NAHL Players of the Week

December 15, 2005 - North American Hockey League (NAHL) News Release

The Helena Bighorns are rebounding from a disappointing start and have won seven of their past 12 games. Indicative of their rebound, two weeks ago, they had their first Player of the Week, when Blake Page enjoyed a six point week. This week, Page hit for eight points, but so did linemate Tibor Kutalek, who has been selected as Sher-wood NAHL Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending December 11.

On Friday night, December 9, the Bighorns exploded to an 8-1 mid-game lead over the Billings Bulls in an eventual 12-5 victory and Kutalek was a mighty contributor to building that insurmountable lead, playing a part in four of the eight tallies with a goal and three assists by the time the game was in its 34th minute. The Sklica, Slovakia, native added another assist late in the game for a five point night.

The next night, the Bighorns romped again, this time with an 8-4 triumph over the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. The outcome was not decided as early as the previous night's and in the mid-second period, the Ice Dogs had a 3-2 lead. But Kutalek set up Page's game-tying goal, then another by Andy Gevorkyan in the last minute of the second period to extend the ‘Horns lead to 5-3. In the third period, Kutalek scored an insurance goal, his third point of the game. Over the two games, Kutalek was a plus-6, the best among all Helena forwards.

"Tibor has been our best player over the past month and he has done it with great two-way play," said Bighorns interim head coach Mike Butters.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Max Atsoff (Mahoning Valley), Charlie Bair (Bismarck), Anthony Becker (Texarkana), Jordan Mowbray (Texas), Corey Stark (Santa Fe).

GILL BACKSTOPS HIS WAY TO SHER-WOOD NAHL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS

After losing four out of five games, the Texarkana Bandits won three straight and are back breathing down the necks of the Texas Tornado for top spot in the NAHL South Division and goaltender Riley Gill is providing the stellar goaltending the Bandits need to keep them in the hunt for the top spot. His recent outstanding play against Santa Fe has earned recognition as the Sher-wood NAHL Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending December 11. On Friday night, December 9, Gill posted his third shutout of the season in a 6-0 Bandits triumph. He stopped all 34 shots the Roadrunners launched his was and was particularly strong when the Bandits were a man short, which they were 10 times during the game. At the start of the second period, with the Bandits nursing a 1-0 lead and Santa Fe on the power play, Gill made four strong stops to hold the fort; that allowed Texarkana to extend the lead to 4-0 before the period was half over.

The next night, Gill stopped 25 of 27 shots in a 6-2 win. He was strongest again when his team was down a man, as Santa Fe was blanked on 11 power play chances in the game, and in the third period as the Roadrunners tested him with 15 shots in an attempt to get back in the game. Their only goal in the third was on a rebound.

Gill's .967 save percentage and 1.00 goals against average on the week were big factors in the Bandits ending their slide and jumping back into the South Division race.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Jack Day (Helena), Tim Krystosek (Bismarck), Bryce Merriam (Mahoning Valley), Troy Redmann (Texas)

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)

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.

North American Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2005

• North Stars halt skid, 3-2 - Traverse City North Stars
• Barons Captain Camper Commits to Miami of Ohio - Cleveland Barons
• NAHL Players of the Week - NAHL

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