NA3HL announces monthly player awards for December 2018
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) has announced its monthly player awards for the month of December. The Bauer Hockey NA3HL Forward of the Month is Brady Lindauer of the Coulee Region Chill. The Bauer Hockey NA3HL Defenseman of the Month is Tami Meriläinen of the Northeast Generals. The Vaughn NA3HL Goaltender of the Month is Jaden Gardner of the Peoria Mustangs. Only players who are nominated by their respective teams are considered for the NA3HL monthly awards.
Bauer Hockey NA3HL Forward of the Month: Brady Lindauer, Coulee Region Chill
As the Chill skated to a 4-1-1 record in December, Lindauer quietly dominated the competition on a personal level. Lindauer found the scoresheet in each of Coulee Region’s six contests, potting multiple points in four of those. He led all skaters with 22 points in December, despite playing just over half the games of the next two highest producers last month. Lindauer sprinkled featured performances throughout the month, opening his six-game slate with a 4g-1a-5pts effort against Wausau on the 2nd, erupting for 7g-2a-9pts in Coulee Region’s opening Showcase contest against Long Beach and capping off his time in Blaine with two goals and two assists against Alexandria. Lindauer is currently riding a seven-game point streak with 15-10—25 in that span.
Runner-Up: Payton McSharry, Great Falls Americans
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Kolye Bankauskas, Northeast Generals – Brenden Fehlig, College Station Spirit – Jake Ford, New Ulm Steel – Steven Ford, Skylands Kings – Dylan Gulick, Oswego Stampede – Sam Hanson, Wisconsin Whalers – Hazen McKay, Bozeman Icedogs – Matthew Monreal, St. Louis Jr. Blues – Nicholas Noel, Helena Bighorns – Stuart Pearson, Texas Brahmas – Jack Radley, Peoria Mustangs – Deric Richison, Evansville Jr. Thunderbolts – Hunter Schwehr, Granite City Lumberjacks – Vladislav Sorokin, Rochester Grizzlies – Gage Thompson, Gillette Wild – Drew Wotta, Louisiana Drillers
Bauer Hockey NA3HL Defenseman of the Month: Tami Meriläinen, Northeast Generals
Kicking off your month with goals in four straight games as a defenseman is one way to raise your stock, and Northeast blueliner Tami Meriläinen did just that and then some. The Finnish defenseman went on a seven-game point streak to start the month, only seeing his hot stretch cooled off in his final game of the month, a loss to St. Louis in the Showcase. Meriläinen also posted four multi-point games, including three straight from Dec. 2-Dec. 8. Meriläinen paces all Northeast defensemen with 14-20—34 on the year, which places him seventh among all NA3HL blueliners.
Runner-Up: Tom Yurisich, St. Louis Jr. Blues
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Jared Berry, Oswego Stampede – Trevor Christopher, Skylands Kings – Ben Cope, Louisiana Drillers – Trent Cowden, Great Falls Americans – Toon De Schepper, Coulee Region Chill – Ricards Groskops, Helena Bighorns – Luke Hefty, Wisconsin Whalers – Matt McBride, College Station Spirit – Tom Nagle, Granite City Lumberjacks
Vaughn NA3HL Goaltender of the Month: Jaden Gardner, Peoria Mustangs
Solidifying their third-place foothold in the Central Division with a 7-2 record in December, the Mustangs came alive with a perfect Showcase run and some stellar play between the pipes from Gardner. The netminder finished the month with four straight wins (five total) and just one loss in six starts, starring in Showcase play withwins over New England and Mid Cities. Gardner posted a .953 save percentage for the month, allowing two goals or fewer in each contest and notching two shutout victories along the way. His 1.11 GAA also led all goaltenders with at least five games played in the month of December.
Runner-Up: Mikael Foucher, St. Louis Jr. Blues
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Noah Brandau, Evansville Jr. Thunderbolts – John Driscoll, Northeast Generals – Liam Kelly, Rochester Grizzlies – Kavan Johnson, Skylands Kings – Aaron LaChance, Gillette Wild – Mikael Levokari, Bozeman Icedogs – David Mulligan, Granite City Lumberjacks – Devin Naidow, Coulee Region Chill – Grady Reis, Louisiana Drillers – Alexander Rogers, Helena Bighorns – Kai Tomita, Wisconsin Whalers – Viktor Wennberg, Great Falls Americans – Ben White, Oswego Stampede
