The Trinity Western men’s hockey team went a perfect 6-0 in the month of January and for its efforts, three Spartans earned BCIHL monthly honours as Mattias Schmitt was named the player of the month, Blair Murphy was the defenceman of the month and Silas Matthys goaltender of the month.
Schmitt is the third Spartans player to be named player of the month this year as Cody Fidgett was given the nod in October and PJ Buys was granted the honour in November.
This is the second month in a row that Matthys has been named goaltender of the month as he also picked up the November nomination.
Murphy is the second TWU blueliner to get the defensive nod as Jake Harcoff was named the defenceman of the month in October.
The first-place Spartans are 15-2-0-2 and are one win away from securing the BCIHL’s regular season title. TWU will travel to Victoria this weekend to take on the second-place Vikes Friday and Saturday.
Player of the Month
January was a breakout month for the third-year Spartans forward, who scored five times and totaled 11 points in six games. After being shut out on the scoreboard in his first game of 2015, Schmitt rolled off five consecutive multi-point nights. He was a game star in TWU's final three games of January, highlighted by first star honours following a one-goal, two-assist performance in a 5-1 victory over Victoria. His 11-point month vaulted him to sixth in BCIHL scoring.
Defenceman of the Month
The Spartans captain was a force at both ends of the ice in January, picking up a league-best six points from the blueline while also anchoring a TWU defence that allowed just 13 goals during six consecutive victories. The 23-year old was the first star in a January 22nd home win over SFU and recorded a season-high three assists a week later in a 6-3 decision over Eastern Washington. Murphy is one of just three BCIHL defencemen on a point-a-game game this season.
Goaltender of the Month
Matthys is a back-to-back winner of this award and appears to have firmly established himself as the league's premier netminder. The Swiss import won all five of his January starts and dominated opposing offences to the tune of a 1.98 goals-against average and .950 save-percentage. He leads BCIHL netminders in all major statistical categories (W, GAA, SV%, Saves) and has done so while facing 35+ shots per game for the first-place Spartans.