FormerBritish Columbia Hockey League standout goaltender Brian Thiessen wasnamed the Reebok AHL Player of the Week for the period ending March28th following three sterling performances in net for the AmericanHockey League?s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.
The Aldergrove,B.C. native turned aside all 31 shots against the Norfolk Admirals in a3-0 victory for his third shutout of the season. In his next outing,Thiessen shunned 26-of-27 shots to anchor the Penguins? defense in a3-1 victory. On Sunday against the Worcester Sharks, Thiessen stopped37-of-39 shots in Wilkes-Barre?s 2-1 loss, coming just one save shortof his season high (38).
Thiessen made 94 saves on 97 shots(.969) and allowed just three goals in 180 minutes played, for agoals-against average of 1.00.
He spent three seasons in theBCHL, splitting his final season between the Prince George Spruce Kingsand Merritt Centennials in 2005/06 and setting a BCHL single-seasonrecord with seven shutouts and a league-record 250:25 shutout streak.
Ina Penguins? sweater, Thiessen has assembled a record of 11-12-1 in 25showings with Wilkes-Barre. His overall save percentage of .913 ranksthird amongst AHL rookies while his goals against average of 2.51 isfourth.
The 24-year-old was also named to the Hockey EastAll-Decade on March 19 after keying Northeastern University?s hockeyresurgence during his three seasons (2006-2009) with the program.Thiessen essentially rewrote the Huskies? hockey record books and isnow the Huskies? career leader in goals against average (2.40), savepercentage (.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 clubwhen it hoisted Lord Stanley at Joe Louis Arena.
