DENVER – Two Denver Pioneers hockey forwards earned National Collegiate Hockey Conference honors for the month of December on Tuesday, as senior
Brett Stapley was named the NCHC Player of the Month while freshman
Carter Mazur was named the NCHC Rookie of the Month.
Denver has had a player be named the NCHC Rookie of the Month in each of the first three months of the season, with
Massimo Rizzo picking up the honor in October and Mazur earning the award in November. The last time DU won three rookie of the month awards in a season was in 2018-19 (Emilio Pettersen, October; Tyler Ward, January; Filip Larsson, March/April) and the last NCHC school to pick up three top rookie honors in three consecutive months was Minnesota Duluth from January to March/April 2017 (Hunter Miska twice, Joey Anderson). This is Stapley's first career monthly conference honor.
Stapley, 22, was twice named the NCHC Forward of the Week over the last month, earning the award on Dec. 7 and again on Monday. He recorded nine points (5g/4a) in five games during the month, highlighted by a career-high three goals and four points on Dec. 3 at Arizona State. The forward recorded three multi-points games in the month and had points in four of the Pioneers' five contests—
including in each of the first three—to help the team to a 4-1-0 record. Stapley registered his first career game-winning goal and added an assist this past Friday in Denver's 7-2 win versus Alaska Fairbanks.
The Campbell River, British Columbia, native is tied for second on the team in scoring with 22 points (8g/14a) in 18 games this year and has already set a new career high with eight goals. He has recorded six goals and seven assists in the last six games, which included tying his career best with four points (1g/3a) on Saturday, Jan. 1 against UAF.
It is the seventh time that a Denver player has been named the NCHC Player of the Month, with Troy Terry last winning the award for March/April 2018.
Mazur, 19, led all NCHC rookies with eight points (2g/6a) in five games during the month of December. He registered points in all five contests, which stretched his career-long point streak to nine games (7g/8a) at the time (ended on Jan. 1). He recorded multiple points in three of the five outings in the month while also participating in the IIHF World Junior Championship with Team USA.
The Jackson, Michigan, native has 18 points (9g/9a) on the season and is tied with teammate
Massimo Rizzo and Ohio State's Georgii Merkulov for first in goals among all NCAA freshmen. Nationally, he also ranks tied for fifth in scoring for first-year players.
Bobby Brink (October & January, 2019-20) was the last Denver player to earn two Rookie of the Month awards in the same season.
Stapley and Mazur are now eligible for the Hockey Commissioners' Association (HCA) National Player and Rookie of the Month awards, which will be announced on Wednesday.
Western Michigan's Brandon Bussi was named the NCHC Goaltender of the Month after posting a 4-1-0 record, 2.02 goals-against average and .928 save percentage.
UP NEXT: No. 7 Denver's next game is on Jan. 14-15 at home against No. 4 St. Cloud State after its series this weekend at Omaha was postponed and rescheduled for Feb. 4-5.
TICKETS: Single-game tickets for the 2021-22 campaign are on sale and can be purchased here.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Masks are required at all indoor athletic events. For the latest University of Denver updates on the coronavirus, click here.
DONATE: Fans interested in making a donation to the Pioneers Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will transform the lives of our student-athletes by giving them the first-class resources needed to excel in the classroom and beyond. Thank you for Building Pioneers for Life!
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Hockey on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_Hockey on Twitter
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_Hockey on Instagram
