Fan voting for the 2019 Hobey Baker Memorial Award commenced yesterday. While that portion of the process isn’t worth much at all, it’s still a good reminder that college hockey’s top individual award will be doled out in just under three months.
Four out of the last five Hobey Baker Award winners have come from New England schools: Northeastern’s Adam Gaudette (Braintree, Mass.) in 2018, Harvard’s Jimmy Vesey (North Reading, Mass.) in 2016, Boston University’s Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.) in 2015 and Boston College’s Johnny Gaudreau in 2014.
2019 appears to be the year of the defenseman in college hockey, especially when it comes to top players. While there might not be a player born in the region, New England colleges should once again be well represented when the list of 10 finalists is announced in March.
Below is Jeff Cox’s top 10 candidates (as of Jan. 17, 2019) for the 2019 Hobey Baker Award:
