On a Friday night in March 2012, Michigan goalie Shawn Hunwick lost his final collegiate hockey game. Following the fateful overtime shot, Hunwick skated over to the opposing team’s bench and handed the puck over to its rightful owners.
The coach who took the puck called it the “classiest thing I’ve seen in 25 years of coaching.”
“That’s a Hobey,” said Hobey Baker Foundation Executive Director Jill Wagner. “It is just something you get a lump in your throat over.”
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award, founded in 1981, is the most prestigious award in NCAA men’s ice hockey. Named after a World War I veteran and the best amateur athlete of his day, the Hobey Baker award recognizes a player not simply for raw skill or leadership among his team, but the nominee is someone who “has it all.”
This year the University of Wisconsin-Madison men’s hockey team boasts three nominees: senior forward Michael Mersch, junior defenseman Jake McCabe and junior goalie Joel Rumpel.
“You need a young man who is a highly skilled, effective college hockey player,” Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said. “You need a guy that has excelled in the classroom, and a young man that is a man of character, who thinks about others as well as himself, when you look at your team.”
The winner is determined in three parts, first through fan voting then a selection committee from the Hobey Baker Foundation.
The 59 head hockey coaches of NCAA Division I schools first nominate the top three players in their league and the top three players in the nation. The fan ballot is then opened. The foundation tabulates those ballots with the help of a consulting firm to choose the top ten finalists, according to Wagner.
The first phase of fan voting continues until March 9 and will open again March 20 with the top 10 finalists. After the second phase of voting commences, a committee of 30 hockey insiders, including referees, sports writers and former coaches, meet and announce the top three finalists, or “Hobey Hat Trick.”
Discussion among the committee ultimately dictates who will win the Hobey Baker. The award depends on a player’s character on and off the ice, and referees are a key part of the committee, knowing who is a good team player and who is not.
“Everyone on the committee takes this selection process very seriously,” Wagner said. “They may call and talk with the players, and they do a lot of analysis prior to the final conference call in which they determine the winner. It is much like fraternity or sorority rush.”
In 2010, Wisconsin had its first and only Hobey Baker winner in forward Blake Geoffrion.
“Besides having all of the qualities of a winner, the amazing thing about Blake that year was how consistent he was,” said Eaves. “Even when he was not getting goals and assists he was still helping the team in other ways.”
Geoffrion is not the only player who has gone through the Wisconsin hockey program embodying a man of great character.
“You know all these young guys, if I had a daughter I would let her date them,” said Eaves. “They are that good of young men.”
Rumpel is one of the biggest reasons for the Badgers’ success this season. He is the second leading goaltender in the Big Ten, Wisconsin’s Most Valuable Player and the athlete Wisconsin has rallied around to be named as a finalist for the Hobey Baker.
According to senior forward Mark Zengerle, Rumpel is the team’s best chance at a Hobey Baker award this season.
“The team always comes first,” Rumpel said. “When a goalie gets nominated for the Hobey Baker, it feels like a team award because they are right in front of me, making me look good every single day.”
As a veteran leader on the team, Mersch takes pride around the net, standing as the second leading scorer in the Big Ten. For a guy who scores most of the team’s goals, Mersch’s humility shines. Mersch never ceases to motivate other players in the locker room and always says the right thing, according to McCabe.
As a captain, McCabe also embodies the Hobey spirit in many ways.
“At Wisconsin, with Coach Eaves and our coaching staff, we facilitate a culture that emphasizes hockey being more than just a good athlete,” said McCabe. “You have to take care of your studies ... It’s always nice to give back, get involved in the community and contribute on the ice as well.”
And contribute he does, though McCabe’s impact as a defenseman is often seen in intangible ways, blocking shots and fighting for the puck in the crease.
“As a goalie, McCabe is one of those guys that I rely on,” Rumpel said. “Off the ice, he is just an unbelievable person and someone who kids look up to.”
According to Eaves, all three Wisconsin nominees possess the character required to win the Hobey Baker. However, even though the award is the most coveted in collegiate hockey, it is not well known.
“In the mainstream of our society, you look at the Heisman because it’s football,” said Eaves. “Hockey is still relatively young. People don’t know about the Hobey.”
And while it is surely an honor to be recognized among the best college hockey players in the country, in the eyes of Wisconsin’s nominees their goal is still an NCAA national championship.
“Sure, you think about it,” Mersch said. “But when it comes to game-time, your focus is on the team goals. Your individual goals will then follow.”
