March 15, 2007
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Duncan Named WCHA Player of the Year
CHN Staff Report
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — North Dakota sophomore Ryan Duncan — overshadowed before the season by high-profile linemates T.J. Oshie and Jonathan Toews — was named WCHA Player of the Year today.
The WCHA Defensive Player of the Year is Minnesota junior defenseman Alex Goligoski; the Rookie of the Year Award went to Andreas Nodl of St. Cloud State; and the Coach of the Year was shared — for the second straight season — by Michigan Tech's Jamie Russell and St. Cloud State's Bob Motzko.
Duncan, a sophomore from Calgary, Alberta, topped all WCHA players in scoring with 22 goals, 17 assists and 39 points in 28 conference games. Also named to the All-WCHA First Team, he was the only player to score 20 or more goals in league play. Duncan, who has averagead better than a point per game over his first two collegiate seasons, is the first Fighting Sioux player to win the league scoring title since Brandon Bochenski shared the honor in 2003-04 and the first to win it outright since Jeff Panzer in 2000-01.
The WCHA Outstanding Student Athlete of the Year Award went to four-year veteran defenseman and team captain Lee Sweatt of Colorado College. A senior who carries a cumulative 3.8 GPA in Mathematical Economics, Sweatt is a two-time WCHA Scholar-Athlete recipient and a three-time member of the All-WCHA Academic Team.
Goligoski, from Grand Rapids, Minn., is the second Golden Gopher to earn the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year award, joining two-time recipient Jordan Leopold (2001, 2002).
Nodl has been one of the nation's top-scoring first-year players all season long. From Vienna, Austria, Nodl ranked first among league players in overall scoring thru March 9 with 15 goals, 27 assists and 42 points in 34 games.
Motzko, who is in his second season behind the bench of the SCSU Huskies, led his club to a second-place finish at 14-7-7, a No. 2 national ranking, and a 20-7-7 record overall thru March 8. The Huskies, who were in the race for the league title until the final weekend, moved up three places to sixth in Motzko's first season of 2005-06 and then continued that upward trend. Russell, meanwhile, led Michigan Tech to its best conference showing (sixth) since the 1992-93 season and to its highest victory total overall since 1997-98. The Huskies, 16-15-5 overall thru March 8, are ranked No. 18 and are 14-7-3 against teams ranked in the top 20.
WCHA Awards
Player of the Year
Ryan Duncan, So, F, North Dakota
Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year
Lee Sweatt, Sr, D, Colorado College
Defensive Player of the Year
Alex Goligoski, Jr, D, Minnesota
Rookie of the Year
Andreas Nodl, Fr, F, St. Cloud State
Coach of the Year
Bob Motzko, St. Cloud State
Jamie Russell, Michigan Tech
Scoring Champion
Ryan Duncan, So, F, North Dakota
WCHA Goaltending Champion
Brian Elliott, Sr, G, Wisconsin
2006-07 All-WCHA First Team
F Ryan Duncan, North Dakota
F Mason Raymond, Minnesota-Duluth
F Andrew Gordon, St. Cloud State
D Alex Goligoski, Minnesota
D Matt Niskanen, Minnesota-Duluth
G Bobby Goepfert, St. Cloud State
2006-07 All-WCHA Second Team
F Jonathan Toews, North Dakota
F Travis Morin, Minnesota State
F Kyle Okposo, Minnesota
D Mike Vannelli, Minnesota
D Taylor Chorney, North Dakota
G Brian Elliott, Wisconsin
2006-07 All-WCHA Third Team
F Andreas Nodl, St. Cloud State
F T.J. Oshie, North Dakota
F Ryan Dingle, Denver
D Lee Sweatt, Colorado College
D Steve Wagner, Minnesota State
G Michael-Lee Teslak, Michigan Tech
2006-07 All-WCHA Rookie Team
F Andreas Nodl, St. Cloud State
F Kyle Okposo, Minnesota
F Ryan Lasch, St. Cloud State
D Erik Johnson, Minnesota
D Jamie McBain, Wisconsin
G Alex Stalock, Minnesota-Duluth
