Hobey Hat Trick Finalists to be Announced Today

[cquinn]

According to the Hobey Baker Award site (http://www.hobeybaker.com/articles.php?aID=21), the "Hobey Hat Trick" of three finalists will be announced today.  Given LeNeveu's stats and the fact that he's the only one of the ten finalists who will be playing in Buffalo, I think he's a lock for the final three.  I am, of course, extremely biased.

[Greg Berge]

I would never call an ECAC player a lock for anything.

[Chris 02]

http://cornellbigred.ocsn.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/040203aaa.html

It's official!  Go Lenny!!!!

[dadeo]

Yeeha.  
http://cornellbigred.ocsn.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/040203aaa.html

[dadeo]

lmao, we both posted at 11:48

[Adam]

Say what you want about the EZAC.  Lenny should be the hands down favorite to win.  The other two guys have had great years, no doubt.  But Lenny has had a rewrite the history books kind of year.  And his team is in Buffalo.



Post Edited (04-02-03 13:26)

[dadeo]

...with the help of the NCAA's best defense in decades

[CUlater]

To some extent, his chances may be hurt by how good our team defense is considered.  Obviously, he has stats to counter that argument (save percentage), but for voters who have not seen him much or at all, they may not give him a first place vote by the reasoning that the defensemen/forwards are so good at keeping the middle clear and clearing rebounds, LeNeveu probably (in their minds) rarely has to make a series of saves.  Of course, statistically he is in a totally different league from all the other goalies.

Sejna is also clearly the dominant forward, averaging just under 2 points per game (over 2 points per game when the 10 finalists were announced), although Kunitz is closer to him than to the third-highest scorer.  To some degree, voters might look at Sejna's performance in comparison to past winners (i.e. is he in the same category of recent forwards winners, vis-a-vis relative to other top scorers this season).

[Lisa McGill \'97]

[q]...with the help of the NCAA's best defense in decades[/q]

Oy.  Indisputably true.  But if that's intended to downplay Lenny's accomplishments, I would point out that dealing with infrequent shots can be as much of a challenge as a barrage.

[rhovorka]

Well, there are probably factors that went into the voters' decisions:

Pros for Lenny:
* Far and away the best statistics in the nation.  About 1 GPG better than anyone else.
* Shattering a 45 year old NCAA record for the best single season GAA.
* Breaking school and league records for shutouts, and coming within 1 of the NCAA record (still has a chance to break it ;-) )
* Having numbers comparable to 2001 Hobey winner Ryan Miller.
(Lenny 28-2-1, 1.14, .942, 9)  
(Miller 31-5-4, 1.32, .950, 10)
* Cornell's only 2 Non-conference losses occured when he was at WJC.
* Being the only top-10 finalist to make the Frozen Four.
* Peter Sejna of CC being European.  (You never know what bias the voters might hold)
* Last ECAC Hobey Winner was 1989, Harvard's Lane MacDonald.
* Many statistical comparisons to CU alumnus Ken Dryden.
* TV exposure down the stretch that featured 3 Shutouts, and memorable games vs. Harvard and BC.
* CC had two top-10 Hobey Finalists.


Cons for Lenny:
* The Hobey has been awarded the last 3 years to defensive players (2000 BC Defenseman Mike Mottau, 2001 Mich St.'s G Ryan Miller and 2002 Minn. Defenseman Jordan Leopold).  Hobey voters might feel the need to go back and reward offense again.
* Perception of ECAC as a weak conference...that Lenny's stats are helped by that.  Another unfair bias, but the possibility that it exists, and it could effect voting must be considered.
* Perception that Lenny is the product of a superior defensive system.  Underhill's GAA was under 2.00 also last year.
* Lenny is a Sophomore, Sejna is a Junior, Kunitz is a Senior.
* Sejna had a ridiculous point-scoring streak (31) and notched a point in every game this year but 1.  The leader of the team that was in the #1 spotlight for most of the year.

[Greg Berge]

> ...with the help of the NCAA's best defense in decades

Cornell NC record with LeNeveu: 5-0.
Cornell NC record without LeNeveu: 0-2.

LeNeveu makes the difference in the win column, the only thing in the end that matters.

[jy3]

woohoo!

go lenny!:-D

[Fernie]

....another Pro you missed was Dave being the only NCAA player on the Canadian squad at the WJC, and only the second goalie from the NCAA in the teams history.  Someone earlier put his seeing fewer shots as only the hardest get through and the weak ones are stoppped by the D.  Final point i'll make is when he is tested under pressure he still performs to nothing less than amazing, eg. 31 save shutout against Harvard for the Dryden record breaker.  Go Red!!!!!!!!!!

[CUlater]

[Q]LeNeveu makes the difference in the win column, the only thing in the end that matters.[/Q]

Did you forget a smiley with that one?  IIRC, nobody who saw the games felt that his absence was the reason we lost.  Of course, the voters might not know that.

[CowbellGuy]

Theoretically, the team might not have been able to play their game if they weren't as confident with Marr in net and played more defensively-minded, resulting in less offense. Not saying that's actually the case, but the argument can be made.