Wild's Vandercook, Jaeger honored
WENATCHEE - Wenatchee Wild captain D.J. Vandercook (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and veteran goaltender Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, Minn.) were named SBK Hockey/NAHL West Player of the Week and Goalie of the Week, respectively, on Monday.
The duo played major roles in the Wild's three victories in Alaska last week that put the team in position for a second-place finish in the West Division and home ice advantage in the first round of the Robertson Cup Playoffs.
Vandercook, who was a member of Team West, which won the second NAHL Top Prospects Tournament of the season in February, scored a goal and three assists in the Wild's 2-game sweep over the Fairbanks Ice Dogs last weekend. He was also plus-2 in the team's four games last week.
In Game 1 against Fairbanks, Vandercook recorded an assist on Mario Puskarich's (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.) extra-attacker goal, which forced overtime with 38 seconds remaining in regulation. Vandercook also scored a shootout goal before Shawn Pauly (Bellingham, Wash.) won the contest for the Wild in the seventh round of the shootout.
The following night, in the third annual outdoor game, Vandercook assisted on Carl-Johan Sjogren's (Tumba, Sweden) two power-play goals in the first 20 minutes of play, which gave the Wild a 2-0 lead. Vandercook went on to score a goal in the third period of the outdoor game to reach the 50-point plateau (21G, 29A) for the season.
This is Vandercook's second SBK Hockey/NAHL West Player of the Week this season. His first award was on Dec. 20 after his 6-point effort helped the Wild earn a 3-game road sweep over the Dawson Creek Rage.
"D.J.'s performance last week showed exactly why he's our captain," said Wild assistant coach Chris Clark. "D.J.'s ability to play his best in the big games makes him a true leader in our locker room."
Jaeger was in net for all three of the Wild's wins last week. In those wins, he made 77 saves on 83 shots for a goals-against average of 2.00 and a save percentage of .928.
Jaeger made 21 saves on 23 shots in the Wild's 3-2 overtime victory against the Kenai River Brown Bears last Tuesday.
He followed up that effort with one of his finest 2-game performances of the season against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. In the first game of the series, Jaeger allowed just one goal on 28 shots and stoned 5-of-7 shooters in the shootout to help his team earn a 2-1 victory.
In the outdoor game the following night, Jaeger absorbed 29-of-32 shots as the Wild swept the Ice Dogs with a 5-3 victory.
"Brandon's been playing his best hockey the last month and a half of the season," Clark said. "He's been playing with a ton of confidence and it's wearing off on the rest of the team."
On the season, Jaeger is 23-10-3 with five shutouts.
The NAHL's reigning Goaltender of the Year and first goalie in Wild history to score a goal, Jaeger owns a goals-against average of 2.31 and a save percentage of .907 in 2010-11.
The Wild (31-20-3) will conclude its eight-game road trip with a two-game set against the New Mexico Mustangs on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. (PT).