UMD Bulldogs "ALLETE" Moments: Competition
Throughout this year, UMD Athletics is partnering with Minnesota Power, ALLETE to highlight the Bulldogs accomplishments in the 3 C's: Classroom, Competition, Community.Â
A trio of University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey players earned National College Hockey Conference weekly honors Tuesday, including NCHC Forward of the Week
Max Plante, NCHC Defenseman of the Week
Ty Hanson and NCHC Goaltender of the
Adam Gajan.
While all three were weekly conference award winners last season, the triple threat cleaned up on the league awards this week after sweeping the University of Alaska Fairbanks last weekend on the road by scores of 5-1 and 4-1.
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Plante was one of two Bulldog players to record four points last weekend and one of two players to score two goals. The sophomore forward out of Hermantown, Minn. had two goals to go along with two assists and was +4 for on the series. With a three-point effort Friday, Plante tied his collegiate career high for points in a game and his two goals was the most in a single game of his short Bulldog career. Plante is now on a four-game point streak dating back to the first game of the NCHC First Round of last season. Over that span, he has compiled four goals and four assists for eight points -- a 2.00 points per game clip. The weekly award is the third of Plante's young tenure -- he was twice named the NCHC Rookie of the Week last season.
Hanson was tied for a team-high +5 plus/minus rating in addition to registering a goal and an assist in the series. The Hermantown, Minn. native and sophomore defenseman produced a point in back-to-back games for a fourth time, and defensively helped UMD keep the Nanooks scoreless on nine power play attempts. This marks Hanson's second weekly award as a Bulldog -- he was named the NCHC's Rookie of the Week last season on Feb. 17.
Gajan led the NCHC with a 1.00 goals against average and posted a .951 saves percentage -- another league high in two games against UAF last weekend. The sophomore goaltender from Poprad, Slovakia had 24 saves Saturday and helped UMD hold the Nanooks scoreless in nine power play attempts in the series that included 12 saves on the Bulldog penalty kill. Gajan is now a three-time weekly award honoree after picking up both an NCHC Goaltender of the Week nod on Nov. 18. 2024 and a NCHC Rookie of the Week award on March 3.
The trio will lead the Bulldogs into their 2025-26 home opener at AMSOIL Arena this weekend when they host Augustana University of the first time in program history. The Friday night game will get underway at 7:07 p.m., while Saturday's finale will drop the puck at 6:07 p.m.
About Minnesota Power, ALLETE:
Our bold vision centers on our commitment to climate, customers and communities. We're a clean-energy leader under our EnergyForward strategy, already delivering 50% renewable energy ahead of all other Minnesota utilities. Now we're doubling down on that with a vision to deliver 100% carbon-free energy to customers reliably and affordably by 2050. Learn more at:Â https://www.mnpower.com/CarbonFreeEnergyVision
