I'm not quite sure why I bother posting about the award that annually goes to the best college hockey player with ties to the state of Minnesota, but I haven't really posted anything in over a week, and I need something to pass the time until the season starts a month from now, so I might as well.
I've taken a list of 15 players that could be in the running for the Hobey Baker this year and broken them down into three categories.
Category 1- Start Practicing Your Speech
Marty Sertich, Forward, Colorado College
Why he might win it: He did last year
Why he might not win it: He was so good last year that anything less might be considered a disappointment. It will be tough to match last year's performance.
Brett Sterling, Forward, Colorado College
Why he might win it: He'll score a ton a points and score lots of goals
Why he might not win it: Overshadowed by Sertich. It will be hard to lead his own team in scoring when Sertich racks up so many assists.
Dave Caruso, Goalie, Ohio State
Why he might win it: He'll be a very good goalie on a very good team. That's a recipe for eye-popping stats.
Why he might not win it: Only 2 goalies have won the Hobey Baker. One would guess that Caruso would have to put up better stats than Dave McKee did last year to beat out Sertich or Sterling. That's pretty unlikely.
Matt Carle, Defenseman, Denver
Why he might win it: He could be the best defensive-defenseman in the country, while being the highest scoring defenseman in the country.
Why he might not: He won't receive as much attention this year if Denver isn't as good as they were last year. Also, like last year, defenseman Reid Cashman may get the nod over him as smaller conference's token finalist.
T.J. Hensick, Forward, Michigan
Why he might win it: He's had two impressive seasons where he was too young for serious Hobey consideration. If he matches his first two years, he'll definitely be a finalist.
Why he might not: He loses teammate Jeff Tambellini on his wing. It's tough to imagine him outscoring the CC duo.
Category 2- Check Back in about 4 Months
Robbie Earl, Forward, Wisconsin
Why he might win it: Ranks with Brett Sterling as the most exciting goal-scorer in the country.
Why he might not: Wisconsin players have traditionally fared poorly in Hobey balloting. The school has only had 5 finalists in the award's history, and only 2 since 1992.
Gabe Gauthier, Forward, Denver
Why he might win it: Scores a lot of points, and scores them at important times.
Why he might not win it: Again, Denver may not be as good as last year. Also, it's hard to score important goals in the regular season.
Dan Irmen, Forward, Minnesota
Why he might win it: He's shown tremendous talent in his first two seasons. With the Gophers being loaded with talent, he's due for a breakout season.
Why he might not: He may have a difficult time standing out among his own team.
Phil Kessel, Forward, Minnesota
Why he might win it: He could quite possibly be the most talented player to play college hockey since the last freshmen to win the Hobey Baker.
Why he might not: He's only a freshmen. It will be difficult for him to live up to the hype in his first year.
David Backes, Forward, Minnesota State-Mankato
Why he might win it: He's the most complete hockey player in the west. If he leads MSU-M to a surprisingly high finish in the WCHA, he should be in contention for the award.
Why he might not: It woudl be difficult to win the award while playing for a team that finishes in the bottom half of their league.
Category 3- The Longshots
Scott Parse, Forward, Nebraska-Omaha
Why he might win it: The best player that nobody has ever heard of.
Why he might not win it: Nobdy has ever heard of him
Chris Conner, Forward, Michigan Tech
Why he might win it: Tech fans are so starved for any sort of success and recognition that they'll throw their whole weight behind support for Connner.
Why he might not: Though he's exciting to watch, he doesn't score that much, and he plays for a last place team.
Matt Christie, Forward, Miami of Ohio
Why he might win it: Definitely a longshot, but if Miami has a good year, Christie could have a season similar to 2003 finalist Derek Edwardson.
Why he might not: Injuries affected Miami's top line last year.
Drew Stafford, Forward, North Dakota
Why he might win it: He's improved a great deal since coming to North Dakota. The top forward for North Dakota is always going to have a fair amount of points.
Why he might not: He's got a long way to go to get to the top of the pecking order for WCHA forwards.
Tom Fritsche, Forward, Ohio State
Why he might win it: If he improves upon his freshmen season, he should finish towards the top of country in scoring, and be on one of the best teams in the country.
Why he might not: Too many assists and not enough goals.
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3 comments:
If I had to guess for a Hobey finalist for North Dakota, I would guess Zajac over Stafford. He had a very impressive freshman year leading the team in goals, and at the end of the year was scoring big ones (2 in the national semis and the only one against DU, which tied the game at the time). Plus if you watch him closely he takes a lot of important faceoffs and is a good defensive player too. I think he's going to really explode this year.
I agree that Zajac is due for a big year. I will also admit that most of the longshots have a teammate that has about an equal shot. For example, you could replace Scott Parse's name with Bill Thomas, or Matt Christie's name with Marty Guerin.
I picked Stafford over Zajac just because I think the Hobey voters would choose an upperclassmen over a sophomore.
Why no mention of MU's Andy Greene? I'm a UW fan, and I've seen all of the WCHA and I have to say he HAS been the best defenseman I've seen the last two years with Carle and Skinner not too far behind. He is just fundamentally sound.
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