Kevin Pasche Selected to the All-USHL Second Team
June 3, 2022 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release
OMAHA, NE. - The Omaha Lancers are proud to announce that the United States Hockey League has selected goaltender, Kevin Pasche to the All-USHL Second Team.
Pasche, the Mezieres, Switzerland native is the second consecutive Lancers net minder to claim this honor, following up Jakub Dobes from the 2020-21 season, who went on to win Big 10 Goaltender of the Year, Co-Freshman of the Year, First Team All-Big Ten, All-Freshman Team and Most Valuable Player for Ohio State University this past season.
At the conclusion of the regular season, Pasche held a top-five spot in all but one goaltending statistic. In the 62-game season, Pasche finished second in games played (43), fifth in wins (20), first in shots against (1,247), fourth in goals against average (2.87), fourth in save percentage (0.903) and tied for tenth for shutouts (1). With that, Pasche also showed his ability of being a third defenseman as he came out first amongst goaltenders for points (3) with three assists on the season.
The Swiss goaltender earned himself three Goaltender of the Week Awards in the regular season, in week 4, 12 and 27, making him the first Lancers goalie to do so since Kyle McClellan in the 2019-20 season.
Pasche came to Omaha after being the 43rd pick in the 3rd round of the 2021 Phase ll USHL Draft and immediately made his presence known by putting up a 2.02 GAA and a 0.931 SV% through his first three starts in a Lancers uniform.
Shortly into the 2021-22 season, from November 5th - January 7th, the net minder put on a show. Putting up a record of 9-0-1-1, a goals against average of 1.98 and a save percentage of 0.924 as he led the team to 20 of the available 22 points over 11 starts. During this stretch, Pasche also took off for Edmonton, Alberta to represent Switzerland at the 2022 World Juniors Championship. He returned to Omaha after just one game due to the tournament being shut down because of COVID-19. But the goaltender is set to make his return to the tournament this August as the International Ice Hockey Federation has decided to replay the tournament prior to the 2022-23 season.
Another notable performance from Pasche was back on April 1, 2022, at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota. That evening, he accomplished three feats: first USHL shutout, most saves in a single game on the season by any goaltender (55) and was the first USHL goalie to surpass 1,000 saves on the season in the 1-0 victory over the Fargo Force. And as Lancers' broadcaster, Nick Blaesser put it, "that was one of, if not the best athletic performance I have ever witnessed."
Pasche also propelled the Lancers to their first playoff series win since 2010 with a 2-0 series sweep over the Fargo Force at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Omaha, Nebraska.
With the 2021-22 season being Pasche's first in North America, he played for a variety of elite teams back in his home country of Switzerland prior to his arrival. Before this past season, he was the starting goaltender for Lausanne U20 in the U20-Elite League. While there, Pasche had a cumulative goals against average of 2.79 with a record of 24-24-2 including a playoff appearance and making international tournament rosters on multiple occasions.
"This is pretty amazing. I came from Switzerland for my first year and I did not think that I would perform like this. It was a great year and I would like to thank all my teammates because we had a special group this year. I am glad to be coming back for next season and I will try to work harder for my team and fans." - 2021-22 All-USHL Second Team Goaltender, Kevin Pasche
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United States Hockey League Stories from June 3, 2022
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