Barons Yann Danis earns “Baz” Bastien Award

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — On Wednesday, the AHL announced the winner of the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award. The Oklahoma City netminder was voted as the outstanding goaltender, by AHL coaches, players and media. Danis has posed a regular season record of 26-14-3, a goals against average of 2.07, fie shut-outs, and a 0.924 save percentage. He has been a big part of the Barons success as they secured the Western Division Championship with a record of 45-22-4-5.
 
“It is a tremendous honor for him; it is definitely a feather in his cap,” said Coach Todd Nelson. Other teammates were pleased for Danis. “It is good to see him win that; he has had an outstanding season,” said Captain Bryan Helmer. “He is the best goaltender in the league for a reason: his stats have shown in. It was good to see that his peers, coaches and media took notice.”
 
“It is good to see him win that, he has had an outstanding season,” said Captain Bryan Helmer. Danis was in goal for the last home game of the season on Friday night and came up big for the win. “He gives us so much in every game, I am amazed,” said Teemu Hartikainen. Mark Arcobello scored the game-winning goal. “That is the reason he is goalie of the year. “He has come up big for us time and time again, tonight was no different,” said Arcobello.
 
Friday night was also “Fan Appreciation” night with player awards announced. Bryan Helmer was Defensive player of the year; Offensive Player of the Year went to Ryan Keller. Both players have Calder Cup experience. Rookie of the Year was Hunter Tremblay, who has five shorthanded goals, which is tied for best in the league. “For the most part of the year, he has been in a penalty-killing role. He got some nice goal production off of that,” said Nelson. Kirill Tulupov was voted the fan favorite, while Danis was the team Most Valuable Player.
 
“We never worry about our goaltending, it is never an issue,” said Keller. “I tend to lose track of who is playing back there; you know they are going to be there for you. I don’t know who is playing the next game, and it doesn’t matter they will be good.”
For the second consecutive season, Oklahoma City has earned more than 40 wins in the regular season. The Barons also captured the Western Division Championship, on Saturday by defeating the Texas Stars. With a division-best of 99 points, the Barons are assured of the number one spot for the post-season.
 
The Calder Cup Play-offs will begin for Oklahoma City on the road. The Barons have a mixture of new players and players with championship experience. “Right now on this hockey team of the last three championships, we have two of the captains: Helmer and Keller,” said Nelson. “You can’t win a championship unless you have solid goaltending and without everyone contributing.”
 
Round one is a best of five series, in a two-three format. The higher seeded team was given the option to open with two games at home, or complete the series at home. The Barons have elected to start on the road. “On the road is somewhere we have been successful throughout most of the year,” said Keller. The Barons road record of 24-10-1-3 is third best in the league, and is better than their home record of 21-12-3-2.
 
“With this team, it is all about the team: we play four lines, six defensemen, and either goaltender,” said Helmer. “If we play our system and everyone contributes, we can go a long way.” A unique statistic illustrating this contribution, is the Barons are 15-2-0-2 when a Barons defenseman scores.
 
The Western Division team in the last and final eight spot is the Houston Aeros. Game 1 will be Thursday in Houston night; Game 2 will be the following night. The series travels to Oklahoma City on Sunday April 22 for an evening game. If necessary, Games 4 and 5 will be in Oklahoma City on Tuesday and Wednesday.
 
The regular season record for Oklahoma City against Western Division teams is 25-8-0-1 and a road record of 13-3-0-1. Previous games this year against Houston resulted in a record of 7-0-0-1. Yann Danis was in net with a 1.32 goals against record versus the Aeros and a .926 save percentage average which includes two shut-outs.
 
contact the author at ghamill@prohockeynews.com