April 18, 2013
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| Niklas Svedberg Photo by Thomas Chace Jr. |
The Providence Bruins, in their 21st season in the American Hockey League, announced today that goaltender Niklas Svedberg has been named the winner of the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL's outstanding goaltender for the 2012-13 season, as voted by coaches, players and members of the media in each of the league's 30 member cities.
Entering the final weekend of the regular season, Svedberg is 36-8-2 in 47 appearances for the Bruins, helping them to the Atlantic Division title and the best record in the AHL. His 36 wins rank second in the league this season and are the second-most by a rookie in the 77-year history of the AHL. Svedberg also ranks sixth with a 2.15 goals-against average and fourth with a .925 save percentage, allowing two goals or fewer in 34 of his 47 outings while posting four shutouts. Svedberg has a record of 24-2-1 over his last 27 starts since Jan. 4, including a 10-game winning streak from Jan. 20 to Feb. 22.
A 23-year-old native of Sollentuna, Sweden, Svedberg was the starting goaltender for the Eastern Conference at the 2013 AHL All-Star Game held in Providence, and was named a First Team AHL All-Star and earned a spot on the AHL All-Rookie Team last week. The CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month for March, Svedberg is the first rookie to be named the AHL's outstanding goaltender since Jim Carey in 1994-95.
The Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award, which was first presented in 1984, honors former Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Baz Bastien, who played four seasons in goal with the AHL's Pittsburgh Hornets (1945-49) before suffering a career-ending eye injury. Bastien would go on to serve as head coach and general manager of the Hornets, leading them to the 1967 Calder Cup championship. Previous winners of the award include Jon Casey (1985), Sam St. Laurent (1986), Mark Laforest (1987, 1991), Felix Potvin (1992), Corey Hirsch (1993), Manny Legace (1996), Martin Biron (1999), Dwayne Roloson (2001), Jason LaBarbera (2004, 2007), Ryan Miller (2005), Dany Sabourin (2006), Michael Leighton (2008), Cory Schneider (2009), Jonathan Bernier (2010), Brad Thiessen (2011) and Yann Danis (2012).
*Information gathered from www.providencebruins.com
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