Top Dawg In The SPHL

It's been said many times that goaltenders are a different bunch of people from the rest of the players that make up hockey teams. Usually, this is in reference to goalies being a little superstitious when to comes to their routines on gameday, but you have to have an appreciation for guys who are willing to stand in front of a piece of rubber moving at three-digit speeds. The man to the left isn't Bruce Wayne nor is he Batman, but he could be considered a superhero in some circles for the number of times he's helped his teams win. That man's name is Austyn Roudebush, and the 32 year-old netminder from Toledo, Ohio went ahead and set a new record in the SPHL that will certainly take another player a long time to break.

Roudebush wasn't drafted by an NHL team nor did he play high level junior hockey. His college experience was playing with Adrian College's club team in the ACHA where he went an unfathomable 57-3-4 in four years where he never had a GAA over 2.00 in any year. Roudebush dominated throughout his college career that included a 22-0-0 final year in 2017-18 where he posted a 0.91 GAA, eight shutouts, and a .955 save percentage. How Roudebush flew under everyone's radar with those kinds of numbers is still a mystery to me.

Despite the NHL not calling, Roudebush pushed forward with his career, signing with the Mentor Ice Breakers in the Federal Prospect Hockey League in 2019-20 where he went 11-11-2 in 27 games in his first professional season. The asterisk on those numbers is that Mentor went 15-30-3 that season, meaning that the other four goaltenders used by Mentor that season went a combined 4-19-1. It seem not so far-fetched to suggest that Roudebush might be some sort of superhero based on those numbers.

The catch is that Roudebush also played his first games in the SPHL that season with the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs where he went 5-2-2 with a 2.50 GAA and a .927 save percentage. It was clear that Roudebush could play at the SPHL level as he was solid in his first 13 games, but he bounced around 2020-21 with stops in Knoxville and Birmingham in the SPHL and Tusla in the ECHL. He went 13-4-0 with Knoxville with a 1.62 GAA and .943 save percentage which was a stark contrast from his 0-2-0 record in the Tulsa where he had an 8.12 GAA and a .690 save percentage. Tulsa wasn't a good fit for Roudebush.

2021-22 saw Roudebush return to Roanoke where he has spent the last five seasons. In that time, he's amassed an impressive record of 95-46-19, helped Roanoke win the SPHL championship in 2022-23 where he was named as the 2023 President's Cup Most Valuable Player, and posted three-straight seasons of 24 wins or more. Clearly, he found his groove in Roanoake where he has 100 career wins, but it was his 99th win in Roanoke that put him on a new level in the SPHL.

On Friday night, Roudebush stopped all 37 shots in Roanoke's 5-0 shutout win over Macon to earn his 112th career win in the SPHL, moving him past former SPHL netminder Peter Di Salvo who totaled his 111 wins with seven SPHL teams from 2013-22. That 112th win put Roudebush at the top of the list for wins by a goaltender in the SPHL, and he went ahead and added his 113th win on Sunday in a 3-2 win over Macon once more! How cool is that for Austyn Roudebush?

What's even more impressive is that Roudebush is also second in games played with 200 SPHL contests under his belt, and he ranks second in career shutouts with 15 including the one he recorded over Macon in his record-breaking game. Austyn Roudebush is making a name for himself in a league to which a lot of people never pay attention, and I'm happy to see him get his name in the record book because Austyn Roudebush has had an outstanding hockey career!

He's still adding accolades and achievements, but consider this résumé: three ACHA All-Conference selections, three All-American nominations, ACHA National Player of the Year in 2018, 2018 ACHA National Champion, 2023 President's Cup champion, 2023 President's Cup Most Valuable Player, and now he added winngest goaltender in SPHL history with many years of hockey still to play in his career.

If you don't know his name by name, Austyn Roudebush's name should now be more familiar to you after he broke the SPHL record for careers win by a goaltender. Before he's done, I would expect more records to be beside his name in the SPHL record book, and he might even earn himself a statue one day outside of the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia when his career finally comes to an end.

Before that retiremnet talk happens, though, Austyn Roudebush still has lots of pucks to stop for the Rail Yard Dawgs in Roanoke!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!