The American Hockey League announced on Saturday that Hershey Bears’ goaltenders Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson were awarded the Harry “Haps” Memorial Award. The honor is given annually to the goaltending duo in the AHL that allows the fewest goals per game during the regular season.
Per the Bears, this is the fifth time in the team’s history that a Bears’ tandem has received this award. The last group from Hershey to win it was Phoenix Copley and Zach Fucale in the 2020-21 campaign.
Shepard and Stevenson combined for a 2.10 goals against average to win the award. The Bears’ netimnders let in just 151 goals this season, the fewest tallies in the league.
In his second full AHL season, Shepard led the league in both save percentage (.929) and goals against average (1.76). Shepard is the only goaltender in the AHL this season to have their personal goals against average under 2.00. He was also named an AHL First team All-Star on Thursday, one of just two netminders chosen by the league’s coaches for the honor. He was the only Bears’ player named to the 10 man honor team.
While he was snubbed from the AHL’s All Rookie Team, Stevenson’s first full season was one for the books. The 25 year old’s 2.06 goals against average was second in the league only to Shepard, and his .922 save percentage was fourth best in the league. Stevenson seven shutouts tied a Bears’ franchise record for single season shutouts, he was selected to participate in the AHL All Star Game, and was named Goaltender of the Month in December for winning six out of seven and holding a .942 save percentage during the stretch.
The tandem’s 12 combined shutouts also set a franchise record for most single season shutouts by a tandem, surpassing the previous 2014-15 record set by Phillip Grubauer (6), Phoenix Copley (3), and Justin Peters (1).
Here is Hershey’s press release for the award:
SHEPARD, STEVENSON WIN HARRY “HAP” HOLMES MEMORIAL AWARD
Netminders claim honor given to the goaltender(s) on the team which allows the fewest goals per game in the regular season
(Hershey, PA – April 20, 2024) – The American Hockey League announced today that Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson of the Hershey Bears are the recipients of the Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award for the 2023-24 season. Since 1972, the award has been presented to the goaltender(s) on the team which allows the fewest goals per game in the regular season. This honor marks the fifth time in franchise history Hershey netminders have claimed this award.
The Bears, who won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s regular-season champions with a record of 53-14-0-5 (111 points), allowed a league-low 151 goals in 2023-24, an average of 2.10 per game. This is the second time in the last four years that Hershey’s goaltenders have captured the Holmes Award as Zach Fucale and Pheonix Copley won the award in 2020-21.
Shepard, 28, went 27-4-3 in 34 appearances and led the league with a 1.76 goals-against average – the lowest in club history and fifth-lowest mark in AHL history – and a .929 save percentage while recording five shutouts. He was named to the 2023-24 AHL First All-Star Team on Thursday.
Stevenson, 25, completed his first full AHL campaign by going 24-10-2 in 36 appearances with a 2.06 GAA and a .922 save percentage. Stevenson tied an 85-year-old franchise record with seven shutouts this season, a mark that also leads the AHL. The netminder represented Hershey at the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic in February in San Jose, California.
Shepard and Stevenson will be the fifth pair of teammates to finish a season 1-2 in the league in goals-against average, following Boston’s Ross Brooks and Dan Bouchard in 1971-72; Nova Scotia’s Dave Elenbaas and Ed Walsh in 1976-77; Sherbrooke’s J.C. Bergeron and Andre Racicot in 1989-90; and Hartford’s Steve Valiquette and Jason LaBarbera in 2003-04.
The duo of Shepard and Stevenson represent the fifth time that the Holmes Award has been presented to a Bears goaltender(s), joining Bob Perreault (1958-59); Andre Gill (1966-67); Jean-François Labbé (1996-97); and Copley and Fucale (2020-21).
To qualify for the award, a goaltender must have appeared in at least 25 of his team’s games.
The Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award, which was first awarded in 1948 to the goaltender with the best goals-against average in the AHL, is named for Hockey Hall of Famer Harry “Hap” Holmes, a prominent figure in early professional hockey and an outstanding goaltender of his time. Previous winners or co-winners of the award include Gil Mayer (1951, ’53, ’54, ’55, ’56), Johnny Bower (1957, ’58), Marcel Paille (1961, ’62), Gerry Cheevers (1965), Gilles Villemure (1969, ’70), Pete Peeters (1979), Pelle Lindbergh (1981), Clint Malarchuk (1983), Vincent Riendeau (1987, ’88), Corey Hirsch (1993), Olaf Kolzig (1994), Byron Dafoe (1994), Mike Dunham (1995), Manny Legace (1996), Jean-Sebastien Giguere (1998), Martin Biron (1999), Cory Schneider (2009), Matt Murray (2015), Casey DeSmith (2017), Connor Ingram (2020), Pheonix Copley (2021), Alex Lyon (2022) and Dustin Wolf (2023).
