DENVER – University of Denver hockey junior
Eric Pohlkamp was named the National Co-Defender of the Month for November on Thursday by the Hockey Commissioners Association.
Pohlkamp picks ups his first career national monthly award after being named the NCHC Defenseman of the Month on Wednesday. He has earned three conference honors in his career as he was twice selected as the CCHA Defenseman of the Month as a freshman in 2023-24 while playing at Bemidji State.
The Baxter, Minnesota, native not only led all NCHC defensemen but was first among all blueliners in the NCAA in November with seven goals while his 10 points were tied for third-most among rear guards in the country (Denver's
Boston Buckberger also had 10). He scored in six of the eight games during the month, with his seven markers tied with North Dakota forward Ben Strinden for the most in the league. Pohlkamp also blocked 11 shots and finished with a plus-10 rating in November.
He tallied six goals in a six-game stretch from Nov. 1-21 (6g/3a), which included a career-long, four-game goal streak from Nov. 1-14 (4g/2a)—the longest by a defenseman in NCHC history and the longest by a Denver D-man since at least 2002-03 (online records presently don't go back any further). The goal streak was also the longest by a defenseman in the NCAA this year and the longest since Cole Hutson also went on a four-game run for Boston University from Feb. 22-March 8, 2025 (4g/4a).
Pohlkamp, who recorded two of his three NCHC Defenseman of the Week awards of the season during the month, had three multi-point outings in November, beginning with a goal and an assist on Nov. 1 against Alaska Anchorage. He also scored and added a helper on Nov. 8 to complete the road sweep of then-No. 4 Western Michigan before matching a season best with three points on Nov. 21 at Arizona State. His two goals and one assist at ASU marked his second multi-goal game of the season and fourth of his career, while it also served as his sixth career three-point contest. Additionally, he scored the game-tying goal to force overtime on Nov 14 versus then-No. 17 Colorado College.
The San Jose Sharks draft pick scored his 11th goal of the year on Saturday in the 2025 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game against Minnesota at Ball Arena to tie a career best for a single season (also tallied 11 goals in both 2023-24 and 2024-25). Pohlkamp leads Denver in goals while his 17 points (11g/6a) are also first on the squad. Nationally, he ranks first among all NCAA D-men in tallies and is tied for fifth overall among all skaters in the category. His 17 points are tied for second for rear guards in the country.
Pohlkamp is the first Denver player to earn national honors since
Matt Davis was named Co-Goaltender of the Month for March/April 2025. He is the first defenseman to be recognized by the HCA since
Zeev Buium was selected as Rookie of the Nonth in April 2024 (Buium was also named the National Co-Player of the Month earlier that season in November 2023).
This is the first season that both the NCHC and the Hockey Commissioners Association are honoring separate defensemen and forwards of the month after previously honoring just a single skater.
Air Force's Chris Hedden (5g/6a) and Minnesota State's Evan Murr (3g/8a) were the other two HCA National Defender of the Months after each player totaled 11 points in nine games played. Denver freshman
Quentin Miller was a runner-up for the National Goaltender of the Month.
UP NEXT: The No. 6/5 Pioneers continue a three-game homestay this weekend as they host the No. 19-ranked Miami RedHawks at Magness Arena on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. MT. Both games will be available on NCHC.tv while Saturday's contest will also be televised on Altitude Sports.
TICKETS: Single-game tickets and 5-game mini plans for DU hockey's 2025-26 campaign are on sale now.
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