The Hobey Baker Top 10 was revealed on Wednesday morning and NCAA leading scorer Bobby Brink, one of #3 Denver’s alternate captains, was named to the list. Brink, who has 55 points on 14 goals and 41 assists in 36 games this year, is the first Pioneer named a finalist since Henrik Borgström (23-29-52 in 40 GP) was named to the 2018 Hobey Hat Trick (Northeastern’s Adam Gaudette won the award).
Hobey Baker Top-10 Finalist:
F- Matty Beniers, Mich.
F- Bobby Brink, DU
F- Brian Halonen, Mich. Tech
D- Luke Hughes, Mich.
G- Devon Levi, NU
G- Dryden McKay, Minn. St.
F- Ben Meyers, Minn.
G- Yanev Perets, QU
F- Nathan Smith, Minn. St.
F- Bobby Trivigno, UMass— Nate Wells (@gopherstate) March 16, 2022
Brink was the only unanimous selection to the All-NCHC First Team and is a finalist for two conference awards, Player of the Year and Forward of the Year, both of which he likely will win. He was also named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association national Player of the Month in February.
The junior forward from Minnetonka, MN is also the lone NCHC representative among the 10 finalists which has caused a stir on Twitter as the NCAA’s leading scorer, Western Michigan’s Ethen Frank who has 26 goals in 34 games was not named a finalist while three goalies, Northeastern’s Devon Levi, Quinnipiac’s Yaniv Perets, and Minnesota State’s Dryden McKay were named to the list.
The three finalists – Hobey Hat Trick – will be announced on March 31 and the winner of the Hobey Baker as the national player of the year will be announced on April 8 in Boston during the Frozen Four, the day between the semifinals and championship.
Top photo of Brink courtesy of Nick Monaghan/Denver Athletics
Congratulations go out to Bobby! He certainly deserves to be included with the other finalists.
Fantastic news, and not a surprise. Congrats to Brink! He’s had a great year and is a lot of fun to watch. It’s been great to see him rebound the way he has after a tough year last year.
In an odd way, he’s worked his way to 55 points sort of quietly, if that’s even possible, since the majority of his points are assists. Regardless, he sure knows how to make plays with the puck and certainly knows how to make his teammates better.
Leading the nation in scoring by seven points is a a big achievement in itself. But compiling those points primarily against NCHC-level competition is nothing short of outstanding. If Brink were in any other league, he’d have 65-70 points, IMHO.
Bravo.
Would love to see Bobby clinch the Hobey with a healthy mix of goals and assists. He has, what, five games to do it prior to voting, if DU makes the Frozen Four.
Hobey voting is wrapped up before Frozen Four, so Brink has two more weekends (NCHC Frozen Faceoff and NCAA Regionals) to help sway committee voters.