The most prestigious award in Division I College Hockey among other hardware was announced on Saturday night during a College Hockey postseason presentation on ESPN television.
Former Maine Black Bears goalie Jeremy Swayman who just finished off a spectacular junior season, was not only up for the top hardware the Hobey Baker but also the Mike Richter Award given annually to the nations top netminder. Despite finishing in the top three for the Hobey, the award was given to junior defenseman Scott Perunovich from Minnesota-Duluth. Swayman finished as the runner-up and second in the voting, while the other candidate North Dakota junior forward Jordan Kawaguchi finished third. He was seeking to become the first Maine Black Bear to win the Hobey since Scott Pellerin and then Paul Kariya did so in back to back seasons in 1991-92, and 1992-93 respectively. Perunovich who helped win a national title for his team as a freshman and sophomore tallied six goals and 34 assists for the Bulldogs of UMD this past season, helping them to a #5 ranking and a 22-10-2 record. He becomes the sixth player in their school history to take the award the most of any schools in college hockey, and the first to win it since Jack Connolly in 2012. He was trying to help his team to three straight championships something that hasn’t been done since Michigan did so 1951-53, before the season was unfortunately cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. Kawaguchi led the #2 Fighting Hawks with 15 goals and 30 assists and a 26-5-4 record.
Swayman, who shortly after the abrupt end to the college hockey season signed an entry level contract with the Boston Bruins, was named the winner of the 2020 Mike Richter Award which is named for the former Wisconsin goalie who then spent 14 illustrustrious seasons in the NHL. The junior stopped the most shots of anyone across college hockey during the 2019-20 season with 1,099. He went 18-11-5, and also was second in save percentage at .939 and 15th in the nation with a 2.07 goals against average. He also led Hockey East in saves (782), save percentage (.932), and was tied in shutouts with three. His 12 league wins were tied for second, and his saves were the 10th most in league history and the most since 2010-11. The Anchorage, Alaska native had 25 games of at least 30 saves, and five more with 40 or more stops. Along with taking home the 2020 Richter Award, the goaltender finishes a season that also saw him fill the trophy case with the 2020 Hockey East Player of the Year, the 2020 Walter Brown Award, and also being named a Hobey Baker Hat Trick Finalist. He was the first goalie in Hockey East to win Player of the Year outright since Brad Theissen did so for Northeastern in 2009, and the first Maine Black Bear to win it since Spencer Abbott did so in 2012. During the show he was also named as part of the CCM/AHCA All-American First Team for the 2019-20 season. 15th ranked Maine was poised for a quarterfinal home playoff series for the first time since 2012.
Maine head coach Red Gendron, who won Hockey East Coach of the Year, was one of 10 finalists for the Spencer Penrose Award with that winner announced this week given to the top Division I hockey coach. That award announced Tuesday was shared by Cornell bench boss Mike Schafer and Brad Berry from North Dakota. Another award given out Saturday night included the Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year that went to Alex Newhook from Boston College. Newhook had 19 goals and 23 assists in his freshman campaign with the Eagles, including leading Hockey East with 15 goals and 18 assists in 24 games and boasting a plus 25 on ice rating. Jared Pike of American International College won the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award. The award is named after a former Army hockey player and is given to the one player who displays exemplary sportsmanship, is supremely competitive, intelligent and extraordinarily conditioned with an unmatched work ethic. Pike had eight goals and six assists for the 21-12-1 Yellowjackets. Women’s player Amanda Conger of St. Anselm took home the Humanitarian Award after donating a kidney to a stranger among other great deeds. The senior forward had three goals and 10 assists for the 16-14-3 Hawks of St. Anselm.
Former Maine goalie and now Boston Bruins product Jeremy Swayman, makes a save back in January during a Black Bears sweep at Boston College. Swayman was announced Saturday night as an All-American, the Mike Richter Award winner, and finished second in the Hobey Baker Award voting.
