Photo Credit: Delaware Thunder
What more can anyone say about Trevor Babin. The guy places the team on his back night after night, and it was only fitting for him to win the Delaware Thunder’s final game of the season 5-4 over the Danbury Hat Tricks. Babin made 53 saves on 57 shots faced, which was good enough for a .930 Save Percentage.
40-50 plus save performances became part of the norm for Babin in his first season with the Thunder. For his efforts, he won the team MVP award, and it was an honor for him to win such, “It meant a lot of course,” Babin said to me in an interview last week. “Truly another blessing. I wanna thank my family and my teammates for helping me achieve this award, I’m definitely honored by it.”
Babin has a really good glove hand, and if a person watches the Flyers it really looks like he has a glove hand like Carter Hart. He snares pucks out of mid-air, and moves laterally post to post well. One thing about Babin he doesn’t forget where he came from, and his work ethic ranked off the charts for the Thunder this past season, “To play in front of them was amazing,” Babin said of Thunder fans. “They definitely helped with how loud they got after a save or if it was a goal or fight.”
The young star Thunder netminder continued, “After a while you got to know some of the fans too which was real cool. Some of them, they aren’t just fans, they became friends. And people in my life I’ll remember forever.”
He loves the sport, and craves making save after save. Babin relishes the moment, and senses that extra save it really gives him motivation or an extra push to help his team garner a victory.
Babin, a 6’1 goalie that hails from Philadelphia, PA, took the next step in his hockey career this past season for the Thunder, a team that he provided tutelage and leadership for. For his efforts, he is now a young prized possession of the Delaware Thunder. His numbers do not do him justice for just how good he was, as he finished the season with a .891 Save Percentage in 49 games played. Babin was also peppered with 45 to 55 shots a night. The guy was a stone wall for the most part.
“I don’t think there is a particular person that defined me into the player I am,” Babin says. “I think through experience, where I’m from, teams I’ve been on, players I watch on tv, I’ve adapted and absorbed into my game and it’s the real me you see every game.”
The young prized possession of the Thunder in Babin is just 23-years-old. He is a goaltender that Charlie Pens Sr. I’m sure wanted as soon as he could make him an offer. Babin has a history of success having won an EHL championship, is a former two time GMHL All-Star, and was recognized as a GMHL Goalie of the Year for his efforts. With all this experience he knows how to make impressions, and Babin knows what it takes to succeed at the professional level, “Definitely took a little time off,” Babin said as the season ended up about a month ago. “My body needed a little break from being on the ice. All of the off-ice stuff like stretching never stops though. I start back up training and coaching in the next couple days with my goalie school Ztending. Can’t wait for another summer to get stronger and faster!”
Mind you this interview was conducted last week, so Babin is more than likely already training this week. He’s a workaholic, and the young 23-year-old in Babin made 40 save performances seem like it’s a routine thing for the Thunder. As a matter of fact, Babin finished the season with 1,467 saves to be exact in 49 games played this season, which was good enough for facing an average of 33 shots per game. In short, that’s a ton of shots, and a lot of weight on his shoulders.
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“There’s a couple players I mold my game after in today’s game. I always look for different things I can do and whatever I’m comfortable with I stick to it. The game is always changing. Carey Price, Sergei Bobrovsky, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Elvis Merzlikins, Thatcher Demko, are all goalies I watch and try to learn from.” – Trevor Babin
Babin was phenomenal for the Thunder between the pipes, so hopefully the team can start reaping the benefits here in the future. His unselfish play has catapulted him into a fan favorite in Harrington, Delaware, and hopefully the magician in Babin returns next season for the Thunder.
Very true. He does his best everytime he is in that net and continues to want to better himself. A real “team” player who wants his team to succeed and advance. Hopefully the Thunder will ask him to play on their team again this season and gice him an incentive to want to continue with them. He truly loves the team and the sport plus the motivation that fans have given him make him thrive to better himself. His goal is not only to succeed for himself but to bring his team to the top of the FPHL roster one game at a time. Trevor, stand tall, be proud of yourself, and spend your summer developing your skills for the new season.