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Atlantic Hockey Weekly Award Winners for Games Through December 30
Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week
	JOSH HEIDINGER - CANISIUS Sophomore, Forward, Buffalo, N.Y.  Heidinger led the Griffs to victory against rival Niagara with a three-point performance. Heidnger scored a career-best two goals and added an assist to match a personal high with three points. After Niagara claimed the early advantage, Heidinger knotted the game with a goal just 17 seconds later. He gave the Griffs the lead early in the second. After the Purple Eagles knotted the game, Heidinger helped give Canisius the lead for good, finding an open teammate for his third point of the evening. Heidinger posted his fifth multiple-point game of the season. The Buffalo, N.Y. native ranks fourth in the league in points (16), fourth in goals (9) and ninth in assists (10).
Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week
	ADAM ROY - HOLY CROSS Freshman, Goaltender, Feeding Hills, Mass.  Roy stopped 36 of 37 shots in the 1-1 tie with Vermont on Saturdaynight. He made 15 saves in the first period, 10 in the second, seven inthe third and four in overtime. Roy is now 3-3-3 on the season.
Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week
	EVERETT SHEEN - HOLY CROSS Freshman, Forward, Lethbridge, ALB  Sheen scored both of Holy Cross' goals this weekend at the Sheraton/TDBanknorth Catamount Cup. In the 1-1 tie with Vermont on Saturday night,Sheen gave the Crusaders a 1-0 lead at the 5:45 mark of the thirdperiod, while on Sunday afternoon in the 1-1 tie with Western Michigan,he tied the game with 2:01 left in the third period when he scored ashorthanded goal. For his two goal performance, Sheen was named to theCatamount Cup All-Tournament Team. Sheen has scored nine goals in thelast six games as his 10 goals this season lead the team and are tiedfor second in the nation by rookies.
Atlantic Hockey Honor Roll
Brent Olson, Air Force (Jr, F, Baudette, Minn.) - Assisted on Jeff Hajner's goal vs. 14th-ranked Boston College, AFA's first goal of the game...Scored both of Air Force's goals in the 2-2 overtime tie with 12th-ranked Minnesota...His second goal of the game came after Air Force pulled the goaltender with 1:02 left in the third period and tied the game at 2-2...Had two shots on net in overtime that nearly won the game for Air Force and would have given him the hat trick...The two goals vs. Minnesota tied his career high...Has a goal in four of his last six games...Has a point in seven of his last eight games. Chase Podsiad, Army (Sr, D, Wyandotte, Mich.) - Podsiad, who garnered an assist in a pair of game at the Toyota UConn Holiday Classic, was named to the All-Tournament Team. Joey Spracklen, Army (So, G, Kennewick, Wash.) - Spracklen, making his collegiate debut, made 20 saves in a 1-1 tie with Brown. Spracklen turned away six shots in the first period and seven each in the second and third in his first appearance in an Army uniform. Cory Conacher, Canisius (Fr, F, Burlington, ONT) - Playing in his first collegiate game, Conacher posted two assists to help lead the Griffs to victory. He recorded his assists on the first two Canisius goals, setting up Josh Heidinger for his two scores. Conacher is only the third Canisius player since the 1999-2000 season to record multiple points in his collegiate debut, joining Michael Cohen (2003) and Carl Hudson (2006). The freshman, who is the youngest player competing in Division I this season, missed the first 17 games of the season due to injury. Andrew Loewen, Canisius (So, G, Winnipeg, MAN) - Loewen stopped 37 shots to help the Griffs to a victory over Niagara. Loewen recorded double-digit save totals in each period to earn his third victory of the season. He also anchored a penalty-kill unit that kept Niagara scoreless in four extra-man opportunities. Erik Boisvert, Sacred Heart (So, F, Drummndville, QUE) - Boisvert picked up two assists as he factored in on both SHU goals against Northern Michigan on Saturday. Olivier St. Onge, Sacred Heart (Fr, G, Wickham, QUE) - Boisvert picked up two assists as he factored in on both SHU goals against Northern Michigan on Saturday.
