The KHL announced Friday that Zach Fucale, formerly of the Washington Capitals and Hershey Bears, was named one of the three finalists for the league’s Best Goalie Award after a highly successful first season with Traktor Chelyabinsk. The award is voted on by all of the league’s head coaches.
Fucale finished his great year with a 32-19-4 record, a .930 save percentage, a 2.23 goals-against average, and six shutouts. The KHL combines both regular season and playoff statistics for award consideration. Fucale went 8-2 in the postseason, leading Traktor to the Gagarin Cup semifinals.
Fucale signed in the KHL for the 2023-24 campaign after his three seasons in the Capitals’ organization ended with a successful run to the Calder Cup championship with the Bears. Before he decided to go overseas, Fucale consulted with Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was brought up through the Traktor system, as well as Bears teammates Aliaksei Protas and Bogdan Trineyev.
The 28-year-old backstop joined up with a Traktor team that was in the bottom 10 of the KHL in terms of goals against the year prior and missed the KHL playoffs entirely. The team had seen four different goaltenders suit up in games so Fucale’s arrival not only helped them get back into the playoffs but stabilized their crease as he made 57 total appearances.
He was also unafraid to show emotion and pump up his teammates and the team’s fanbase.
Past winners of the KHL’s Best Goalie Award include current NHLers Ivan Fedotov, Pavel Francouz, and Ilya Sorokin. Fucale is nominated this year with Lokomotiv’s Daniil Isayev and Metallurg’s Ilya Nabokov.
Fucale’s last major goaltending award came with the Bears during the 2020-21 season when he took home the Harry “Haps” Memorial Award alongside Pheonix Copley. The honor is given annually to the goaltending duo in the AHL that allows the fewest goals per game during the regular season.
The KHL’s closing ceremony where all of the season’s award winners are announced is scheduled for May 13.
