Levi beats out Quinnipiac’s Perets for Richter Award
TAMPA, Fla. — Quinnipiac’s Yaniv Perets has twice put himself in the conversation as the best goalie in men’s college hockey. Twice, the award has gone to Devon Levi.
The Northeastern junior won the award for the second consecutive year on Friday. He led the NCAA with a .933 save percentage and stopped 1,066 shots in 34 games. He has since signed with the Buffalo Sabres.
The Hockey Commissioners Association made the announcement Friday evening at Sparkman Wharf, down the block from Amalie Arena, where Perets and the Bobcats will play Minnesota on Saturday night at 8 (ESPN2) for the national championship.
Perets’ numbers weren’t otherworldly like last year’s, when he set a Division I record with a 1.17 goals-against average. But this year’s 1.48, coupled with a .932 save percentage, were enough to make the sophomore a finalist. He played every game for the Bobcats and had 10 shutouts.
The third finalist was Michigan Tech senior Blake Pietila, who had a 2.15 GAA and a .924 save percentage to help his team to the NCAA tournament.
Levi is the first repeat winner of the award, which was first presented in 2014. It’s named for the former New York Rangers goalie, who played college hockey at Wisconsin. Richter was on hand to present the award.
Perets and Bobcats captain Zach Metsa were named second-team AllAmericans. Collin Graf, Quinnipiac’s leading scorer, was named a first-team All-American.
Luke Krys of Ridgefield, captain at Brown, was a finalist for the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award. The award went to Army’s Noah Wilson.
Albertus Magnus senior defenseman Ryan Herpy, who was not in attendance, was among the finalists for the Hockey Humanitarian Award, which went to Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey player Gabbie Hughes.
Herpy, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, took part or led the way on numerous charitable efforts for the Falcons, the school said, including a toy drive for Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, a Thanksgiving food drive, a charity game for Wounded Warrior Project, and a volunteer program with FISH of Greater New Haven.
As part of the school’s student government, Herpy also took part in campus cleanup days.
Michigan’s Adam Fantilli received the Tim Taylor Award, named for the late former Yale coach, as national rookie of the year. He also won the Hobey Baker Award over Minnesota’s Logan Cooley and Matthew Knies.