Atlantic Hockey Team Notes
Air Force: AFA fell to 14th-ranked Boston College, 8-2, to snap the Falcons' six-game unbeaten streak...AFA is now 2-1-1 vs. ranked teams this season...For the first time all season, Eric Ehn was held scoreless in back-to-back games...Sophomore Jeff Hajner extended his point scoring streak to a career-best seven games (4-4-8). He has scored in 10 of his last 11 games...After playing 39 games as a freshman at forward last season, sophomore Brett Nylander was moved to defense. He played both games at the Dodge Holiday Classic on the blue line and had one assist vs. Boston College...Six of Air Force's 18 games this season have gone into overtime. AFA is 1-1-4 in those contests...AFA returns to conference play next weekend with a two-game series at Sacred Heart...The Falcons and Pioneers played three times last season. In the two game series at the Academy, the teams skated to back-to-back ties of 3-3 and 1-1...The teams then met in the semifinals of the AHA Final Four in Rochester, N.Y., and the Falcons won a 5-4 overtime decision. Josh Print scored the game-winner. AFA leads the all-time series with Sacred Heart, 4-0-3...AFA has a six-game unbeaten streak in league play (3-0-3). The last time the Falcons lost in conference was a 3-2 overtime loss to UConn, Nov. 17. Army: The Black Knights finished it a tie for third at the Toyota/UConn Classic. Army lost to Connecticut 4-1 and tied Brown 1-1 coming off a 28-day layoff ... Army is now 1-4-1 in its three tournament appearances in Connecticut ... Six different players picked up points over the weekend. Cody Omilusik and Jeff Fearing had goals and Zach McKelvie, Chase Podsiad, Ken Rowe and Matt Hickey had assists ... Hickey had an assist in Sunday's consolation game, his first point of the season ... Sophomore goalie Joe Spracklen made his collegiate debut Sunday. Spracklen, who was ineligible last season and the first 10 games of this season because he played major juniors, made 20 saves in a 1-1 tie with Brown ... Army will conclude its non-conference schedule this weekend. Army will host Union at 7 p.m. Saturday at Tate Rink and travel to Merrimack the next game for a 5 p.m. faceoff. Bentley: Bentley travels to Amherst, N.Y., this weekend for a two-game series with Canisius ... The Falcons have won the last four straight against the Golden Griffins ... Canisius was the only team that Bentley swept in the season series last season ... Junior Tom Dickhudt enters 2008 with a three-game point-scoring streak. Canisius: The Griffs defeated cross-town rival Niagara, 4-3, in front of a Buffalo State Sports Arena-record of 1,711 fans. The highest-attended game previously was 1,235, also against Niagara on Jan. 22, 2004. Canisius has topped the 1,000-fan mark for all three games this season at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. The Griffs welcomed more than 1,000 fans only two times before this year. Canisius is averaging 1,337 fans this season after averaging 402 last season. The victory in the rivalry was the first for the Griffs since the 2004-05 season. It also gave Canisius a commanding 11-3 advantage in the Battle of the Bridge series, which in all-sports competition between the two local rivals. Sophomore Josh Heidinger led the Griffs with three points on a career-best two goals and one assist. His three points also matched a personal-best total. Heidinger has already surpassed his goal total from his rookie season, scoring nine this season. He posted eight all of last year. Heidinger ranks fourth in Atlantic Hockey in points (19), fourth in goals (nine) and ninth in assists (10). Carl Hudson and Kyle Bushee also tallied goals for the Griffs. Hudson scored on the power play giving him 12 extra-man goals during his career. His 12 power play goals move him into sole possession of sixth place in the school's Division I record book. Hudson has scored 12 of his 15 career goals on the power play. Bushee's goal was the second of the season for the senior. Both of his goals this year have proved to the game-winning score. Cory Conacher made his collegiate debut and posted two assists for the Griffs. Conacher, who is the youngest player competing in Division I this season, is only the third Griff to record multiple points in his debut since the 1999-2000 season, joining Michael Cohen (2003) and Carl Hudson (2006). The freshman missed the first 17 games of the season due to an injury. Sophomore Jason Weeks also recorded an assist. While his four-game goal-scoring streak came to an end, Weeks extended his point-streak to a career-best five games. The Griffs continue to play a challenging schedule as Niagara was receiving votes in the latest coaches poll. Five of the Griffs' six