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Players Mentioned
Benik and Eyssimont earn NCHC Player of the Month honors
2/3/2016 10:51:00 AM | Men's Hockey
St. Cloud State senior forward Joey Benik (Andover, Minn./St. Francis H.S.) has been named the NCHC Player of the Month for January while SCSU freshman forward Mikey Eyssimont (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield H.S.) were chosen as a NCHC Co-Rookie of the Month for January, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) announced Feb. 2.
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Benik had a monster month of January, racking up 15 points in 10 games while leading the third-ranked Huskies to an 8-1-1 record. His 15 points were tops among all NCHC players and ranked in the top 10 nationally during the month, while his six goals were second in the conference in January. He also handed out nine assists while averaging 1.50 points per game during the month. Benik tallied multiple points in five of his 10 games while recording at least a point in seven of the contests. He fired 30 shots on goal in January while compiling an NCHC-best plus-10 rating as he did not post a negative rating in any of the 10 games.
Benik opened his month with a two-point game on New Year's Day in a win over Arizona State, tallying a goal and an assist as he was named the game's second star. After being held scoreless in both games against Colorado College Jan. 8-9, Benik notched a pair of points at Minnesota Duluth. He assisted on the game-winning goal on Jan. 15 while scoring the game's lone goal in a 1-1 tie the following night. The senior also topped the century mark for career points in the tie as well.
Benik then stepped up his production over the final four games of the month, recording multiple points in each of his final four games. He tied a career high with five points in an 8-2 win over Western Michigan Jan. 22, notching a goal and dishing out a career-high four assists en route to first star of the game. The next night he scored a power play goal and logged an assist for a seven-point weekend, which earned him both NCHC Offensive Player of the Week and NCAA First Star of the Week.
Benik then capped January with four points to lead SCSU to the North Star College Cup championship with two assists on power play goals in a semifinal win over Minnesota State Jan. 30 while scoring the game's first two goals in the championship win over Bemidji State Jan. 31 when he was named the game's first star. He finished January on a six-game point streak with 13 points during the streak.
Benik, who is the second SCSU player to win NCHC Player of the Month this season (Charlie Lindgren), is now a candidate for the Hockey Commissioners' Association (HCA) National Player of the Month for January, which will be announced Wednesday. Other nominees for NCHC Player of the Month included North Dakota sophomore goaltender Cam Johnson and Miami senior goaltender Jay Williams.
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Eyssimont, who entered January with five points all season (one goal, four assists), exploded with 14 points in 10 games during the month to help SCSU post an 8-1-1 record. His 14 points tied for the lead among NCHC freshmen in January and ranked second among all NCHC players during the month, as well as second nationally among rookie scoring in January. His seven goals and plus-9 rating also led all NCHC freshmen during the month while his seven assists were second among rookies in the conference. Eyssimont recorded a point in seven of the 10 games and had multiple points in half of the games.
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To start the new year, Eyssimont totaled four points in a sweep of Arizona State Jan. 1-2, including notching a career-high three points on a goal and two assists in the series finale. After scoring a goal in an exhibition win over the U.S. U-18 National Team, Eyssimont scored another goal and assisted on the game-winner in a 2-1 win over Colorado College Jan. 8. He then added his third goal of the month Jan. 15 in a 3-1 win at Minnesota Duluth.
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Eyssimont saved his best for his final three games of January. After being held pointless in the series opener, he notched two points in a win over Western Michigan Jan. 23, including scoring his first career game-winning goal on the power play. On the final weekend of the month, Eyssimont was named MVP of the North Star College Cup as he totaled five points in the tournament while leading the Huskies to the title. He again matched a career high with three points in the semifinal win over Minnesota State Jan. 30, including his first career multi-goal game with two power play goals, as he was named the game's first star. Eyssimont then added another goal and assisted on the game-winner in the championship game to complete his month. He was named both NCHC Offensive Player of the Week and NCAA Second Star of the Week for his efforts. Eyssimont finished January with seven points in his final three games and put 27 shots on goal during the month while blocking four shots
Eyssimont shared the monthly award with North Dakota's Brock Boeser.
