Caustic Undertow
Don't read this message. Really.
Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey
The problem is that you have to look at each year and the surrounding circumstances. Part of the genius of York is that he produces great teams without always having the best-of-the-best-of-talent. Great talent, yes, but working in unison. I'm not close enough to really know this, but from afar the two most outstanding players York has had in the last 10-12 years have been Ben Eaves and Nate Gerbe; Eaves got hurt his senior year, and Gerbe had serious character issues (and was up against Kevin Porter, who was also great that year).
re: Other teams not having a viable candidate: For starters, Michigan did have a viable candidate--Shawn Hunwick. Hunwick has the added advantage of being an incredible story. However, neither a great story nor being on a big-name team overcomes his not being as good as any of the top 3, and he was rightfully not part of the Hat Trick. It is interesting that Tipsy mentions BC, UND, Minnesota, and Michigan, yet none of these teams get much love from the Hobey committee on any given year, and all four have had great players that have failed to win the award in years when "lesser" programs have had better candidates. Those four programs have won a total of four Hobeys (one each) since 1997.
In 1994 Junior Lessard had a great season and won the Hobey; North Dakota had top scoring performances from Brandon Bochenski and Zach Parise, and Tomas Vanek followed up an incredible NCAA championship run with 51 points. Any rumor of a "big-name school bias" evaporates in Lessard's victory. Not-so-big-name CC somehow won two Hobeys in three years, too ("Big-name" Jeff Tambellini of Michigan was third in scoring that year and didn't come close).
The problem is that you have to look at each year and the surrounding circumstances. Part of the genius of York is that he produces great teams without always having the best-of-the-best-of-talent. Great talent, yes, but working in unison. I'm not close enough to really know this, but from afar the two most outstanding players York has had in the last 10-12 years have been Ben Eaves and Nate Gerbe; Eaves got hurt his senior year, and Gerbe had serious character issues (and was up against Kevin Porter, who was also great that year).
re: Other teams not having a viable candidate: For starters, Michigan did have a viable candidate--Shawn Hunwick. Hunwick has the added advantage of being an incredible story. However, neither a great story nor being on a big-name team overcomes his not being as good as any of the top 3, and he was rightfully not part of the Hat Trick. It is interesting that Tipsy mentions BC, UND, Minnesota, and Michigan, yet none of these teams get much love from the Hobey committee on any given year, and all four have had great players that have failed to win the award in years when "lesser" programs have had better candidates. Those four programs have won a total of four Hobeys (one each) since 1997.
In 1994 Junior Lessard had a great season and won the Hobey; North Dakota had top scoring performances from Brandon Bochenski and Zach Parise, and Tomas Vanek followed up an incredible NCAA championship run with 51 points. Any rumor of a "big-name school bias" evaporates in Lessard's victory. Not-so-big-name CC somehow won two Hobeys in three years, too ("Big-name" Jeff Tambellini of Michigan was third in scoring that year and didn't come close).
