On Wednesday, The American Hockey League (AHL) announced that Hershey Bears’ goaltender Hunter Shepard is the winner of the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender for the 2023-24 season.
According to the AHL’s official announcement, the Cohasset, MN native Shepard, is “coming off a season in which he won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs, Shepard challenged the AHL record books in 2023-24 by posting a record of 27-4-3 – the second-highest winning percentage (.838) in league history – in 34 appearances, along with a 1.76 goals-against average that was the fifth-lowest mark ever recorded. He also led the league with a .929 save percentage and recorded five shutouts, combining with Clay Stevenson to earn the Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award for fewest goals allowed by a team.”
The award was voted on by coaches, players and members of the media in each of the league’s 32 cities.
In addition to being voted as the league’s top-goaltender, Shepard was also named an AHL First Team All-Star for the first time. In career games with the Bears, Shepard has a career record of 55-15-8 with a 1.94 GAA, a .925 save percentage and eight shutouts.
The 28-year-old All-Star from Cohasset signed a two-year $1.5 million contract extension with the Washington Capitals, who are currently battling the New York Rangers in the NHL Playoffs. He made his debut this year with the NHL club, winning two games in his first four starts.
Prior to his professional career, Shepard played four seasons at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and won two national championships in 2018 and 2019. He is UMD’s all-time goaltending leader in wins, shutouts, save percentage, and goals against average.
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