USHL Honors - Week Two

Press Release

 The United States Hockey League today announced the CCM and Reebok player awards for the second week of the 2013-14 USHL regular season.

Award winners include Zeb Knutson from the Sioux Falls Stampede, named CCM Forward of the Week, Zach Frye of the Lincoln Stars, selected as CCM Defenseman of the Week, and Cole Bruns of the Omaha Lancers, earning honors as Reebok Goaltender of the Week.

Zeb Knutson, F, Sioux Falls Stampede: After an opening night hat trick on September 21st, Knutson put together a six-point weekend (5g, 1a), including a four-goal performance in a 6-5 win over the Indiana Ice on Friday.  The Sioux Falls native scored the game’s first goal in the opening period, netted a pair in the second, and capped off the night with the game-winner late in the third period.  He also dished out an assist for a five-point night. The Minnesota State University, Mankato commit was not finished as he added another goal in Saturday’s 5-4 win over the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.  Knutson is currently the USHL scoring leader with nine points (8g, 1a) in his first three games.  It is the second consecutive week he has earned USHL honors after sharing the award with Ryan Hitchcock following the opening weekend.

Zach Frye, D, Lincoln Stars: The Spokane, Washington native was strong on the backend over the weekend, registering three assists and a plus-two on-ice rating in a pair of losses for the Stars. The fourth-year USHL defenseman, who is one of the team’s captains, recorded his first points of the season as he assisted on all three of Lincoln’s goals in the 6-3 loss to Cedar Rapids on Friday night.  He also posted a plus-two rating to tie for the team lead.  Frye was held off of the scoresheet on Saturday, but had an even on-ice rating and threw four shots on goal in the 2-1 overtime loss to the Tri-City Storm.  The 19-year-old is coming off of his most productive season, having recorded 11 points (3g, 8a) and a plus-23 on-ice rating in 57 games during the 2012-13 campaign.

Cole Bruns, G, Omaha Lancers: The goaltender kicked off the 2013-14 season for the Lancers with back-to-back shutouts over the weekend.  On Friday, the 19-year-old turned aside all 17 shots he faced to take down the Fargo Force, 5-0, in the team’s home opener.  He followed that up with a 19-save performance on Saturday, backstopping the Lancers to a 4-0 win on the road against the Des Moines Buccaneers. The Prairie Grove, Illinois had recorded one shutout in 21 previous USHL games and the first Lancers goaltender to post shutouts in consecutive starts since Alex Lyon did so in October 2011.  Bruns posted an 8-8-0 recorded last year with a 2.81 GAA and .904 SV%.

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