ECHL: Idaho Steelheads Bring Back Tomas Sholl

The Idaho Steelheads have announced that they have signed goaltender Tomas Sholl for the 2024-25 ECHL season.

Collegiate Career

Tomas Sholl started his collegiate career in the 2013-14 season playing Division I hockey at Bowling Green State University. In his four seasons at Bowling Green, Sholl played in 19 games for 1004 minutes on ice with a record of 7-10-0 with two shutouts. Sholl faced 448 shots, making 399 saves and allowing 49 goals for a save percentage of .891 and a goals-against average of 2.93. Sholl was named to the WCHA All-Academic Team and received the WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award in the 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17 seasons.

North American Career

After completing his collegiate career, Sholl started his professional career and now has experience in the SPHL, ECHL, and AHL. Sholl spent one season in the SPHL, playing for the Macon Mayhem and Evansville Thunderbolts. Between the two teams, Sholl played in 20 games for 1212 minutes on ice and a record of 14-3-3 with one shutout. Sholl faced 613 shots, making 562 saves and allowing 51 goals for a goals-against average of 2.53 and a .929 save percentage. In the 2017-18 season, Sholl was named to the SPHL All-Rookie and Second All-Star teams and had the best goals against an average of 2.53.

Sholl has spent three seasons playing in the ECHL, where he played with the Idaho Steelheads and Adirondack Thunder. In his three seasons, Sholl has played in 99 games for 5879 minutes on ice and a record of 68-20-9 with 12 shutouts. Sholl has faced 2902 shots, allowing 203 goals and making 2699 saves for a goals-against average of 2.07 and a .930 save percentage. Sholl also has two seasons of playoff experience with the Steelheads. Sholl has played in 14 playoff games for 681 minutes on ice with a record of 6-5-0. He has faced 349 shots, making 323 saves and allowing 26 goals for a save percentage of .926 and a 2.29 goals against average.

In his three seasons in the ECHL, Sholl has been named Goaltender of the Week eight times, Goaltender of the Month twice, and the Goaltender of the Year in the 2019-20 season. In the 2018-19 season, Sholl was named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team and Second All-Star Team, he was in the ECHL All-Star Game, and had the best save percentage in the ECHL with a .928 save percentage. In the 2019-20 ECHL season, Sholl was named to the ECHL First All-Star Team and had the best goals-against average with a 2.14 average.

Sholl spend parts of two seasons in the AHL with the Texas Stars. Sholl played in 12 games with 614 minutes on ice and a record of 4-5-1. He faced 323 shots where he made 293 saves and had 30 goals against for a save percentage of .907 and 2.93 goals against average.

Overseas Career

Sholl spent four seasons overseas playing in Slovakia, Italy, and Sweden. Sholl was overseas for the 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 seasons. Sholl spent one season playing in Slovakia for the HC Detva, where he got to play in 22 games with 1245 minutes on ice and one shutout. Sholl faced 812 shots, making 754 saves and allowing 58 goals for a goals-against average of 2.79 and a save percentage of .929.

Sholl spent two seasons playing in Italy for HC Pustertal, where he played in 84 games for 5029 minutes on ice and had a record of 39-43-0 with seven shutouts. He faced a total of 2855 shots with a goals against average of 2.62 and a save percentage of .923 with 2635 saves and 220 goals against. Sholl played in four playoff games where he had 197 minutes on ice and a record of 0-4-0. He faced 114 shots, making 95 saves and allowing 19 goals for a goals-against average of 5.80 and a save percentage of .833. Scholl was named to the ICEHL All-Star Team in the 2021-22 season and had the best save percentage in the ICEHL in the 2022-23 season with a save percentage of .923.

Sholl played for Sodertalje SK in the 2023-24 season, where he played in 32 games for 1866 minutes on ice with a record of 17-14-0 with five shutouts. Sholl had a save percentage of .910 and a goals-against average of 2.22 after facing 767 shots, making 698 saves, and allowing 69 goals. Sholl played in two playoff games where he had 162 minutes on ice and a record of 0-2-0. He faced 59 shots, making 54 saves and allowing five goals for a save percentage of .915 and a 1.85 goals-against average. Sholl ended the season with the best goals-against average in HockeyAllsvenskan with a 2.22 goals-against average.

In Sholl’s previous seasons, he has been incredible for the Steelheads and any team he plays on. He is not necessarily the biggest goaltender standing at 6’0″, but he is able to read the puck and players shots incredibly well to make the saves he needs to make. Sholl has the ability to save his team when they make a mistake to help cover and hide the mistake so that it does not show up on the scoresheet in the form of a goal. The 2024-25 season will be Sholl’s fourth season in the ECHL and fourth season with the Idaho Steelheads.