MSU Hockey Player Named Semifinalist for National Honor

Michigan State has returned to the top of the college hockey world after last weekend's split with Michigan, continuing an impressive revival under head coach Adam Nightingale.

Nightengale's tenure in East Lansing has been filled with contending for and winning championships, adding future NHL talent, developing the entire roster, and producing many of the country's top players. Goaltender Trey Augustine is one of those stars with an NHL future, and he has an opportunity to add to his hardware collection this season as he was named a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award, given to the nation's top netminder.

Trey Augustine is a Mike Richter Award semifinalist for the third straight season!

With a 20-6-0 record this season, 10 of Augustine's victories in goal have come against Top 5-ranked opponents! pic.twitter.com/JcvII1crzF
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) February 13, 2026

The 2026 Mike Richter Award

The Mike Richter Award was established in 2014 and is awarded to the "Most Outstanding" goaltender in the country. It's named after former Wisconsin goaltender, Stanley Cup champion, U.S. Olympian, and Hockey Hall-of-Famer Mike Richter, who has his number hanging in the rafters of Madison Square Garden for the New York Rangers.

Augustine is a semifinalist for the third time in his college career, which is pretty impressive as it's only his third season as a college hockey player, but no MSU goaltender has ever won the award.

There are 10 total semifinalists for the honor.

Trey Augustine (Michigan State)

Alexis Cornoyer (Cornell)

Emmett Croteau (Dartmouth)

Michael Hrabal (UMass)

Jack Ivanovic (Michigan)

Josh Kotai (Augustana)

Tyler Muszelik (UConn)

Jan Spunar (North Dakota)

Alex Tracy (MInnesota State)

Lawton Zacher (Northeastern)

Michigan native and current Team USA goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (also of the Winnipeg Jets) was the first winner of the Mike Richter Award, playing at UMass-Lowell in 2014. Other Richter Award winners currently playing in the NHL include Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins (Maine 2020) and Thatcher Demko (Boston College 2016) of the Vancouver Canucks. Sawyman is also a member of Team USA at the ongoing 2026 Winter Olympics.

Trey Augustine's Impressive 2025-26 Season and College Career

A second-round pick of the hometown Detroit Red Wings in 2023, Augustine established himself as a dominant college goaltender from the moment he took the ice. He came to college as the winningest Team USA goalie in World Junior Championships history. and he's been a major component of the Spartans' turnaround -- helping the Spartans win back-to-back conference championships and cement themselves as an elite national program.

Augustine won the Most Outstanding Player Award at the Big Ten Tournament as a freshman and returned with even better play as a sophomore. He could've gone to the pros after last season, but decided to stay and complete unfinished business, and it's paying off for both the team and himself.

The junior holds a 20-6-0 record this season and has set new career-bests in save percentage and goals-against average, ranking among the top-10 in both categories nationally. He's also one of the winningest goaltenders in school history and a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award as the best overall player in college hockey.

Augustine has left quite a legacy in East Lansing already, yet he continues to add to it each passing day.

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