Christian Pavlas Named Goaltender of the Year

Winston-Salem, NC - The Carolina Thunderbirds are proud to announce that Christian Pavlas has been named goaltender of the year by the FHL in 2018-19.

Pavlas, 22, is the FHL leader in all four major categories this season with 28 wins, a 1.69 GAA, a .934 save percentage and five shutouts in 34 games played this season as of this writing. He owns the FHL single-season record for shutouts and is one victory away from sole possession of the wins record in one year (Mike Brown, 2013-14).

"I want to say thank you to my coach and all of my teammates" Pavlas said in a statement. "Without them I would not be in a place to receive this award. Also, I want to thank our management for treating us so well and of course our amazing fans who come and sell out our building all the time. They truly give us the energy to play our best every night."

Pavlas joined the Thunderbirds late this season after spending time with the Macon Mayhem of the SPHL. But once he got going this season as a Thunderbird there was no stopping him. At one point this season Pavlas won 19 straight decisions and held a scoreless streak of 164:13 which stands as an FHL record. His stellar play earned him a call to the SPHL's Fayetteville Marksmen this season before the goalie shuffle inevitably found him back in Carolina after a week.

Pavlas has won the Thunderbirds' first goaltender of the year award from the FHL in franchise history. His award combined with Andre Niec (Coach of the Year) and Josh Pietrantonio (MVP) are among a handful of awards the Thunderbirds have come away with in the 2018-19 season.

⚡-THUNDERBIRDS-⚡

The Carolina Thunderbirds are proud members of the Federal Hockey League, now in its ninth season. The Thunderbirds are in their second season of play building on the success from last year with a regular season championship in 2018-19 and are looking forward to their second consecutive trip to the playoffs. The Thunderbirds have set an FHL record again at the gate, breaking their own attendance record with over 80,000 fans through the doors this season.