Pinto thrilled with awards but chasing one more
Or lack thereof, shall we say.
After amassing 46 penalty minutes as a freshman last season, The North Dakota sophomore managed just a single minor penalty throughout the 2020-21 NCHC season. One!
"Honestly, I have no idea," Pinto said when asked how that had happened. "I have a bit of a temper; I get really competitive and usually I take some stupid penalties but for some reason I got one penalty which is crazy to say honestly.
"I thought I'd have much more than that but I'm happy I'm not being stupid out there and I'm keeping my head and that obviously has to continue. But that is a big shock … it's a significant drop and I'm not sure how that's happened."
While there's no award for biggest drop in penalty minutes, in all seriousness, Pinto is going to need to find some room for the silverware he has won so far this year.
The 20-year-old was named the NCHC Player of the Year, becoming the first player in conference history to win the award unanimously. Additionally, he was named the NCHC's Forward of the Year, Defensive Forward of the Year and was unanimously selected to the First-Team All-NCHC team.
"I think it's the best league in college hockey and to win that award is pretty cool," Pinto said of his Player of the Year win. "But I think it's a testament to the guys I play with. I say that every time but it's just the truth. I have so many good players around me and they make me a much better player and it's a credit to them."
He admits that the Defensive Forward of the Year award is the one he's most proud of, calling it the "coolest award I got" and adding he didn't think he'd win.
The accolades came after Pinto, who taken with the 32nd overall pick in 2019, led the conference in goals (15) and points (28). Furthermore, he was the conference leader with 11 multi-point games, seven power play goals and 13 power play points. His 1.22 point per game average was also the best among all NCHC players. His 62 per cent success rate in the faceoff circle also topped the conference, as did his 308 faceoff wins.
This all coming after he won the NCHC Rookie of the Year in 2019-20.
But while all the records and awards mean something to Pinto, he, and his Senator prospect teammates Jacob Bernard-Docker, Tyler Kleven and Jake Sanderson, are looking to get their hands on the NCAA title.
The Fighting Hawks, who went 21-5-1, claimed the Penrose Cup as the NCHC's regular season champions and then went on to win the Frozen Faceoff tournament last week, beating St. Cloud State 5-3 in the final, for the school's first ever NCHC tournament title. Pinto recorded two assists in three games during the Frozen Faceoff.
They enter the NCAA Tournament as the no.1 seed, starting in the Midwest Regional, which they will host, where they will face American International Friday. Win that game, they'll play either Michigan or their NCHC rival, Minnesota Duluth, the next night. A win there will send them to the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh.
"Collectively as a team we had goals coming into this year and so far, we've checked off every box we had," Pinto said. "These past couple of weeks have been great, we've done really well, but it's a whole new animal with the regional. I think we're going to have to play our best to win
"Obviously, there's one big goal that we want to achieve and that's the national championship."
Photo credit: Mark Kuhlmann
