March 9, 2017
By Dan Colleran
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame junior goaltender Cal Petersen has been selected as one of 10 semifinalists for the 2017 Mike Richter Award, which was announced by Let’s Play Hockey and the Herb Brooks Foundation on Thursday afternoon (March 9).
The Mike Richter Award has been presented annually since 2014 to the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA men’s hockey. Five finalists for the 2017 award will be announced on Thursday, March 23, while the winner will be presented on Friday, April 7, at the 2017 Frozen Four in Chicago. Petersen has been a nominee for the Mike Richter Award in each of his three seasons with the Fighting Irish.
Petersen finished the 2016-17 regular season with a 19-10-5 record, 2.12 goals against average, a .927 save percentage and five shutouts. His save percentage currently ranks 10th in the country, while his five shutouts lead Hockey East and are tied for second nationally.
Petersen’s 2016-17 numbers have been compiled against a tough schedule that has included 12 games against ranked opponents and 14 games against teams currently ranked in the NCAA top 20 for offense (goals per game).
Petersen was named the Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the Week following back-to-back shutouts versus Alaska (Dec. 31 and Jan. 1), including a 34-save performance in game one of that series. From Dec. 10 to Jan. 6, Petersen went 207:10 without allowing a goal, which is the second longest shutout streak in program history.
After leading the Irish to a win and a tie against Providence College (Feb. 17-18), Petersen was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. In the 4-1 game one win, which snapped Providence’s nine-game winning streak, Petersen turned aside 33 of the 34 shots he faced. In the series, Petersen posted a 1.92 goals against average and a .947 save percentage.
A fifth-round selection by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Petersen helped the Irish secure a top four finish in the Hockey East standings and a first-round bye when he stopped 37 of the 38 shots he faced in a 3-1 win at Boston University during the final weekend of play (Feb. 24).
The Waterloo, Iowa, native, has started 84 consecutive games in the Notre Dame net dating back to a 5-1 win over Maine on Feb. 7, 2015. It marks the fourth longest consecutive games started streak in NCAA history, while his 85 consecutive games played streak is also fifth in the NCAA record book. He has played 98.6 percent of Notre Dame’s game time in net this season.
Petersen ranks first in career save percentage (.925) at Notre Dame, while also ranking third in goals against average (2.27), fourth in saves (2,841), shutouts (10) and victories (51), fifth in minutes played (6,135:29) and sixth in games played (104).
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Dan Colleran, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).