Kukkonen and Thorne named CCHA Players of the Week
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech freshman Kyle Kukkonen is the CCHA Forward of the Week, and Brett Thorne is the CCHA Defenseman of the Week the league announced on Monday. Both Kukkonen and Thorne earned their second weekly honor of the season.
Kukkonen led the CCHA on the weekend with four goals in the split with Bowling Green in the annual Winter Carnival series. He tallied a pair of goals each night to take over the team lead with 14 goals and was named Winter Carnival MVP. Kukkonen leads CCHA rookies with 14 goals and is second with 22 points.
Thorne tallied three assists in the series against the Falcons. The co-captain also helped the penalty kill go 7-for-8 in the two games. Thorne is second on the Huskies with 14 assists and a plus-13 rating. He ranks sixth amongst CCHA defensemen with 14 assists.
Michigan Tech is ranked No. 12 in this week's DCU/USCHO poll for the third straight week and No. 13 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. The Huskies are 21-8-4 overall and 14-6-4 in the CCHA. The No. 12 ranking is the highest for Michigan Tech since March 14, 2016.
The Huskies have clinched home ice for the first two rounds of the CCHA Mason Cup Tournament. Tickets for the first round best-of-three series (March 3-5) will go on sale Tuesday at the SDC Central Ticket Office.
Tech has this weekend off before traveling to No. 13 Minnesota State for the regular season finale on February 24-25.