Shine, Tolvanen, Morgan awarded in Michigan sweep of WCHA weekly honors

2017 WCHA new featured

By @StefanKubus –

It was a clean sweep of the WCHA Players of the Week awards for Michigan schools, as a pair of Wildcats and one Laker were named winners Monday.

Northern Michigan senior forward Dominik Shine was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week after he posted a hat trick in Friday’s game against Alaska Anchorage. The Pinckney native added an assist on the game-winning tally in Saturday’s game en route to a sweep of the Seawolves.

Ferris State’s Chad McDonald (Battle Creek), Michigan Tech’s Tyler Heinonen and Lake Superior State’s Mitch Hults were honorable mentions.

Between the pipes, sophomore netminder Atte Tolvanen was stellar for NMU, stopping 59 of 60 shots on the weekend. His 0.50 goals-against average and .983 save percentage were among the top five in the nation.

Michigan Tech freshman defenseman Mitch Reinke was an honorable mention.

LSSU freshman forward Luke Morgan, a Brighton native, captured WCHA Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season.

This time, it was for his efforts in helping the Lakers jump from eighth to fifth in the WCHA standings. Morgan picked up two assists in both LSSU wins en route to a sweep of Alabama Huntsville, including a helper on the game winner Saturday. His four assists tied for the best in the WCHA that week.

NMU defenseman Philip Beaulieu, FSU netminder Justin Kapelmaster and Michigan Tech forward Chris Gerrie were all honorable mentions, as well.