Badgers goalie Kyle McClellan talks about the emotions of thinking about his career journey after he was announced as the winner of the Mike Richter Award as NCAA men's hockey goalie of the year.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Mike Richter wasn't an All-American when he played two seasons in goal for the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team from 1985 to 1987.
Nearly four decades later, however, he's remembered as one of the pillars of a Badgers goaltending legacy that produced elite players at the position.
The award for the nation's best men's goalie is in his name, and on Friday he got to present it to a Badgers player for the first time.
Kyle McClellan was named the 11th winner of the Mike Richter Award on Friday after a season in which he led the country in save percentage and shutouts.
It was the culmination of a journey as a goalie that has included rejection, redirection and, now, rejoicing.
"It just shows if you keep pushing, you never know. It's surreal," McClellan said after a brief ceremony during men's college hockey's Friday night awards show. "Emotional, obviously, but pretty special."
Tears welled up in McClellan's eyes when he talked to reporters about how long was the career process leading to Friday's award.
"Since I was a kid, obviously, you start playing hockey and training," he said. "I think it dates back to then. But just dealing with adversity and some of the stories about whether hockey is the right thing. Just stick with it. It brings it all back together. Emotional and exciting."
McClellan also earned a spot as an All-American for the West Region, making him the first Badgers goalie to be so chosen since Brian Elliott in 2006. But he lost out to Colorado College's Kaidan Mbereko for first-team recognition and ended up on the second team.
Wisconsin added a ninth All-American goaltender to its total, but some of the biggest names at the position to play for the team aren't on the list. Richter, Wayne Thomas, Marc Behrend, Terry Kleisinger and Jim Carey played in the NHL after helping to build the Badgers goaltending legacy, many under position coach Bill Howard.
McClellan joined Dean Anderson (1988), Curtis Joseph (1989), Duane Derksen (1992) and Kirk Daubenspeck (1997) as second-team goalies. Julian Baretta (1977), Roy Schultz (1980), Bernd Brückler (2004) and Elliott were first-team selections.
Elite-level play in goal has been fleeting for the Badgers over the last decade, at least in comparison with the team's history. But McClellan had a remarkable season, starting with shutouts in his first two starts.
It almost never got to that point. The first-year Badgers coaching staff led by Mike Hastings met before the season to determine the course for goaltending. McClellan lost some confidence during the 2022-23 season, his first in Madison after a transfer from Mercyhurst.
Hastings went around to his assistants and asked who should start between McClellan and freshman William Gramme. Kevin Murdock, the assistant who works closely with the goalies, put his vote behind McClellan based on experience.
"I felt pretty confident that we should at least give him that opportunity and see what he can do with it," Murdock said. "Obviously, back-to-back shutouts the first weekend didn't hurt."
McClellan blanked Augustana on opening night, leading Hastings to go back with him for the second game. It was another shutout, putting him at two on the way to seven for the season, a national high and second in Wisconsin history behind Elliott's eight in 2005-06.
His .931 save percentage was best in the country and third for a Badgers player behind Elliott's .938 in 2005-06 and Cameron Rowe's .933 in a rotation in 2020-21.
The efforts McClellan made early in the season to erase the defensive mistakes Wisconsin made as it was learning to play a new style were critical.
"He gave our team an opportunity to get its feet underneath them when we had some uncertainty throughout our program just because it was new," Hastings said.
McClellan was voted the award winner over Mbereko and Boston College's Jacob Fowler.
Richter, the award's namesake and a consistent presence in handing it out since it was launched in 2014, won the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994 and backstopped the U.S. win at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
The award went from one former Badgers goalie to another on Friday. McClellan signed an amateur tryout with the American Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and briefly joined the team earlier this week before returning to finish up school.
"The good news is I didn't have to pull any strings," Richter said about the Wisconsin connection in the award. "This kid is phenomenal. He had one of those career years, and he didn't back into it. He worked and worked."
McClellan didn't make a junior hockey team on his first try, a setback that put him on a path to do things a different way. He took a risk after two years at Mercyhurst in going into the transfer portal and landing at Wisconsin, where playing time wasn't a sure thing.
Memories came flooding back to McClellan on Friday. Members of the billet family that housed him while he played in the North American Hockey League in Austin, Minnesota, surprised him at the ceremony. Family members and his girlfriend were in a RiverCentre ballroom to share in the celebration.
It let him reflect on the support system that put him in position to be called college hockey's best goalie. He's also a part of Wisconsin's goaltending legacy, something that was slowly sinking in after spending time with Richter.
"I'm kind of speechless about it," McClellan said. "It's pretty special. I think it'll hit in a little bit later truly how special it is."
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Mike Richter Award winner Kyle McClellan, second from left, poses for photos with Badgers assistant coach Kevin Murdock, left, former Badgers goalie Mike Richter and Badgers coach Mike Hastings.