On Wednesday evening the Herb Brooks Foundation and Let’s Play Hockey announced the five finalists for the Mike Richter Award. The inaugural award will go the nation’s most outstanding goaltender.
Of the five finalists Badger men’s hockey junior goaltender Joel Rumpel was nominated by his peers.
During his junior season Rumpel ranked 4th in the nation with a 19-5-1 record and a .931 save percentage. His 2.00 goals-against average was strong enough for 6th in the country. Rumpel earned the Hockey Commissioners’ Association Honorable Mention National Player of the Month in February and twice earned, Big Ten First Star of the Week. Earlier this week Rumpel was named to the 2014 second-team All Big Ten.
Candidates for the award were nominated by all 59 NCAA Division 1 men’s hockey head coaches. The winner will be selected by a committee of coaches, members of the media and scouts.