CHICAGO, ILL. – The United States Hockey League (USHL) announced Wednesday the Forward, Defenseman and Goaltender of the Week for Week 18 of the 2019-20 season. This week features the second weekly honor in-a-row for Tri-City Storm blueliner Mitchell Miller while Des Moines Buccaneers goaltender Cameron Rowe and Waterloo Black Hawks forward Griffin Ness each collected his their first career weekly awards. The USHL is America’s only Tier I junior hockey league and continues to lead the world in the advancement of Division I college hockey athletes.
Forward: Griffin Ness (Waterloo Black Hawks)
2GP, 5G, 3A, +6
A career night for Black Hawks forward Griffin Ness resulted in a 6-5 overtime win for Waterloo in a Friday night matchup with the Muskegon Lumberjacks. Ness factored in all six Black Hawks goals, including a game-tying goal with 67 seconds remaining in regulation to complete his second USHL hat trick and first of the season. The University of North Dakota commit then added a primary assist on the overtime game winner from forward Wyatt Schingoethe. The hat trick was Ness’ second multi-goal game of the season and third of his 92 game USHL career. The next night, in his 93rd career game, Ness wasted no time, scoring his first of two goals in the game just 3:31 into the first period in a 6-1 win over the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP). Through 93 career games, Ness has registered 65 points (30-35-65). The Wayzata, Min. native has also registered two points (1-1-2) in 10 career playoff contests. Ness has 31 points (14-17-31) through 31 games this season, which is second on the Western Conference-leading Waterloo Black Hawks. The forward’s 17 assists is tied with his USHL career-high, while his 14 goals and 31 points are each two shy of his career highs (16 and 33, respectively) set last season with the Black Hawks. During his first full-time USHL season in 2018-19, Ness appeared at the World Junior A Challenge and was part of a gold medal-winning U.S. Junior Select roster.
Defenseman: Mitchell Miller (Tri-City Storm)
2GP, 4A, +5
For the second week in a row, Miller was named the USHL Defenseman of the Week. This time, the University of North Dakota commit registered four assists and a plus-five rating in a weekend sweep in front of the Viaero Center home crowd in Kearney, Neb. On Saturday night, Miller assisted on a go-ahead goal late in the second period before picking up a primary assist on Joey Cipollone’s eventual game-winning goal early in the third period of a 3-2 win over the Fargo Force. Twenty-four hours later, Miller picked up another pair of assists, this time helping his Tri-City Storm to a 5-2 win over the Omaha Lancers. The Sylvania, Ohio native is now on a six-game point streak (3-9-12) dating back to January 11, which features at least one assist in all six contests. The Storm are 4-2-0-0 in that stretch and are now second in the Western Conference with a 19-14-3-2 record (43 points). Within the streak, the last five of Miller’s games have been multi-point performances. Before the streak began, Miller had not recorded a multi-point game this season and had only three in 50 prior USHL contests in the last two seasons. Miller is now fourth in the USHL in defensive scoring with 22 points (5-17-22) in 34 games this season, which is fifth on the Storm among all skaters.
Goalie: Cameron Rowe (Des Moines Buccaneers)
2GP, 2-0-0-0, 2.00 GAA, 0.951 SV%
Rowe collected his first USHL Goalie of the Week honor after a perfect 2-0-0-0 weekend. The University of Wisconsin commit registered 31 saves on 34 shots in a 5-3 Friday night win over his former team, the NTDP. The next night, Rowe stood tall again, this time allowing only one goal as the Muskegon Lumberjacks piled on 47 shots, but Rowe’s efforts sealed a 6-1 Buccaneers victory. The Wilmette, Ill. native holds an 11-11-1-0 record this season with a 3.40 goals against average and 0.904 save percentage. Rowe’s first weekly award came as the Buccaneers’ third USHL Goalie of the Week win this season, all by different netminders; Christian Stoever won in Week 6 while James Durham won in Week 16. Rowe was previously ranked no. 19 among North American goalies in NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm rankings after being a B-rated goalie on the service’s Preliminary and Players to Watch lists during the 2018-19 season. This season, Rowe’s 11 wins is seventh among USHL goalies while his 0.904 save percentage is tied for seventh in the league
You must be logged in to post a comment.