ST. PAUL, Minn. – Looking to claim the Conference’s third Hobey Baker Award, 18 National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) student-athletes from seven schools have been nominated for the 2023 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to college hockey’s most outstanding player. A total of 82 Division I men’s student-athletes have been nominated for the prestigious honor, with the names revealed Thursday when fan voting opened to help determine the winner.

Denver, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan each nominated three players, while Colorado College, North Dakota and Omaha each have two nominees. Among the 18 NCHC nominees, 13 are forwards, four are defensemen and CC’s Kaidan Mbereko is the lone goaltender. By class, two are grad students or fifth-year seniors, four are fourth-year seniors, four are juniors, five are sophomores and three are freshmen.

2023 NCHC Hobey Baker Award Nominees

• Dylan Anhorn, Sr., D, St. Cloud State
• Mike Benning, Jr., D, Denver
• Grant Cruikshank, 5th, F, St. Cloud State
• Riese Gaber, Jr., F, North Dakota
• Dominic James, So., F, Minnesota Duluth
• Chris Jandric, Gr., D, North Dakota
• Wyatt Kaiser, Jr., D, Minnesota Duluth
• Jami Krannila, Sr., F, St. Cloud State
• Carter Mazur, So., F, Denver
• Kaidan Mbereko, Fr., G, Colorado College
• Ryan McAllister, Fr., F, Western Michigan
• Hunter McKown, Jr., F, Colorado College
• Ty Mueller, So., F, Omaha
• Jason Polin, Sr., F, Western Michigan
• Jack Randl, Sr., F, Omaha
• Massimo Rizzo, So., F, Denver
• Max Sasson, So., F, Western Michigan
• Ben Steeves, Fr., F, Minnesota Duluth

Presented annually to college hockey’s top player, the Hobey Baker Award opened fan voting for 2023 on Thursday, Jan. 19. Fans can cast their vote by visiting https://hobeybaker.com/awards/vote-for-hobey/ and viewing all 82 college hockey players, representing 43 NCAA Division I schools, up for the award. Information on each candidate can be found at https://hobeybaker.com/2023-nominees/.
 
The first phase of fan balloting runs through Sunday, March 5. Phase two of fan balloting then begins on March 17 and closes on March 26, after the Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists are announced on March 15. The fans’ vote accounts for a percentage of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year’s award recipient. Fans can learn more about each nominee by clicking here. Each school is allowed to nominate up to three players for the award, while not all schools choose to participate in the Vote for Hobey campaign.

Award criteria includes candidates exhibiting the exceptional character traits shown by the award’s namesake, Hobey Baker. A legendary American hero, Baker was a World War I fighter pilot and was known as America’s greatest amateur athlete in his day, excelling at hockey and football at Princeton University. Award candidates must demonstrate strength of character both on and off the ice, contribute to the integrity of his team and display outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Consideration should be given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship, as well. 
 
The 2023 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced on Friday, April 7, 2023 during the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla. The award ceremony will be broadcast nationally on NHL Network and streamed live at hobeybaker.com. For more information on the Hobey Baker Award please visit www.hobeybaker.com. 
 
The NCHC is home to two former Hobey Baker Award winners in former Denver defenseman Will Butcher and former Minnesota Duluth defenseman Scott Perunovich. Butcher was the first NCHC player to win it in 2017, while Perunovich captured the honor in 2020.
 
Key Hobey Baker announcement dates for 2023 include:

• Top Ten list of finalists:  March 15
• Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists:  March 30
• Hobey Baker Award announcement:  April 7