DEREK NESBITT HONORED AS CCHA'S OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Ferris State University senior left wing Derek Nesbitt (Egmondville, Ontario) has been selected the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's (CCHA) Offensive Player of the Week for March 7 by the league office for his notable performance in the Bulldogs' 2004-05 regular-season finale home-and-home series with Western Michigan this past weekend (March 4-5).

Nesbitt registered six total points on four goals and two assists against the Broncos, highlighted by his first career hat trick in Saturday's (March 5) 5-2 victory at WMU which earned him Perani Cup First Star of the Game honors. Two of his three lamplighters in the game came on four-on-three power-play situations. Nesbitt also had two assists in Saturday's encounter after accounting for the Bulldogs' lone goal in Friday's (March 4) home loss to the Broncos.

Nesbitt joins senior center Jeff Legue (Cornwall, Ontario) as Ferris skaters to attain CCHA Offensive Player of the Week laurels this season. Legue received the weekly honor (Jan. 3) for his efforts at the Badger Hockey Showdown (Dec. 31-Jan. 1).

Senior Derek Nesbitt posted a career-best five points in Saturday's win at Western Michigan, which included his first career hat trick.

The weekly league honor represents the second in Nesbitt's career as the forward earned CCHA Offensive Player of the Week kudos in the 2002-03 season after tallying three points (2-1--3) against Western Michigan (Feb. 15-16).

This season, Nesbitt is second in team scoring with 37 points (17-20--37) in 35 appearances. He leads the squad in assists (20) while ranking second in goals (17). Nesbitt has totaled a team-high tying 11 multiple-point game efforts this campaign.

For his career, Nesbitt has accumulated 139 points with 57 goals and 82 assists in 151 outings. He has 11 game-winning goals, five short-handed markers, 19 power-play goals, 38 multi-point game performances and is +42 in plus/minus efficiency. The 2002-03 All-CCHA Honorable Mention pick is presently 15th among the school's all-time leaders in points, 11th in goals, and 16th in assists. Nesbitt recorded a career-high 53 points (20-33--53) in the 2002-03 season which ranked tied for third among the league's overall scoring leaders and the 5-11, 182-pound two-way skater led the nation with a school-record single-season nine game-winning goals.

Nesbitt played a key role that season in leading Ferris State to its best season ever at 31-10-1 overall and its first-ever CCHA Regular-Season Championship title.

The Bulldogs, who finished the regular season at 12-20-4 overall and 7-17-4 in the CCHA, begin first-round play in the CCHA Tournament this weekend (March 11-13) against the Ohio State Buckeyes in a best two-of-three game series at OSU's Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The opening two contests are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. (EST) opening faceoffs while this Sunday's game, if necessary, will also start at 7:05 p.m. (EST).