NAHL Alumni Update

February 16, 2017

Northern Michigan sophomore goaltender Atte Tolvanen is on the verge of history after posting two more shutouts this weekend. Tolvanen has now recorded five straight shutouts, putting him just under two periods away from the all-time Division I men's NCAA record for consecutive scoreless minutes played, set by Lake Superior State's Blaine Lacher in 1994. And he's not doing it the easy way either. Tolvanen had to make 39 saves Friday, then made a career-high 48 on Saturday in defeating visiting Alaska, 3-0 and 2-0, respectively. In all, he has stopped 215 consecutive shots for a scoreless streak of 335 minutes, 39 seconds. Lacher's streak was 375:01 for the Lakers, who won the national championship that year. To break the record, Tolvanen will have to contend with Minnesota State next weekend in Mankato. Tolvanen had to make numerous stellar saves in the third period to preserve the streak, and Northern Michigan's win. The Wildcats, the reigning College Hockey News Team of the Week, are now 7-0-2 in their last nine games, and have surged into six place in the WCHA, tied with Lake Superior, one point back of fifth-place Ferris State with four games remaining. Alaska and Alabama-Huntsville are one point back of that back, tied for the eighth and final playoff spot in the league. The losses left Alaska obviously flustered, but tipping its cap to Tolvanen, a 22-year old native of Vihti, Finland, who came to NMU by way of the North American Hockey League.

Andrle led the Black Knights with five points on the weekend as Army West Point swept Niagara to move into sole possession of third place. He scored two goals and had three assists, netting the game-winning, overtime goal in Saturday's 5-4 victory. That goal, which came with 41 seconds remaining in the overtime period, capped a three-point night for the junior as he had two assists earlier in the game. Andrle finished plus-3 on the weekend.

 

Soucie had three points against Niagara, all coming in Friday's 6-1 victory. He scored two goals and added an assist in the win and finished the night plus-two. Soucie also had two blocks in the two games, helping the Black Knights sweep Niagara.

 

Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden) racked up a career-high five points (3g, 2a), including the Warriors' first hat trick in nearly six years, to power Merrimack past Boston College, 6-3, in Friday night's road contest. It marked the first time Merrimack downed the Eagles at Conte Forum since 1997, a stretch of 30 games (0-27-3).

 

Payne was the offensive complement to Defensive Player of the Week Atte Tolvanen's epic run, as his four goals matched Harvard's Ryan Donato for the NCAA lead last week. The junior from Gaylord, Mich., netted four of the Wildcats' five goals during a sweep of visiting Alaska, while he posted consecutive multi-goal contests for the first time in his career. In a 3-0, series-opening victory Friday night, Payne tallied even-strength markers in the second and third periods, extending what was a 1-0 Wildcat lead into the final margin. He then scored both NMU goals in Saturday's 2-0 triumph, finding the back of the net twice within a span of 3:03 late in the second period. The second of Payne's Saturday goals came on the power play, as he tied for second in the WCHA with a +3 rating. He also logged an impressive .444 shooting percentage, scoring his four goals on nine shots. Thanks partly to Payne's second WCHA weekly award of the 2016-17 season (and career), Northern Michigan climbed from ninth in the league standings into a tie for sixth. 

Eamon McAdam of the Missouri Mavericks is the CCM ECHL Goaltender of the Week for Feb. 6-12. McAdam went 3-0-0 with one shutout, a 1.27 goals-against average and a save percentage of .970 in three appearances last week. The 22-year-old made 34 saves in 2-1 win against Wichita on Tuesday, stopped all 53 shots he faced in a 3-0 victory at Tulsa on?Friday and had 44 saves in a 3-2 win over the Oilers on Saturday. Selected by the New York Islanders in the third round (70th overall) of the 2013 NHL?Entry Draft, McAdam has won his last seven appearances and his 11 wins are tied for fifth among rookie goaltenders. He has also seen action in 11 games with Bridgeport of the American Hockey League where he posted a record of 7-2-0.

 

Westfield State University’s senior Jackson Leef (Fort Wayne, IN / Texas Tornado, NAHL) has been recognized as a nominee for the 16th Joe Concannon Award which acknowledges the best American-born player at the D-II/III level in New England. The Joe Concannon Award was established in 2001 shortly after the passing of the longtime writer for The Boston Globe, who had a great passion for the game of college hockey while always advocating strongly for amateur athletics. Leef currently has 14 goals, 17 assists and 31 points this season and ranks third in the MASCAC in points, third in goal scoring, third in power-play points and fifth in assists. Leef ranks tenth in the nation in points per game and 19th nationally in goals per game.  He has career totals of 40 goals, 53 assists and 93 points.