Aaron Dell

There was no shortage of qualified candidates for Inside College Hockey’s annual award for INCH Goaltender of the Year. Measuring the position can be difficult. Evaluators can emphasize minutes played, shutouts, save percentage, goals-against average and victories – individually or as a combination of those statistics. In our discussion about this year’s options for the award, we kept coming back to a more nebulous criterion. Our choice was North Dakota goalie Aaron Dell, because he meant the most to his team’s success.

That’s not to say that his numbers weren’t impressive. He leads the nation with a 1.81 goals-against average, has backstopped the Sioux to a 30-6-2 record and his .924 save percentage ranks eighth nationally. He has also posted six shutouts and led North Dakota to the Frozen Four.

Dell didn’t begin the season as North Dakota’s starter. He was penciled in to back-up duty behind 2010 All-WCHA selection Brad Eidsness, but by the start of November had taken over the starting role. Dell has appeared in 39 games and made 37 starts. He’s allowed two goals or fewer in 27 of those 37 starts, including a streak of six such games down the stretch, and then three straight over the course of the WCHA Final Five championship and two NCAA Tournament games.

Though he might have started the season as an also-ran or afterthought, Aaron Dell had the most prominent goaltending season of the year among all Division I netminders, and is the 2010-11 INCH Goaltender of the Year.

His Runner-Up: Shane Madolora, RIT

• INCH’s year-end awards are decided upon with input from the editorial staff of InsideCollegeHockey.com and in consultation with coaches and other college hockey followers from across the country.