the second period and three times in the third, including twice on the power play.  Henegar’s four goals matched the SPHL high this year while his six points set a new individual game mark for the season.

 

Former NAHL’er Chase Matson (Soo Eagles/Texas Tornado, 2012-15) contributing for #1 Adrian College (read)