Photo credit: Ned Dykes/Cornell Athletics (Berard)
It was a good week for alums in the Atlantic Hockey Conference as well as alums from the Powell River Kings as three of our four weekly award winners come from the Atlantic and two are former Kings.
Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week
Mike Lee – Senior – Sacred Heart University (Penticton Vees)
Lee tallied three points over the two game set against Holy Cross this week. He scored his first goal of the season in the Pioneers 4-3 loss to the Crusaders on Thursday then added two assists against Holy Cross the following day, contributing to the Sacred Heart’s 4-1 win. Lee also added three blocks in the two games and finished with a plus-3 rating.
The Hamden, Conn. native played the 2014-15 season with Penticton, winning a Fred Page Cup championship. That season, Lee had 36 points in 56 games
Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Week
Brian Wilson – Junior – Niagara University (Powell River Kings)
Wilson backstopped Niagara to a home-and-home sweep of Mercyhurst this weekend. On Friday, the junior made 26 saves en route to his fourth career shutout, a 5-0 Niagara win. Saturday saw Wilson make 23 saves in a 3-1 home victory. On the weekend, the Pickering, Ont. netminder saved 49 of 50 shots faced for the team’s first sweep of the season.
Wilson, 23, spent the 2016-17 season with the Kings and finished the year with a 22-11-1 record, a 2.70 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage, tied for fifth-best in the BCHL, while adding three shutouts.
Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week
Willie Reim – Freshman – Air Force Academy (West Kelowna Warriors)
Reim had one goal in the Falcons’ two-game set against Robert Morris, but it was a vital one. Reim scored with 3:25 left in Saturday’s game with Air Force trailing 1-0. That goal forced overtime and helped the Falcons take two points after gaining the bonus point by winning the 3-on-3 overtime.
The North Oaks, Minn. native played two seasons for West Kelowna, chipping in 85 points in 109 career regular-season games. His best season came last year when he finished third in team scoring with 58 points in 57 games.
ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week
Ben Berard – Freshman – Cornell University (Powell River Kings)
Berard, from Duncan, B.C., recorded two points this weekend (1G, 1A) to help the Big Red remain unbeaten on the season, their first 8-0 start since 1971-72. He had the primary assist on the game-winning goal in Friday’s 2-1 win over Quinnipiac, before burying his first collegiate goal on Saturday against Princeton.
The 20-year-old played three full seasons in the BCHL from 2016 to 2019, playing all but six of his 135 career regular-season games with Powell River. His best season came in 2017-18 when he led the Kings in scoring with 67 points in 58 games. Over his career, he totaled 115 points in the regular season and another 33 in 39 playoff contests.
NCAA Milestones
Three alums scored their first-career NCAA goal over the weekend.
- Cory Babichuk – RPI (Surrey Eagles) – Nov. 22 vs. Harvard
- Ben Berard – Cornell (Powell River Kings) – Nov. 23 vs. Princeton
- Chase Stevenson – New Hampshire (Trail Smoke Eaters) – Nov. 22 vs. Michigan
