By WJBC Staff
BLOOMINGTON – For the first time in his United States Hockey League career, goaltender Logan Halladay has been named CCM Goaltender of the Week, earning his first two career shutouts in week 14. Halladay’s first nomination comes as the second weekly award won by the Bloomington Thunder as his counterpart, Hayden Lavigne (University of Michigan) was credited with goalie of the week after shutting out the Green Bay Gamblers in week 11.
Halladay, 19, saw 49 shots over two games for the Thunder this week and kept them all out of the net. On Tuesday night the Thunder came back from their Christmas break with a statement. They topped the Sioux Falls Stampede 3-0 and Halladay was a big part of that, stopping a couple off man chances during the second period.
It feels good, I’ve found my game a little more lately and felt comfortable. I’ve been on top of things lately and just will continue to ride the wave,” commented Halladay on the accolade. “I had a little bit of a rough start to the season with wins, but I think now I have gotten into a little grove.”
The Thunder extended to seven straight wins that night and the Cary, NC native was credited with his first career shutout in the USHL. Fast forwarding to Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum, Thunder and their goaltender fed off the 2600 fans in attendance against the Madison Capitols. Again, Halladay was stellar for the Thunder, out dueling NHL Draft pick Garrett Metcalf (University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Anaheim Ducks), and finishing with a 2-0 win over their sophomore counterparts.
“I think it was big for not only myself but also my team,” said Halladay, who has been supportive of his team over the team’s winning stretch. “We’ve taken big steps in the last couple weeks going 8-for-9 in wins and I think our team is striding in the right direction which is big at this time of the year. That’s good news for everybody so we are excited about that.”
That makes four straight wins for the second-year goalie and has put the team 8-1-0-0 in their last nine games. On a personal note for the 6-foot-1 goalie, the shutout streak extends further than just the two shutouts. The last time a goal made it past Halladay was on December 12 in a 2-1 overtime win for the Thunder. Since that goal, the Thunder backstop has played over 147 minutes of shutout hockey. After a tough start to the season, Halladay is 4-5-2-0 this season with the fifth best goals against average at 2.28 and a .914 save percentage. He and Lavigne are tied for third in the league with two shutouts each and have combined for the most shutouts by a team along with the Green Bay Gamblers.
Halladay was the second player ever rostered by the Bloomington Thunder as the team expanded in the USHL prior to the 2014-15 season. A tender was used to bring in the goaltender who was once the property of the Waterloo Black Hawks. In 2012-13, he made his USHL debut, playing two games with the Hawks after being a Phase I draft pick that same year. Prior to joining the Thunder he suited up for the Janesville Jets of the North American Hockey League in 2013-14 and was one of the top goalies in the league. He was 18-8-0-2 with two shutouts in Janesville over 31 appearances in the crease. He had a 2.26 GAA and the fifth highest save percentage at .932.
During the 2014 preseason, Halladay spent time with his hometown NHL team, the Carolina Hurricanes, at their prospects camp before returning to Bloomington for the inaugural season.
The Thunder look to continue their winning ways against the Muskegon Lumberjacks this weekend as the team opens a home and home series with the ‘Jacks. The series opens in Bloomington Friday night at 7 p.m. and will be the second of six meetings this season.
