DENVER – Three University of Denver hockey players earned honors from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference on Monday as
McKade Webster was named Forward of Week,
Zeev Buium was recognized as Defenseman of the Week and
Freddie Halyk was selected as Goaltender of the Week.
The Pioneers are coming off a weekend sweep of the Yale Bulldogs, winning 5-0 on Friday before posting a 9-0 shutout on Saturday. DU's victory in the series finale marked the team's most goals in a game since winning 10-2 on Oct. 22, 2011 against Minnesota State.
Webster picked up his first career weekly honor after totaling six points on three goals and three assists in the two games. He had a career-best three points with a tally and two helpers on Friday before matching his personal high the next night. The St. Louis, Missouri, native recorded his first multi-goal outing on Saturday and had the game-winning marker while also adding an assist.
The senior captain is tied for fourth on the team with six goals this season and his 15 points rank fifth on the squad. The forward has points in eight of the last 10 games, totaling five goals and seven assists in that time. He is the third Pioneer to be named Forward of the Week (
Jack Devine, Oct. 9;
Massimo Rizzo, Oct. 30).
Buium also earned his first NCHC weekly award of his career and joins fellow freshman
Boston Buckberger (Oct. 23) as the only Pioneers to be named Defensemen of the Week this season. Buium had five points against Yale, scoring his fourth goal of the year on Friday before recording a career-best four assists on Saturday. The four helpers were tied for the most in a game this season by a DU player and was the most by a Denver freshman defenseman since 2002.
The San Diego, California, native leads all DU D-men and ranks fourth on the squad with 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in 14 games this year. Buium is on an eight-game point streak (three goals, 11 assists), which is tied with
Sean Behrens (Jan. 15-Feb. 5, 2022) for the longest by a Pioneer rear guard since 2002.
Halyk was recognized with his first Goaltender of the Week award and his second weekly accolade of the season after being named Rookie of the Week on Nov. 6. The Cochrane, Alberta, native posted a pair of shutouts, stopping all 13 shots on Friday while making all 28 saves on Saturday. It was the first consecutive clean sheets by a DU netminder since
Magnus Chrona on Jan. 13-14, 2023 against Miami.
The freshman owns three shutouts this season, the most by a DU rookie goalie since Filip Larsson had four in 2018-19. He's also compiled a 140:02 shutout streak dating back to Nov. 19 against Omaha—the 10th longest by a Pioneer netminder in school history. Halyk has started each of the last nine games and has posted a 7-2-0 record, 2.32 goals-against average and .899 save percentage this season.
Denver's three weekly awards are its most its received this season. North Dakota's Jake Livanavage was named the NCHC Rookie of the Week after combining for two assists, one block and a plus-3 rating.
UP NEXT: No. 3 Denver wraps up its season-long six-homestand this weekend against No. 2 North Dakota at Magness Arena. Friday's game begins at 7 p.m. MT while Saturday's game starts at 6 p.m. MT.
TICKETS: Single-game tickets, as well as 5-Game Packs and full and half-season ticket plans are all available to purchase
here.
