Cole Caufield becomes the second Wisconsin hockey player to win the prestigious Hobey Baker Award
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MADISON – Blake Geoffrion no longer stands alone as Wisconsin’s lone Hobey Baker Award winner.
Cole Caufield, who led the nation in scoring this season and led Wisconsin back into the NCAA men’s hockey tournament for the first time since 2014, on Friday was named winner of the prestigious award.
Caufield, who recently signed an entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens, was preparing to play his first professional game with the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League on Friday.
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“It obviously means a lot to me,” Caufield said on the NHL Network. “It means a lot to my school back at Wisconsin. I couldn’t be more honored and privileged to receive this award. It’s something I was working for this whole year.
“I think my teammates were the biggest contributors. I had some pretty good linemates in Linus Weissbach and Ty Pelton-Byce.”
Geoffrion won the award, given annually to the best men’s hockey player in the nation, in 2010.
Seeing Caufield join Geoffrion shouldn’t have surprised anyone who followed college hockey this season.
The Stevens Point native recorded 30 goals and 52 points in 31 games and helped UW to a No. 1 seeding in the NCAA field.
Even after UW’s season ended with a 6-3 loss to Bemidji State in the first round, Caufield had scored 12 more goals than any player in the nation.
His average of 1.68 points per game is No. 1 in the nation.
The two other finalists were Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay and North Dakota forward Shane Pinto.
McKay finished with a 21-4-0 record, with 10 shutouts, a 1.54 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. McKay led his team to the Frozen Four for the first time in program history.
Pinto recorded 15 goals and 17 assists in 28 games. He finished the season tied for ninth in the nation in scoring and tied for seventh in goals.
Caufield was the unanimous pick as the Big Ten Player of the Year was named to the NCAA East Regional and Big Ten all-tournament teams.
Caufield had scoring streaks of nine and 12 games and scored 11 goals in UW’s final six games.
“This year was a special year for him for lots of different reasons,” UW coach Tony Granato said on the NHL Network. “Not only did he lead the nation in scoring, but he also led us to a Big Ten title.
“The one thing I think Cole would be most proud of is how well (he) and his teammates made each other better.
“Our whole team is watching this, all fired up, hoping to see Cole win a big honor.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Cole Caufield becomes the second Wisconsin hockey player to win the prestigious Hobey Baker Award