After struggling on the ice for the last couple of seasons, the Michigan State Spartans enter this weekend’s Big Ten hockey tournament in Detroit as the No. 2 seed behind Minnesota.
One of the reasons behind their turnaround is goaltender Jake Hildebrand. On Monday, the junior goalie from Butler, Pa was rewarded with both the Big Ten Player and Goalie of the Year awards.
Hildebrand started all 20 conference games, registering a .940 save percentage and five shutouts. Hildebrand recorded a 1.94 GAA and posted a 11-7-2 conference record. He’s also been the workhorse in goal for the Spartans this season. He’s started all 34 games and played all 2034:04 minutes in goal (minus empty net time) this season. The Spartans face the winner of Michigan/Wisconsin in the Big Ten Semifinal Friday night, and will likely need to win the conference tournament to get a bid to the NCAA tournament.
