SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are the recipients of the Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award for the 2016-17 season.
Since 1972, the award has been presented to the goaltender(s) with at least 25 games played on the team which allows the fewest goals per game in the regular season.
The Penguins allowed an average of 2.24 goals per game in 2016-17 and captured the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s overall regular-season champions with a record of 51-20-3-2 (107 points, .704). Wilkes-Barre/Scranton finished with the fewest goals against in the AHL for the fifth time in the last seven seasons.
Jarry, a second-round draft pick in 2013, was 28-15-2 in 45 appearances for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2016-17. The 21-year-old native of Delta, B.C., ranked third in the league in victories, fourth with a 2.15 goals-against average and sixth with a .925 save percentage. Jarry also participated in the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic, and made his National Hockey League debut with Pittsburgh on Apr. 9.
DeSmith, who last week was named to the 2016-17 AHL All-Rookie Team, went 21-5-3 in 29 games with the Penguins and posted a league-best 2.01 goals-against average while ranking second with a .926 save percentage. The 25-year-old from Rochester, N.H., signed as a free agent with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on July 5, 2016, after helping the club reach the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs on a tryout contract last spring.
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) and Peter Budaj (2016).
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Sixteen clubs will continue to vie for the league’s coveted championship trophy when the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs get underway Thursday.
