A Maple Ridge goaltender with St. Cloud State University players was among the Bauer National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Players of the Week for week seven of the season.
SCSU junior netminder Jeff Smith, a Westview secondary grad was the Goaltender of the Week.
Smith backstopped the Huskies to a sweep of Colorado College as SCSU remained perfect at home this season. He allowed only one goal in each game, both on the power play, as he did not surrender an even-strength goal in the series, while taking a shutout into the third period both nights.
On Friday, CC’s lone tally came on the power play early in the third period, as Smith compiled 21 saves in the 6-1 win.
The next night in a 5-1 victory, Smith made 22 more saves with the Tigers’ finally getting on the board 6:20 into the final frame with the man advantage.
He finished the series with 43 saves on 45 shots faced for a .956 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average. Smith dropped his season GAA from 2.21 to 1.87 in the sweep.
Smith picked up his second Goaltender of the Week honour of the season and third career NCHC weekly award.