non-conference opponents were receiving votes, with four being ranked. A total of 11 of the Canisius' opponent have received at least one vote when the Griffs played them. Canisius has won or tied the opponent on six occasions. The Griffs return to Atlantic Hockey play next weekend, hosting Bentley. The Griffs will host the Falcons at the Amherst Pepsi Center on Friday and Saturday.Connecticut: This was the third year in a row that the Huskies finished second in the tournament (fell to Colgate 3-1 last season and Bowling Green 9-2 two years ago). Beau Erickson despite giving up 5 goals on Saturday had a season high 35 saves against Ferris State and 65 for the weekend as the only goalie to play both games for his team in the tournament. Erickson has started every game for the Huskies this season. Holy Cross: Holy Cross is on a six game unbeaten streak (1-0-5). The streakis currently tied for the second longest in the nation. Freshman Everett Sheen was named to the Catamount CupAll-Tournament Team for scoring both of Holy Cross' goals in the tournament. Sheen has scored nine goals in the last six games as his 10 goals this season lead the team and are tied for second in the nation by rookies. With the 1-1 tie at Vermont on December 29 in the Catamount Cup,the Crusaders are now 3-1-2 in their last six games against teams from Hockey East, including a 1-0-2 mark this season. Previously this season, Holy Cross earned a 6-4 victory at Providence on October 20 and tiedMerrimack, 2-2, on December 4. Last season, the Crusaders fell toNortheastern, 7-2, on December 30, 2006, while they defeated Merrimack,2-1, on October 24, 2006. Two seasons ago the Crusaders earned a 3-2 winat UMass-Amherst on October 21, 2005. Holy Cross' 25.3 power play percentage is ranked second in the nation. The Crusaders are 21-83 on power play opportunities, including a 3-5 performance at Providence (10/20), a 3-7 performance at Mercyhurst (10/26), a 3-8 performance against Army (11/4) and a 3-8 performance against Connecticut (12/1). Holy Cross is 3-1-3 on its opponent's home ice so far thisseason, while it is 0-0-1 on neutral ice. The 1-1 tie with Western Michigan was the first ever meeting between the two schools. The Crusaders will play eight of its next 11 games at home,starting with a two game-series with RIT on January 4-5. Rochester Institute of Technology: RIT went into the legendary Mariucci Arena on Saturday evening in the opening round of the Dodge Holiday Classic and knocked off #12 Minnesota 4-3. The win was RIT's second over a ranked team this season (defeated then #18 Cornell 4-1 on Oct. 27). The crowd of 10,048 on Saturday was the largest crowd any Tiger squad has ever played in front of (the largest crowd RIT had played in front of was 8,314 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium at University of Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 12, 1998.). RIT has now won three games against ranked teams as a Division I program. Sunday's loss against #14 Boston College in the championship contest is a bit deceiving. Yes, the 6-0 loss is RIT's largest defeat since the Tigers moved to Division I in 2005 and worst loss suffered since a 7-1 exhibition defeat to the U.S. Under 18 team on Dec. 15, 2001 or 9-2 loss to Norwich on March 20, 1999. RIT trailed 1-0 after two periods and had a great chance to tie the game when Sean Murphy's tip-in rang off the crossbar late in the second frame. The five-goal third period by Boston College is the most goals given up in a period by RIT in its Division I history. It was the first time RIT faced Minnesota and Boston College in the histoey of the program. The Tigers resume Atlantic Hockey action this weekend at Holy Cross. RIT, currently 7-7-3 and 5-4-3 in AHA play, used a 7-2 January last season to catapult to the top of the Atlantic Hockey standings. Last season, RIT swept Holy Cross at the Ritter Arena on Dec. 1-2, winning by scores of 2-1 and 5-1. The Tigers hold a 6-5 all-time lead in the series between the two schools. Sacred Heart: The Pioneers dropped a pair of games at the Denver Cup, falling to Denver in the first round and then to Northern Michigan Saturday in the consolation game. Sophomore Dave Jarman and junior Bear Trapp scored SHU's two goals for the weekend. Freshman Olivier St. Onge made 39 saves in a losing effort Saturday night. The Pioneers have now completed their non-league schedule and will play 18 more league games in the season's final nine weeks. Of thos 18 games, 10 will be on home ice, where the Pioneers are unbeaten this year (3-0-1). SHU opens 2008 with a four game homestand starting with two games this weekend against Air Force. The teams meet Friday and Saturday night at the Milford Ice Pavilion.