The three, forward Joey Larson, defenseman Josh Zinger and goalie Beni Halasz, make up half of the CCHA All-Rookie Team that the league announced on Monday.

After that announcement was made in the late morning, a few hours later, Halasz’s name popped up again when the league made its Player of the Week announcements.

Halasz was named CCHA Goaltender of the Week for the 44-save shutout he posted in NMU’s 4-0 victory at Michigan Tech on Saturday night in the league’s Mason Cup playoff semifinals.

The 44 saves tied his high for the season — in other words, collegiate career — as he posted his third shutout of the campaign while the Wildcats won their seventh game in a row, which includes three games in the playoffs. He’s been in net for every minute of all seven games.

Northern Michigan University freshman goaltender Beni Halasz looks over his shoulder during a game played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette during the 2022-23 season. (Photo courtesy NMU)

In Saturday’s game, he made 10 saves in the opening period when his teammates scored three goals. Then he weathered the storm the Huskies rained upon him in their home MacInnes Student Ice Arena as they tried to play catchup, peppering him with 19 shots in the second period and 15 more in the third before Northern’s late empty-net goal finished out the scoring.

He backstopped NMU’s penalty kill, which stymied all five MTU power plays as he faced nine shots on goal in those shorthanded situations.

As one of the six players named to the CCHA All-Rookie Team, Halasz was noted for his 13-10-0 record, 2.53 goals-against average and .910 saves percentage in 24 conference games.

The Budapest, Hungary, native led the league’s rookie goalies in GAA, saves percentage and his two shutouts, making 554 saves in 1,302-plus minutes of action.

Among all CCHA goalies, he was fifth in GAA and sixth in saves as he helped NMU secure the fourth and final home berth in the opening round of the playoffs.

Larson played in 26 league games, recording 20 points on 10 goals and 10 assists. He was fifth among all players with six multipoint games, sixth in shots per game with 3.17 and eighth in shots with 76.

The downstate Brighton resident was also a minus-1 in plus-minus rating with four power play goals, and he was second among rookies in points and points per game (0.83). And he blocked 15 shots on the defensive end while scoring four goals on the power play with one game-winner.

Zinger, of Red Deer, Alberta, recorded two goals and eight assists for 10 points while playing in all 26 conference games. He was a minus-4 with 20 blocked shots, helping NMU post a 2.96 opponent’s scoring average.

The rest of the All-Rookie team included Michigan Tech forward Kyle Kukkonen, Bemidji State forward Lleyton Roed and Bowling Green State defenseman Dalton Norris.

The balance of CCHA Player of the Week honors went to players from Minnesota State-Mankato, which defeated Ferris State 7-2 in Saturday’s other semifinal — Forward of the Week Brendan Furry, Defenseman of the Week Jake Livingstone and Rookie of the Week Christian Fitzgerald.

More CCHA year-end awards will be named throughout this week, starting with today’s All-CCHA First Team and Second Team scheduled to come out today. All year-end awards are voted on by the league’s eight head coaches.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.