Two Canadiens Prospects On The Hobey Baker Award Nominee List
The (lengthy) list of nominees for the prestigious Hobey Baker award has been released and there are a couple of Montreal Canadiens prospects on there.
The list of Hobey Baker nominees has been released this week and amongst the 97 nominees, there are two Montreal Canadiens prospects. The prestigious trophy is awarded each year to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's hockey player. Voting is now open to the public and in March, the list of nominees will be cut down to the top-10. The winner will then be named during the Frozen Four in April.
The identity of the two Habs prospects nominated should come as no surprise to Canadiens' fans since they've been mentioned in our articles quite often. The first nominee is goaltending prospect Jacob Fowler who is currently setting the NCAA alight with his fantastic performances. He has a 15-3-1 record this season with a 1.70 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage, those brilliant numbers should also put him on the shortlist for the Mike Richter Award given every year to the best goaltender.
The second nominee is center Michael Hage who was drafted 21st overall at the 2024 Draft by the Canadiens. Kent Hughes and co. even moved up in the draft to make sure they could land him. The sent three picks to the Los Angeles Kings to move up to the 21st spot, the Winnipeg Jets' first round pick (26th overall, obtained in the Sean Monahan trade), the Colorado Avalanche's second round pick (obtained in the Artturi Lehkonen trade) and the Canadiens' own seventh round pick).
In 21 games with the University of Michigan, Hage has gathered 24 points (11 goals and 13 assists). The rookie leads the team in scoring, a point in front of T.J. Hughes and six points ahead Evan Werner, both have played more games than Hage who missed three because of an injury.
The last Montreal Canadiens prospect to win the Hobey Baker was Cole Caufield in 2021 and while winning it doesn't guarantee a great career, some very big names have grabbed it over the years, like Paul Kariya and Caufield's hero the late great Johnny Gaudreau. Macklin Celebrini and Adam Fantilli are the last two players to win it. Since it was first awarded in 1981, only three goaltenders have captured it: Robb Stauber, Ryan Miller and Dryden McKay.
