Inside College Hockey | Go-To Guys: Hobey Baker Award

February 28, 2006
Go-To Guys: Hobey Baker Memorial Award

Last week: Rookie of the Year
Next week: Top Defenseman/Goalie

Inside College Hockey 's Go-To Guys – a look at who deserves individual honors in college hockey – takes a second gander at the race for the 2006 Hobey Baker Memorial Award. A lot has happened in the last three weeks, which is when we issued our first projection. We've included the previous rank for our top five candidates so you can track those changes.

Inside College Hockey editors and staff, in consultation with coaches and media from around the country, compiled this list of how we would vote today – not necessarily how we think the races will turn out. And stay tuned, because a lot can change each weekend; we'll continue our looks at the Hobey and other honors, as the season progresses.

HOBEY BAKER AWARD – Feb. 28, 2006
1. Matt Carle Denver	Leads the nation's blueliners in goals and ranks third among all players in assists, solid in his own end and a terrific leader. One can argue convincingly that he's having one of the best seasons by a defenseman in the last 20 years. 34 GP, 11-39—50 (Previous rank: 2nd)
2. Chris Collins Boston College	Has a whopping 11-point lead on linemate Brian Boyle in the Hockey East scoring race. Detractors point to 2-4–6 scoring line in eight games against league foes Boston University, Maine and New Hampshire. 32 GP, 26-25—51 (Previous rank: 1st)
3. Ryan Potulny Minnesota	The WCHA regular season champs are 15-1-1 since Wisconsin swept them in early December, and Potulny has 17 goals and 13 assists during that span. Still, some in Gopher Nation believe Danny Irmen is the team's most valuable player. 34 GP, 29-21—50 (Previous rank: in top 10)
4. Brian Elliott Wisconsin	Hasn't played well since returning from knee injury, allowing 15 goals in his last three starts. He can regain that mojo, however, if he backstops the Badgers, say, deep into the WCHA playoffs. 18-4-3, 1.87 GAA, .925 sv% (Previous rank: 3rd)
5. Scott Parse Nebraska-Omaha	Nation's leading scorer enters CCHA postseason with an 11-game point streak, but Parse has gone three weeks without a goal and registered a disappointing two assists in the Mavs' lackluster weekend (a tie and a loss) at Western Michigan. 36 GP, 19-40—59 (Previous rank: 5th)
Poised to change on the fly	Brett Sterling (Colorado College, previous rank: 4th), Marty Sertich (Colorado College), T.J. Trevelyan (St. Lawrence), Jamie Hunt (Mercyhurst), Drew Stafford (North Dakota)
On the radar (listed alphabetically)	Brian Boyle (Boston College), Nick Dodge (Clarkson), Joe Fallon (Vermont), Andy Greene (Miami), Bobby Goepfert (St. Cloud State), David Jones (Dartmouth), Peter MacArthur (Boston University), Matt Moulson (Cornell), Pierre-Luc O'Brien (Sacred Heart), Kyle Wilson (Colgate)