British Columbia Hockey League graduates Tyler McNeely, Wade McLeod, Chris Rawlings, Kyle MacKinnon, Chay Genoway and Justin Schultz have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the top player in NCAA men's hockey.
McNeely, MacLeod and Rawlings all play for the Northeastern University Huskies, MacKinnon for the Providence College Friars, Genoway for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux and Schultz for the University of Wisconsin Badgers.
Westside Warriors grad Schultz, an Anaheim Ducks second-round pick in 2008, is second in Badgers scoring as a defenceman with 32 points in 26 games. MacLeod (Burnaby Express) and McNeely (Merritt Centennials) are first and second on their team in scoring while Rawlings (Cowichan Valley Capitals) has a .924 save percentage and 2.37 goals against average. MacKinnon (Langley Chiefs) is leading Providence in scoring for the second straight year and Genoway (Vernon Vipers) is tied for third on team scoring as a defenceman.
Voting is on now at www.hobeybakeraward.com where fans have unlimited votes but only one per day. Ten finalists will be selected and phase two of the voting will begin March 18. Fan voting will account for one per cent of the total ballot in each phase of this year’s selection process. The announcement for the Hobey Baker Award winner will be made on April 8 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Past BCHL grads to win the Hobey Baker Award include Paul Kariya and Brendan Morrison.
