MADISON, Wis. – Senior goaltender
Kyle McClellan is one of three finalists for the Mike Richter Award, which is given annually by the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) to the top goaltender in men's NCAA Division I hockey. The winner will be announced on April 12 during the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Named after UW Athletics Hall of Famer Mike Richter, the award has been handed out each year since 2014.
McClellan is joined by Boston College freshman Jacob Fowler and Colorado College's Kaidan Mbereko in the final three.
The lone goaltender named a top-10 finalist for the 2024 Hobey Baker Memorial Award yesterday, McClellan leads the nation with a .931 save percentage and seven shutouts. He also ranks second in the country with a 1.92 goals-against average and third with 24 victories.
The Big Ten Goaltender of the Year, First-Team All-Big Ten, HCA National Goaltender of the Month for December, Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off Most Outstanding Goaltender and a conference-best five-time Big Ten Star of the Week, McClellan began the season perfect, opening with shutouts in UW's first two games of the season to make him the first Badger in school history to record consecutive shutouts over the same opponent during a series. He posted back-to-back shutouts a second time with blankings over Air Force and Northeastern to help UW capture the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off.
The NCAA's current career leader with a .926 save percentage, McClellan allowed two goals or less in 25 of his 36 starts.
McClellan boasts an eight-game win streak (Dec. 1-Jan. 12) and a six-game win streak (Oct. 20-Nov. 4). During the six-game streak, McClellan helped the Badgers sweep then-No. 17 Michigan Tech and then-No. 1 Minnesota on the road, before posting a home sweep over then-No. 11 Michigan.
The senior backstops the ninth-ranked Badgers to one of the best defenses in the nation – third in fewest goals allowed per game (1.98) and penalty-killing success rate (86.8 percent) and first in shutouts (eight).
The Manchester, Missouri, native is in striking distance of a few Wisconsin single-season records, sitting one shutout shy from tying the school mark of eight shutouts set by 2006 Hobey 'Hat Trick' finalist, NCAA champion and 16-year NHL veteran Brian Elliott.
McClellan also currently sits second in single-season goals-against average behind Elliott and third in single-season save percentage. Finally, his 24 wins share fifth in program history along with Vezina Trophy winner Jim Carey and UW Athletics Hall of Famer and 1990 NCAA Champion Duane Derksen.
McClellan, a top-three finalist for the Mike Richter Award, joins Joel Rumpel as Badger goaltenders who reached finalist status. Rumpel was named a top-five finalist for the inaugural award in 2014.
Among the greatest American goaltenders of all-time, Mike Richter played two seasons for the Badgers, earning 1986 WCHA Rookie of the Year and 1987 All-WCHA Second-Team honors. He later completed his degree at Yale.
Richter left Wisconsin to join the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team, his first of three appearances at the Olympics, and eventually backstopped Team USA to silver in 2002. Famously, Richter led Team USA to the 1996 World Cup of Hockey as the tournament's MVP.
A 2008 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, Richter's No. 35 jersey was retired by the New York Rangers in 2004 after leading them to the 1994 Stanley Cup and spending his entire 15-year NHL career with the franchise. He was a three-time NHL All-Star, including the 1994 NHL All-Star Game MVP.
