Hobey Baker Watch List: Week 1

Story posted October 18, 2015 in CommRadio, Sports by Zach Green

With the college hockey season underway, it is time to look at who the early season favorites are to win the Hobey Baker award, given to the best player in college hockey.

1. Jimmy Vesey (LW, Harvard)

Jimmy Vesey is the favorite to win the Hobey Baker this year. The left-winger from Massachusetts is the only finalist from last year to return to college this year. He represented the United States in the 2015 IIHF World Championship, where he had three assists. He was the ECAC and Ivy League player of the year and led the nation with 32 goals during the 2014-2015 season. He was selected in the third round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Vesey and Harvard open up their season next Saturday at home against New Brunswick.

2. Kevin Roy (LW, Northeastern)

Junior Kevin Roy has generated a lot of hype going into this year for the Northeastern Huskies. The forward from Lac-Beauport, Quebec was the National College Hockey player of the month for February last year, and was named a Hockey East First Team All Star last year. He was the top-scoring player for the Huskies last year, tallying 19 goals and 25 assists. He was selected in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Roy tallied an assist against Simon Frasier this year. The Huskies next play against Minnesota this weekend.

3. Austin Plevy (C, UMass)

Plevy has exploded onto the scene this year as a freshman. The highly recruited freshman from Langley British Columbia jumped out to seven points in his first three games this year, including scoring a hat-trick in his first ever collegiate game against Colorado College. Plevy was originally enrolled at Merrimack last year, but left school unannounced before he played a game. He was not released from his National Letter of Intent by Merrimack, which meant that he was not allowed to transfer last year. Plevy and UMass take on New Hampshire this weekend.

Honorable Mentions:

Dennis Kravchenko (F, UMass)

Mark Jankowski (C, Providence)

Jake Walman (D, Providence)

Zach Green is a sophomore majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email zag5035@psu.edu