Sophomore goaltender Ryan Miller is currently in third place in the online fan voting for the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey’s most prestigious individual trophy.
Miller trails North Dakota forward Jeff Panzer, the vote leader, and Maine forward Niko Dimitrakos in the standings.
Miller has posted a 25-4-4 record, a 1.34 goals against average, a .948 saves percentage and nine shutouts this season. On Feb. 10, he became college hockey’s all-time shutout leader with 17 in his career.
“People have told me I’m a front-runner,” Miller said. “But just to be mentioned with (Boston College forward Brian) Gionta and Panzer, who have proven themselves for four years, is just unbelievable.
“I’d really like to win it. I think I’ve had a pretty good season personally, and a lot of that comes from my team.”
Panzer leads the nation with 65 points (22 goals and 43 assists), while playing for the No. 3 Fighting Sioux. He is dominating voting in the western region of the country, and has a commanding lead over second-place Dimitrakos of almost 9,500 points.
Dimitrakos has recorded eight goals and nine assists this season and has close to a 2,000-point lead over Miller.
Gionta is tied for the NCAA lead with 27 goals this season. He’s fourth in the fans’ voting.
Fan voting continues through Sunday and can be done on hobeybaker.com or uscho.com.
The fans’ vote accounts for one out of 61 total ballots that narrow the field from 40 candidates to 10 finalists. Each of the nation’s 60 Division I head coaches also has a vote.
The winner will be chosen by the Hobey Baker Award Selection Committee and the award will be given out April 6 at the Frozen Four in Albany, N.Y.
Looking ahead
If the CCHA playoff matchups were selected today, the Spartans would host 10th-place Notre Dame in the first round March 9-11.
The Irish (9-21-7, 6-14-6) are one point ahead of Bowling Green and two ahead of Lake Superior State. The top 10 teams in the league qualify for the playoffs.
Notre Dame plays a home-and-home series against Western Michigan this weekend, while Bowling Green hosts Ferris State for a two-game set.
The Lakers have a chance to sneak in the playoffs if they can beat Northern Michigan in a home-and-home series this weekend.
The Spartans could also wind up playing Alaska-Fairbanks, which has completed its CCHA schedule and is currently in ninth place - three points ahead of Notre Dame.
Patchell honored
Senior left wing Sean Patchell is the CCHA’s Offensive Player of the Week after his five-point weekend at Ohio State. Patchell notched an assist in the series opener and had a goal and three assists in Saturday’s game. The goal was his first since Dec. 1 at Bowling Green.
He has three goals and 18 assists this year and is the first Spartan to earn the offensive honor this season.
We’re (still) No. 1
MSU is the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation in this week’s USA Today poll. The Spartans are also on top in the USCHO.com poll, garnering 38 of 40 first-place votes.
Boston College is No. 2 in the USA Today and No. 3 in the USCHO.com, with North Dakota the opposite.
U-M fell from No. 5 to No. 6 in both polls, while Nebraska-Omaha jumped to No. 12 in the USA Today poll and No. 14 in the USCHO.com.
White out
Fans attending Thursday night’s game versus U-M are encouraged to wear white shirts in a “White Out” of Munn Ice Arena sponsored by the MSU Blue Line Club and Chevrolet.
The first 1,000 fans through the door will receive free white T-shirts.
And everybody at the game will also receive a free State News poster commemorating Miller’s NCAA record-breaking 17th career shutout on Feb. 10.
Thursday’s game starts at 7:35 p.m. and will be aired on Fox Sports Detroit. Senior Night festivities will begin around 7:10 p.m.
A common thread
The Spartans made their first-ever trip to OSU’s Value City Arena last weekend and MSU head coach Ron Mason cracked up the media in Columbus when recalling an encounter with a Buckeye fan during Friday night’s game.
“There was a guy right next to us telling us that Michigan sucks,” Mason said, “and, hey, we agree with him.”
