Hockey Trio Tabbed AHA Weekly Award Winners

The Canisius hockey team had three student-athletes recognized as Atlantic Hockey America announced its weekly award winners on Tuesday.

Senior Chase Clark picked up his third AHA Goaltender of the Week accolade of the campaign while junior Walter Zacher was tabbed the AHA Forward of the Week for the second time this season. Freshman FJ Buteau rounded out the Golden Griffins award winners as he was named the AHA Defenseman of the Week for the first time in his career.

All three played key roles in helping Canisius earn a sweep of its home-and-home series against AHA foe RIT last weekend.

In his lone appearance of the weekend, Clark stopped 29-of-30 shots faced in a 4-1 victory over the Tigers in the series finale at the Gene Polisseni Center. The Buffalo native allowed two goals of fewer for the ninth time in 18 starts this season as RIT was only able to beat him once with a power play goal early in the third period.

Zacher recorded the 22nd hat trick in the Division I era of the program when he tallied three goals in Canisius' 5-3 win over RIT in the series opener at LECOM Harborcenter on Jan. 16. Notching the second hat trick of his collegiate career and the first in Blue and Gold, the Buffalo native struck twice in the second period, including the go-ahead goal in the final minute of the frame before completing his hat trick with the eventual game-winning marker early in the third.

Buteau, meanwhile, finished with three points during the series, recording a goal and two helpers in the sweep. He began the weekend with an assist on the final goal of the Griffs 5-3 triumph against the RIT in the series opener before capping his weekend with his first collegiate multiple-point performance with a goal and an assist in the 4-1 victory in Rochester. The Montreal native also shared team-high honors with six blocked shots over the two-game set.

Winners of its last three contests, Canisius (11-9-2, 6-6-2 AHA) returns to action this weekend when it travels to longtime rival Mercyhurst for a pair of Atlantic Hockey America contests. The series opener is slated for a 7 p.m. puck drop on Friday while Saturday's finale is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start.

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Players Mentioned

#73 FJ Buteau: D; 6' 4"; Freshman; L

#41 Chase Clark: G; 6' 7"; Senior; R

#9 Walter Zacher: F; 5' 11"; Junior; R

Players Mentioned

#73 FJ Buteau
: 6' 4"; Freshman; L
: D

#41 Chase Clark
: 6' 7"; Senior; R
: G

#9 Walter Zacher
: 5' 11"; Junior; R
: F

Players Mentioned

#73 FJ Buteau

#41 Chase Clark

#9 Walter Zacher

Players Mentioned

#73 FJ Buteau

#41 Chase Clark

#9 Walter Zacher