Former British Columbia Hockey League standout goaltender Brian Thiessen was named the Reebok AHL Player of the Week for the period ending March 28th following three sterling performances in net for the American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.
The Aldergrove, B.C. native turned aside all 31 shots against the Norfolk Admirals in a 3-0 victory for his third shutout of the season. In his next outing, Thiessen shunned 26-of-27 shots to anchor the Penguins’ defense in a 3-1 victory. On Sunday against the Worcester Sharks, Thiessen stopped 37-of-39 shots in Wilkes-Barre’s 2-1 loss, coming just one save short of his season high (38).
Thiessen made 94 saves on 97 shots (.969) and allowed just three goals in 180 minutes played, for a goals-against average of 1.00.
He spent three seasons in the BCHL, splitting his final season between the Prince George Spruce Kings and Merritt Centennials in 2005/06 and setting a BCHL single-season record with seven shutouts and a league-record 250:25 shutout streak.
In a Penguins’ sweater, Thiessen has assembled a record of 11-12-1 in 25 showings with Wilkes-Barre. His overall save percentage of .913 ranks third amongst AHL rookies while his goals against average of 2.51 is fourth.
The 24-year-old was also named to the Hockey East All-Decade on March 19 after keying Northeastern University’s hockey resurgence during his three seasons (2006-2009) with the program. Thiessen essentially rewrote the Huskies’ hockey record books and is now the Huskies’ career leader in goals against average (2.40), save percentage (.922) and shutouts (nine). In his final season in 2008-09, Thiessen set new benchmarks for wins (25), goals against average (2.12), save percentage (.931), saves (1,195), games (41) and minutes (2,495:44).
In last year’s Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit, Thiessen was called up to practice with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Despite not logging anytime in the Finals, Thiessen was with the club when it hoisted Lord Stanley at Joe Louis Arena.
