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February 27, 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
Wedneday morning.
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THE
BIG BOARD |
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1.
Kevin Porter
Michigan
Senior | Forward |
To
Date: 25-26—51, 13 PPG, 1 SHG,
4 GWG, +22
The Buzz: Even without senior
sidekick Chad Kolarik, Porter logged three assists
in last weekend's split with Michigan State which
gives him 51 points on the season, the second
straight year he's eclipsed the half-century mark
in scoring. The Wolverines can clinch the CCHA
regular-season title by earning two points in
this weekend's home-and-home
series with Ferris State.
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2.
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux
North Dakota
Senior | Goalie |
To
Date: 20-8-2, 1.76 GAA, .931 save pct.,
4 shutouts
The Buzz: Lamoureux's weekend
was notable because of what he didn't do. One
day after making 17 saves in a 5-1 non-conference
win against Bemidji State in Grand Forks, he rested
as junior Aaron Walski got his first career start.
The day off ended Lamoureux's run of consecutive
starts at 55, an impressive achievement for a
goalie at any level. He's allowed one
goal in nine of his last 11 starts.
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3.
Nathan Gerbe
Boston College
Junior | Forward |
To
Date: 22-22—44, 8 PPG, 3 SHG, 4
GWG, +15
The Buzz: Gerbe's statistics
over the last four games, three of which were
BC losses: no goals, one assist, and a plus-minus
rating of -1. Against New Hampshire in arguably
the most important Hockey East series of the season,
he was completely neutralized despite being credited
for 12 shots on goal. With character issues already
a source of contention, Gerbe needs to pile up
big numbers — and fast — in order
to stay relevant.
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| BULL
MARKET |
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Richard Bachman
Colorado College
Freshman
Goalie
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Bachman's
performance last weekend was the stuff of legend.
After missing practice Wednesday and Thursday
to attend his grandmother's funeral in Utah, he
become the first goalie in Colorado College history
to post back-to-back shutouts during a road weekend
series. He's now the nation's leader in save percentage
(.935), ranks second in the country behind Miami's
Jeff Zatkoff with a 1.71 goals against average,
and is tied for third nationally with four shutouts.
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BEAR
MARKET |
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All
non-goalies not named Kevin Porter or Nathan Gerbe
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We mean
no disrespect to the fine young student-athletes
who comprise the nation's Division I rosters, but
after Porter and Gerbe (and even he's a tad iffy
for reasons well documented) the list of Hobey candidates
who don't wear the big pads isn't real sexy. Among
forwards, there are players hurt by teammates with
similar production (UNH's Fornataro and Radja or
SCSU's Lasch, Nodl, and Roe), or guys like Robert
Morris' Ryan Cruthers and RIT's Simon Lambert who
suffer from SSS (Small-School Syndrome.) Then there's
the defensemen — feel free to disagree, but
we don't see a top 10 candidate in the bunch. |
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HIDDEN
HOBEY |
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Andreas
Nodl
St. Cloud State
Sophomore
Forward
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Teammates
Garrett Roe and Ryan Lasch garnered most of the
attention early on — Lasch even logged some
time on our Big Board during the first half of the
season — Nodl has been superb as of late.
He's scored 15 points in the Huskies' last 10 contests,
and has seven multiple-point games during that span.
Nodl, a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers
in the 2006 NHL Draft, has at least one point in
26 of SCSU's 32 games. |
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