PHILADELPHIA — Every award needs a first winner. Earlier this season, Let’s Play Hockey and the Herb Brooks Foundation introduced the Mike Richter Award. Named after the former University of Wisconsin great and U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer, the award would honor the top goalie in college hockey every year.
On Friday, UMass-Lowell’s Connor Hellebuyck became the award’s first winner. The sophomore netminder led the country in both save percentage (.941) and goals against average (1.79) for the second year in a row. He posted an 18-9-2 record and helped lead the River Hawks to their second straight Hockey East tournament title, earning tournament MVP honors for a second straight year in the process.
Hellebuyck, who signed with the Winnipeg Jets after Lowell’s season ended with a regional final loss to Boston College on March 30, finished his college career with an NCAA-record .946 save percentage and a program-record 12 shutouts. Perhaps most incredible of all, he finished with as many shutouts as losses in his 53-game career.
“I think it’s a huge honor, and I think it’s a huge milestone in my life that I’ll never forget,” Hellebuyck said after receiving the award. “I hope we can set a good standard for the future because goaltenders should look up to this and be really proud and really striving for excellence to achieve this, because this is just huge.”
When Hellebuyck got to Lowell back in the fall of 2012, he was already an NHL draft pick, but he wasn’t guaranteed anything in terms of playing time. The River Hawks already had Doug Carr, who was coming off a strong sophomore season that earned him Hockey East Second Team honors.
Hellebuyck got the start in the second game of the season, but he gave up five goals on 28 shots and didn’t play again for more than a month. He continued to work hard, though, and finally got another chance in late November. This time he didn’t falter. He held opponents to two goals or fewer in each of his next six starts, and took over the starting job for good in mid-February. He played every game the rest of the way, never allowed more than three goals, and led Lowell all the way to its first Frozen Four.
When this season rolled around, Lowell coach Norm Bazin made Hellebuyck earn the job again. He and Carr split time for the first half of the season, and Carr put together a stellar season of his own (.936 save percentage). But once again, Bazin turned to Hellebuyck down the stretch. He started 18 of the River Hawks’ final 20 games, a stretch highlighted by back-to-back shutouts in the Hockey East semifinals and championship.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot mentally,” Hellebuyck said of his time at Lowell. “I feel like I’ve gotten a lot stronger and a lot faster. I feel like I got a lot more calm, too. I think I became more of a team player, and being part of that team makes the guys in front of me work a lot harder for me.”
After the season, Hellebuyck had to decide whether he would return for his junior season or turn pro. He ultimately decided that he was ready to take the next step in his career. In doing so, he joined Chad Ruhwedel last year and Scott Wilson and Christian Folin this year as River Hawks who have left Lowell early. While that can be bittersweet for the program, Hellebuyck said he hopes it shows young players that Lowell is a place they can go to develop into pro-ready players.
“The stats speak for themselves. We’ve won Hockey East back-to-back. We’ve been in NCAAs for the last three years,” Hellebuyck said. “It just says so much about our coaching staff. If a young, top player doesn’t recognize that, I think he’d be kind of dumb. We have a great system here. We have a great coaching staff that can make him so much better.”