ST. PAUL, Minn. – Looking to earn the Conference’s third Hobey Baker Award, 17 National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) student-athletes have been nominated for the 2024 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to college hockey’s most outstanding player. All eight NCHC teams have at least one nominee up for the Hobey Baker Award, while a total of 84 Division I men’s student-athletes have been nominated for the prestigious honor, with the names revealed Friday when fan voting opened to help determine the winner.

Denver, North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan each nominated three players, while Colorado College has two nominees. Miami, Minnesota Duluth and Omaha have one nominee each. Among the 17 NCHC nominees, 13 are forwards while two each are defensemen or goaltenders. By class, two are fifth-year seniors, seven are fourth-year seniors, three are juniors, four are sophomores and DU defenseman Zeev Buium is the lone freshman.

2024 NCHC Hobey Baker Award Nominees

• Dylan Anhorn, D, 5th, St. Cloud State
• Matthew Barbolini, F, Sr., Miami
• Jackson Blake, F, So., North Dakota
• Zeev Buium, D, Fr., Denver
• Sam Colangelo, F, Sr., Western Michigan
• Jack Devine, F, Jr., Denver
• Riese Gaber, F, Sr., North Dakota
• Luke Grainger, F, Sr., Western Michigan
• Kyler Kupka, F, 5th, St. Cloud State
• Noah Laba, F, So., Colorado College
• Kaidan Mbereko, G, So., Colorado College
• Veeti Miettinen, F, Sr., St. Cloud State
• Ty Mueller, F, Jr., Omaha
• Ludvig Persson, G, Sr., North Dakota
• Massimo Rizzo, F, Jr., Denver
• Ben Steeves, F, So., Minnesota Duluth
• Dylan Wendt, F, Sr., Western Michigan

Presented annually to college hockey’s top player, the Hobey Baker Award opened fan voting for 2024 on Friday, Jan. 26. Fans can cast their vote by visiting https://www.hobeybaker.com/vote and viewing all 84 college hockey players, representing 64 NCAA Division I schools, up for the award. Information on each candidate can be found at https://hobeybaker.com/2024-nominees/.
 
The first phase of fan balloting runs through Sunday, March 10. Phase two of fan balloting then begins on March 20 and closes on March 31, after the Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists are announced on March 20. The fan vote accounts for a percentage of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year’s award recipient. Each school is allowed to nominate up to three players for the award, while a committee ultimately votes on and selects the Hobey Baker Award finalists and winner.

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 2024 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced on Friday, April 12, 2024 during the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn. The award ceremony will be broadcast nationally on NHL Network and streamed live at 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 2024 include:

• Top Ten list of finalists:  March 20
• Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists:  April 4
• Hobey Baker Award winner announced:  April 12