Johnny Gaudreau became the third Boston College Eagle to win the Hobey Baker Award Friday night in Philadelphia. Gaudreau joins David Emma (1991) and Mike Mottau (2000) as past Hobey winners from BC.
The Carney’s Point, NJ native led the country in every scoring category with 36 goals, 44 assists and 80 points. His 80 points were the most points in college hockey since Peter Sejna's 82 (36 goals and 46 assists) for Colorado College back in 2002-03. Sejna did win the Hobey that year. Gaudreau beat out St. Cloud State center Nic Dowd (LA) and St. Lawrence winger Greg Carey (PHX) to capture the title of college hockey’s best player.
Gaudreau will forego his senior season as he signed a three-year entry-level deal with Calgary Friday afternoon worth $1.85 million a year with bonuses. He, along with fellow BC teammate Bill Arnold, are expected to report to the Flames and make their NHL debuts this Sunday versus Vancouver.
Gaudreau spoke Friday evening after the ceremony about his determination that got him to where he is today.
“I got cut from a few teams and that put me down a little bit,” Gaudreau said. “I had a lot of great coaches growing up who told me to keep pushing and it will all work out. It did and I have to thank all of those coaches from the past.”
Earlier this season from Nov. 1 to March 15, Gaudreau recorded a 31-game point streak, which tied a Hockey East record set by the 1993 Hobey Baker winner, Paul Kariya of Maine. In that stretch, Gaudreau scored 29 goals and assisted on 31. The kid they call Johnny Hockey was held of the score sheet just twice this season.
When asked what made him take his game to a higher level this season, Gaudreau cited his improvement in his own zone.
“Coach York has been harping that on me for the last three year’s,” Gaudreau said. “I have a lot to thank for him for that because I wouldn’t be able to play at a higher level without me getting better defensively.”
During the ceremony, Gaudreau thanked his parents, siblings, teammates and coaches. He was especially grateful to BC coach Jerry York.
“My coaches believed that someone my size could contribute at such a high level,” said Gaudreau, who is around 5’7 or 5’8. “I’m proud to be an Eagle and accept this award on behalf of all who helped me get here.”
Gaudreau finishes his career 10th on BC's all-time scoring list. He recorded 175 points total on 78 goals and 97 assists in 119 games played.
Calgary must be think high of the duo if they’re willing to burn a year on their entry-level contracts for just one game. Whether or not Gaudreau turns into a productive player at the NHL is hard to predict. However, his skill level and hockey sense are NHL ready in my opinion even if his frame is not quite there yet.
Lost in all of the Gaudreau hoopla is Calgary will be gaining one of the best two-way centers in all of college hockey in Bill Arnold. Arnold is a tenacious bulldog on the ice and will bolster the Flames’ prospect system. Arnold’s contract was two years at $900k per year.
Regardless of what happens, I’ll be following both players’ developments closely.
