UND’s Berry, Pinto get top NCHC hnors

(NCHC release)

Rounding out its individual awards for the 2020-21 season, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) unveiled its top honors on Thursday, with North Dakota claiming two of the four awards, while St. Cloud State and Western Michigan also each captured a major award.

North Dakota head coach Brad Berry repeated as the NCHC’s Herb Brooks Coach of the Year, while UND sophomore forward Shane Pinto was selected the Conference’s Player of the Year. St. Cloud State forward Veeti Miettinen was bestowed the NCHC’s Rookie of the Year award, while Western Michigan defenseman Kale Bennett was named the NCHC’s Senior Scholar-Athlete for 2020-21.

Berry is the Herb Brooks Coach of the Year for the third time in his career, also winning it in 2015-16 and last season, while this is the fourth time a North Dakota coach has won the award after Dave Hakstol did so in 2014-15. Pinto becomes the first UND player to win NCHC Player of the Year, while he’s also the first to earn the award unanimously. Bennett is the first Bronco to claim Senior Scholar-Athlete, while Miettinen is the first Husky to garner Rookie of the Year honors from the NCHC.

Pinto (Franklin Square, N.Y.) was also a unanimous First-Team All-NCHC selection this season and became the first player to win both NCHC Forward and Defensive Forward of the Year. The Ottawa Senators draft pick captured the conference scoring title with 28 points in only 23 games and scored an NCHC-best 15 goals. Last year’s NCHC Rookie of the Year also led the conference with 11 multi-point games, 1.22 points per game, seven power play goals and 13 power play points. Three of his goals were game-winners, as well, as he led UND to a second straight Penrose Cup. Pinto was the top faceoff man in the conference winning 308 draws with a .620 win percentage, both tops in the NCHC. His +15 plus/minus tied for second in the conference. Pinto was a two-time NCHC Forward of the Week and the Conference’s January Player of the Month.

The runner-up for NCHC Player of the Year was Minnesota Duluth senior Nick Swaney, who tied for second in the NCHC with 27 points (13g/14a). He was also runner-up to Pinto for Forward of the Year.

Berry guided the Fighting Hawks to their second straight Penrose Cup as regular-season champions with an 18-5-1 record, while overcoming the challenges of playing during a pandemic. The 18 wins are fourth-most in the country, while UND sat atop the national polls multiple weeks during the season. In his sixth season as bench boss at UND, Berry’s squad led the country averaging 3.96 goals per game, while topping the NCHC and ranking fourth in the NCAA, giving up only 1.96 goals against per game. Berry had his team playing especially well at home, going 6-1-0 at Ralph Engelstad Arena this season.

The runner-up for Herb Brooks Coach of the Year was Omaha head coach Mike Gabinet, who led the Mavericks to a fourth-place finish after being predicted sixth in the preseason poll.

Bennett (St. Louis, Mo.) is the ultimate student-athlete, compiling a near-perfect 3.99 grade-point average while majoring in biomedical sciences. The Broncos assistant captain is a four-time member of the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team and a four-time NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete, as well as a three-time AHCA All-American Scholar. Bennett has played in 112 career games for WMU, recording 17 points, including an assist in 22 games this season and all three of his career goals last season. The Broncos blue liner plans on attending medical school upon graduation this spring.

The runner-up for NCHC Senior Scholar-Athlete was North Dakota senior defenseman Josh Reiger.

Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) was a unanimous NCHC All-Rookie Team selection and also garnered Second-Team All-NCHC honors. The Finn led all NCHC rookies in scoring with 23 points and 13 assists in 24 games this year. Miettinen finished second among conferences rookies with both 10 goals and 65 shots on goal, including one game-winner. Ten of his points came on the power play to lead all NCHC rookies, including five power play goals, while he notched seven multi-point games as a freshman. The Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick was a four-time NCHC weekly award winner and the January Rookie of the Month, as well as National Rookie of the Month to start 2021.

The runner-up for NCHC Rookie of the Year was Miami goaltender Ludvig Persson, who was also a unanimous All-Rookie Team selection and named Second-Team All-NCHC like Miettinen. Persson led the entire NCHC in save percentage at .930 for the regular season and was also runner-up for NCHC Goaltender of the Year.

Voting for the NCHC’s individual year-end playing awards was conducted by the eight head coaches at each institution and eight media members, one covering each member school. Athletic Directors also had a vote for the Herb Brooks Coach of the Year. Voting for the NCHC’s Senior Scholar-Athlete award was conducted by the eight faculty athletics representatives (FARs) at the NCHC’s member institutions.

On Monday, the NCHC announced its All-Rookie and All-Conference Teams. On Tuesday, the NCHC revealed its Sportsmanship Award and Three Stars Award winners. And yesterday, the NCHC announced its positional playing awards.

The 2021 NCHC Frozen Faceoff begins Friday with the first two of four quarterfinal match-ups. The entire tournament will take place March 12-16 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.

Herb Brooks Coach of the Year
Winner – Brad Berry, North Dakota
Runner-Up – Mike Gabinet, Omaha

Player of the Year
Winner – Shane Pinto, So., F, North Dakota
Runner-Up – Nick Swaney, Sr., F, Minnesota Duluth

Senior Scholar-Athlete Award
Winner – Kale Bennett, D, Western Michigan
Runner-Up – Josh Reiger, D, North Dakota

Rookie of the Year
Winner – Vietti Miettinen, F, St. Cloud State
Runner-Up – Ludvig Persson, G, Miami

Other individual NCHC award winners in 2020-21 (already announced)