Top 5 Tuesday: Hobey Baker Candidates

~
On Thursday the NCAA will unveil the 10 players voted into the second stage of contention for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in U.S. college hockey. The initial 71-man list was open to public vote through to March 7th. "Phase two of fan balloting will then begin on March 19th from the list of Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists. The fans’ vote accounts for a full 1% of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year’s award recipient."

I suspect that my pre-season Hobey candidate list won't hold up, several of the players I predicted to be in contention actually had worse years than the previous season. Still, at least one guy is on my new top 5 list and I stand by my thoughts on the others... they failed to play to their potential this year, not me!

Here are my top 5 choices for guys who will be on Thursday's Hobey Baker list...

Let the Petry Watch Begin

~
The 7th place Michigan Wolverines have swept the 2nd place Michigan State Spartans tonight in CCHA quarterfinal action. The Wolverines posted 5-1 and 5-3 wins to oust their biggest rival not only from CCHA playoff action but in all likelihood, bumping them out of contention for an at-large bid into the 16-team NCAA tournament as well.

That won't officially be decided just yet but with the CHA now definitely getting two entries (thanks to Niagara's upset of Bemidji State on Friday) things got a lot murkier. The fact that Northern Michigan and Ferris State have both advanced to the next round won't help MSU's cause either. Both schools were below MSU on the Pairwise rankings

I've been wrong before but at this point, I can't see how the Spartans can still possibly be alive for an at-large bid which means they are done for the year. If that's true, then a few Spartans will be making pro hockey decisions ASAP.

Flip Flop by Tropp

A little over a week ago Corey Tropp's NCAA future came into doubt after he and a teammate viciously attacked Steven Kampfer of the Michigan Wolverines. Tropp was handed a heavy suspension and decided to take a step down and joined the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede - and was immediately suspended by the league for his NCAA actions.

News has come out today that Tropp has reversed his decision and will head back to Michigan State where he will serve out his suspension and eventually rejoin the Spartans on the ice.

Here is the official release from the USHL.

Originally described as being suspended for the rest of the year, Tropp is facing a 10-game NCAA ban. The Spartans have 8 games remaining in their regular season schedule prior to the Conference playoffs. Should Michigan bow out early in the playoffs it is feasible that Tropp will have a game left to serve next year. Michigan State has won just 3 of their last 22 games so an early playoff exit is definitely realistic.

Vicious NCAA Attack - 2 Suspended for Season

An ugly incident from Saturday's grudge match between the Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State Spartans has resulted in the season-ending suspensions of two Spartans.

A shout out to The Pipeline Show buddy Kevin Forbes from Hockey's Future on this one...

Instead of me trying to describe a scene that I didn't witness, here's the video evidence:



This release came earlier today...

"The CCHA, upon review of the on-ice incidents in the Jan. 24th game between Michigan and Michigan State, fully supports the decision of Michigan State’s athletic administration to suspend the playing privileges of players Corey Tropp and Andrew Conboy for the remainder of the season, including playoffs."

Just plain ugly. Reading various message boards that have threads on the incident, word is that Tropp (the player Kampfer laid out with a clean open ice hit) came in a club him a couple times like a baby seal. I haven't heard how seriously Kampfer is hurt this time so if anyone knows, please pass it on.

For the record, Conboy is a Montreal Canadiens 5th round pick from 2007, Tropp belongs to Buffalo (3rd, 2007) and Kampfer is an Anaheim prospect.

Off topic here but clearly stupid incidents like this happen in leagues with or without fighting... it doesn't really seem to matter does it?