Tuesday, April 16, 2013

USHL Honors - Week 29

Press Release

 The United States Hockey League today announced the CCM and Reebok player awards for the 29th week of the 2012-13 USHL regular season.

Award winners include Vinni Lettieri of the Lincoln Stars, named CCM Forward of the Week; Tim Davison of the Chicago Steel, selected as CCM Defenseman of the Week; and Kyle Hayton of the Sioux City Musketeers and Alex Sakellaropoulos of the Chicago Steel who share honors as Reebok Goaltender of the Week.

Vinni Lettieri, F, Lincoln Stars: The Excelsior, MN native had a stellar week for the Stars, tallying five goals and leading Lincoln to a pair of wins.  On Friday, the 18-year-old recorded a hat trick, his second of the season, and tied a game high with a plus-three on-ice rating in a 5-2 win over the Tri-City Storm.  His goal in the second period held up to be the game-winner. The University of Minnesota commit responded with a two-goal performance in the 4-3 win over the Storm on Saturday.  Lettieri finishes the regular season ranked second on the team in scoring with 56 points (28g, 28a) and leads the Stars with 28 goals.  He also ranks second on the team with a plus-29 on-ice rating.

Tim Davison, D, Chicago Steel: The University of Wisconsin commit tallied a goal and an assist over the weekend and finished with a plus-one on-ice rating.  Friday night in Youngstown, the DePere, WI native tallied the game-winning goal in the second period of the 3-2 win over the Youngstown Phantoms.  He also added an assist and recorded a plus-one on-ice rating.  The recently turned 19-year-old was also a part of a penalty killing unit that went 9-for-10 against the Phantoms’ power play in the two weekend matchups.  He finishes his first full USHL season with 13 points (5g, 8a) over 57 games and was tops among Steel defensemen with a plus-two rating.

Kyle Hayton, G, Sioux City Musketeers: The rookie netminder was near perfect this past weekend, recording a 2-0-0 record with a 1.00 goals-against average and .967 save percentage.  He stopped 25 shots in a 7-1 win over the Fargo Force on Friday.  He came back to block 34 Fargo shots in a 3-1 win over the Force on Saturday.  The Faribault, MN native was 11-1-0 over his final 12 starts and finished his rookie season on an eight game-winning streak.  He allowed just one goal in each of his last four victories.  In 25 games this season, the 18-year-old posted a 13-8-4 record while both his 2.65 GAA and .911 SV% tied for fourth among all USHL goaltenders.

Alex Sakellaropoulos, G, Chicago Steel: The Tinley Park, IL native backstopped the Steel to a pair of wins over the weekend, posting a 1.00 GAA and .971 SV%.  On Friday, “Sak” stopped 46 shots, and even dished out an assist, to lead Chicago to a 3-2 win over the Phantoms.  He picked up right where he left off, blocking all 22 Youngstown offerings on Saturday to send the Steel to a 3-0 win and earn his third shutout of the season.  The win on Saturday was his 22nd this season, surpassing the Steel single-season wins record for a goaltender set by Rob Madore (21) in 2007-08.  The Union College recruit also moved into second place among Steel netminders for career victories with 30, following Shane Connelly (2003-05) who won 34 from 2003-05.  Sakellaropoulos had a season record of 22-20-3 with a 3.03 GAA and .914 SV%. 

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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