Tolvanen Named WCHA Goaltender of the Week

BLOOMINGTON —Northern Michigan University Men’s Ice Hockey senior goaltender Atte Tolvanen (Vihti, Finland) was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Goaltender of the Week the league office announced Monday afternoon.

Tolvanen made history in front of a sold-out Berry Events Center Friday night when he netted the first goal by a goaltender in program history. After MTU elected to pull their goaltender, trailing 4-2, Tolvanen corralled the puck and sent it down the length of the ice into the Huskie net with 1:07 remaining in the contest.

The goal marked just the second time in Western Collegiate Hockey Association history that a goaltender has scored a goal with the first coming in January of 1989. It was also just the 11th time in NCAA history that a goaltender has found the back of the net. To make the goal even more impressive, it was just the fourth time that a goaltender has ever scored off their own shot.

In the weekend split, Tolvanen recorded a WCHA-high 59 saves to bring his season total to 448, fourth-most in the NCAA. His 36-save outing on Saturday marked the 38th time in his career that Tolvanen has reached the 30-save plateau. His save percentage and goals against average for the season now sit at .918 and 2.37

NMU will wrap-up the 2018 calendar year next weekend when they host Ferris State University. Puck drop is set for Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Berry Events Center. Both nights will feature a “Community Night” with Ishpeming being celebrated on Friday and Gwinn on Saturday. Youth 18-and-under from this communities can purchase free tickets while adult residents can purchase $7 tickets. There will also be a “Sock Toss” on Saturday with the socks being donated around the Marquette community.