Zane McIntyre wins Mike Richter Award

Boston -- University of North Dakota junior goaltender Zane McIntyre has won the 2015 Mike Richter Award, presented annually to the top goaltender in college hockey, it was announced Friday at the TD Garden.

The 2010 sixth round selection of the Boston Bruins struggled in Thursday's Frozen Four semifinal loss to Boston University, but had a terrific season. A native of Grand Forks who grew up in Thief River Falls, Minn., McIntyre had a 2.05 goals against average and .929 save percentage on the season.

McIntyre said it was very special playing college hockey near where he grew up and that he always dreamed of playing for North Dakota.

"It's pretty special, to be honest. It's pretty cool to be nominated with a fellow northern Minnesota goalie as well, in [Yale sophomore] Alex Lyon," said McIntyre.

"It's those little dreams and stuff you get to go through at a young age. Thinking about, ‘Hey, maybe one day, that would be cool to experience playing for North Dakota,' and for this to actually be happening has been an absolute blessing, and reality that was tough to see at the time," explained McIntyre.

There has been rampant speculation that McIntyre played his final collegiate hockey game on Thursday night, he insisted he has yet to make a decision and will take his time doing so.

"There definitely hasn't been any decision yet. Everything's really new and really fresh with what happened last night, and I don't think it would be fair to myself, my family, my current teammates as well, to really just make a decision that quickly," McIntyre said.

"So I think it's definitely going to take some time to see what happens, and to really get perspectives from everybody in my life, whether it's coaches, fellow teammates, and especially my family. I kind of know when the time's right that we'll be making that decision one way or another," he added.

Photo Credit: Matt Dewkett

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Jeff Cox covers college, junior, high school and prep hockey, NCAA recruiting and NHL Draft prospects. Follow him on Twitter @JeffCoxSports.