USHL

The United States Hockey League (USHL) announced Tuesday its Players of the Week for Week 17 of the 2021-22 season. Three first-time winners for this season highlight the weekly award winners featuring Forward of the Week Frank Nazar (USA Hockey National Team Development Program - NTDP) and a pair of Muskegon Lumberjacks, including Defenseman of the Week Tyler Dunbar and Goaltender of the Week Cameron Korpi. 

Nazar earned his first Forward of the Week award of the season after an impressive lone performance that saw the University of Michigan commit pick up four points in a 9-4 NTDP win over the Madison Capitols. Nazar, a Mount Clemens, Mich. native, tallied his 10th goal of the season in the opening minute of the middle frame to give his team a 3-1 lead. Another three points, all coming in the form of assists, helped lift Nazar and NTDP to its ninth USHL win of the season. Through 13 games this season, Nazar leads the NTDP with 20 points (10-10-20) and goals (10), while his 10 assists is tied for second on the team. With a 1.54 points per game mark, Nazar ranks second in the league just behind league leading scorer Stephen Halliday (1.59) and ahead of Jackson Blake (1.52). Nazar, who was awarded Co-Forward of the Week during Week 3 last season, was most recently ranked 17th among North American Skaters on the Midseason Rankings from NHL Central Scouting earlier this month and represented Team Blue at the BioSteel All-American Game last week. The second-year forward is now on a four-game point streak (4-6-10), including three games in a row with multiple points, and has points in 10 of his 13 games this season. 

Dunbar’s second career Defenseman of the Week award came after a trio of assists in a 4-0 win over the Youngstown Phantoms on Saturday night. The University of North Dakota commit registered the primary assist on each of the game’s final three goals in the third period. Saturday night’s performance marked the second three-point game of Dunbar’s career, with the first coming in the form of a hat trick back on November 14, 2020, which led to Dunbar’s first career Defenseman of the Week award. The Sault St. Marie, Mich. native was ranked 105th among North American Skaters by NHLCS earlier this month and has already set new career highs for points (19) and assists (17) through 35 games this season. Dunbar’s +4 rating for the game was also a career best mark for the third-year defenseman. The blueliner ranks 13th in the league among fellow defensemen with 19 points this season while his 17 assists is tied for ninth. 

Korpi’s 15th career USHL game saw the Western Michigan University commit pick up his first career shutuout. The South Lyon, Mich. native turned aside all 20 shots the Phantoms sent his way, backing his team to a 4-0 win and bringing the Lumberjacks into a tie for first in the Eastern Conference with the Chicago Steel. Korpi’s shutout sent Muskegon to its 21st win of the season, which is second among all USHL teams. This season, Korpi has registered a 4-2-0-1 record in nine appearances with a 2.86 goals against average and 0.889 save percentage. Last season, Korpi appeared in six games for the NTDP, picking up a win, giving him a career 5-6-1-1 record, 3.81 GAA and 0.863 SV%.