International Falls native Brady Hjelle, who finished his senior year of eligibility as a goalie on the Ohio State men’s hockey team, has been named a 2012-13 AHCA/CCM Hockey First Team All-American, the American Hockey Coaches Association announced Friday.
In all, 25 players were named to the All-America squads as selected by members of the AHCA. Hjelle is the first-team goalie on the west squad and one of five CCHA players selected.
Hjelle is the first Buckeye to earn a spot on the first team since 1998 and the third first-team selection in program history. His award marks the eighth time an Ohio State player has been named a first or second team All-American by the AHCA.
Hjelle was the 2012-13 First Team All-CCHA goaltender and was named the 2012-13 CCHA Goaltender of the Year based on his league-best 1.89 goals-against average in conference games among goalies who started at least 50 percent of their team’s games.
Overall, Hjelle had a 2.00 goals-against average (the second-best mark in Ohio State history) while he set the program standard with a .935 save percentage, ranking sixth in the NCAA.
Hjelle, an Ohio State Scholar-Athlete scheduled to graduate this spring, played in 34 games, starting 33 (including 28 of the last 29), during the year. He had 14 games with 30 or more saves, with three outings topping the 40-save mark.
He had a career-high 47 saves in a CCHA playoff quarterfinal series game three win against Ferris State to lead Ohio State to the conference championship weekend for the first time since 2005 and then had 41 stops in the CCHA semifinals.
In CCHA play, Hjelle, a five-time league goalie of the week, had a .937 save percentage and league-high four shutouts.
Hjelle, who played two seasons at Ohio State after beginning his collegiate career at Minnesota Duluth, ended his career first in Ohio State history with a .933 save percentage and ranks second in career goals-against average (2.08).
Since the Ohio State season wrapped up, Hjelle has been added to the roster of the ECHL Florida Everblades and served as the team’s backup goalie in its playoff series.
