GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The American Hockey League on Friday announced that Grand Rapids Griffins goaltender Sebastian Cossa has been selected as the AHL Goaltender of the Month for December. Cossa also won the award for November, becoming the first netminder in franchise history to receive the honor twice in the same season and the first AHL goalie to win consecutive awards since Henderson’s Logan Thompson in Feb.-March 2021.

Cossa also becomes just the third goaltender in team history to win the AHL Goaltender of the Month award twice in any fashion, joining Jared Coreau (Feb. 2018, Dec. 2015) and Jimmy Howard (Dec. 2007, March 2006). In December, Cossa went 7-0-1 with two shutouts to go along with a 1.76 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. The 6-foot-7 goalie registered a 20-save shutout of Rockford on Dec. 13, followed by a 26-save blanking of Milwaukee on Dec. 27. The 23-year-old went 7-0 from Dec. 3-27 with two shutouts, a 1.59 GAA and a .937 save percentage. In addition, Cossa held opponents to two goals or less in six of his eight appearances. 

Cossa enjoyed a career-high 10-game win streak from Nov. 25-Dec. 27, showing a 1.51 GAA and a .939 save percentage, and is currently on an 11-game point streak (10-0-1). With the Griffins this season, Cossa is 15-1-1 with four shutouts, a 1.65 GAA and a .936 save percentage in 17 appearances. His four shutouts are the most by a Griffin since 2016-17 (Eddie Pasquale) and the seven for his career tie Petr Mrazek for seventh on the team’s all-time list. In the AHL rankings, the fourth-year pro ranks first in GAA, first in save percentage, first in shutouts and first in wins. Cossa is just the sixth netminder to appear in at least 100 games for Grand Rapids and the eighth to collect at least 50 wins. 

Throughout parts of four AHL seasons with Grand Rapids, Cossa has shown a 59-26-15 record with seven shutouts in 101 games to go along with a 2.37 GAA and a .913 save percentage. Last season, Cossa was named to his first AHL All-Star Classic and ranked among the AHL regular-season leaders in games played (41, T8th), minutes played (2,424:37, 7th), GAA (2.45, 11th), save percentage (.911, T13th), and wins (21, T10th). Cossa made his NHL debut with Detroit on Dec. 9, 2024, at Buffalo and came away with a 6-5 victory behind 12 saves and three stops in the shootout in a relief effort. He was the 15th overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. 

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins