An awful showing against fellow finalists may have snuffed Mark Cheverie's chances of landing the Hobey Baker Award
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The top ten finalists for college hockey’s best player were announced Thursday, and include two University of Denver Pioneers.
Goaltender Mark Cheverie and forward Rhett Rakhshani joined two players from their WCHA Tournament Final Round opponent Wisconsin. Blake Geoffrion and Brendan Smith of the Badgers joined Cheverie and Rakhshani as finalists for the Hobey Baker Award.
Unfortunately, Mark Cheverie’s chances may have disappeared along with his formerly dominant goaltending after a poor showing on Friday and Saturday.  Wisconsin defeated Denver 6-3 on Saturday to lock up 3rd Place in the conference tournament, and Cheverie’s play was one of the primary reasons for the loss. The WCHA contest serves as a warm up for the NCAA men’s hockey tourney.
The six other Hobey Baker finalists are rounded out by Bobby Butler of New Hampshire, Gustav Nyquist of Maine, Mark Olver of Northern Michigan, Chase Polacek of Rensselaer, Cody Reichard of Miami/Ohio & Ben Scrivens of Cornell.
Rakhshani is still a favorite to grab the award, but Cheverie may be out of the running after a terrible WCHA Tournament.
Mark allowed four goals against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux on Friday night, and followed that poor showing with an atrocity versus Wisconsin Saturday. Cheverie allowed 3 goals on 8 shots in the first period before being pulled from the game. He was replaced in net by Adam Murray.
Rakhshani, however, scored the Pioneers first goal of the game, a Power Play tally early in the 2nd Period. That score pulled Denver to within two goals of Wisconsin before the Badgers pulled ahead 5-1 towards the end of the period. The Pioneers showed their scoring ability by bringing the deficit back to 2 goals at 3-5 early in the 3rd, but couldn’t overcome poor defense and terrible goaltending.
The 4th Place showing in the WCHA Tournament is a blemish on an otherwise brilliant season by the Pioneers. They will still enter the NCAA Tournament as favorites to make the Frozen Four. However, without Cheverie playing at his best, Denver’s chances of a 3rd NCAA Title in 7 seasons will evaporate along with Mark’s hopes of making the Hobey Baker Award final three.
The top three candidates for the Hobey Baker Award will be announced at the Frozen Four on March 31st.
