Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
By: Josh Brown
For the second consecutive season, one of the three best players in college hockey played his home games at Matthews Arena. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award named forward Adam Gaudette to the Hobey Hat Trick on Thursday afternoon. Gaudette is joined by University of Denver forward Henrik Borgstrom and Harvard University forward Ryan Donato as the three players remaining in contention for the nation’s top award, which will be handed out on April 6 at the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“We’re very proud of Adam for putting himself in a position to win college hockey’s highest individual honor,” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan. “He has been one of the top players in the NCAA for the last two seasons, which is a testament to the level of work that he puts into his game daily both on and off the ice. It was a privilege to have him as a member of our team for the last three seasons. His work ethic and determination have certainly rubbed off on his teammates, which will positively impact our program well into the future.”
The Hockey East Player of the Year joins Brad Thiessen (2009) and Zach Aston-Reese (2017) as the third player in Northeastern history to be named to the Hobey Hat Trick.
A native of Braintree, Massachusetts, Gaudette ended the season atop the nation in goals (30) and points (60). He recorded 20 multi-point games in the 2017-2018 campaign (the most in college hockey), and he is just the tenth player in Northeastern history to rack up 60 points in a season. Earlier this year, he joined linemate Dylan Sikura, Boston College’s Johnny Gaudreau and St. Lawrence’s Greg Carey as just the fourth player since 2012-2013 to net 50+ points in consecutive seasons.
Despite being a junior, Gaudette ended the season first in the nation in both active career goals (68) and active career power play goals (32). Additionally, he was third in the nation in active career points (142).
Gaudette became the first Husky since Jason Guerriero in 2004-05 to win the Hockey East regular season scoring title (19 goals, 14 assists) this season. Of the nine Hobey Baker Award winners who have hailed from Hockey East, five won the conference scoring title (Jack Eichel, Johnny Gaudreau, Jason Krog, Paul Kariya, David Emma).
On March 19, Gaudette was named the Walter Brown Award Winner, given to the best American-born college hockey player in New England. He was also named the Beanpot MVP (4 goals, 2 assists) after leading the Huskies to their first tournament title since 1998.
Gaudette signed a three-year, entry level deal with the Vancouver Canucks on February 26. He is expected to make his debut on Thursday night against Edmonton.