Hobey Baker Watch

Story posted February 15, 2018 in CommRadio, Sports by Josh Starr

With just a few weeks remaining in the college hockey regular season, a clear frontrunner has emerged in the Hobey Baker race.

Adam Gaudette, F, Northeastern

Gaudette has 47 points in 30 games this season and is six points clear of the next best scorer in the nation. He has had a heck of a year and still has time to eclipse his career high of 52 points from last season.

The junior forward has scored eight points in his last three games. Two of those three games were part of the annual Beanpot Tournament held in Boston. On the back of Gaudette, Northeastern ended a 30 year Beanpot championship drought.

In the semifinal against Boston College, Gaudette put up a goal and two assists. In the final against Boston University, he scored a hat trick. Gaudette has a knack for stepping up in big moments and right now is a great time for it.

Northeastern sits in 14th place in the Pairwise ratings and with four games to play before the Hockey East conference tournament, Northeastern needs production from Gaudette to solidify the team’s place and keep them alive for an at-large bid if they fail to win the conference tournament.

Henrik Borgström, F, Denver

Although he sits 10 points behind Gaudette, Borgström still has a great shot to win the award. Troy Terry has left Denver to play in the Olympics for Team USA. Borgström will need to step up in his absence, which will span two to four games depending on Team USA’s success.

On the season, Borgström is Denver’s leading scorer with 37 points on 17 goals and 20 assists. However, Terry has been involved in a lot of Borgström’s offense whether it be finishing off a pass or putting the puck right on Borgström’s tape.

Borgström’s run at the Hobey Baker may be determined by his play in the next few games without Terry. A good showing can catapult him to at, or at least near the top of the leaderboard for the award.

Tanner Laczynski, F, Ohio State

Laczynski might be the best all around player of the three highlighted this week. He leads all forwards in plus-minus at plus 18. Although he doesn’t spend a lot of time playing center, he has accumulated a faceoff winning percentage of 54.5.

Offensively, he has 37 points which is five more than his career high and he still has four games plus the post season to rack up some more points. He has been held scoreless in his last three games, but before that he had points in 11 straight contests.

The last four games of the regular season will make or break his quest for the Hobey Baker. Even with a great last four games, he might still be on the outside looking in. Nonetheless, he has put together a fine season for the Buckeyes and will definitely be in the running to be a finalist.

 

Josh Starr is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email joshlstarr16@gmail.com.