Matěj Blümel claims AHL’s Willie Marshall Award as goal-scoring champion
Apr 20, 2025SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Texas Stars forward Matěj Blümel has claimed the Willie Marshall Award, presented to the player who finishes the regular season with the most goals in the AHL, the league confirmed Sunday.
Blümel, 24, becomes the first Texas player in team history to win the goal-scoring title after posting a franchise-record 39 goals in 67 games this season. The Tabor, Czechia native also led the league and set the Stars record with 274 shots on goal, 18 shots more than the previous team record (256) set by Mavrik Bourque in 2023-24. He scored his record-breaking 38th goal on Mar. 29 at Cleveland, passing Matt Fraser’s 37 goals from the 2011-12 Stars season.
Also finishing second in the league’s points race with 72 points (39-33=72), Blümel became just the third Stars player to surpass the 70-point plateau in a season. The other two to accomplish the feat were Travis Morin (2013-14) and Mavrik Bourque (2023-24), who both also claimed the AHL’s Les Cunningham Award as the Most Valuable Player.
Blümel recorded seven different multi-goal games this season, highlighted by his first professional hat trick Mar. 15 against Cleveland. Through his three seasons with Texas, his 89 goals and 178 points are sixth in team history. The five players above him all played at least 300 games with the Stars, while Blümel has played just 197.
The league also announced Sunday that San Jose’s Andrew Poturalski captured the John B. Sollenberger Trophy for the third time in his career. Poturalski led the AHL with 73 points (30-43=73) in 59 games for the Barracuda, one points ahead of Blumel and Bakersfield’s Seth Griffith.
Texas faces Grand Rapids in a best-of-five series in the Central Division Semifinals of the Calder Cup Playoffs, starting with Game One on April 29 at 6:00 p.m. CT at Van Andel Arena. Game Two will also be in Grand Rapids, before the series shifts to Cedar Park for Game Three on May 9 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets will go on sale early next week. Stay tuned for exact timing, which will be announced on the Stars’ social media pages. Games Four and Five, if necessary, will also be held in Texas.
Photo Credit: Rick Crossman