DENVER — Greetings from snowy Denver, where UMD has arrived on scene and will be ready to go for Friday’s series opener against the Pioneers. Full preview coming later, but we need to reignite an annual tradition first.
8 THOUGHTS
1. Unlike the old WCHA, this particular media member does not vote on these awards. And that’s okay. I already get enough venom from North Dakota fans, and don’t need the additional anger when I don’t vote their players high enough on lists or whatever.
That said, I do see every UMD game, lots of others, and despite what you may hear on the air sometimes, I do try to cover the league fairly, albeit with some inherent biases that will come out.
It’s the best league in the country, and some of the best players in the country spent the winter playing in the NCHC. Let’s discuss.
2. We’ll start with the All-NCHC teams. These choices were, frankly, not very difficult, and I mainly fall in line with how the actual voters chose.
FIRST TEAM
Forwards
Jackson Blake, North Dakota
Riese Gaber, North Dakota
Noah Laba, Colorado College
Defense
Dylan Anhorn, St. Cloud State
Zeev Buium, Denver
Goalie
Kaidan Mbereko, Colorado College
SECOND TEAM
Forwards
Cameron Berg, North Dakota
Jack Devine, Denver
Ben Steeves, UMD
Defense
Shai Buium, Denver
Jake Livanavage, North Dakota
Goalie
Ludvig Persson, North Dakota
3. Now, what some call “Honorable mention” is the category I call “Apologies to.” These are some damn good players, but I think the players I chose had slightly better seasons.
Forwards
Sam Colangelo, Western Michigan
Luke Grainger, Western Michigan
Veeti Miettinen, St. Cloud State
Defense
Sean Behrens, Denver
Jack Peart, St. Cloud State
Goalie
Cameron Rowe, Western Michigan
4. There were some tough choices, but I found this mainly an easy exercise. Not just because my votes don’t count, either.
(That said, one of the reasons I’m all good with not having an actual vote in this is because I had a bad habit of putting way too much pressure on myself to get these choices right. I would spend literal hours agonizing over choices. Hours that could be spent with family at home, or hours that could be spent watching Family Guy on the road.)
Tougher placements were Steeves on the second team and not finding a spot for Berg on the first team. Berg is an impressive center on a very good UND team. He can score, he wins draws, and he’s a solid defensive player.
Steeves, love the guy, but he’s a pure goal-scorer. While I saw improvements in his play without the puck as the season went on, he’s not a center, he doesn’t kill penalties, and he still has strides to make in his play away from the biscuit.
That said, Ben Steeves has 24 goals and 34 points. He scored 14 goals in 24 NCHC games, and he did it on a team that spent most of the season playing without its top two centers (sometimes even more than just the top two) and with precious few legitimate offensive threats. There’s credit that has to go to that. The hardest thing to do in hockey is score goals, and it’s even harder when everyone knows you’re The Man on your team. He’s handled it as well as anyone could possibly have asked him to. When I thought more about it, I had a harder time not putting him on the first team, but I’m comfortable where I have everyone.
And I am a Veeti Miettinen fan. Just love the way the guy plays the game, and what a shot, damn. So I wish I could have found a spot for him on one of these teams.
5. Now for the All-Rookie choices. This was, frankly, very easy.
Forwards
Alex Bump, Western Michigan
Tanner Ludtke, Omaha
Miko Mattika, Denver
Defense
Zeev Buium, Denver
Jake Livanavage, North Dakota
Goalie
Isak Posch, St. Cloud State
Like I said, easy. More on Buium in a bit, but Mattika and Bump are the most impressive rookies I saw this season up front, and the fact I put Livanavage on the second team should tell you what I think of him.
Realistically, goalie was Posch vs Miami’s Bruno Bruveris, who played more but Posch played better.
6. Now, we move to the individual awards. I’ll just cherry-pick the major ones.
Coach of the Year: Kris Mayotte, Colorado College
Player of the Year: Zeev Buium, Denver
Rookie of the Year: Zeev Buium, Denver
Forward of the Year: Jackson Blake, North Dakota
Offensive Defenseman of the Year: Zeev Buium, Denver
Defensive Defenseman of the Year: Shai Buium, Denver
7. Yes, I’m aware my Player of the Year choice is off the proverbial board. The NCHC announced finalists for the award Thursday, and they are Blake, Devine, and Mbereko.
But I feel pretty strongly about this one.
Zeev Buium is the best player I’ve seen in the NCHC this season. It’s close. Blake is tremendous, Mbereko is awesome, Devine had a great year, and I’d throw Laba in this conversation as well after the dominant second half he posted.
Buium controls in a game in a way I haven’t seen from a defenseman since Scott Perunovich. Because I am far from a scout and rarely trust my own eyes, I asked UMD coach Scott Sandelin about Buium yesterday, and he brought up the Perunovich comparison without my help.
“He’s got a little Prunny (Perunovich nickname) in him, but bigger,” Sandelin said. “He’s going to take ice. He’s going to push to buck up the rink. He’s going to be part of their offense.”
There. You can trust his eyes, even if you don’t trust mine.
The Athletic’s Corey Pronman has Buium 10th in his latest 2024 NHL Draft rankings. We’ll see if the team that picks him wants him to turn pro right away, or if he returns to Denver for another season. Either way, I’d enjoy watching him while you can, even if it’s against our favorite team this weekend.
8. To me, Mayotte is a no-brainer. And that’s saying a lot, because Brad Berry oversaw a program that turned over half its roster and still managed to win the conference regular season championship. David Carle’s Denver team might be the most improved from the start of the season to right now.
But what Mayotte has done is outstanding. With no notable help from the transfer portal, Colorado College has made massive strides over the last two seasons, going from “fighting with Miami to stay out of the cellar” to “home ice” in what felt like the blink of an eye.
Look at the development of guys like Laba, Gleb Veremyev, Evan Werner, Niklas Andrews, Connor Mayer, and Mbereko in goal. Mayotte made it clear he was going all-in on recruiting and developing, and he’s delivered in spades. Mad respect to him for it.
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