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FAIRBANKS — Alaska Nanooks center Dion Knelsen was the most surprised person in the Carlson Center on Saturday night.

He wasn’t surprised that he and his teammates rallied for a 1-1 tie against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to take the championship of the second annual Brice Alaska Goal Rush.

Knelsen was astonished to hear that he was named the most valuable player of the four-team, two-day tournament.

The senior from Three Hills, Alberta, had an expression of shock when University of Alaska Fairbanks athletic director Forrest Karr presented him a small gold pan during the postgame media conference in the Pioneer Room.

Knelsen had an assist in Friday’s 4-2 win over the Robert Morris Colonials and he made the lone tally in a shootout Saturday that followed Alaska’s regulation tie and scoreless overtime period against RPI.

Knelsen was humbled and baffled by his second tournament MVP honor in two years.

He received the most outstanding player honor at the 2008 Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage.

“It feels good, but I was still a little bit confused when I got it,” Knelsen said Saturday. “I think there’s a lot of other guys that could have gotten this award ... a lot of guys had a great tournament.

“It feels good, but I was happy before I got it. I was happy we won this tournament.”

Knelsen paid a tribute to Nanooks goaltender Scott Greenham, who backstopped the title run with 39 saves.

“Scott Greenham deserves a lot of credit. He gave us a chance to win,” Knelsen said.

The Nanooks placed two others on the all-tournament team — sophomore defenseman Joe Sova, who had the game-tying goal Saturday, and freshman center Jarret Granberg, who scored twice Friday.

Also named to the team were RPI sophomore goaltender Allen York, Alaska Anchorage senior goaltender Jon Olthuis and Robert Morris junior defenseman Denny Urban.

Contact staff writer Danny Martin at 459-7586.