Penguins/NHL
The American Hockey League announced today that Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltender Brad Thiessen has been named Reebok/AHL Player of the Week, for the period ending February 13, 2011.
With the Penguins’ top seven scorers all on NHL recall to Pittsburgh, Thiessen provided some much-needed stability by making five starts and allowing only three goals, stopping 99 of 102 shots (4-1-0, 0.60, .971). After missing the previous six games due to injury, Thiessen returned to the lineup last Monday and made 21 saves in a 4-0 victory over Albany in Atlantic City, N.J. He stopped 18 of 19 shots in a 4-1 win over Manitoba on Tuesday, and earned his fifth shutout of the season with 22 stops in a 2-0 decision at Bridgeport on Friday. After being on the losing end of a 1-0 score vs. Adirondack on Saturday, Thiessen wrapped up the week with 21 saves in a 7-1 win vs. Hershey on Sunday.
His fifth shutout of the season at Bridgeport matched a Penguins franchise record for single-season shutouts, set by Marc-Andre Fleury in 2004-05. The shutout was also the ninth of Thiessen’s career, pulling him into a tie with teammate John Curry for second place on the Penguins’ all-time shutout list, a record held by Sebastien Caron (10).
In recognition of his achievement, Thiessen will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Penguins home game.
Thiessen, a second-year pro from Aldergrove, B.C., ranks among the AHL leaders in goals-against average (third, 1.87), save percentage (ninth, .925), wins (second, 22) and shutouts (tied for second, 5) while posting a 22-5-0 record in 29 appearances for the Penguins in 2010-11. The 24-year-old Thiessen was 14-14-1 (2.45, .914) with four shutouts in 30 AHL games as a rookie with Wilkes-Barre in 2009-10, and at Northeastern University he was one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s outstanding collegiate player in 2008-09.
