An AIHL Winner!

Do you recognize the goalie to the left? If you've followed U SPORTS men's hockey for the last few seasons, the pads he's wearing are a major giveaway. The Saskatoon native played one game with the Abbotsford Canucks and was an EBUG with the Vancouver Canucks before attending a number of ECHL camps over the last few years, but nothing seemed to stick for the former UBC Thunderbirds netminder. Well, he found his place this season in Australia when the Adelaide Adrenaline inked Rylan Toth to a contract, and he had himself another award-winning campaign as Toth was named as the 2024 Goalie of the Year in the AIHL!

Toth played in 24 games for the Adrenaline this season, finishing with a 6-12-5 record, a 2.92 GAA, a .906 save percentage, and two shutouts. Those numbers may not sound like "Goaltender of the Year" numbers when you look at them, but we need a deeper look here because the numbers at face value admittedly aren't that great. Let's look at those other numbers.

The Adelaide Adrenaline finished this season with a 5-17-2-6 record, so Toth was involved in a lot of those decisions. He was the goalie of record in six of seven games that the Adrenaline won and he helped them earn at least one additional point in five of six extra time losses. Yes, he was in the net for 12 of 17 losses, but considering that goaltending partner Matus Trnka was 0-3-0 with a 2.94 GAA and an .882 save percentage. Clearly, the Adrenaline weren't scoring a lot of goals when one considering both netminders had sub-3.00 GAA, but only won seven games all season long.

The Adrenaline never averaged more than 2.5 goals-per-game this season at any point past April 27, so unless the Adrenaline goalies were allowing one goal or less, the chances of them winning were low. From May 11 forward to the end of the season, the Adrenaline never averaged less than 3.0 goals-against-per-game, but that average never exceeded 4.0 goals-against-per-game all season long. The goaltending was good for the Adrenaline, but they just needed more goal-scoring to back up that puck-stopping.

Where things make a little more sense is when you look at the goalie stats leaderboard. Toth was third-overall in the AIHL for goals-against-average, putting him ahead of 18-game winner Leo Bertein of the Perth Thunder and 11-game winner James Downie of the league-leading Sydney Bears. He finished just 0.11 behind 17-game winner Tatsunoshin Ishida of the Melbourne Ice. It's hard to argue that Toth didn't deserve the award when he faced so much more rubber than Ishida and Bertein yet kept a ton of those pucks out of the net, but we'll continue building the case.

Toth's .906 save percentage puts him fourth-overall in the AIHL behind the men mentioned above - Ishida at .920, Bertein at .914, and Melbourne Mustangs' Logan Flodell at .908. He was one of four goalies who played more than 22 games who finished with a save percentage above .900, and one of six goalies to finish the season with a save percentage above .900. His team finished second-last in points in the AIHL this season, yet Toth being one of the top netminders statistically, again, makes it hard to argue against his case as being the top goaltender.

Of course, if you had watched any Canada West men's hockey a few years ago, you already know how much Toth's goaltending affects a game. Twice, he backstopped the Thunderbirds to a berth at the U Cup National Championship. In 2021-22, he was named as the Canada West Goaltender of the Year and the U SPORTS Goaltender of the Year. His five-year university career saw him finish with a 30-29-7 record, a 2.82 GAA, and a .906 save percentage, but it was his growth as a player that saw him improve from a 2-7-0 rookie campaign in 2017-18 to an 11-5-1 record in 2021-22. In each of his five seasons, he lowered his goals-against average each season as he got better each and every season.

Look, I've thrown a lot of numbers at you to justify Rylan Toth's award this season, but there's one thing that's clear: Rylan makes not-so-good teams much better when he's in the crease. It's hard not to argue how important he was for the Thunderbirds in their successes, and it's pretty clear that the Adelaide Adrenaline may have been much worse off this season without Toth stopping pucks for them. That alone puts him in the conversation for AIHL Goaltender of the Year, and it's pretty clear that his numbers carried him to the top of that discussion.

Congratulations to Rylan Toth on another major accolade in his illustrious career, and here's hoping that a few North American teams come calling this season when they need a goalie. Signing Rylan Toth should be a no-brainer considering his body of work, and it's my hope that we'll see those blue-and-yellow pads in a North American professional league this winter!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!