Celebrini, Hutson Among Top-10 Finalists for Hobey Baker Award
March 20, 2024 | Men's Ice Hockey
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Freshman Macklin Celebrini and sophomore Lane Hutson are two of the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, as announced on Wednesday.
This marks the 18th time that a Terrier has been a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, which is presented annually to the top player in Division I men's hockey. It's also the fourth time in the past five years that a BU skater has earned this recognition, as Hutson was also a top-10 finalist last year. Hutson joined former Terrier defenseman David Farrance (2020, 2021) as the most recent BU standout to be a top-10 finalist in back-to-back years.
Celebrini is just the third Terrier freshman to be selected in the Hobey Top 10, joining Hutson and 2015 winner Jack Eichel. This is the second straight year that Hutson was the only defenseman to be selected as a top-10 finalist.
Earlier on Wednesday, Celebrini became the fourth men's player in Hockey East history to be named the league's Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. In 23 Hockey East games, Celebrini led all skaters with 44 points on 23 goals and 21 assists. His 23 goals is a single-season league record and he is the only rookie in Hockey East history to average at least one goal per game in league competition.
Celebrini, the youngest player in college hockey at just 17 years old, leads the nation with 1.67 points per game, is second in the country with 30 goals and is third in the NCAA with 55 points. A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Celebrini is one of just 26 freshmen in the last 50 years to score 30 goals in a single season. He's just the fourth rookie since 2002-03 to reach that milestone and only the fourth Hockey East freshman to accomplish that feat in the league's 40-season history.
After one of the most impressive rookie seasons in recent history, Hutson has been even better as a sophomore. He leads all NCAA defensemen with 1.33 points per game, is tied for first among all blue liners with 44 points and is the only NCAA defenseman with 10+ goals and 20+ assists. In fact, Hutson is the first defenseman since Western Michigan's Mike Posma (1986-88) to record 10 goals and 30 assists in his first two collegiate seasons
Last week, Hutson became the fourth Terrier defenseman to be named a Hockey East First Team All-Star in two straight years, and he's the first league defenseman to receive first-team accolades as both a freshman and a sophomore. Hutson leads all active defensemen with an incredible 1.28 points per game and is third among all active defensemen with 92 points in just 72 games, 35 fewer games than one of the two active leaders at 93 points.
Fan voting for the remaining candidates is now open at VoteForHobey.com. The Hobey Hat Trick will be announced on April 4, with the 2024 Hobey Baker Award winner to be announced at the Frozen Four on April 12.
