SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced tonight that Cayden Primeau and Connor Hughes of the Laval Rocket and Brandon Halverson and Matt Tomkins of the Syracuse Crunch are the co-recipients of the Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award for the 2024-25 season. Since 1972, the award has been presented to the goaltender(s) on the team which allows the fewest goals per game in the regular season.
To qualify for the award, a goaltender must have appeared in at least one-third of his team’s games.
The Rocket and Crunch each allowed a league-low 178 goals in 2024-25, an average of 2.47 per game. This is the first Holmes Award for Laval and the first by a Montreal Canadiens affiliate since 2009-10; it is the second Holmes Award for Syracuse in the last seven seasons.
Primeau joined the Rocket just after Christmas and was the AHL’s most dominant goaltender over the second half of 2024-25. He posted the best single-season record in AHL history at 21-2-2 (.880) in 26 appearances, including wins in each of his first 10 decisions and an 11-0-2 streak to close out the regular season. Primeau also finished second in the league with a 1.96 goals-against average and third with a .927 save percentage. Hughes, in his first season in North America after beginning his pro career by spending seven years in Switzerland, went 15-12-2 in 29 appearances for the Rocket, registering a 2.58 GAA and a .905 save percentage.
Primeau and Hughes were among five goaltenders to appear in a game for the Rocket this season, joining Jakub Dobeš, Luke Cavallin and Jacob Fowler.
Halverson continued his career resurgence by going 22-11-8 in 43 appearances for the Crunch, posting a 2.22 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage and five shutouts. The ninth-year pro signed a two-year contract with Tampa Bay on Feb. 3 and made the first start of his NHL career for the Lightning on Mar. 22. Tomkins played 26 games for the Crunch, posting a record of 12-10-4, a 2.55 GAA, a .907 save percentage and three shutouts.
Halverson and Tomkins were among four goaltenders to appear in a game for the Crunch this season, joining Ryan Fanti and Ethan Langenegger.
The Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award, which was first awarded in 1948 to the goaltender with the best goals-against average in the AHL, is named for Hockey Hall of Famer Harry “Hap” Holmes, a prominent figure in early professional hockey and an outstanding goaltender of his time. Previous winners or co-winners of the award include Gil Mayer (1951, ’53, ’54, ’55, ’56), Johnny Bower (1957, ’58), Marcel Paille (1961, ’62), Gerry Cheevers (1965), Gilles Villemure (1969, ’70), Pete Peeters (1979), Pelle Lindbergh (1981), Clint Malarchuk (1983), Vincent Riendeau (1987, ’88), Corey Hirsch (1993), Olaf Kolzig (1994), Byron Dafoe (1994), Mike Dunham (1995), Manny Legace (1996), Jean-Sebastien Giguere (1998), Martin Biron (1999), Jason LaBarbera (2005, ’07), Cory Schneider (2009), Casey DeSmith (2017), Connor Ingram (2020), Pheonix Copley (2021), Alex Lyon (2022), Dustin Wolf (2023), Hunter Shepard (2024) and Clay Stevenson (2024).
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
