Let’s Play Hockey and the Herb Brooks Foundation announced Thursday the creation of the Mike Richter Award, an annual honor that will be given to the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA men’s Division I hockey.
The inaugural award will be presented during the 2014 Frozen Four.
Candidates for the award will be determined by a vote of all 59 NCAA Division I men’s head coaches. The finalists and winner will then be selected by a selection committee of coaches, scouts and members of the media.
Criteria for the Mike Richter Award:
• Candidates must display outstanding skills on the ice
• Candidates should be in good academic standing at an NCAA college or university
• Consideration should be given to academic achievement and sportsmanship
• Candidates must comply with all NCAA rules, be full-time students at an NCAA college or university and complete 50 percent or more of the season
• Consideration should be given to the candidate’s activities in the community
Richter played two years at Wisconsin form 1985-87 and won a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994. He was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005 and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008.
“I am incredibly honored to have this award named after me considering all of the many talented goalies that have played college hockey over the years,” Richter said in a statement. “My time as a student-athlete at Madison was deeply rewarding, both personally and professionally, and I am thrilled to be able to share in this tradition with the current generation of athletes by having my name associated with an award that will specifically honor the goaltending position.”
“It’s an honor to be associated with the Mike Richter Award,” Herb Brooks Foundation board member Dan Brooks added. “Like my dad, Mike’s leadership and work ethic were unparalleled. Both were American heroes. I was fortunate to be at the last game my dad ever coached.
“Fittingly, Mike was in the net.”
