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The North American Hockey League (NAHL) announced its All-Division Teams on Tuesday, and a pair of Austin Bruins forwards earned top honors. Alex Laurenza and Luc Malkhassian were named to the All-Central Division Team.

The Bruins duo is joined by lan Spencer (Minot Minotauros), Matthew Rafalski and Tomas Anderson (Bismarck Bobcats), and Kyler Miller (St. Cloud Norsemen) on the Central Division squad. 

Laurenza’s 2024-25 season was one of, if not the best season by an Austin Bruin in the team’s franchise history. 

The forward was one of five returning skaters for Head Coach Steve Howard and was the highest scoring returner from the 2023-24 season. 

The Woodbridge native kicked off the season with a bang, recording a point in the first five games of the year including two goals and five assists in the first two games. His dominance continued throughout the first half of the season, highlighted by a league record 19-game point streak (18 goals – 19 assists – 37 points). The second-year Bruin was honored several times throughout the season with weekly honors, but it was his 22-point performance in November that landed him the big one. With eleven goals and assists in the eleventh month, 

Laurenza was honored by the NAHL as the forward of the month. 

As the second half of the season progressed, Laurenza’s stats continued to climb towards Bruins history. On March 13, a second period assist pushed Laurenza past the 70 point mark, breaking the previous franchise record set the prior year by former teammate Austin Salani. With the points record in hand, Laurenza wasn’t finished. The following night, he set another single season franchise record with his 33rd goal of the year, passing Salani and Walter Zacher.

Laurenza finished the season atop numerous league stats including points (82), points per game (1.49), and game winning goals (10) while finishing top five in several others. 

Malkhassian, a newcomer to the Bruins, was right by Laurenza’s side the whole season. The Toronto native began the season with an impressive nine points (two goals and seven assists) in the first two games of the year, notching a point in eight of his first ten games for a total of 15. 

Sharing a line with his long time friend Laurenza, Luc found his groove setting up his line mate while also finding the back of the net consistently. Malkhassian’s 27 goals placed him tied for 12th in the league this year and seventh in the Bruins own single season record books. 

His ability to continually perform at a high level all while staying healthy kept him in the lineup for all 59 games during the season, the only Bruin to play in every single regular season game of the year. Just a week after Laurenza set the new single season point mark, Malkhassian joined him in history. A two goal first period against the Minotauros catapulted the forward to 71 points in a single season. 

Just like his fellow All-Division honoree, Luc wasn’t done with just one record. In the second last game of the year, Malkhassian posted his 50th assist, breaking a 12-year single season record held previously by Brandon Wahlin. His 78 points to end the year placed him second in the Bruins record books and second overall in the NAHL this season.