ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior goaltender Mitch Gillam has been named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List for the 2016-17 season, it was announced Friday by Let’s Play Hockey and the Herb Brooks Foundation.
Gillam established himself as the Big Red’s go-to goaltender last season and was presented the Nicky Bawlf Award at the team’s postseason banquet as the squad’s most valuable player. He ultimately started all of the team’s 34 games and posted seven shutouts — which is tied for the third-most in a single season in program history. He also posted the third-longest shutout streak in program history, spanning 213 minutes, 17 seconds over four games in November. That included consecutive shutouts at Yale and Brown, marking the Big Red’s first back-to-back shutouts on the road since 2008.
Gillam finished the year with a 16-11-7 record, 2.16 goals against average and .926 save percentage. He was named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week on Nov. 17, then earned Player of the Week and NCAA First Star honors on Nov. 24 followed by a 40-save effort Nov. 28 against Boston University. Gillam also continued to demonstrate his puck-handling skills and instincts, making a pass to Alex Rauter that directly led to Trevor Yates’ goal on an odd-man rush Jan. 23 vs. Harvard. It was Gillam’s third career assist and fourth career point.
The Mike Richter Award is presented annually to the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA Division I men’s hockey. This is the second straight year that Gillam has been included among the 20 goalies placed on the watch list. The finalists and winner are selected by a committee of coaches, scouts and members of the media. The complete Mike Richter Award Watch List is available here (http://www.letsplayhockey.com/awards/mike-richter-award/3150-20-goalies-named-to-mike-richter-award-watch-list-for-2016-17.html).
Gillam and the rest of the Big Red start their season with the annual Red/White Game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15. After a pair of exhibitions against UOIT (Oct. 21) and Brock (Oct. 22), Cornell kicks off the regular season with a game at Merrimack on Friday, Oct. 28.
