East Lansing, Michigan –– Michigan State has finalists for each of the postseason's major Big Ten awards, which will be announced on Tuesday, March 19th.
The group leader is a first year student. Artyom Levshunov (Shlobin, Belarus) is one of three finalists for Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year.classmate trey augustin (South Lyon, Michigan) is a finalist for Goaltender of the Year; adam nightingale has been a finalist for Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Michigan State is the only team with a finalist in each of the five categories. MSU has had two Player of the Year awards (Jake Hildebrand in 2015 and Taro Hirose in 2019). Hildebrand was also named Goaltender of the Year in 2015, and Mitchell Lewandowski won Rookie of the Year in 2018.
Levshunov is averaging just under 1 point per game (9 wins, 23 losses, 32 draws, 34 GP), and is tied for 10th in the country with +24 and tops the B1G. He ranks eighth in scoring among defensive players nationally, sixth in goals scored by defensive players, and second among freshman rear guards behind Denver's Jeev Bouium (9-34-43). ing. In the Big Ten, Levshunov ranks tied for eighth in assists (23) and tied for 13th in points. He ranks third among league freshmen in scoring.
Levshunov, MSU's top freshman scoring producer, needs seven points to join the all-time freshman scorer list, which would tie him with Mike York's 39 points in 1995-96. Levshunov (8-22-30) became MSU's first freshman blueliner to score 30 points since Jason Woolley set the all-time MSU freshman defensive player record with 37 points in 1988-89. Ta. Woolley has the same mark as Pat Betterley (1974-75).
Levshunov is the third-youngest player in college hockey this year, a Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year finalist, and a Vote For Hobey Fan List nominee.
My classmate Augustin is having a stellar freshman season in his own way. He backstopped Team USA to the gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship in January, leading the tournament in both goals against average (1.75) and save percentage (.936) and winning four games, including both semifinal games. He had a perfect record with 0 losses. .Finland and final vs Sweden. He picked up where he left off upon returning to the United States, earning a shutout victory in his first game back (one of three games of the season) and leading the Spartans to the first Big Ten regular season title in school history. contributed greatly to that. This season, he has started 31 games and has a save percentage of .917 (4th in B1G), a GAA of 2.92 (5th in B1G), and a record of 20 wins, 8 losses, and 2 draws. Augustin ranks third in the nation in saves (979), 10th in winning percentage (.700), eighth in shutouts (3) and 18th in save percentage among D1 goalies. He is one of nine goalies in the country to reach the 20-win mark this season.
Augustin ranks 1st in B1G in saves per game (31.00), 2nd in total saves, 4th in save percentage, and 5th in GAA. Augustin ranks 27 in each of 24 Big Ten games this year. He has recorded more than just saves. All three of Augustin's shutouts this season have come in Big Ten conference games as well as road games (Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame).
Augustin has never recorded more than 25 saves in a complete game this season and has never had more than 27 saves in any Big Ten game. He made two career-high 44 saves, against Minnesota on Nov. 24 and against Wisconsin on March 1.
In just his second season on his alma mater's bench, Nightingale led the Spartans to a 22-9-3 overall record and the Big Ten regular season title. In the 2022-23 season, Nightingale's first season, MSU improved by six wins from the previous year (12 wins → 18 wins), and MSU has already won four more games this year than in the 2022-23 season.
He has a record of 40-27-5 in two years. This is the coach with his second-most wins in his first two years in program history. rick comley He won 46 games in his first two seasons. Tom Anastos 33, ron mason 26, and Danton Cole twenty four.
2023-24 Big Ten Hockey Award Finalists:
player of the year
Gavin Brindley, F, MICH
Artyom Levshunov,D,MSU
Kyle McClellan, G, Wisconsin
Defensive Player of the Year
Seamus Casey, Democrat, Michigan
Artyom Levshunov,D,MSU
Owen Lindmark, F, Wisconsin
Goaltender of the Year
trey augustinMSU
Ryan Bichel, ND
Kyle McClellan, Wisconsin
This year's new students
Artyom Levshunov,D,MSU
Sam Lindsell, D-Minn.
Aiden Fink, F, PSU
Coach of the Year
adam nightingaleMSU
Bob Motzko, Minnesota
Mike Hastings, Wisconsin
