Hockey

South Carolina goalie Zapolski is ECHL Rookie of the Year

To the surprise of no one paying attention all season, South Carolina Stingrays goaltender Ryan Zapolski has been voted ECHL Rookie of the Year by league coaches, media relations directors, broadcasters and media.

Zapolski set a league record for lowest goals-against average (1.64) and tied for second all-time in save percentage (.942) and tied the record for most shutouts in a season (8, tying J.P. Lamoureux, Alaska Aces, 2008-09). He also went 27-11-2.

Zapolski last week was named the circuit's first-team and all-rookie goalie, and seems an odds-on favorite to be named both Goaltender of the Year and MVP later this week.

Dude is gonna have to get a giant mantle to hold all the hardware he's collecting. Starting to look like he's pretty good at hockey.

Runner-up for Rookie of the Year was Ontario forward Mario Lamoureux (younger brother of J.P.), who led rookies in scoring with 25-40--65 totals in 71 games.

Doyle Woody, dwoody@adn.com

Anchorage

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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