Our Hobey Baker

We were asked to participate in the Western College Hockey Blog's roundtable discussion on the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. To make things a little more interesting we will tie in our picks with the 5 nominees for best animated short film at the 78th Annual Academy Awards ®.

1. Badgered - Brian Elliott, G, Wisconsin - This is actually pretty easy, when Elliot plays the Badgers are 18-2-2, when Elliot does not play the Badgers are 2-5-0. In his 22 games Elliot has stopped 518 out of 549 shots for a .944 save percentage, leading the nation, and in 1328 minutes he has posted a 1.40 GAA, leading the nation. Bottom line is when Elliot is in net, the Badgers are almost unbeatable. Despite a knee injury he has been the best player in the country this season.

2. The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello - Matt Carle, D, Denver - Staying out on the West Coast for our second selection, Matt Carle is Denver's leading scorer. This is impressive, even more impressive is that he is doing this from the blue line. In Denver's current seven game winning streak he has at least a point in six of them, including five assists on DU's seven goals against Minnesota State.

3. One Man Band - Chris Collins, F, Boston College - Collins is the nation's leading scorer with 48 points right now, and will probably end up with 55-65 before the season is over. Those 48 points are 13 better than teammate Brian Boyle and represent 19% of BC's scoring this year.

4. The Moon and the Sun: An Imagined Conversation - TJ Trevelyan, F, St. Lawrence - Trevelyan anchors what could be considered the best line in the ECAC. Along with fellow seniors John Zeiler and Mike Zbriger the line has generated 39 goals, 48 assists and 87 points accounting for one third of SLU's offense. Trevelyan leads the Saints with 17 goals and 23 assists, and for his career is at a 1.04 point per game average.

5. 9 - Torrey Mitchell, F, Vermont - This is our wildcard/homer pick. Just a sophomore, Mitchell leads UVM in scoring and assists. He is a very good skater and has moves that would put some basketball players to shame. He has killed Clarkson at nearly every opportunity, including a jaw dropping highlight reel goal in the championship game of this year's Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup. Careerwise against the Knights he is 2-1-1 with 2 goals and 2 assists, and we would be happy if we never see him again.