Wednesday, January 6, 2016

UND's Johnson gets national player of the month honors



GRAND FORKS, N.D. – On Tuesday, University of North Dakota sophomore goaltender Cam Johnson was named National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Player of the Month for November. Today, Johnson received more recognition when he was named Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) National Player of the Month.

Johnson went 4-0-0 in December as North Dakota skated to sweeps of ninth-ranked Denver (Dec. 4-5) and 17th-ranked Minnesota Duluth (Dec. 11-12). The Troy, Mich., native posted shutouts in each of his final three starts of the month and led the nation’s goaltenders in goals against average (0.25) and save percentage (.992) during the month.

He became UND’s first player to garner HCA monthly honors since forward Drake Caggiula was named HCA Player of the Month in November 2014.

Johnson’s shutout streak began with an 18-save performance in the series finale against Denver in which he earned the first shutout of his collegiate career. The following week in Duluth, Johnson stopped all 78 shots he faced in the series, including a career-high 40-save effort in the series opener. That performance marked just the second time in UND history a goaltender recorded a shutout with 40 or more saves.

Johnson was named NCHC Goaltender of the Week after each of those series, giving him three straight such honors and four overall on the season.

In 12 games this season, Johnson is 9-0-1 and leads the nation in goals against average (1.07) and save percentage (.957). He is the second straight Fighting Hawk to win NCHC monthly honors after sophomore forward Nick Schmaltz was named NCHC Player of the Month for November.

UND hosts the U.S. Under-18 Team in exhibition action Saturday, Jan. 9, at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

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