ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Denver hockey team picked up four individual honors on Thursday afternoon at the NCHC Awards Celebration, highlighted by junior
Bobby Brink being named the conference's Player of the Year. Brink was also recognized as the Forward of the Year, while freshman
Carter Mazur earned Rookie of the Year honors and goaltender
Magnus Chrona picked up the NCHC's Three Stars Award.
Brink is the fourth DU player to be named Player of the Year, as Henrik Borgstrom last won the award in 2018. Will Butcher also earned the honor in 2017 as well as Joey LaLeggia in 2015. He is also the fourth Pioneer to be honored as Forward of the Year as Borgstrom won in 2018 while Danton Heinen took the accolade in 2016 and Trevor Moore in 2015.
The Minnetonka, Minnesota, native leads all players in the nation in scoring with 55 points and 41 assists this season, and Brink is also a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. It is the most points by a Denver skater since Gabe Gauthier had 57 in 2004-05 and the most assists since Matt Carle had 42 in his Hobey Baker-winning campaign in 2005-06.
Brink was the NCHC and National Player of the Month for February after totaling 15 points (5g/10a) in eight games and had a career-long 14-game point streak (7g/21a) from Dec. 31-Feb. 19, which also included a personal-best 13-game assist streak (ended Feb. 19 at WMU). He has registered 46 points (11g/35a) in the last 28 games.
Mazur becomes the third DU player to earn Rookie of the Year honors, as Borgstrom picked up the award in 2017 and Danton Heinen in 2015.
The Jackson, Michigan, native leads all NCHC freshmen in scoring and is third among rookies in the country with 35 points, recording 14 goals and adding 21 assists. He was named the NCHC Rookie of the Month for both November and December.
Chrona is the first Pioneer to win the Three Stars Award, which is calculated based on how many times the player was recognized in the end-of-game three stars ceremony in conference games only.
The Stockholm, Sweden native has posted career highs this season with 32 games, 24 wins and six shutouts, and he also owns a 2.24 goals-against average and .905 save percentage. Chrona had a career-long 11-game unbeaten streak (10-0-1) from Dec. 31-Feb. 11, which also included a career-best nine-game winning streak (Jan. 15-Feb. 11).
The Pioneers also had several finalists for awards, as
Massimo Rizzo was up for Rookie of the Year,
Mike Benning for Offensive Defenseman of the Year,
Justine Lee for Defensive Defenseman of the Year,
Carter Savoie for the Three Stars Award and
Chrona for Goaltender of the Year.
Denver had five players named to the All-NCHC Team, with
Brink being a unanimous selection for the First Team.
Benning and
Savoie are second-team members while
Chrona and
Cole Guttman were honorable mentions.
DU's
Sean Behrens,
Shai Buium,
Mazur and
Rizzo were named to the All-Rookie Team, marking the first time in NCHC history that four players from the same team made up the rookie squad.
UP NEXT: The Pioneers are the No. 1 seed for the 2022 NCHC Frozen Faceoff and will face No. 4 Minnesota Duluth in the semifinals on Friday at 3 p.m. MT at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The championship game is set for Saturday at 6 p.m. MT.
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