Cammalleri, Nystrom Named CCHA Players of the Week

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- For the second straight week, two University of Michigan ice hockey players -- junior forward Mike Cammalleri (Richmond Hill, Ontario) and freshman forward Eric Nystrom (Syosset, N.Y.) -- earned two of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's Player of the Week awards, the league office announced today (Monday, Dec. 10). Cammalleri was honored as the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week, while Nystrom was named the conference's Rookie of the Week.

	Cammalleri		Nystrom

Cammalleri, the second player in U-M history to earn a CCHA Player of the Week honor in consecutive weeks, produced 2-2-4 totals last weekend at Miami (Ohio), netting his first career overtime game-winning goal in Friday's (Dec. 7) 3-2 win over the RedHawks before tallying his fourth three-point game of the year with two goals and an assist in Saturday's (Dec. 8) 5-2 triumph. Cammalleri joins former Wolverine Scott Matzka (Offensive Player of the Week, March 6 and 13, 2000) as the only two U-M players to earn a weekly honor from the league since joining the CCHA for the 1981-82 campaign.

Nystrom received CCHA Rookie of the Week honors for the second time in four weeks after notching a season-high four points with two goals, including his first career shorthanded marker, and a season-high two assists in Saturday's victory, the first four-point game by a U-M freshman since Mike Comrie recorded 1-3C4 against Bowling Green in the first round of the 1999 CCHA Tournament. Michigan, which has received a Rookie of the Week award in three of the last four weeks, including two straight, has earned the award in back-to-back weeks on one other occasion - Oct. 11 and 18, 1998, when Josh Blackburn (Choctaw, Okla.) and Mike Comrie were named the CCHA's top rookie, respectively.

Cammalleri and Nystrom are the third U-M duo in school history to earn CCHA awards in the same week, joining Jeff Jillson and Josh Langfeld, who copped CCHA Defensive and Offensive Player of the Week honors, respectively, on Oct. 23, 2000, and Cammalleri and Dwight Helminen (Brighton, Mich.), who were named top offensive player and rookie a week ago. The CCHA began selecting three Players of the Week (Offensive, Defensive and Rookie) in 1998-99 after picking one recipient in each of the previous seasons.

With the awards, a Wolverine has received a CCHA honor following each of the last four weekends, marking the first time in school history Michigan has been honored by the league in four straight weeks. Nystrom was named CCHA Rookie of the Week on Nov. 19 to start the string, sophomore defenseman Mike Komisarek (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) earned CCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors following the College Hockey Showcase on Nov. 26, and Cammalleri and Helminen received Offensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week laurels following U-M's sweep of Ferris State on Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

Overall, seven U-M skaters have received a CCHA Player of the Week award this season, including a league-high three Rookie of the Week selections, tops among the league's 12 schools.

Michigan (10-5-2 overall, 8-3-2 CCHA), ranked ninth in the latest USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll and one of college hockey's hottest teams with an 8-1-1 mark in its last 10 games, concludes the first half of the 2001-02 campaign this weekend, hosting Harvard (5-4-2, 5-2-2 ECAC) in a single non-conference game on Saturday (Dec. 15). Opening faceoff is slated for 7:35 p.m. at Yost Ice Arena (6,637) on the U-M campus.

Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423