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Brust, Schaefer Win AHL's Harry Hap Holmes Memorial Award

April 17, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release




SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The American Hockey League announced that former Reading goaltender Barry Brust and former Fresno goaltender Nolan Schaefer have won the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award for 2007-08.

Since 1972 the award has been presented to the goaltender(s) appearing in at least 25 games for the team allowing the fewest goals in the regular season.

It is the seventh season in a row and the 12th time in the last 15 years that the award has been won or shared by a former ECHL goaltender.

Brust and Schaefer play for the Houston Aeros who allowed 183 goals, finishing 45-29-6 and advancing to the Calder Cup Playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons. Schaefer was 19-13-0 and led the AHL with a goals-against average of 2.06 while finishing tied for second with six shutouts and fourth in save percentage with .924. Brust appeared in a career-high 43 games and was 24-16-3 while ranking sixth in the league with a goals-against average of 2.27.

Former ECHL goaltenders who have won or shared the award are Martin Biron (1999), Mathieu Chouinard (2002), Byron Dafoe (1994), Milan Hnilicka (2000), Dieter Kochan (2004), Olaf Kolzig (1994), Jason LaBarbera (2007 and 2005), Simon Lajeunesse (2002), Marc Lamothe (2003), Manny Legace (1996), Joey MacDonald (2003), Dany Sabourin (2006), Corey Schwab (1995) and Steve Valiquette (2005).

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the AHL, marking the seventh consecutive season that it has had affiliations with 20 or more teams in the AHL. In the last six seasons the ECHL has had more call ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with more than 2,300 call ups involving more than 1,200 players. In each of the last three seasons there have been more than 225 players who have played in both the ECHL and the AHL in the same season. The AHL has nine former ECHL coaches who are head coaches and 14 others who are assistant coaches while almost 500 players with ECHL experience have played in the league this season.

In his rookie season in 2004-05, the 24-year-old Brust was second in the ECHL with a goals-against average of 1.96 while going 27-9-4 with four shutouts and a save percentage of .928 in 42 regular season games for Reading. In the Kelly Cup Playoffs he was 4-4 and finished second with a goals-against average of 1.74 and two shutouts while ranking third with a save percentage of .943 and fifth with 233 saves and 481 minutes. He was 3-3-0 with a goals-against average of 3.00 and a save percentage of .906 in six games for the Royals in 2005-06 while going 19-14-1 with two shutouts, a goals-against average of 2.71 and a save percentage of .916 in 35 games for Manchester.

The 28-year-old Schaefer was 5-5-0 with a goals-against average of 3.12 and a save percentage of .910 in 12 games as a rookie with Fresno in 2003-04 while also playing in the AHL with Cleveland where he was 14-9-3 with a goals-against average of 2.34 and a save percentage of .925 in 27 games.

Seven times in the last eight years the winner of the AHL Coach of the Year award has been a former ECHL coach including the last three selections with Scott Gordon, Mike Haviland and Kevin Dineen. Former ECHL coaches won the award four consecutive years from 2001-04 with Don Granato, Bruce Cassidy, Geoff Ward and Claude Noel. The first former ECHL coach to win the award was current Carolina Hurricanes head coach Peter Laviolette in 1999.

For the 18th year in a row in 2007 there was a former ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion as Hamilton had a record 12 players with ECHL experience on its roster.

Former ECHL players won the CCM/AHL Player of the Month award in November (Martin St. Pierre), December (Pascal Pelletier) and January (Grant Stevenson). Trevor Smith, who played in the ECHL with Utah this season, was the Rbk Edge/AHL Rookie of the Month for January while John Curry, who played this year for both Las Vegas and Wheeling, was the winner in December. The Rbk Hockey/AHL Player of the Week award was won eight times by former ECHL players.

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