NAHL Names Players of the Week

January 4, 2006 - North American Hockey League (NAHL) News Release

HAMWAY, HAINES SHARE SHER-WOOD NAHL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS

Two players putting up big numbers, Billings' Travis Hamway and Texarkana's Casey Haines, have been named co-winners of the Sher-wood NAHL Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending January 1.

Hamway registered nine points in four games for the Bulls, his biggest game coming on December 28 in a 6-2 win against the Minnesota Blizzard in which he recorded two goals and three assists. He set up the first two goals of the game and scored the third, which proved to be the game winner. Two nights later, he set up both Bulls goals to keep the team in the game against the Bismarck Bobcats, in a game Bismarck won 4-2. And on New Year's Eve, he set up two more, although the Bulls fell to the Bozeman Icedogs 4-3 in a shootout.

The West Bloomfield, Michigan native is the now Bulls' leading scorer on the season, with 31 points in 32 games.

The Bandits captain, Haines notched eight points in three games as the Bandits vaulted into first place in the NAHL South Division. On December, 29, the Indiana, Pennsylvania, native tallied a hat trick, his second consecutive game with a hat in a 6-2 victory over the Santa Fe Roadrunners. He scored the first two goals of the game and then, after the ‘Runners got one back, the eventual game winner early in the second period. The following night, he picked up a goal and three assists in an 8-0 win over Wichita Falls. And on New Year's Eve, Haines picked up an assist on the empty net insurance goal in 5-3 win over Santa Fe.

Haines is second in scoring on the Bandits with 36 points in 31 games. This marks the third straight week a Bandits player has received Player of the Week honors.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Eric Kattelus (Bismarck), Corey Stark (Santa Fe), Shane Wheeler (Fairbanks).

CHRISTIANSON, KRYSTOSEK SHARE SHER-WOOD NAHL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS

Two goaltenders who faced a mountain of shots have been awarded the Sher-wood NAHL Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending January 1.

Fairbanks Ice Dogs goaltender Bryce Christianson stopped 78 of 83 shots in two road victories over the Wasilla Spirit, winning both games. On Friday, December 30, the Spirit launched 52 shots on goal, including 22 in the second period and another 19 in the third, and Christianson was stellar in turning aside all but three in a 4-3 victory. He was particularly sharp early in the second period when two consecutive penalties put the Ice Dogs down a man for four minutes. The next night, the Anchorage, Alaska, native, stopped 29 of 31, including 15 in the third period, defeating the Spirit 4-2.

Bismarck Bobcats netminder Tim Krystosek faced 99 shots over three games, stopping 93 of them, including all 41 on New Year's Eve against the strong Fargo-Moorhead Jets team in recording his second shutout of the season. Two nights earlier, he held the fort in a 5-4 overtime win against the Billings Bulls, stopping 25 of 29. On the back end of the home and home in Billings on December 30, the Maple Grove, Minnesota, native turned back 27 of 29 shots, including 13 in the final period, defeating the Bulls 4-2. Back home against the Jets, Krystosek was particularly strong in the second stanza, when he denied Fargo-Moorhead on all 18 of their chances. This is Krystosek's second Player of the Week honor this season. He also received the award for the week ending October 23.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Sean Bertsch (Billings), Brandon Johnson (Santa Fe).

PREVIOUS WINNERS

September 18

Offensive: Karl Sellan (Texas), Chris Connelly (Fargo-Moorhead)

Defensive: B.J. O'Brien (Fargo-Moorhead)

September 25

Offensive: Sean McWhorter (Bismarck)

Defensive: Kenny Reiter (Cleveland), Brett Blatchford (Texas)

October 2

Offensive: Kyle Kraemer (Wichita Falls)

Defensive: Riley Gill (Texarkana)

October 9

Offensive: Kyle Kraemer (Wichita Falls), Sean Murphy (Southern Minnesota)

Defensive: Lyon Messier (Texas)

October 16

Offensive: Anthony Ciraulo (Mahoning Valley), Dan Swanson (Minnesota)

Defensive: Matt Dalton (Bozeman), Johnny Morrow (Alpena)

October 23

Showcase MVP: Josh Heidinger (Bozeman)

Offensive: Sean Murphy (Southern Minnesota)

Defensive: Tim Krystosek (Bismarck)

October 30

Offensive: Marc Menzione (Mahoning Valley), Alex Coles (Minnesota)

Defensive: Matt Morin (North Iowa)

November 6

Offensive: Karl Sellan (Texas)

Defensive: Dennis Urban (Mahoning Valley)

November 13

Offensive: Josh Leonard (Cleveland)

Defensive: Bobby Jarosz (Cleveland), Jeff Carlson (Southern Minnesota)

November 20

Offense: Jacques Lamoureaux (Bismarck)

Defense: Drew Fortney (Mahoning Valley), Graham McManamin (Bozeman)

November 27

Offense: Blake Page (Helena), Ryan Guentzel (Southern Minnesota)

Defense: Matt Dalton (Bozeman), Troy Redmann (Texas)

December 4

Offense: Phil Fox (Fargo-Moorhead)

Defense: Mike Garman (Springfield), Jeff Carlson (Southern Minnesota)

December 11

Offense: Tibor Kutalek (Helena)

Defense: Riley Gill (Texarkana)

December 18

Offense: Anthony Becker (Texarkana)

Defense: B.J. O'Brien (Fargo-Moorhead), Dervin Stonehouse (Texas)

One of the great brand names in hockey equipment, Sher-wood is the exclusive Official Equipment Supplier of the North American Hockey League. Sher-wood sticks, gloves and pants are provided to NAHL clubs by the company, which also sponsors the NAHL Players of the Week awards. Each week, NAHL coaches nominate offensive and defensive players for these awards and winners are selected for their outstanding play and recognized on NAHL.com. The teams and players of the NAHL thank Sher-wood for their support of the oldest and largest Junior A hockey league in the United States.

• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...

North American Hockey League Stories from January 4, 2006

• U.S. National Under-17 Team Earns Silver At The 2005 World Challenge - U.S. National Team
• Border Battle Resumes Friday - Owatonna Express
• NAHL Names Players of the Week - NAHL
• Bobcats on winning streak - Bismarck Bobcats
• NHL Center Ice To Broadcast U.S. National Under-17 Team Gold-Medal Game Tonight - U.S. National Team
• Tornado Hockey Update - Texas Tornado

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.