Every year, the day before the national championship game brings something special. You got the Hobey Baker announcement, the Hockey Humanitarian Award, the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) All-American team announcement, and just recently added in 2006 was the Frozen Four Skills Challenge.

Hockey Humanitarian Award Winner

For those of you who don’t know about the Humanitarian award it goes to the player who makes significant contributions the ice. This year Will Bruce of Williams College was the recipient. Bruce is a four year letter winner while establishing a 3.81 GPA. On top of that, Bruce earned a two year degree at the University of Oxford in England. Also on the resume was his community service in which he did over 1,200 hours of outside work while volunteering for such organizations as Habitat for Humanity.

AHCA All-American Team

First Team East

G- Kevin Regan, New Hampshire
D- Matt Gilroy, Boston University
D- Mike Moore, Princeton
F- Nathan Gerbe, Boston College
F- Lee Jubinville, Princeton
F- Mike Radja, New Hampshire

Second Team East

G- Josh Kassel, Army
D- Grant Clitsome, Clarkson
D- Brad Flaishans, New Hampshire
F- Bryan Ewing, Boston University
F- Matt Fornataro, New Hampshire
F- Pete MacArthur, Boston University

First Team West

G- Richard Bachman, Colorado College
D- Tyler Eckford,Alaska
D- Jack Hillen, Colorado College
F- Ryan Jones, Miami
F- T.J. Oshie, North Dakota
F- Kevin Porter, Michigan

Second Team West

G- Jeff Lerg, Michigan State
D- Chris Butler, Denver
D- Alec Martinez, Miami
F- Chad Kolarik, Michigan
F- Ryan Lasch, St. Cloud State
F- Chad Rau, Colorado College

And The Hobey Baker Winner Is...

Kevin Porter of Michigan is the 2007-08 recipient of the Hobey Baker. Porter finished second in the country in scoring with 63 points (33 G, 30 A), but it was his leadership on the ice that was the difference. The Wolverines finished 33-6-4 and Porter was one of the key reasons why the team made it as far as they did (Frozen Four semi-finals).

“Our main goal was to come and win a national championship,” Porter said. “This is an amazing honor and a great award but we’re still disappointed in the result, we were hoping to be in the championship game Saturday night.”

Porter could have left early for the pros. However, he decided to stay and win this great award. As a senior, Porter has some advice for those who have to make a decision on going pro or staying in school.

“I think they should really think about staying and getting a degree and hopefully take your team to the Frozen Four,” Porter mentioned. “College is a great time on and off the ice. You meet your best friends and have great memories. I think you should debate whether you leave or stay and hopefully they make the right decision I know I did.”

Frozen Four Skills Challenge

For the third year in a row the Frozen Four put together a skills challenge. Quite an interesting event the day before a national championship game. Featured in this years challenge were Jon Rheault of Providence and Eric Ehn, last years Hobey Hat Trick nominee, of Air Force.

Also, Friday afternoon, Boston College and Notre Dame spoke to the media about the upcoming national championship game.

After an exhilarating 5-4 overtime victory against the top team in the tournament, the Michigan Wolverines, the Irish are off to their first ever national championship game. Quite an accomplishment considering it’s only their first Frozen Four appearance.

“There are so many distractions at an event like this and that continues today,” said Irish coach Jeff Jackson. “Some of them are self-induced: family, friends, and alumni; we appreciate them being here to support us, but it’s really not what it’s all about.

“It’s the time of year when everyone jumps on the bandwagon and you want to make sure that the bandwagon doesn’t roll over you.”

A key for Notre Dame to win this game is to shut down Nathan Gerbe. If they stop him, then they got a good shot to win this game. However, the supporting cast of BC is also good. Guys like Ben Smith, Benn Ferriero and Joe Whitney have had major contributions to this club.

“We’re trying to emulate teams like Boston College and Michigan,” Jackson pointed out. “We want to play an up-tempo style. We’re a good defensive team and we will be a good defensive team as long as I’m coaching. I always believe that offense comes from defense.”

The Notre Dame faithful have come to support the Irish in the Frozen Four. With Michigan and now Boston College, two highly known names in college hockey, the Irish will look to establish themselves Saturday night while they play for all the marbles.

“I’ve always thought that Notre Dame could be a great hockey program,” Jackson noted. “College hockey is a sport where Notre Dame can have great success for a number of reasons.

“First it is the rivalries that you’re talking about, Notre Dame has strong rivalries. Second, recruiting today, most kids playing hockey come from strong financial backgrounds. Those kids are going to good schools and good schools translate into good grades, so we can get them into school.”

On the other side, Jerry York will play for his third straight national title game and his sixth title game in the last 11 years.

It was the last game of the year (before playoffs) however, against Northeastern when the Eagles started to roll. The game was a much needed win to get home ice in the Hockey East tournament. BC prevailed and got the last home ice spot.

“We knew that series was going to be a real battle,” BC defenseman Mike Brennan said about the last game of regular season against Northeastern. “We were trying to hang on for home ice advantage [in the Hockey East playoffs] and we knew we had a tough foe in Northeastern.

“The biggest thing for us was to play our game, and not to get too emotional. The biggest thing was staying focused and coming out and playing our game.”

The Eagles were a team that no one knew what to expect. Some had them in the Frozen Four in the pre-season, some didn’t. The fact that BC has gone this far, without three key players (Brett Motherwell, Brian O’Hanley and Brock Bradford) proves that they can overcome any adversity that comes their way.

“[In the summer] we had a veteran goaltender coming back, an outstanding All-American type forward in Brock Bradford and a returning defenseman in Brett Motherwell,” Eagle coach Jerry York pointed out. “We thought for sure this would be a team that could challenge once again.

“The surprise I had, was losing all three of those players, watching our team develop in skill level, and team level improvement.

“As the season progressed I could see a little more that we could do it this year, once we got through the immaturity. As the season was getting deep in February, in March I thought we had a chance.”

Get ready, folks, the national championship game is coming, and it should be a good one!