University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Wilcox Makes NHL Debut with Sabres
4/8/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS - Gopher Hockey All-American alum Adam Wilcox made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night as the University of Minnesota celebrated the 119th NHL alum in program history.
With Wilcox hitting the ice, Minnesota has now featured 26 NHL alums this year - tying the known NCAA record for a single season (Boston College in 2014). Wilcox is the seventh 'U' alum to make their NHL debut this season - joining Casey Mittelstadt (Buffalo), Travis Boyd (Washington), Justin Holl (Toronto), Justin Kloos (Minnesota), Vinni Lettieri (New York Rangers) and Nick Seeler (Minnesota).
A native of South St. Paul, Minn., Wilcox played the final 39 minutes of Saturday's regular-season finale, stopping all 14 shots he faced in the game as Buffalo lost 4-3 to Florida.
With the Gophers, Wilcox earned Second Team All-America honors in 2014 as well as the inaugural Big Ten Player of the Year and Goaltender of the Year awards. The netminder is the school's all-time leader in career save percentage (.922) and career goals against average (2.09) while he is tied for the program's career shutout record (13). Wilcox ended his college career with a 73-26-14 record (.710) while posting 22 or more wins in each of his three years with the Maroon & Gold. His 73 wins are tied with Robb Stauber for third all-time in program history. Wilcox also ranks third in school history in saves (2,834), games played (115) and minutes played (6,865).
A three-time all-conference honoree, Wilcox helped Minnesota to three-straight regular-season conference titles and three-straight NCAA tournament berths including a national championship appearance in 2014. In his final year with the program, Wilcox also backstopped Minnesota to the 2015 Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament title for the school's first conference playoff title since 2007.
A three-year letter winner for the Gophers and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Wilcox was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the sixth round (178th overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.