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Hunter Shepard named MVP of Calder Cup Playoffs, receives Jack A. Butterfield Trophy

By Chris Cerullo

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June 22, 2023 3:19 am

The Hershey Bears won their first Calder Cup championship in 13 years and a big reason why was because of their man between the pipes. Goaltender Hunter Shepard stopped 45 of 47 shots in the nerve-wracking, Game Seven overtime victory.

During the postgame festivities, Shepard was awarded the AHL’s Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the Calder Cup Playoffs’ MVP. He racked up a 14-6 overall postseason record with a .914 save percentage, 2.27 goals-against average, and three shutouts.

Shepard saved perhaps his biggest moment of the entire playoffs for the deciding final game of the season. With the Bears already down 2-0 and on a precious power play opportunity, Coachella Valley’s Carsen Twarynski broke in all alone on a shorthanded breakaway.

With one flick of a right pad, Twarynski’s effort was sent into the corner and away from danger. Shepard had kept his team from a demoralizing three-goal hole which proved crucial as the Bears would find the two goals they needed in regulation to send the game to overtime.

“My dad told me since I started playing goalie when I was about nine-years-old that if you give up two goals or less on average your whole career you’ll be in the Hall of Fame,” Shepard told FOX43’s Todd Sadowski postgame. “So I just knew after they got that second one, I had to hold the fort and not give up anymore. The guys cleared any second chances the rest of the way and I just got in a rhythm.”

Shepard was presented the trophy on ice by AHL President and CEO, Scott Howson and VP, Hockey Operations, Hayley Moore. The stoic netminder was serenaded by his teammates with their version of Ram Jam’s “Black Betty”.

That presentation wasn’t the last time Shepard would hear “Oh, Shepdaddy, Bam-ba-lam” on the night. He got a full-on performance in the visitor’s locker room while chugging a beer.

This video is sheer art.

Shepard will be without a contract in just nine days but is likely to be re-signed given that his battery mate Zach Fucale plans to move to the KHL next season.

Congratulations, Shep!

Screenshot: AHL TV

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