SUPERIOR INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
SIJHL MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Monday, Jan. 26, 2015
SIJHL alumni shining between the pipes
THUNDER BAY, Ont. – A trio of Superior International Junior Hockey League alumni were recently recognized by their respective leagues for their efforts between the pipes.
ECHL ACCOLADES: Former Fort Frances standout netminder Ryan Faragher was named the most recent ECHL goaltender of the week winner for his efforts between the pipes for the Utah Grizzlies.
The 24-year-old former SIJHL top goaltender award recipient went 3-0-1 with a 2.17 goals-against average and a save percentage of .931 in four appearances for the Grizzlies during the time frame to garner the accolades.
The Anaheim Ducks prospect is in his rookie season in the pro ranks after starring in the NCAA ranks on the ice and in the classroom at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.
Faragher currently boasts the second-best goals-against average among rookie stoppers in the ECHL with a 2.63 mark to go along with a .911 save percentage. That is also second among first-year goaltenders.
His overall record currently sits at 10-7-2-1 with one shutout helping Utah sit with the 11th best record in the 28-team league.
WCHA NOD: The Western Collegiate Hockey Association announced Monday that former Superior International Junior Hockey League netminder Gordie Defiel has been named WCHA defensive player of the week for the period ending Jan. 18.
Defiel backstopped Lake Superior State to its first sweep of the season, while also picking up the third shutout of his rookie campaign, as the Lakers took a pair from Bemidji State.
The freshman from Stillwater, Minn. made 76 saves in the two victories over Bemidji State, including a career-high 44 stops during a thrilling, 1-0 victory on Friday.
Defiel turned back all 24 shots faced in the first period Friday, tying for the sixth-highest single-period total in WCHA history.
The first-year collegian was unscored upon for the first 110 minutes of the series and finished with a .974 save percentage. He also leads all NCAA goaltenders with 758 saves this season.
Defiel starred in the SIJHL for the Wisconsin/Minnesota Wilderness in 2011-12 and 2012-13 where he led the club to consecutive Bill Salonen Cup titles as well as the 2013 Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canada Jr. A championship in North Bay.
A SIJHL top goaltender award and Dudley-Hewitt MVP recipient, Defiel posted a 36-2-2 career record in the SIJHL with a 1.49 goals-against average and .942 save percentage along with nine shutouts.
WIAC WINNER: SIJHL alumnus and former Minnesota Iron Rangers goaltender Chase Hollander was tabbed as the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference athlete of the week for his efforts at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Hollander earned the honours by going 2-0-0 during the week, including registering his first NCAA shutout, a 2-0 home victory over Wisconsin-Superior on Jan. 16.
He then backstopped UW-Stout to a sweep of a home-and-home with UW-Superior in a 3-2 road decision.
His efforts also saw him named his school’s athlete of the week.
In the two games Hollander made 71 stops while posting a goals-against average of 1.00 and an impressive .972 save percentage.
IN THE SHOW: Meanwhile, another SIJHL top goaltender award winner in former North Stars standout Carter Hutton has gone 1-1-1-0 in three starts after stepping in for injured Nashville Predators stopper Pekka Rinne.
Hutton did likewise last season went Rinne went down as he went on to record a career-high 20 wins for Nashville in 2013-14.
In his SIJHL playing days he helped lead the North Stars to a Bill Salonen Cup title and Dudley-Hewitt Cup crown in 2006.
Hutton also still holds the SIJHL record for shutouts in a single season with 10 in a campaign where he went 33-1 for the Stars in 2005-06.
Defiel sits seconds in this category with eight posted back in 2012-13.