NA3HL announces Divisional Stars of the Week presented by Bauer Hockey
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) today announced the Divisional Stars of the Week presented by Bauer Hockey for the week ending January 27, 2019. The divisional stars of the week are awards given each week of the regular season to the top-performing players in each of the six divisions of the NA3HL as nominated by their head coaches.
Central Division Star of the Week: Brady Lindauer, F, Coulee Region Chill
Lindauer led the Chill to their fourth and fifth consecutive wins with a stunning 14 points in two games. The high-power Coulee Region attack lit the lamp 30 times over the weekend, with Lindauer factoring in on nearly half of those to take over the NA3HL scoring lead with 102 points in just 38 games this season. His highlight performance came on Friday as he potted five goals and set up four more to record his second nine-point game of the campaign. Saturday then saw him tally two goals and three assists as the Chill won once more.
2nd Star: Zachary Eddington, D, Peoria Mustangs
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Chuck Bay, F, Milwaukee Power – Mikael Foucher, G, St. Louis Jr. Blues – Maris Graudins, F, Milwaukee Power – Austin Keil, F, Peoria Mustangs – Thomas Magnavite, F, Coulee Region Chill – Matthew Monreal, F, St. Louis Jr. Blues – Tanner Mros, F, Wisconsin Whalers – Caleb Sauer, G, Wisconsin Whalers
Coastal Division Star of the Week: Michael Lempiainen, F, New England Stars
With their playoff spot in hand, Lempiainen and the Stars knocked off Maine and Cape Cod over the weekend for their eighth win in a row to move within six points of second place. Lempiainen bagged two goals and an assist across the pair of contests, with no point bigger than his overtime game-winner on Friday to help New England topple Maine 2-1. Saturday featured a comfortable 9-1 win for the Stars, with Lempiainen chipping in a goal and a helper to extend his personal point streak to seven games.
2nd Star: Kolye Bankauskas, F, Northeast Generals
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Carson Asper, F, Northeast Generals
Frontier Division Star of the Week: Vadim Zubkov, F, Missoula Jr. Bruins
Much like Lindauer, Zubkov led an already-hot offense to a pair of key wins over Yellowstone as Missoula grapples with Gillette for the final Frontier playoff spot. The Russian forward nabbed nine points on 16 Bruins goals over the weekend after going pointless in his last outing, including burying his seventh hat-trick of the season and an assist on Saturday. Friday also featured a stout outing from Zubkov, as he scored once and set up four other markers. Remarkably, three of Zubkov’s four goals last weekend came while shorthanded to push him into a four-way tie atop the NA3HL with five SHG’s this season.
2nd Star: Dylan Rumpke, F, Yellowstone Quake
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Jack Harris, F, Yellowstone Quake – Austin Leadbetter, F, Missoula Jr. Bruins – Drew Scites, G, Great Falls Americans – Nate Simpson, D, Great Falls Americans – Gage Thompson, F, Gillette Wild – Coleman Varty, F, Gillette Wild
Northeast Division Star of the Week: Mike Padgeon, F, Binghamton Jr. Senators
The Senators faced a strong test from two games against Northeast over the weekend but passed with flying colors, thanks to a pair of game-winners by Padgeon. The forward tallied once to seal a 2-1 victory for Binghamton on Friday, before posting his fourth hat-trick of the year – and second in his last four games – alongside two assists in a 9-2 win over the Generals on Saturday. That outing marked Padgeon’s fourth five-point game in his last six tilts and stretched his point streak to eight games (13g-12a-25pts in that span).
2nd Star: Zach Burkhart, F, Skylands Kings
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Steven Ford, F, Skylands Kings – Eric Melso, F, Binghamton Jr. Senators
South Division Star of the Week: Andrei Rusakov, F, Atlanta Capitals
The Capitals went 1-2 in a three-game set against Texas over the weekend, but Rusakov starred throughout the string of games with four goals and a helper in that frame. The Ukrainian forward turned in back-to-back two-goal efforts on Friday and Saturday before adding an assist on Sunday, effectively accounting for two-thirds of Atlanta’s offense. The affairs marked Rusakov’s fourth and fifth multi-goal outings on the season, and the second time that two of those have come in consecutive order for him this year.
2nd Star: Jack Cooper, F, Texas Brahmas
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Cole Thomas Johnson, F, Atlanta Capitals – Blake Siewertsen, F, Louisiana Drillers – Zach Smith, D, Louisiana Drillers
West Division Star of the Week: Ike Taraszewski, F, Alexandria Blizzard
Alexandria tallied another pair of crucial upset wins this weekend to make it four wins in a row against higher-ranked divisional opponents, and Taraszewski featured heavily in both. On Wednesday, the Blizzard edged top-ranked Granite City 2-1 on the back of Taraszewski’s overtime winner as well as an assist from the Minnesota native. Taraszewski matched that performance with another 1g, 1a effort to guide the Blizzard past North Iowa 4-2 on Saturday. Taraszewski has now scored in five straight outings after recording a single goal in his first 20 games.
2nd Star: Jordan Olson, D, Granite City Lumberjacks
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Jack Giddings, F, North Iowa Bulls – Kyle Hayden, G, Alexandria Blizzard – Jimmy McDermott, F, North Iowa Bulls – Grant Troumbly, F, Granite City Lumberjacks
