Hamilton College goaltender Evan Buitenhuis ’18 (Burlington, Ontario/Nelson HS) was selected for the 2017-18 CCM/American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Men’s Division III All-America Team on Thursday, March 22.
Buitenhuis was placed on the third team in the East Region. He’s one of five goaltenders and 31 athletes on the all-America team. Buitenhuis made the first team in the East Region and was given the AHCA’s Sid Watson Award as the NCAA Division III Men’s Player of the Year last season.
Buitenhuis leads Division III and set program single-season records with a 1.28 goals against average and .954 save percentage in more than 796 minutes in net. He is also tied for second with four shutouts despite making just 14 starts due to an injury that kept him out of the lineup for most of January. Buitenhuis was named to the NESCAC men’s hockey all-conference team in late February, and he signed an amateur tryout contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs’ American Hockey League affiliate Toronto Marlies on March 15. He was listed as the Marlies’ backup goalie for two games.
Buitenhuis ended his collegiate career as the Continentals’ all-time leader in goals against average (1.67) and save percentage (.944) in 67 starts and more than 4,000 minutes. His 1,901 career saves are good for fourth on the program’s all-time list, and he posted a 39-16-12 record with 10 shutouts.
Buitenhuis was 8-3-3 in goal this season and helped lead Hamilton to a 15-7-3 record. The Continentals tied for third place in the conference standings with a 9-6-3 record and they hosted a NESCAC championship quarterfinal for the third straight year. Hamilton had a 9-2-1 record through the first half of the season and the Continentals were ranked as high as fifth in one Division III poll in late November. Thanks in part to Buitenhuis, Hamilton is second in Division III in scoring defense with 1.68 goals allowed per game and third in penalty kill at 91 percent (6 GA in 67 opponent power-play chances).
