Photo: UMD Athletics
The Hershey Bears announced on Monday that they have recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from their ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays.
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Hershey, PA-Apr. 5, 2021)- The Hershey Bears announced today that goaltender Hunter Shepard has been recalled from the club’s ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays.
Shepard, 25, has recorded a 6-5-1-1 record in 14 games with the Stingrays this season, posting a 2.84 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. He was named the ECHL Goaltender of the Month in December, collecting a 2-0-1 record to open his professional career with a 1.89 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage in that span.
The 6’1″, 210-pound goaltender signed an AHL contract with the Bears last June after a prolific college career at the University of Minnesota Duluth. The Coleraine, Minnesota native guided the Bulldogs to back-to-back NCAA National Championships in 2018 and 2019, and the netminder started an NCAA-record 115 straight games from Oct. 21, 2017 to Mar. 7, 2020. He served as a co-captain at UMD last year, playing in 34 games, going 22-10-2 with a 2.18 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage, and two shutouts. For the second straight year, he was named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Goaltender of the Year, and also earned Second-Team All-American honors after landing First-Team All-American honors the year prior. Adding to his accolades, Shepard was also named the Bulldog’s Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year.
Shepard was dominant in the NCAA Tournament in his collegiate career, going 8-0 with a 0.97 goals against average and a .953 save percentage. He recorded a shutout in UMD’s 2019 title win over UMass, stopping all 18 shots he faced. He finished his NCAA career with a 76-37-5 record in 119 games, ranking first all-time in UMD history in wins, goals-against average (1.94), save percentage (.922), and shutouts (17). He was a three-time Mike Richter Award Finalist, and a three-time All-NCHC selection in his illustrious NCAA tenure.
The Bears currently have goaltenders Pheonix Copley and Zach Fucale on their roster.
Possibly unrelated, the NHL trade deadline is one week from today.
By Jon Sorensen
