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. This week's Inside
College Hockey's Hobey Tracker predicts the 10 finalists
for the award, before they are officially announced
Thursday evening. Our forecasted top 10 is listed in
alphabetical order.
THE
BIG BOARD |
Brock
Bradford
Boston College
Senior | Forward |
Stats:
36 GP, 25-17—42
The Buzz: The senior kept up
his scoring touch when many of his teammates have
struggled to match gaudy offensive numbers from
previous seasons. He has four game-winning goals
and three game-tying goals for the Eagles. |
Ryan
Duncan
North Dakota
Senior | Forward |
Stats: 40 GP, 18-19—37
The Buzz: His numbers are nowhere
near as gaudy as the ones he put up during his
Hobey-winning season of 2006-07, but he's been
the catalyst for the Sioux during the team's impressive
second-half run as evidenced by his 11 goals and
11 assists in his last 18 games. |
Zane
Kalemba
Princeton
Junior | Goalie |
Stats:
31 GP, 22-8-0, 1.69 GAA, .936 sv. pct., 2 SO
The Buzz: The ECAC Hockey player
of the year and First Team selection leads the nation
in save percentage and was a rock for the Tigers
all year. Princeton has a reputation for its offensive
aggressiveness, but Kalemba's a big reason why they
rank in the top five nationally in overall defense. |
Jacques
Lamoureux
Air Force
Sophomore | Forward |
Stats:
37 GP, 31-20—51
The Buzz: The nation's goal-scoring
leader is the key to high-flying Air Force's tremendous
offensive output. He's especially dangerous on
special teams. About half of his goals (15) have
come on the power play. |
Aaron
Palushaj
Michigan
Sophomore | Forward |
Stats:
36 GP, 12-36—48
The Buzz: Measuring up to last
year's Hobey winner, ex-teammate Kevin Porter, won't
help his cause. Neither will scoring just 12 goals.
But Palushaj has been among the nation's steadiest
offensive players — he had 25 points prior
to the holiday break, and 23points afterwards. |
Jordan
Pearce
Notre Dame
Senior | Goalie |
Stats:
36 GP, 28-5-3, 1.62 GAA, .934 sv. pct., 8 SO
The Buzz: Notre Dame is a deep,
balanced team, but Pearce stands out based on his
eye-popping statistics. He leads the nation in wins
(28), shutouts (eight), and goals against average
(1.62), and only four goalies have bettered his
.934 save percentage. |
Garrett
Roe
St. Cloud State
Sophomore | Forward |
Stats:
38 GP, 17-31—48
The Buzz: Minnesota ended St. Cloud
State's season, but the early postseason exit won't
diminish Roe's excellent campaign. The sophomore
led the WCHA in scoring with 48 points, and he was
held scoreless in back-to-back games on just two
occasions this season. |
Ryan
Stoa
Minnesota
Junior | Forward |
Stats:
35 GP, 24-22—46
The Buzz: Stoa benefitted from
an incredible start to the season — he scored
10 goals and 19 assists in the Gophers' first 11
games — and slowed down in the games between
Nov. 22-Feb. 20, scoring points in just seven of
18 games. He's been hot lately, however, with eight
goals and four assists over the last four games. |
Brad
Thiessen
Northeastern
Junior | Goalie |
Stats:
39 GP, 25-10-4, 2.07 GAA, .932 sv. pct., 3 SO
The Buzz: The leader of the nation's
surprise team is a workhorse and also has the stats
to make him an excellent Hobey Hat Trick finalist.
Only Notre Dame's Pearce has more wins in net than
the NU standout. |
Colin
Wilson
Boston University
Sophomore | Forward |
Stats:
37 GP, 14-35—49
The Buzz: Since returning from
World Juniors, Wilson has been held off the scoresheet
just six times in 21 games. BU went 4-0-2 in those
games. He does more than just score for the top
team in Hockey East. |