Hobey Watch

It’s been roughly 4 months since I have taken a look at who is in line for the Hobey Baker award, so here is my latest look at the top 5 guys who I would pick for the award (I wanted to get this out before INCH did their latest tracker, but oh well. I’m in law school so I’m super busy*):

*shots fired

1. Andy Miele, Miami

Miele has taken a backseat to Carter Camper for most of the year, but the Senior has stepped out and proven his Hobey worth as of late. In the defensive minded CCHA, Miele leads the nation with 1.75 points per game and 56 points, 9 more than his closest competitor and 10 more than his closest competitor who is actually his teammate.

Miami has been on TV quite a bit here over the last month and as such I have gotten to see a lot of Miele, and I am very very impressed. Not just a gifted offensive player in terms of skill, he sees the ice amazingly well and has a knack for anticipating what is going to come next. He is undrafted, but I think he’s going to get a nice free agent payday and will be a good NHLer.

2. Paul Thompson, New Hampshire

Thompson is second in the country in points per game, and also second in goals. As INCH noted in their tracker, his main trait has been consistency. He has only been held pointless 6 times this year. New Hampshire hasn’t had the toughest schedule in the country, but Thompson got a game winning goal v. Merrimack, and had a goal against Miami earlier in the year. Still, I think he has to show up against the better teams a bit more in order to take home the award.

3. Matt Frattin, North Dakota

He has fallen off a bit lately (though he did have a four point weekend this past weekend vs. Alaska Anchorage), but Frattin is still one of the best goal scorers in the country. His 22 goals is 5th in the country, but his 22 goals have come against the toughest schedule in the country according to KRACH. I don’t think he’ll win the award without an explosion in the WCHA playoffs and first two games of the NCAA tournament, and might not even win it then because of his past off ice issues, but when you look deeper than just the raw numbers it’s clear that Frattin has been one of the best players in the country all year.

4. Cam Atkinson, Boston College

Atkinson is 5th in the country in goals per game, and while BC’s schedule isn’t as hard as North Dakota’s, BC is still the best team in the country right now, and as the team’s leading scorer Atkinson deserves to be on this list. He only has 15 assists, but I would much rather have a goal scorer than a passer anyways (though of course both are important). I have only seen BC play once this year, against Notre Dame, and though BC lost I was impressed by Atkinson’s overall play offensively and defensively.

5. Brian Haczyk, Niagara

I don’t think he will win, but I wanted to call attention to Haczyk, who leads the country in goals with 26 and goals per game with .87. His teammate Paul Zanette is right behind him with 24 goals and .8 goals per game. Obviously Atlantic Hockey is not the strongest conference, but it is still impressive that they put up those type of numbers and if Niagara wins the Atlantic Hockey tournament they will be a handful for whichever #1 seed they face.