Bemidji State goalie Bakala earns WCHA Defensive Player of the Week honor

Madison , Wis. -- The Western Collegiate Hockey Conference (WCHA) announced today that Bemidji State University goaltender Dan Bakala (Jr., Calgary, Alberta) has been selected WCHA Co-Defensive Player of the Week after stopping 81 of 84 shots on net in a series at Minnesota State University, Mankato Feb. 4-5.

Bakala posted back-to-back 40-save performances as the Beavers salvaged a road series split at Minnesota State. The junior turned away a career-high 41 shots in Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss before again hitting the 40-save plateau, stopping 40-of-41 shots to lead the Beavers to a 4-1 victory Saturday. In addition, the goaltender backstopped a penalty-kill unit that held the Mavericks scoreless on 10 power-play opportunities, which included a five-minute major and seven minutes in the third period alone Friday and a 70-second 5-on-3 chance Saturday.

Bakala finished the weekend 1-1-0 in 12:32 between the pipes with 81 saves and a .964 save percentage, allowing just three goals for a 1.47 goals against average.

The goaltender of record in 19 of the Beavers’ 26 games this season, Bakala is 9-9-1 with a 2.23 GAA and .925 save percentage. He is 5-3-1
since the first of the year posting a 2.03 GAA and .937 save percentage.
The WCHA laurel marks the third time the league has selected Bakala for the weekly honor. He also earned WCHA Defensive Player of the week nods Dec. 7 and Jan. 5.

The Calgary, Alberta native along with senior defenseman Ryan Adams (Deloraine, Manitoba), who was selected WCHA Defensive Player of the Week Jan. 18, and sophomore Jordan George (F, Madison, Wis.), who garnered individual honors Nov. 9, remain the only Beavers to gain league honors in the team’s inaugural season in the WCHA.

Bakala shares the league’s defensive honor with University of Alaska Anchorage defenseman Curtis Leinweber, while Mike Connolly of the
University of Minnesota Duluth was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week and the University of Denver’s Nick Shore was selected WCHA Rookie of the Week.

Bakala, University of Nebraska Omaha defender John Kalkner and University of Denver goaltender are the only WCHA players that have been honored by receiving the league’s player of the week honor three times in 2010-11.
Bemidji State, now 10-14-2 overall and 6-12-2 in league play, completes its current four-game road swing this weekend (Feb. 11-12) with a trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for its first WCHA meeting versus Michigan Tech. The series gets underway Friday at 6:07 p.m. at John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton, Mich. The Beavers and Huskies wrap up the series with a 4:07 p.m. matinee Saturday.