As the most successful league in NCAA men's hockey history closes out its last post-season tournament (with the current 12-team membership) starting today, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association also looks to add to its individual treasure trove.
Ten candidates for the 33rd Hobey Baker Memorial Award, which goes to the top Division I player, will be announced at
5 p.m. today. That list will be cut to three April 3 and the winner announced April 12 in Pittsburgh, the site of the 2013 Frozen Four.
Two online entities closely following the sport -- U.S. College Hockey Online and College Hockey News -- each project five of 10 finalists to be from the WCHA:
Senior forwards Danny Kristo and Corban Knight of North Dakota, junior forward Erik Haula of Minnesota, junior forward Ryan Walters of Nebraska-Omaha and St. Cloud State senior forward Drew LeBlanc of Hermantown.
ADVERTISEMENT
Both also list Ohio State senior goalie Brady Hjelle of International Falls, a former Minnesota Duluth player.
The Top 10 list is compiled from balloting from all 59 Division I head coaches.
The WCHA has 15 of the first 32 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners, including eight of the last 11. Senior center Jack Connolly of Duluth earned the honor in 2012, giving UMD five, the most of any school. Minnesota has four.
LeBlanc, a fifth-year player, who returned this season after healing from a broken leg, has 50 points, the ninth St. Cloud State player to reach that plateau. He leads Division I with 37 assists, one shy of the St. Cloud State single-season record in the Division I era (Mark Hartigan in 2001-02 and Brandon Sampair in 2000-01). LeBlanc, the WCHA's scholar-athlete of the year, has 147 points in 167 career games.
St. Cloud State Bob Motzko spoke of LeBlanc with the school's sports information department earlier this season:
"We are very fortunate to have a person like Drew this season. Because of his injury, he really felt he had some unfinished business to take care of. He really wanted to come back and leave his mark and is doing just that. Drew really leads by example. His work ethic and dedication every day to training is unmatched and it is really one of his strongest qualities as an athlete and team leader."
The Huskies (23-14-1) tied Minnesota for the WCHA regular-season title and are seeded into Friday's league playoff semifinals at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center, awaiting the winner of today's 2:07 p.m. quarterfinal between Minnesota State-Mankato (24-12-3) and Wisconsin (19-12-7).
The winner of today's 7:07 p.m. game between Colorado College (16-18-5) and North Dakota (21-11-7) meets Minnesota (26-7-5) at 7:07 p.m. Friday. The title game is 7:07 p.m. Saturday for a league that has been in existence for 61 years.
ADVERTISEMENT
Hjelle was named Central Collegiate Hockey Association goalie of the year and has a .935 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average. Ohio State (16-16-7) faces Notre Dame (23-12-3) in the CCHA semifinals Saturday in Detroit.
"When you have a goaltender your team is confident in, it allows you to play on your toes," Ohio State coach Mark Osiecki told the Columbus Dispatch recently. "We can take a few more risks, a little bit more chances here and there, understanding that he's back there, and he's a brick wall.
"Our guys play extremely hard in front of him, because they know what is behind them, how he saves their rear ends at times."
Osiecki, in his third season, guided Ohio State to a CCHA fourth-place finish, the best for the Buckeyes since 2004-05 when placing second.
