The Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) has announced a watch list of 35 goalies who will compete for the Mike Richter Award, given annually since 2014 to the top goalie in men’s NCAA Division I hockey.
The 35 goalies come from the United States (16), Canada (12), Sweden (3), Slovakia (2) and one each from Czechia and Hungary.
Of the U.S. goalies, Michigan leads the way with four, followed by three from Florida and two each from Illinois and New York. There are five freshmen, 12 sophomores, 11 juniors, five seniors and two graduate students among those recognized.
A committee of voters — made up of a cross section of coaches, administrators, scouts and media — will pare this list down to approximately a dozen semifinalists within the next three weeks and then ultimately choose a winner from three finalists who will be announced in April during the NCAA Frozen Four. A similar award to recognize the top female goalie in the NCAA is also presented by the HCA.
NOTE: Goalies qualified by meeting minimum GAA (<2.30) and save percentage (>.920) standards. Other names may be added for consideration before the first formal vote.
2024-25 Richter Award Watch List
Atlantic Hockey
J.J. Cataldo, Army West Point (FR – Stuart, FL)
Pierce Charleson, Niagara (GR – Aurora, ON)
Thomas Gale, Holy Cross (SR – Kirkland, PQ)
Ajeet Gundarah, Sacred Heart (FR – Richmond, BC)
Connor Hasley, Bentley (JR – North Tonawanda, NY)
Big Ten
Nathan Airey, Minnesota (SO – Cochrane, AB)
Trey Augustine, Michigan State (SO – South Lyon, MI)
Kristoffer Eberly, Ohio State (SO – Pinckney, MI)
Owen Say, Notre Dame (JR – London, ON)
Tommy Scarfone, Wisconsin (JR – Montreal, PQ)
Liam Souliere, Minnesota (GR – Montreal, PQ)
CCHA
Josh Kotai, Augustana (SO – Abbotsford, BC)
Christian Stoever, Bowlling Green (SR – Northfield, MI)
Alex Tracy, Minnesota State (JR – Chicago, IL)
ECAC Hockey
Ben Charette, Harvard (FR – Aurora, ON)
Ethan Langenegger, Clarkson (SR – Kamloops, BC)
Matej Marinov, Quinnipiac (SO – Nitra, Slovakia)
Dylan Silverstein, Quinnipiac (FR – Calabasas, CA)
Arthur Smith, Princeton (SO – Farmington, CT)
Lawton Zacher, Brown (SO – Buffalo, NY)
Hockey East
Albin Boija, Maine (SO -Sundsvall, Sweden)
Jacob Fowler, Boston College (SO – Melbourne, FL)
Beni Halasz, UMass Lowell (JR – Budapest, Hungary)
Michael Hrabal, UMass (SO – Prague, Czechia)
Philip Svedeback, Providence (JR – Vaxjo, Sweden)
Jared Whale, New Hampshire (JR – Calgary, AB)
NCHC
Matt Davis, Denver (SR – Calgary, AB)
Gibson Homer, Arizona State (JR – Grand Rapids, MI)
Klayton Knapp, Minnesota Duluth (FR – Waterville, OH)
Simon Latkoczy, Omaha (JR – Trencin, Slovakia)
Kaidan Mbereko, Colorado College (JR – Aspen, CO)
Isak Posch, St. Cloud State (SO – Umea, Sweden)
Cameron Rowe, WMU (GR – Wilmette, IL)
Hampton Slukynsky, WMU (FR – Warroad, MN)
Independents
Ty Outen, LIU (JR – Tampa, FL)
Past Richter Award Recipients: 2014 – Connor Hellebuyck, UMass Lowell; 2015 – Zane McIntyre, North Dakota; 2016 – Thatcher Demko, Boston College; 2017 – Tanner Jaillet, Denver; 2018 – Cale Morris, Notre Dame; 2019 – Cayden Primeau, Northeastern; 2020 – Jeremy Swayman, Maine; 2021 – Jack LaFontaine, Minnesota; 2022 – Devon Levi, Northeastern; 2023 – Devon Levi, Northeastern; 2024 – Kyle McLellan, Wisconsin.
College Hockey Teams Stumping for their goaltenders
Western Mich.
ROWE AND SLUKYNSKY NAMED TO MIKE RICHTER AWARD WATCH LIST
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) has announced a “Watch List” of 35 goalies who will compete for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men’s NCAA Division I hockey since 2014. The list was headlined by Western Michigan standouts Cameron Rowe and Hampton Slukynsky.
