B1G Announces Hockey Award Finalists

East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State has finalists for each of the major Big Ten postseason awards, which will be announced on Tuesday, March 19.

The group is headlined by freshman Artyom Levshunov (Zhlobin, Belarus) who is one of three finalists for the Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Freshman of the Year awards. Classmate Trey Augustine (South Lyon, Mich.) is a finalist for Goaltender of the Year, and Adam Nightingale is a finalist for Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Michigan State is the only team to have finalists in each of the five categories. MSU has had two Players of the Year (Jake Hildebrand in 2015, and Taro Hirose in 2019). Hildebrand was also the Goaltender of the Year in 2015, and Mitchell Lewandowski was tabbed the Freshman of the Year in 2018.

Levshunov averages just below a point per game (9-23-32, 34 GP), and is tied for 10th in the country and atop the B1G with a +24. He ranks eighth among defensemen nationally in points, sixth in defenseman goals, and second among first-year rearguards behind Denver's Zeev Buium (9-34-43).   In the Big Ten, Levshunov ranks in a tie for eighth in assists (23) and tied for 13th in points. He is third among league freshmen in points.

As MSU's top freshman point producer, Levshunov needs seven points to join the all-time freshmen scorers list, which would tie Mike York's 39 points in 1995-96. Levshunov (8-22-30) is MSU's first 30-point freshman blueliner since Jason Wooley tied MSU's all-time freshman defenseman scoring mark of 37 points in 1988-89. Wooley shares the mark with Pat Betterly (1974-75).

Levshunov is the third-youngest player in college hockey this year, and is a finalist for the Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year and is a candidate on the fan list for Vote For Hobey.

Classmate Augustine is having a decorated freshman season in his own right. He backstopped Team USA to a gold medal in the IIHF World Junior Championships in January, where he led the tournament in both goals against average (1.75) and save percentage (.936), going a perfect 4-0 – including both the semifinal vs. Finland and the final vs. Sweden.   He picked up right where he left off when he returned stateside, earning a shutout in his first game back – one of three on the season – and was a major contributor to the Spartans earning their first Big Ten regular-season title in school history. He has started 31 games this season, with a .917 save percentage (fourth B1G), 2.92 GAA (fifth B1G), and 20-8-2 record. Augustine ranks third nationally in saves (979), tenth 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 hit the 20-win mark this season.

Augustine is first in the B1G in saves per game (31.00), second in total saves, fourth in save percentage, and fifth in GAA Augustine has made 27 or more saves in each of his 24 Big Ten games this year. All three of Augustine's shutouts this season have not only come in Big Ten conference games, but all three have also come on the road (at Ohio State, at Penn State, and at Notre Dame.)

Augustine has not had fewer than 25 saves in any complete game this season and has not had less than 27 in any Big Ten game. He has twice had 44 saves, his career best - at Minnesota on Nov. 24, and on March 1 at Wisconsin.

Nightingale has guided the Spartans to a 22-9-3 overall record and Big Ten regular-season title in just his second season behind the bench at his alma mater.    In Nightingale's first season of 2022-23, MSU had a six-win improvement from the year prior (12 to 18), and MSU has already won four more games this year than it did in 2022-23.

He owns a two-year record of 40-27-5, the second-most wins for any coach in program history over their first two years. Rick Comley won 46 games in his first two seasons, Tom Anastos 33, Ron Mason 26, and Danton Cole 24.

2023-24 BIG TEN HOCKEY AWARDS FINALISTS:

Player of the Year
Gavin Brindley, F, MICH
Artyom Levshunov, D, MSU
Kyle McClellan, G, WIS

Defensive Player of the Year
Seamus Casey, D, MICH
Artyom Levshunov, D, MSU
Owen Lindmark, F, WIS

Goaltender of the Year
Trey Augustine, MSU
Ryan Bischel, ND
Kyle McClellan, WIS

Freshman of the Year
Artyom Levshunov, D, MSU
Sam Rinzel, D, MINN
Aiden Fink, F, PSU

Coach of the Year
Adam Nightingale, MSU
Bob Motzko, MINN
Mike Hastings, WIS

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Trey Augustine

Artyom Levshunov

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