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January 29, 2008
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award is presented
to a deserving recipient on the day before the last
college hockey game of the season. But that doesn’t
mean that college hockey fans, players and media members
don’t think about it all season. Inside College
Hockey's Hobey Tracker looks at the top three candidates
for the award, those whose stock is rising or falling,
and other players worthy of consideration.
The Hobey Tracker will be updated every
other Wednesday morning during the first half of the
season, and every Wedneday morning during the second
half of the season.
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THE
BIG BOARD |
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1.
Nathan Gerbe
Boston College
Junior | Forward |
To
Date: 19-18—36, +15, 7 PPG, 3 SHG
The Buzz: We know about that
one-game suspension Hockey East brass gave him
earlier this season. And we know Hobey Baker made
Lady Byng look like Sean Avery. Truth is, we're
not sure how the suspension should factor into
Gerbe's candidacy. It'll be a topic on an upcoming
INCH Podcast. Until then, we still feel no player
in the nation is more critical to his team's success. |
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2.
Kevin Porter
Michigan
Senior | Forward |
To
Date: 22-17—39, +18, 12 PPG
The Buzz: His season-long body
of work is indeed impressive, but his invisibility
in Michigan's loss and tie against Michigan State
this past weekend — the Wolverines' biggest
series to date — is a slight concern. Fortunately,
he'll get a couple shots at redemption in February
in looming two-game sets with Miami and the hated
Spartans.
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3.
Jeff Zatkoff
Miami
Junior | Goalie |
To
Date: 20-3-0, 1.50 GAA, .937 save pct.,
2 shutouts
The Buzz: The RedHawks are so
loaded with talent that they'd likely be an NCAA
tournament team with a mediocre goalie. But Zatkoff's
numbers — he ranks first nationally in goals
against average and winning percentage, tied for
first in wins, and second by ten-thousands of
a point in save percentage — and consistency
are too impressive to ignore. |
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| BULL
MARKET |
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The Nation's
Goaltenders
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Four
netminders been among the 10 finalists for the Hobey
Baker Award in the same year on just two prior occasions
(1994 and 2005.) We could be looking at a third
this year, which is indicative of the strength of
this year's goalie crop and also attests to the
dearth of lead-pipe cinch candidates among the skaters.
Check the fields from '94 and '05, and you'll see
the similarities to this year. In addition to Zatkoff,
Denver's Peter Mannino and Michigan State's Jeff
Lerg are worthy finalists, Jean-Philippe Lamoureux
of North Dakota is playing his way back into contention,
and we'd listen to arguments touting Richard Bachman,
Billy Sauer, and Michael-Lee Teslak. |
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BEAR
MARKET |
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Ryan
Lasch
St. Cloud State
Sophomore
Forward
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Lasch,
who was among our top three for many weeks, finally
tumbled off the Big Board. The question at hand:
is Lasch a victim of the Huskies' lackluster play
(SCSU is 4-10-1 since Nov. 24) or has he brought
his demise upon himself? The big picture suggests
a combination of the two. During the team's 7-2-2
start, Lasch posted 10-9—19 with eight multi-point
games and a plus-minus rating of +5. Over SCSU's
last 15 games, he's scored 8-9—17 with three
multi-point games and a plus-minus rating of -9. |
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HIDDEN
HOBEY |
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Matt
Caruana
Niagara
Senior
Forward
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Niagara
has always been dangerous and with players like
Caruana, Les Reaney, and Ted Cook they're not a
team that you want to face. Of those three Purple
Eagles stalwarts, Caruana has emerged as the most
noteworthy player. He hasn't been as consistent
as we might like to see, but his big games have
been big games. Caruana has been held scoreless
in two of Niagara's last six games, but also has
a pair of four-point efforts during that run. Most
recently, he scored a goal in each game of a series
sweep at ECAC Hockey member Quinnipiac. |
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