Four UND Players Have Earned All-NCHC Team Honors

     Another successful regular season has found four Fighting Hawks earning a spot on the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s all-league teams on Wednesday. Forward Riese Gaber (1st), defenseman Jake Sanderson (2nd), goaltender Zach Driscoll (2nd), and forward Connor Ford (HM) earned All-NCHC honors after helping UND secure a third straight Penrose Cup.

     Gaber has been lights out all season for the Hawks earning first team honors for the first time. Last season he was a member on the all-rookie team. In 19 conference games he racked up nine goals and 14 assists, for 23 total points. Gaber also had seven multi-point games that helped him be named NCHC Forward of the Week twice throughout the season.

     Sanderson only played in 10 conference games (Playing for Team USA in the Beijing Olympics) this season, but still earned an All-NCHC second team honor for the second time in his career. He brought some offense tallying from the blue line with four goals and eight assists for 12 total points. Sanderson also had a plus-4 rating in conference play. He also earned two NCHC Defenseman of the Week honors this season.

     Driscoll has been one of the top goaltenders in the country this season and his NCHC second team honor shows that the NCHC agrees. The fifth-year goalie was top-2 in wins (15), save percentage (.919), and goals against average (2.17). His save percentage of .919 led the NCHC. Driscoll has also been named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, which is given to the top senior in collegiate hockey annually.

     Ford is a graduate transfer from Bowling Greenand has been one of the top two-way centers in college hockey, earning an All-NCHC honorable mention. Ford played in 23 of UND’s 24 conference games this season, finishing with the second most points on the team with 20 points. He is tied for fourth in the NCHC with 17 assists. Ford also led the league with 359 faceoff wins.

First-Team All-NCHC

F: Bobby Brink, Denver – 45 (15) – unanimous

F: Ethen Frank, Western Michigan – 38 (12)

F: Riese Gaber, North Dakota – 25 (6)

D: Ronnie Attard, Western Michigan – 42 (14)

D: Nick Perbix, St. Cloud State – 24 (6)

G: Ryan Fanti, Minnesota Duluth – 23 (6)

Second-Team All-NCHC

F: Carter Savoie, Denver – 20 (4)

F: Drew Worrad, Western Michigan – 17 (4)

F: Kevin Fitzgerald, St. Cloud State – 17 (3)

D: Jake Sanderson, North Dakota – 19 (5)

D: Mike Benning, Denver – 16 (3)

G: Zach Driscoll, North Dakota – 22 (6)

Honorable Mention All-NCHC

F: Cole Guttman, Denver – 10 (1)

F: Noah Cates, Minnesota Duluth – 9 (2)

F: Connor Ford, North Dakota – 4 (1)

D: Brandon Scanlin, Omaha – 10 (1)

D: Michael Joyaux, Western Michigan – 6 (1)

G: Magnus Chrona, Denver – 10 (2)