For most of its history Wisconsin has been on of the crowning programs in college hockey. Six national titles, a slew of final four appearances and an armada of players in the professional ranks are all trappings of the program's lofty history.
But there is one jewel still missing from their crown.
No Badger has ever claimed his sport's highest individual honor, the Hobey Baker memorial award. Since its creation in 1981, the award had gone to four Minnesota Gophers, four Duluth Bulldogs three members of the Harvard Crimson, but never a Wisconsin player.
Only two Badgers have even made it to the final three in voting, known as the Hobey Hat Trick, those being goaltender Brian Elliott, who came in third in 2006, and forward Steve Reinprecht, who was the 2000 runner-up.
Well, now make it three UW players to survive to the final round of voting.
Senior forward Blake Geoffrion joined Elliott and Reinprecht as he was named a Hobey Baker finalist Wednesday afternoon. He is joined by New Hampshire's Bobby Butler and Maine's Gustav Nyquist as finalists.
""Coach called this morning and told me. To hear it, it was still surprising,"" Geoffrion said. ""I kind of got a big smile on my face, called my mom and dad right away and told the news. I'm deaf in my right ear from my mom.""
Geoffrion led his team with 27 goals and accrued 48 points over the course of the season, but that did not encapsulate the senior captain's impact. He also fills the roles of being a top penalty-killer, center of an efficient power play, excellent face-off man and team leader.
""Talking to him earlier, he was very humbled by the fact that this has happened,"" Wisconsin head coach Mike eaves said. ""For Blake and for our program it's a distinct honor and we'll see what happens in Detroit.""
Although he knew early in the morning, Geoffrion had to stay mum on the news through a radio interview before it was finally officially released.
There was an admitted moment of surprise for Geoffrion upon hearing the news, as he did not quite expect to get this close to the award.
""If someone would have said to me you're going to be in contention for the Hobey Baker this year at the end of the year, I probably would have laughed and walked away,"" Geoffrion said, giving credit to his teammates and much of the team's staff.
Another element of that surprise came from the exclusion of junior defenseman Brendan Smith, who Geoffrion expected to make the final three before he did. Smith, a Detroit Red Wings draft pick, led all defensemen in both assists and goals this season, lighting the lamp 11 times on the power play.
""I talked to Brendan about it, we spoke, and on the surface he was very good about it but on the inside I'm sure there's some disappointment in not being included in that. But we had a brief talk about what he means to this team and the people around him know what he means to this team,"" Eaves said. ""If anything, I think it will fuel him to play even better at the Frozen Four.""
As for Geoffrion's competitors, Nyquist was the top scorer in the country with 61 points and 48 assists. Butler was a similarly high scorer (29 goals, 53 points), but like Geoffrion delivers an all-around game and held the role of senior captain. Butler's Wildcats were eliminated 6-2 by RIT, Wisconsin's next opponent.
The final decision will be announced April 9, so for now Geoffrion and his team will continue preparing for the rest of the title run, and wait to see if a Badger can finally hoist the Hobey.
