Assessing the Mike Richter candidates at the holiday break

The holiday break is nearly over, and as the second half begins, it's time to take a look at who will be up for the three major player awards in college hockey: The Hobey Baker Award (given to the most outstanding player in the nation), the Tim Taylor Award (given to the most outstanding rookie), and the Mike Richter Award (given to the most outstanding goaltender).

Today, we'll start in goal, because it's the most fascinating race of the three awards.

Last season, there were really just two serious choices at this point — and eventual winner Devon Levi, the only two-time honoree in the award's history, stood comfortably ahead of his only competition — but that's not really the case this season. This time around, though, it's hard to narrow it down to just 10 candidates for the award because