Ironman goaltender Alex Stalock, who turned aside shots in near record-breaking fashion this past winter, was bestowed with the Mike Seiler Award as the University of Minnesota Duluth's Most Valuable Player for 2007-08 at the team's recent awards banquet.

Stalock, a native of South St. Paul, Minn, put the wraps on his sophomore year by becoming just the third UMD goaltender (NCAA I era) to ever start in all of his team’s games in one season. In all, he received the starting nod in 36 outings this winter, which is the second longest active streak of any NCAA goaltender. A three-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Week honoree in 2007-08, Stalock compiled a 2.35 goals against average and a .914 saves percentage, which both are the second-best single-season marks ever turned in by a Bulldog. The four shutouts Stalock has registered during his two seasons at UMD -- including the three in 2007-08 -- already puts him in a tie for third on UMD's all-time charts, ranking behind only Brant Nicklin (eight shutouts between 1996-2000) and Taras Lendzyk (six between 1992-96). Back in mid-January of this year, the 2006-07 WCHA All-Rookie League pick and a San Jose Sharks draftee set a UMD record by holding the opposition scoreless for a span of 137:37.



For his spirited play during his debut collegiate season (he paced all Bulldog newcomers in scoring with 12 points on four goals and eight assists in 35 games), right winger and Bonnyville, Alberta native Justin Fontaine landed the Jerry Chumola Award as UMD's Rookie of the Year. The Mike Sertich Award (Most Improved Player) went to the youngest Bulldog -- Chad Huttel, a freshman defenseman from Hermantown, Minn., who collected one goal and one assist in 16 games while finishing a plus-5 on the year. Fellow blueliner Travis Gawryletz (Trail, British Columbia), one of only four seniors on the 2007-08 Bulldog roster, was the recipient of the Goldie Wolfe Award (Most Inspirational Player) while junior defenseman Josh Meyers of Alexandria, Minn. received the Bob Junkert Award for possessing the best plus-minus rating (plus-10) of any 2007-08 Bulldog. In addition, senior right winger and two-year team captain Matt McKnight of Halkirk, Alberta was honored with the Bulldog Community Service Award.



UMD, which closed out its 64th year of intercollegiate hockey last month with a 13-17-8 overall record and placed eighth in the WCHA standings at 9-14-5, held down a top 20 national ranking (uscho.com/CSTV poll) for the final 20 weeks of the 2007-08 regular season.