Gophers' Justen Close named semifinalist for Mike Richter Award

The award is given to the top goaltender in Division I men's hockey.

Gophers men’s hockey goaltender Justen Close on Wednesday was named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2024 Mike Richter Award, which has been given annually to the top goalie in Division I men’s hockey since 2014. 

Close has a 17-7-5 record so far this season and is in the top 10 nationally in both save percentage (sixth at .926) and goals-against average (10th at 2.25). It’s the second straight season in which Close has been a semifinalist for the award.

Close is coming off back-to-back weeks in which he was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week, and he posted back-to-back shutouts in the Gophers’ most recent weekend series against Penn State; the Gophers won 3-0 on both Friday and Saturday. That moved him into a tie for all-time shutouts at the U with 13 (Adam Wilcox and Kellen Briggs each have 13 apiece, too).

Close is also seventh all-time in career wins for a U goalie with 57.

The other semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award are Trey Augustine (Michigan), Ryan Bischel (Notre Dame), Vinny Duplessis (Quinnipiac), Jacob Fowler (Boston College), Kaidan Mbereko (Colorado College), Kyle McClellan (Wisconsin), Tommy Scarfone (RIT), Ian Shane (Cornell) and Jake Sibell (St. Thomas).

The 10 semifinalists will be whittled down to three finalists in early March. The winner of the award will be announced in April during the Frozen Four, which takes place from April 11-13 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Minnesota has one previous winner of the Mike Richter Award, with Jack LaFontaine garnering the honor in 2021.