Tolvanen named to Mike Richter Award Watch List for third-consecutive season
MARQUETTE — Northern Michigan University Men’s Ice Hockey senior goaltender Atte Tolvanen (Vihti, Finland) was named one of 20 collegiate goaltenders to be named to the 2018-19 Mike Richter Award Watch List by Let’s Play Hockey magazine. It is the third-consecutive season, Tolvanen has been named to the preseason watch list.
The award, which is in its sixth year, annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey. The winner will be announced at the 2019 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in Buffalo, New York.
Tolvanen, the 2017-18 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Goaltender of the Year, was selected to the preseason All-WCHA First-Team heading into this season. He was named league goaltender of the week once a season ago and tied for fourth nationally with 23 wins.
For his career, Tolvanen is in the top-10 of each career goaltender category in the Wildcats record book. He has competed in 98 games and earned the start on 92 occasions. Closing in on 6,000-minutes played, Tolvanen owns a career 41-42-11 record along with a 2.44 goals against average and .918 save percentage.
Criteria for the Mike Richter Award include: Candidates must display outstanding skills on the ice, good academic standing at an NCAA college or university, academic achievement and sportsmanship, compliance with all NCAA rules; be full-time students at an NCAA college or university; and completing in 50-percent or more of the season. Consideration will be given to the candidate’s activities in the community.
Members of Let’s Play Hockey, utilizing both past performance and future potential, choose goalies on the Mike Richter Award watch list. Freshmen are not included. Finalists for the Mike Richter Award, and eventually, its winner, will be determined a committee of coaches, scouts and members of the media.
Past winners of the award include: Cale Morris of the University of Notre Dame (2018), Tanner Jaillet of University of Denver (2017), Thatcher Demko of Boston College (2016), the University of North Dakota’s Zane McIntyre (2015) and Connor Hellebuyck of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (2014).
NMU begins their season with a road series at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan on October 12 and 13. Both contests will start at 7:05 p.m. in Munn Ice Arena. The first home series for the Wildcats will be the team’s first WCHA matchup when Bemidji State University comes to the Berry Events Center October 26 and 27 for 7 p.m. puck drops both nights.