Northeastern University goaltender Brad Thiessen (Aldergrove, B.C./Merritt Centennials and Prince George Spruce Kings) has been named Hockey East Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday.
Thiessen led Northeastern to a 4-0 win over Providence on Friday and a 4-3 win over No. 1 Boston College on Saturday.
The Huskies jumped from unranked to No. 11 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and No. 14 in the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports national poll. NU is undefeated at 4-0-1 (2-0-0 Hockey East).
On Friday night, Thiessen was stellar in the Huskies1 4-0 win over the Friars at Schneider Arena. He made 35 saves for the shutout, the seventh of his collegiate career and his first of the season. He tied Keni Gibson1s career record seven shutouts, which Gibson set from 2001-05. Offensively against the Friars, Tyler McNeely (Burnaby, B.C./Burnaby Express) scored twice, Steve Silva posted three assists and Denis Chisholm and Wade MacLeod also scored.
Thiessen kept the Huskies in the game with 38 saves against the top-ranked Eagles before a sellout crowd of 5,407 at Matthews Arena on Saturday night. He allowed two goals in the first and one in the second. The teams were tied, 3-3, heading into the final period and senior Joe Vitale scored the short-handed game-winner just 14 seconds into the third. Thiessen nailed down the victory for the Huskies, keeping BC off the board for the final period with 16 saves. Northeastern is 4-3-1 over the last eight games against Boston College.
In four games this season, Thiessen is 3-0-1 with a 1.71 goals against average and a .946 save percentage. In his collegiate career, Thiessen is 30-34-9 with a 2.52 GAA and a .919 save percentage. He is NU1s career leader in both goals against average and save percentage. He is just the fifth Northeastern goalie to win 30 games and is tied for fourth all-time on that list.
The Huskies are ranked for the first time this season, jumping up to No. 14 in the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports national poll. Five Hockey East teams were ranked this week. NU was ranked for 15 weeks last season, reaching a high-water mark of No. 7 on Jan. 7, 2008.
Thiessen played three seasons in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) before coming to Northeastern. He split the 2005-06 season between the Merritt Centennials and the Prince George Spruce Kings posting an overall record of 22-21-4 with a 2.88 goals against average and a .922 save percentage, which ranked third in the BCHL. He set a BCHL single-season record with seven shutouts and posted a league-record 250:25 shutout streak en route to BCHL All-Star honors.
