According to a report by the excellent Chris Peters, goaltender Devon Levi has accepted his invitation to be one of Team Canada’s three goaltenders for the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. He will be the first Men’s Hockey Olympian from Northeastern University.
Levi is in the midst of the greatest goaltending season in Northeastern program history, and one of the greatest seasons in NCAA history. He has played every minute of every game for the Huskies, leading them to a 16-5-1 record with an astounding 9 shutouts, demolishing the single-season program record (previously 5, held by Chris Rawlings and Keni Gibson), and challenging both the program career record (11, by Rawlings) and the NCAA record of 12 set by Greg Gardner of Niagara in 1999-2000. Levi has a sparkling .955 save percentage, just shy of the all-time single-season record of .956 set by Maine’s Jimmy Howard in 2003-04, and his 1.31 goals-against-average is top-five all time. Both marks would smash the Northeastern single-season records held by Cayden Primeau (.933 and 1.92, respectively). Levi was also recently nominated for the Hobey Baker Award.
In the long history of Northeastern Men’s Hockey, there has never been an alumnus or active player chosen for an Olympic Team. Devon Levi stands to change that as soon as he is officially announced by Team Canada. We are extremely excited to watch the 2022 Olympics and hopefully see Levi play, but most of all, we are proud of Devon and the work he has put in to reach this accomplishment. Already known to the world stage thanks to his electric performance at the 2021 World Junior Championships for Team Canada, Levi fought back from a rib injury that cost him his freshman season to put together a season-long performance that will be talked about for decades to come.
Devon Levi has proven to be not just an elite collegiate goaltender and a legitimate NHL prospect- he has proven to be one of the most-fun Huskies to watch play on the ice arguably ever, and definitely since I enrolled at Northeastern in 2011. His calm demeanor is reassuring even in the hairiest of game situations, and his quiet confidence exudes through the crease with every play. It is a true privilege and pleasure watching him play for Northeastern, one that fans should not take lightly, and we look forward to watching that same performance on the Olympic stage.
Levi will report to Team Canada in early February, and the Olympic Games will cause him to miss a little more than a handful of regular season games, including both games of The Beanpot, two games against Boston College, and one game against UMass-Lowell, and one game against Vermont assuming the travel to meet the team occurs before Friday 2/4. There’s even an outside chance that Levi could miss the 1/28 game against UMass-Lowell depending on when Team Canada’s camp starts before the Games.
Replacing Levi in net for the Huskies will be the tandem of freshman TJ Semptimphelter and junior Evan Fear. Neither has played at all this season, although Semptimphelter comes to Northeastern off of a very strong and successful junior hockey career, and Fear has collegiate experience after his time at Quinnipiac.
We cannot stress this enough, CONGRATULATIONS TO DEVON LEVI! A monumental, potentially once-in-a-lifetime achievement that has all of Northeastern rooting for him. We are thrilled to be able to watch you both for Northeastern and soon for Team Canada.
Levi is back in action for Northeastern this weekend as the Huskies play UMass-Amherst in a home and home.