Wednesday, August 13, 2014

The PIPE-ies: Top Goalie

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After a week of collecting nominations from our audience and media colleagues, last night on TPS we made it official. The nominees in all 10 categories were announced and now the voting for the winners can begin.

The 5 nominees for Top Goaltender in 2013-14 comes after the jump as does information on how you can vote for your choice.

In alphabetical order, the five candidates vying for your consideration as the best netminder of this past season are... 

Jake Allen (Chicago Wolves)

Chicago Wolves
Not only did the St.Louis Blues prospects have the AHL's best Goals Against Average (2.03), most wins (33), save percentage (.928%) and shutouts (7) but he did so appearing in a league high 52 games. That's an impressive 3138:21 of playing time for Allen. He was recognized by the AHL for his performance and named to the All-Star team that took on Farjestad. In April, Allen was named the AHL Goaltender of the Year and given the Bastien Award

Jordan Cooke (Kelowna Rockets)

Photo: Marissa Baecker
The 20-year-old was outstanding for a team that was slotted at or near the top of the CHL power rankings all season long. Cooke boasted a 39-7-0-4 record this year with the Rockets, only 7 regulation time losses is remarkable after playing in 51 games. The Leduc, AB native was the recipient of the WHL's Del Wilson Trophy as top goaltender and he went on to capture the Vaughn Goaltender of the Year Award given to the CHL's best keeper. 

Connor Hellebuyck (UMass-Lowell River Hawks)

Photo: Hockey East
The NCAA introduced a new trophy in 2013-14, the Mike Richter Award, given to the netminder considered to be tops in his position at the Division I level. Winnipeg Jets prospect Connor Hellebuyck claimed the inaugural prize thanks to his overwhelmingly impressive stats and play. Check this out: a .941 save percentage and 1.79 goals against average and 6 shutouts in just 29 games played. A fantastic season for the sophomore who is now moving on to the pro ranks within the Jets organization.    

Tristan Jarry (Edmonton Oil Kings)

Photo: Andy Devlin
While Cooke's statistical numbers were solid, Jarry led not just the WHL but the entire CHL in several categories. The Penguins prospect held a CHL best Goals Against Average (2.24), won almost 10 more games than anyone else (44) and finished the season with a CHL high 8 shutouts too. The caveat here is that Jarry played the second most minutes in the CHL behind Red Deer's Patrik Bartosak. Jarry helped backstop the Oil Kings to the 2014 Memorial Cup Championship. 

Adam Wilcox (Minnesota Golden Gophers)

Photo: University of Minnesota
Not to be overshadowed by his counterpart at UMass-Lowell, Wilcox also strung together a season worth consideration for the PIPE-ie as Top Goalie. The Golden Gopher had an impressive .932 save percentage and 1.97 goals against average and played in 38 of Minnesota's 41 games. The Tampa Bay Lightning 6th round pick was chosen as the Big Ten Goalie and Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.  

We are collecting votes over the course of the next week until Tuesday August 19th when we announce the winners of the 2014 PIPE-ies. If you want to cast your vote, let us hear it. Tweet us at @TPS_Guy and @DuckMillard and include the hashtag #TPSAwards in your vote.      

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