Reaction to the 2007-08 Hobey Baker Top Ten

Well, I’m not too impressed with myself. I correctly predicted only 5 of the 10 Hobey finalists, after picking 6 out of 10 last year.

First of all, the five I got right (I’ve left the season statistics as they were when the committee narrowed the field down to ten):

Skaters:

Jr. F Nathan Gerbe, Boston College 27-25-52

Sr. F Ryan Jones, Miami (OH) 30-16-46

So. F Ryan Lasch, St. Cloud State 25-26-51

Sr. F Kevin Porter, Michigan 28-28-56

Goaltender:

Sr. Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, North Dakota
24-9-4, 1.6312 GAA, .934 SV, 6 SO

The committee also picked the following three skaters…

Jr. F Lee Jubinville, Princeton 12-26-38

Sr. F Simon Lambert, RIT 21-30-51

Jr. F T.J. Oshie, North Dakota 17-22-39

…while I had these three on my list:

Sr. F Matt Fornataro, New Hampshire 18-27-45Sr. D Jack Hillen, Colorado College 6-30-36Jr. F Chad Rau, Colorado College 27-14-41

I just don’t see Jubinville ahead of Fornataro and Rau. The Princeton Tigers played the 34th most difficult schedule in Division I, while Colorado College and New Hampshire came in 7th and 11th, respectively, in that category. Jack Hillen led all defenseman in scoring, but no blueliners were selected this year. And I’m a big Oshie fan, but I was surprised to see him on the list.

The committee tabbed these two goaltenders to join Lamoureux in the final ten…

Jr. Jeff Lerg, Michigan State
23-11-5, 2.2260 GAA, .925 SV, 4 SO

Sr. Kevin Regan, New Hampshire
23-6-1, 2.0689 GAA, .934 SV, 3 SO

…but I had selected these two:

Fr. Richard Bachman, Colorado College
25-6-1, 1.7485 GAA, .935 SV, 4 SO

Jr. Jeff Zatkoff, Miami (OH)
25-6-1, 1.6831 GAA, .934 SV, 3 SO

I can see Kevin Regan in the top ten over Jeff Zatkoff, because the Wildcats faced much tougher competition this year (strength of schedule #11 vs. Miami #24). But there is absolutely NO reason why Jeff Lerg should be on this list ahead of Richard Bachman. The Colorado College freshman has a better record, a lower goals-against average, a better save percentage, one more shutout, and played a tougher schedule this season. I don’t care that Bachman is a freshman; the top ten selections should go to the best players in the nation, and Richard Bachman has had a better season than Jeff Lerg.

Agree, disagree, let me know what you think. Who should have been in the Hobey top ten? And who would you leave out? We’ve got some time before the Hobey Hat Trick will be announced, so who would you select as your top three?

Thank you for reading. I welcome your comments and suggestions. Check back next week for my Hobey Hat Trick prediction.