GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The American Hockey League on Monday announced that Grand Rapids Griffins goaltender Sebastian Cossa has been selected as the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Feb. 25, 2024.

Cossa, who was selected with the 15th overall pick by Detroit in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, stopped 65 of 67 shots over two games this past week, showing a 1.00 goals against average and a .970 save percentage. On Wednesday, the 21-year-old collected his first AHL shutout with 28 saves in a 1-0 victory over the Texas Stars, lifting Grand Rapids past Texas into second place in the Central Division and becoming just the third Griffins rookie to record a shutout over the last nine seasons. Last night, Cossa went on to stop 37 shots, including 14 in the third period, to help the Griffins snap Milwaukee’s 19-game winning streak and extend Grand Rapids’ point streak to 15 games (11-0-2-2).

Cossa has been on a tear as of late, as he is currently on an eight-game point streak (6-0-2) from Jan. 19-Feb. 25. The 6-foot-7 goaltender is also 8-1-2 in his last 11 outings with a 1.90 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. In 24 appearances this season, Cossa has a 12-7-5 record with one shutout to go along with a 2.61 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. Cossa ranks sixth among rookie netminders in both goals against average and save percentage.

Cossa is the second Griffin in six weeks to be named AHL Player of the Week (Marco Kasper, Jan. 21), the first Grand Rapids goalie to earn the honor since Calvin Pickard (Jan. 12, 2020), and the team’s first rookie goalie to win it since Jared Coreau (Feb. 1, 2015).

The Hamilton, Ontario, native is in his second season as a professional after spending the majority of the 2022-23 season in the ECHL with the Toledo Walleye. Last season, Cossa posted a 26-16-1 record with four shutouts in 46 regular-season games with Toledo to go along with a 2.56 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. He also saw action in three outings with the Griffins in 2022-23, registering his first pro victory on Oct. 19, 2022 against Milwaukee.

Prior to turning pro, Cossa spent three seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Edmonton Oil Kings and possessed a 71-16-7 ledger with a 2.12 goals against average and a .921 save percentage in 98 career games. In 2021-22, Cossa was named to the WHL First All-Star Team in addition to claiming the WHL title. He also collected a gold medal for Team Canada at the 2021-22 World Junior Championship.

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins