Hobey Baker Watch: Week 7

Story posted November 21, 2019 in CommRadio, Sports by Jeremy Ganes

Another week in the world of college hockey, another projection of the sport’s award for the best player. Some of the nation’s best teams have more than one player in strong contention for the award, so let’s take a look at the leaders of the pack in our seventh edition of the Hobey Baker Watch:

Jack Dugan, Providence

Dugan has been appearing frequently in this list so far this season, and it’s easy to see why. Dugan leads the country with 21 assists and 26 points. He has an ability to share the puck and engineer the offense for high-scoring weapons like Tyce Thompson and Greg Printz, who benefit greatly from Dugan’s passing skills. Those two teammates have scored nine goals apiece.

Cole Caufield, Wisconsin

The 15th overall draft pick by the Montreal Canadiens continues to star in his freshman season with the Badgers. Caufield has 15 points on the season, and most recently had a goal and two assists in respective games against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Caufield plays with the likes of Alex Turcotte, the fifth overall pick by the Los Angeles Kings, forming a pair of dominant first-round draft picks making their name known in college hockey.

Matt Brown, UMass Lowell

Brown leads the offense of the 15th-ranked River Hawks with 16 points. His 11 assists have helped other skilled scorers like Carl Berglund, who has six goals on the season and is close behind Brown with 13 points. He recently scored a goal in a game at Connecticut, and will look to keep the small-school River Hawks in contention to make noise in the NCAA tournament.

Nate Sucese, Penn State

The leader of one of the best offenses in college hockey, Sucese should be able to stay in the Hobey Baker conversation throughout the season if he continues to consistently find ways to get on the stat sheet. Sucese is third in the country with 18 points, but that is tops for his Nittany Lions. Sucese had a stellar weekend in a sweep over Minnesota, notching an assist in the first game and scoring two goals and assisting in another for a three-point second game of the series.

Sucese will look to keep his team rolling against an 11th-ranked Ohio State team at home.

Griffin Loughran, Northern Michigan

Loughran is another high-scoring player in college hockey, sitting in a tie for the fourth most points at 17 with Devin Brosseau from Clarkson. He is the main reason why the No. 19 Wildcats are having so much success to this point in the season. They boast the 12th-highest scoring offense in the nation, bolstered by Loughran’s well-balanced effort of scoring and spreading the puck around.

While we are well into the college hockey season, all the top contenders for the award have chances against marquee opponents to solidify their Hobey Bake resumes. Keep an eye out for this article every week during the college hockey season.

 

 

Jeremy Ganes is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jlg6097@psu.edu.