Jan. 14, 2008

DETROIT - Wayne State sophomore defenseman Jeff Caister (Mississauga, Ont./Milton Icehawks) was named the College Hockey America Defensive Player of the Week while goaltender Mike Devoney (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Bridgewater Bandits) earned CHA Rookie of the Week honors after posting a pair of victories at Northern Michigan over the weekend.

Caister, Wayne State's leading scorer with 17 points, notched four more against the Wildcats. He assisted on the first and last goals of the game in Friday's 4-1 victory which snapped an eight-game losing skid and marked WSU's first-ever win against NMU. The following night, he assisted on a power-play goal in the second period and scored the game-winner in overtime to give the Warriors the sweep. On the defensive side, he helped hold Northern Michigan to a single power-play goal in 10 chances.

Devoney stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced in his first collegiate start on Friday, and followed that with a 19-save performance as WSU rallied from a two-goal deficit on Saturday. Devoney posted a 1.49 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage in the series.

Wayne State returns to Detroit to host Niagara this weekend, with Saturday's game being housed at the Palace of Auburn Hills as part of a doubleheader also featuring Michigan against Notre Dame. Friday's contest as well as next weekend's series against Alabama-Huntsville (Jan. 25-26) will be played at the Taylor SportsPlex.