The U.S. Collegiate Selects fell short in their quest to become the first American team to win the Spengler Cup since 1988, but there were several notable performances in their runner-up performance.

Penn State men’s hockey forward Aiden Fink stood out the most among the group, being named to the Spengler Cup All-Star Team as one of three forwards alongside HC Davos’ Filip Zadina and HC Fribourg-Gottéron’s Marcus Sörenson.

Fink, who returned from a two-month absence in the tournament, scored four goals and had eight total points in four games. All four of his goals came in knockout play, as he scored a hat trick in the semifinal and scored a game-tying goal in the final. His eight points led all skaters in the tournament.

Fink suffered an apparent wrist injury on October 31 against Ohio State, causing him to miss the final seven games before Penn State’s prolonged holiday break. He participated fully in the tournament and appears to be in good shape for the start of the second half against RIT on Saturday, January 3.

The U.S. Collegiate Selects, who were coached by Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky and consisted of five Nittany Lions (Fink, Matt DiMarsico, JJ Wiebusch, Charlie Cerrato, Mac Gadowsky), were a large underdog on the betting markets prior to the tournament, but surprised many by winning Group Cattini and advancing to Wednesday’s final, where they lost 6-3 to HC Davos.