Avalanche prospect and University of Minnesota goaltender Kent Patterson was named to the All-WCHA Second Team on Thursday, becoming the first Gopher to earn league honors since fellow Avs prospect Ryan Stoa (first team) and Jordan Schroeder (second team) were recognized in 2008-09.

Patterson became the Gophers’ full-time starter in January after fellow netminder Alex Kangas was forced to undergo season-ending hip surgery. Since that time, Patterson has started all 19 of Minnesota’s games.

Overall, Patterson has appeared in 28 contests this season, posting a 14-7-6 record with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.

In league games, the junior netminder posted a 13-5-5 mark with a WCHA-best .926 save percentage. He also ranked second in the league in goals-against average (2.31) and third in both winning percentage (.674) and wins (tie-13) during conference play.

A native of Plymouth, Minn., Patterson has gone 5-0-2 in his last seven outings overall.

Also on Thursday, Patterson was one of 140 players named to the All-WCHA Academic Team, where he was joined by fellow Avalanche prospect and North Dakota senior forward Brad Malone.

Patterson and the Gophers (16-12-6, 13-10-5 WCHA) will face off against Alaska Anchorage in a best-of-three WCHA First Round playoff series this weekend, while Malone and the Fighting Sioux (26-8-3, 21-6-1 WCHA) will take on Michigan Tech.