Knelsen, Greenham, Taranto Garner CCHA Player of the Week Honors

FAIRBANKS, AK – For the first time in school history, three Alaska Nanooks men's hockey players have simultaneously earned Central Collegiate Hockey Association player of the week honors. Senior Dion Knelsen (Three Hills, AB) is the Offensive Player of the Week, sophomore Scott Greenham (Addison, ON) is the Reebok Goalie of the Week and freshman Andy Taranto (Woodridge, IL) is the CCM Rookie of the Week for the week of February 22.

The trio played a big hand in helping the then-ranked No. 20 Nanooks to a series sweep of the Lake Superior State Lakers last weekend at the Carlson Center. Alaska blanked LSSU 4-0 on Friday and then sealed the deal with a 5-1 triumph on Saturday.

The back-to-back victories were the first for the Blue and Gold in a weekend series since the opening weekend of CCHA play, when they swept Ferris State at home 3-1 and 3-2 (OT) on Oct. 30-31. It also helped them climb three spots to No. 17 in this week's USCHO.com/CBS Online Poll and to No. 11 in the unofficial Men's Division I PairWise Rankings.

Knelsen had a goal, four assists and a plus three rating on the weekend, with all four assists coming in Friday night's win. He was the game's second star on Friday and now has 16-16-32 through 32 games this year as well as 42-67-109 through 141 career games. He is second on the team in scoring, seventh in the CCHA for points, tied for third in CCHA goals.

It is the first time this season an Alaska forward garnered Offensive Player of the Week and the first since he won the award on Oct. 13, 2008.

Greenham made 74 saves on 75 Laker shots faced, for 0.50 goals-against average and .987 save percentage in the series. Friday he turned aside 32 shots en route to his third shutout of the season and fifth of his career and then followed with a 42-save performance on Saturday that won him the game's first start honors for the second consecutive night.

The award is his fourth this season, the most by any other CCHA goalie, and the fifth of his career. He was named the CCHA Goaltender of the week as a freshman on Oct. 20, 2008.

Taranto also had a five-point weekend after notching a pair of helpers each night and a goal on Saturday. His lone goal was a short-hander, the Nanooks first of the season, which helped him earn the game's second star Saturday night. He leads the team in scoring with 13-21-34 through 28 games: good for first among CCHA rookies, second in CCHA points, (tied for) third in CCHA assists, third among NCAA Division I rookie points and fourth in NCAA rookie points per game (1.06).

It marks Taranto's second such award and Alaska's third by a rookie this season. Taranto was previously the CCM Rookie of the Week on Nov. 30, one week after his classmate Nik Yaremchuk (St. Albert, AB) took home the award on Nov. 23.

The No. 17 Nanooks closeout their regular-season schedule this weekend with a home-and-home series against their arch-rivals the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves for the 17^th Annual Alaska Airline's Governor's Cup series. The series is tied 8-8 and the Nanooks are looking to snap the Seawolves four-year streak by capturing their first Governor's Cup since 2005.

The teams meet at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage Friday night at 7:07 p.m. and the Carlson Center in Fairbanks on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. Both games are being tape delayed each night in Fairbanks on KFXF Fox 7, and can be heard live on KSUA 91.5 FM.

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