WAKEFIELD, Mass. – New Hampshire freshman defenseman Max Gildon (Plano, Texas) has been named the Hockey Commissioners' Association (HCA) National Division I Rookie of the Month for October.

Gildon has helped anchor a New Hampshire defense that boasts the best scoring defense in Hockey East, limiting opponents to 2.29 goals per game. His play has backended the Wildcats to a 5-1-1 start to the year, including a 5-0-0 run that was the best to open a season for New Hampshire in 24 years.

The 6-3, 191-pound blueliner leads all NCAA defensemen with six goals, two game-winning tallies, and one hat trick. His six markers also lead all of Hockey East while his eight points are third-most among league defenders.

He has factored in on three game-winning strikes to date and scored two, including netting both goals in a 2-0 New Hampshire win on Oct. 13 over Colgate and all three tallies in a 3-0 win against Colorado College on Oct. 20, his first career hat trick.

St. Cloud State junior defenseman Jimmy Schuldt (Minnetonka, Minn.), who led the NCAA in points per game and plus-minus last month, has been named the Hockey Commissioners' Association (HCA) National Division I Player of the Month for October.

Schuldt tallied 10 points on four goals and six assists in five games, while leading the Huskies to a 5-0-0 start and a No. 2 national ranking. Despite playing on the blue line, Schuldt tied for the NCAA lead among all skaters in October with 2.00 points per game, while also ranking sixth during the month with 1.20 assists per game. SCSU's team captain tallied at least one point in all five games in October, including four multi-point games, while posting a +8 plus-minus, which led the NCAA. He scored the game-winning goal in SCSU's first two games of the season, and was a two-time NCHC Defenseman of the Week to start the season, as well.

Schuldt opened the season with the game-winning goal and an assist in a 4-0 shutout at Minnesota State on Oct. 7. He also posted a +4 plus-minus in the win, which earned him his first NCHC Defenseman of the Week nod. The next weekend, the undrafted free agent put up five points in a sweep of Alaska, again collecting NCHC Defenseman of the Week honors, as well as NCAA Second Star of the Week. Schuldt tallied three of the points in the series-opening 6-3 win over the Nanooks Oct. 13, scoring two goals, including the game-winner, and dishing out an assist.

In his final two games of October, Schuldt doled out three assists in a sweep of Boston College Oct. 20-21, including two in the series opener for his fourth multi-point game of the month. In addition to his offense, Schuldt blocked 12 shots in October (2.4 blocks per game), while anchoring a Huskies blue line that helped allow only 2.00 goals per game, which ranked seventh nationally.