Alex Iafallo is now the answer to another trivia question: Who was the first University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldog to make an All-National Collegiate Hockey Conference first team?
The senior left winger officially earned that distinction today when the NCHC announced its all-league honorees. A pair of fellow Bulldogs -- rookie goaltender
Hunter Miska and sophomore
Neal Pionk -- were both selected to the All-NCHC second team.
Iafallo, who in 2016-17 became the first Bulldog to ever lead the NCHC in scoring (conference games only), currently tops UMD in overall points (37) and assists (22) and is second in goals (15). All three of those figures are career highs. He also is tied for the team lead with his two shorthanded goals and also one of 10 NCHC skaters with a hat trick on his 2016-17 resume. Last month, the Eden, N.Y., product became the 57th member of UMD's 100-point club and In 144 lifetime outings has generated 42 goals and 65 assists. In 2013-14, Iafallo was chosen to the inaugural NCHC All-Rookie team -- a UMD program first.
A three-time NCHC Defenseman of the Week selection in 2016-17, Pionk has set personal bests for goals (seven), assists (21) and points (28, which places him 10th nationally and third in the NCHC among blueliners). The Hermantown, Minn, native, who has taken a shift in all 74 games over the past two seasons, also has the third most power play goals (four) and third best plus-minus rating (+18) of any league defenseman.
Miska, the NCHC's Rookie of the Month for both January and February, ranks first among NCHC puckstoppers in overall shutouts (five) and is second in a host of other categories -- goals against average (2.14), saves percentage (.921), wins (20) and winning percentage (.776 off a 20-4-2 record). The first Bulldog netminder to ever begin his career by going 6-0-0, Miska is also five-time NCHC Goalie/Rookie of the Week award winner, and will enter this weekend's NCHC quarterfinal round playoff series against Miami University having made 28 consecutive starts.
All-NCHC (First Team)
F - Alex Iafallo, UMD – 34 points (11 first-place votes of 14 possible)
F - Anthony Louis, Miami – 30 (9)
F: Austin Ortega, Omaha – 23 (6)
D: Will Butcher, Denver – 35 (11)
D: Tucker Poolman, North Dakota – 26 (7)
G: Tanner Jaillet, Denver – 32 (10)
All-NCHC (Second Team)
F - Henrik Borgstrom, Denver – 20 (6)
F - Dylan Gambrell, Denver – 19 (5)
F - Sheldon Dries, Western Michigan – 14 (3)
D - Neal Pionk, UMD – 25 (6)
D - Luc Snuggerud, Omaha – 21 (6)
G - Hunter Miska, UMD – 16 (3)
All-NCHC (Honorable Mention)
F: Troy Terry, Denver – 10 (3)
F: Shane Gersich, North Dakota – 9 (1)
F: Mikey Eyssimont, St. Cloud State – 8 (0)
D: Louie Belpedio, Miami – 14 (2)
D: Jimmy Schuldt, St. Cloud State – 4 (0)
G: Ben Blacker, Western Michigan – 15 (3)