PENTICTON, BC. – The initial list of nominees for the prestigious Hobey Baker Award were announced with four Vees alumni among the 77 players in the running for college hockey’s annual award for the nation’s top player.
Easton Brodzinski (St. Cloud State University), Yaniv Perets (Quinnipiac University), Owen Sillinger (Bemidji State University) and Taylor Ward (University of Nebraska-Omaha) have been named nominees for the Hobey Baker Award. The four former Vees are part of 19 BC Hockey League alumni that are a part of the initial list of nominees.
Brodzinski is in his 5th season at St. Cloud where he has 9 goals and 7 assists for 16 points this season while playing in 157 career games in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). During his season in Penticton, the Blaine, Minnesota native scored 32 goals and added 34 assists for 66 points in 54 career regular season games.
Perets has gotten into 12 games during his second season at Quinnipiac and is having a season to remember, posting a 0.87 goals against average and a .944 save percentage with a nation-leading 6 shutouts. In 37 regular season games with the Vees during the 2019/20 season, the Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec native played to a 2.19 GAA and .918 SV% with 5 shutouts.
A captain with the Vees and Bemidji State this season in his senior year, Sillinger has had his best offensive season in his fourth year with the Beavers, registering 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points in 22 games played. The Regina, Saskatchewan native played for three seasons, scoring 66 goals and 87 assists for 153 points in 176 career regular season games in Penticton.
On pace for his best goal scoring season in his collegiate career, Ward has registered 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points in 20 games played this season with the Mavericks in his 4th season at UNO. The Kelowna, BC product played for three seasons with the Vees, playing in 160 career regular season games with 35 goals and 41 assists for 76 points in Penticton.
Fan voting for the Hobey Baker Award takes place at hobeybaker.com with the Top 10 candidates being announced after the first round of voting on Friday, March 6th.
The Vees (21-5-0-2) return to action on Saturday night with their first trip south of the border this season to face-off against the Wenatchee Wild (9-11-4-1) at the Town Toyota Center. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM with the game being broadcast live on Bounce Radio 800 as well as streamed on BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 5:40 PM.
