James Hagens, Boston Buckberger and Jacob Fowler Earn Weekly Honors
October 26, 2022 – United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release
The United States Hockey League (USHL) announced Wednesday the Players of the Week for Week 5 of the 2022-23 regular season. Another trio of players earned their first Player of the Week awards as James Hagens, Boston Buckberger and Jacob Fowler were awarded for their outstanding performances on the ice last week with the Forward, Defenseman and Goaltender of the Week awards, respectively.
Forward of the Week: James Hagens, USA Hockey NTDP (Hauppauge, N.Y.)
Hagens had another incredible weekend to add to his torrid start to his USHL career, picking up four points (3-1-4) and extending his total to 12 points (7-5-12) in five games. The forward was part of all four NTDP goals on Friday night as they bested the Dubuque Fighting Saints in overtime. Hagens tallied the first two NTDP goals of the night and picked up the primary assist on a game-tying goal with less than a minute remaining in regulation. The Hauppauge, N.Y. native would play the overtime hero, capping off his first career USHL hat trick 3:58 into the extra frame. Hagens is currently on a four-game point streak, has registered multiple goals in three of his last four games and has three games with three-or-more points in the point streak. James is the younger brother of current Chicago Steel defenseman Michael Hagens, who was named a C-rated skater on the NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Players to Watch List on Tuesday. The NTDP forward is the third Development Program player to earn a weekly award in the first five weeks of the season, joining defensemen Cole Hutson (Week 4) and Will Skahan (Week 2), which leads the League. Hagens currently leads USHL skaters with a 2.40 points-per-game mark and is just three points shy of the League lead in points (15) in half the games played.
Defenseman of the Week: Boston Buckberger, Lincoln Stars (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
Buckberger was a key piece of Lincoln’s 4-3 win on Saturday night, picking up a pair of points (1-1-2), including his second goal of the season. The University of Wisconsin commit collected the game-winning goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation after tallying a primary assist early in the second period. Buckberger currently leads all USHL defensemen with 10 points (2-8-10) in seven games this season and is the lone blueliner with a double-digit point total. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native has multiple points in back-to-back games and four of his seven appearances this season, including a season-best three points (1-2-3) back on September 23. Buckberger is the second Stars player to earn a weekly award this season, joining goaltender Cameron Whitehead (Week 1).
Goaltender of the Week: Jacob Fowler, Youngstown Phantoms (Melbourne, Fla.)
Fowler was nearly perfect on the weekend, despite splitting a pair of appearances. The Clarkson University commit only allowed one goal on 20 shots in the final 40 minutes of action on Friday night, allowing the Phantoms to mount a comeback that fell just short. The following night, Fowler turned aside all 33 shots the Chicago Steel sent his way for his first shutout and win of the season. The netminder was named a C-Rated goaltender by NHL Central Scouting on the service’s Preliminary Players to Watch list that was released Tuesday and currently has a 2.79 goals against average and 0.919 save percentage this season despite a 1-3-0-0 record. Fowler is the second Phantoms player to earn a weekly award this season, joining Andrew Strathmann (Week 1).
The USHL season continues with four-straight days of games, including a packed six-game slate live on FloSports on Saturday night.
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