HERSHEY, Pa. — Editor's Note: The above video is from April 19, 2024.
Hershey Bears goaltender Hunter Shepard has some more hardware to add to his collection.
Shepard won the 2023-24 Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award for the AHL's outstanding goaltender Wednesday. The award is voted on by coaches, players, and media members in all of the AHL's 32 markets.
Already this season, Shepard and teammate Clay Stevenson have won the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award for lowest goals allowed per game.
Shepard was also named to the 2023-24 AHL First All-Star Team. He won the Jack Butterfield Trophy as Calder Cup Playoffs MVP, after the Bears Calder Cup win last June.
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Shepard started all 20 of Hershey's playoff games, posting a 14-6 record with a 2.27 goals-against average, a .914 save percentage and three shutouts.
Shepard joins Wendell Young (1987-88), Frédéric Chabot (1993-94, and Jean-François Labbé (1996-97) as Bears to win the "Baz" Bastien award.
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.
In 79 career AHL appearances, Shepard has gone 55-15-8 with a 1.94 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and eight shutouts.
Shepard and his teammates are awaiting their first 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs opponent.
The Bears earned a first-round bye. In the second round, the team will face the lowest remaining seeded opponent in the Atlantic Division. The possible teams are the Charlotte Checkers, the Hartford Wolf Pack, and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The game dates, times, and broadcast information are all to be determined.