SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Springfield Thunderbirds forward Adam Gaudette, Laval Rocket forward Joshua Roy and Belleville Senators goaltender Mads Sogaard have been selected as the league’s award winners for October.
Gaudette, the AHL Player of the Month, scored goals in a franchise-record six consecutive games for the Thunderbirds and finished with nine goals and 11 points in eight contests during October.
Gaudette earned an assist on Springfield’s only goal in its opening-night loss to Hartford on Oct. 14, then began his goal-scoring streak by netting the game-winner in a 4-3 victory over Providence on Oct. 15. Gaudette scored four of the Thunderbirds’ five goals during their three-in-three weekend from Oct. 20-22, then netted two power-play goals each in back-to-back wins at Hartford on Oct. 27 and vs. Providence on Oct. 28. Gaudette leads the AHL in goals (9), power-play goals (6) and shots on goal (36) through the first three weeks of the season.
A sixth-year pro, Gaudette is coming off a 2022-23 campaign in which he set career highs with 27 goals and 51 points while skating in 65 AHL games between Springfield and Toronto. Gaudette was originally a fifth-round choice by Vancouver in the 2015 NHL Draft and has collected 27 goals and 43 assists in 218 career NHL games with the Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators. The native of Braintree, Mass., has also totaled 42 goals and 32 assists in 89 AHL outings with Springfield, Toronto and Utica. Gaudette was acquired by the St. Louis Blues in a trade with Toronto on Feb. 17, 2023.
Roy, the AHL Rookie of the Month, began his first pro season with five goals and seven assists for 12 points in seven games for the Rocket during October.
Roy had four multiple-point games on the month, beginning with a goal and an assist in each of Laval’s opening-weekend games vs. Abbotsford. Then on Oct. 20, Roy tied a pair of single-game franchise records by recording three goals and five points to lead the Rocket to an 8-4 win over Rochester. He added a pair of assists the next night at Belleville, and notched another assist at Rochester on Oct. 27.
Montreal’s fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, Roy made his professional debut with Laval during the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022, appearing in one game. The 20-year-old native of Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, Que., was a First Team All-Star selection in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League each of the last two seasons, and won gold medals with Canada at both the 2022 and 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships.
Sogaard, the AHL Goaltender of the Month, made five appearances for the Senators in October and went 3-1-0 with a 1.73 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage, stopping 135 of 144 shots overall.
Sogaard began the 2023-24 season by recording his first professional shutout, a 30-save effort in Belleville’s 3-0 win at Hershey on Oct. 14. The next afternoon in Lehigh Valley, he came on in relief early in the second period and went on to stop all 22 shots he faced. Sogaard extended his shutout streak to 116:07 before allowing his first goal of the season on Oct. 21 vs. Laval, but he still finished with 30 saves to earn the victory. Finally, Sogaard closed the month by turning aside 42 of 43 shots to lead the Senators to a 2-1 overtime win over Toronto on Oct. 27.
Sogaard, 22, is in his fourth pro season after being selected by Ottawa in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft. The native of Aalborg, Denmark, has appeared in 69 career AHL games with Belleville and has a record of 35-25-3 with a 2.90 GAA, a .907 save percentage and one shutout. Sogaard has also played 21 games in the NHL, including 19 appearances during the 2022-23 season.