WMU was one of just two teams with multiple goalies on the list. Rowe and Slukynsky joined Matt Davis (Denver), Gibson Homer (Arizona State), Klayton Knapp (Minnesota Duluth), Simon Latkoczy (Omaha), Kaidan Mbereko (Colorado College) and Isak Posch (St. Cloud State) as NCHC goalies in the hunt for the award.
Rowe and Slukynsky have been two of the best goalies in the nation this season. Slukynsky is fourth in the nation in save percentage and ninth in goals against average. Rowe leads the nation in win percentage, is eighth in GAA and is 13th in save percentage.
Rowe has started 11 games, making 268 saves. He holds a 10-1-0 record, 1.82 GAA and .931 save percentage. Rowe is the active NCAA leader in career wins with 64.
Slukynsky has started seven games, missing time to play with Team USA at the World Junior Championship. He helped the U.S. win a second consecutive gold medal. In his seven games played, he has produced a 3-3-1 record, 1.84 GAA and .941 save percentage. He has made 209 total saves.
CCHA Mike Richter Nominees
The Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) has announced a “Watch List” for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top netminder in NCAA Division I men’s hockey and three student-athletes from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) have been selected. Josh Kotai (Augustana), Christian Stoever (Bowling Green) and Alex Tracy (Minnesota State) were named to the group of 35 vying for the nation’s top netminder honor.
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Below are the two CCHA goaltenders named to the Watch List, which was limited to netminders with either a .920 or better save percentage or a 2.30 or better goals-against average:
Josh Kotai, So., Augustana (Abbotsford, B.C.)
Kotai has started 17 of Augustana’s 20 games so far this season, going 11-5-1 with a 1.71 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage. Recording a pair of shutouts, he was named the Hockey Commissioners Association Men’s National Goaltender of the Month for October, when he posted a 3-2-0 record with a 1.63 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage in five contests. Nationally, he ranks second in save percentage, fifth in goals-against average, sixth in wins and 14th in total saves. He has six games of 30 or more saves, including matching his career-high with 45 stops last time out in a 3-2 win at then-No. 8 Colorado College.
Christian Stoever, Sr., Bowling Green (Northfield, Mich.)
Stoever is unbeaten in his eight starts this season, going 6-0-2 with a 1.77 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage, posting a pair of shutouts against CCHA competition. He leads the nation in save percentage and ranks sixth in goals-against average, earning CCHA Goaltender of the Month for December after going 3-0-0 with a 1.33 GAA and a .944 SV%. Making at least 24 stops in all but one start, he has surpassed the 40-save mark twice, including his last out against Bemidji State.
Alex Tracy, Jr., Minnesota State (Chicago, Ill.)
Tracy has started every game between the pipes for No. 12 Minnesota State this season, going 15-5-2 with a 1.45 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage. He ranks first nationally in goals-against average, second in wins and minutes played, third in save percentage and shutouts, and 11th in total saves. The HCA Men’s National Goaltender of the Month in November, he posted a 5-1-2 record with a 1.23 GAA and a .955 SV%.
Minnesota
‘U’ Goalie Tandem Named to Mike Richter Watch List
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota’s goaltending tandem of Nathan Airey and Liam Souliere was named to the 2025 Mike Richter Award Watch List, it was announced by the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) Wednesday. The two Golden Gophers are among 35 netminders up for the award, which is given annually to the top goalie in NCAA Division I men’s hockey since 2014.
Airey is off to a stellar start to his sophomore campaign and is one of only two NCAA goaltenders with more than 10 appearances to have dropped only a single game this season. A product of Cochrane, Alberta, he holds a 10-1-2 record with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage, giving up two or fewer goals in seven of 13 outings. After picking up his first collegiate shutout against Michigan (Dec. 6) behind a career-best 32 saves, he was named the B1G Second Star of the Week, the first weekly award of his young tenure.
Souliere is having a career year since joining the Maroon and Gold this season and currently leads all Big Ten Conference goaltenders with a 1.59 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage that rank third and fifth in the nation, respectively. Last weekend, he stopped all six shots he saw in relief Friday before making a season-high 32 saves during Saturday’s 6-1 win to pick up the third B1G Star of the Week honor of his career and first since coming to Minnesota. The Montreal, Quebec, native has won four of his last five starts and recorded shutout victories over Penn State (Nov. 2), his first appearance versus his former team, and Michigan (Dec. 7) for the year.
Jack LaFontaine is the only representative of the Maroon and Gold to claim the Mike Richter Award when he won in 2021.
A committee of voters — made up of coaches, administrators, scouts and media — will pare this list down to approximately a dozen semifinalists within the next three weeks and then ultimately choose a winner from three finalists who will be announced in April during the NCAA Frozen Four. Goalies qualified by meeting minimum goals-against average (<2.30) and save percentage (>.920) standards.
