Jake Hildebrand (born June 19, 1993) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

who is currently playing for the Löwen Frankfurt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Playing career

In 2012, Hildebrand enrolled at Michigan State University to play NCAA Men's Division I college hockey with the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. In his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

year, Hildebrand's outstanding play was recognized when he was selected the 2014–15 Big Ten Best Goaltender and Big Ten Player of the Year. He was also named to the NCAA (West) First All-American Team. At the end of his 2015–16 season with the Spartans, he signed with the

Allen Americans The Allen Americans are a professional ice hockey team headquartered at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, which currently plays in the ECHL. The team was founded in 2009 in the Central Hockey League (CHL) where they played f ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. As a free agent embarking on his professional career, Hildebrand agreed to a one-year contract with the

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

on June 15, 2016. In the 2016–17 season, Hildebrand as a depth goaltender appeared in just 3 games with the IceHogs, appearing primarily with ECHL affiliate, the

Indy Fuel The Indy Fuel are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2014–15 season. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Fuel play their home games at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum on the Indiana State Fairgrounds. They are af ...

. Unable to mark an impression with the IceHogs, Hildebrand left as a free agent and signed a one-year deal to continue in the ECHL with the

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

on August 3, 2017. In the 2017–18 season, Hildebrand assumed starting goaltender duties, appearing in 44 games with the Oilers and posting a .901 save percentage. In the off-season, Hildebrand was traded by the Oilers to the

Kalamazoo Wings The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Event Center. They are the affiliate ...

in exchange for Scott Henegar on July 24, 2018. With the Wing going on hiatus for the pandemic affected

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, Hildebrand was signed as a free agent by the

Florida Everblades The Florida Everblades are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Estero, Florida, in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area. They play in the ECHL and are affiliated with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (N ...

of the ECHL on January 12, 2021. In the delayed 2020-21 season, Hildebrand established career highs and was the standout goaltender in the league, posting 23 wins and a 2.40 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage to be named the ECHL Goaltender of the Year. After six seasons within the ECHL, Hildebrand opted to pursue a career abroad, agreeing to a one-year contract with German club, Löwen Frankfurt of the DEL2, on July 23, 2021.

Awards and honors

References

External links

* 1993 births AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Allen Americans players American men's ice hockey goaltenders Cedar Rapids RoughRiders players Florida Everblades players Ice hockey players from Pennsylvania Indy Fuel players Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) players Living people Löwen Frankfurt players Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey players People from Butler, Pennsylvania Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Sioux City Musketeers players Sportspeople from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area Tulsa Oilers (1992–present) players {{US-icehockey-goaltender-stub