Former Victoria Grizzlies goalie and current Cornell University freshman Matthew Galajda has been named a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award the NCAA announced Wednesday.
Galajda posted remarkable numbers is his first season at Cornell. His 1.43 goals-against average is the best in the nation in the last six years and he currently has an overall record of 21-3-2, a .943 save percentage and an NCAA-best nine shutouts. Galajda also earned several year-end awards including ECAC Goalie and Rookie of the Year, inclusion on the ECAC First-Team All-Conference and All-Rookie Teams, Ivy League Player of the Year and is a finalist for ECAC Player of the Year.
He is the only freshman in the top-10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award.
The Big Red finished with the best record in the conference and have advanced to the semifinals of the ECAC tournament where they will take on Princeton University on Friday night.
The 21-year-old from Aurora, Ont. played 83 regular-season games over two seasons with the Grizzlies, finishing his BCHL career with 43 wins, a save percentage of .918 and a goals-against average of 2.52 with seven shutouts. Last year, he led Victoria to an Island Division title and a run to the third round of the postseason.
Other notable finalists for the Hobey Baker Award include Northeastern University junior and Vancouver Canucks draft pick Adam Gaudette, Colgate University sophomore and Team Canada 2018 World Junior gold-medal winner Colton Point and Harvard University junior and leading scorer for Team USA’s 2018 Olympic team Ryan Donato.
Fans can vote on the top-10 finalists in the Hobey Baker fan vote on Facebook.
The Hat Trick of three finalists will be decided on March 29 and the winner will be announced on Friday, April 6 during the NCAA Frozen Four.
Fans can stream the award ceremony and view the Top-10 video on the Hobey Baker website.
