Makar Chosen As Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts hockey sophomore defenseman Cale Makar has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2019 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, the top honor in Division I college hockey. Makar is just the second Minuteman in program history to be named a finalist, joining UMass Hall of Famer and All-American Thomas Poeck who was a Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist in 2004.

Makar, who earlier today earned Hockey East's only unanimous selection as a First Team All-Star, has helped elevate Massachusetts hockey to unprecedented success in 2018-19, including program records in wins, conference wins and the team's first-ever Hockey East Regular Season Championship. Through 36 games, he leads Hockey East in scoring with 46 points, ranking sixth in the nation in points per-game (1.28), fifth in assists per-game (0.86), second in defenseman scoring and tied for third in plus-minus (+30).

The Calgary, Alberta native has broken UMass' single-season records for points by a defenseman and assists by a defenseman this year, marks previously held by Poeck. He is currently tied for third in program history for single-season assists, as well, with 31, and is top-10 for single-season points.

Makar totaled 30 points in 24 Hockey East games on eight goals and 21 assists, ranking second in points per-game (1.25) and first in plus-minus (+21). He was recognized as Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week three times this season, Player of the Week twice and was the Hockey East Player of the Month in October.

The 2018-19 Massachusetts alternate captain has guided the Minutemen to their first No. 1 ranking in school history in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, and the current No. 2 ranking in Pairwise. His 15 tallies this season have bolstered UMass' highest goals total (139) in the program's Hockey East era. Nationally, the Minutemen ranked third in scoring offense (3.86), eighth in scoring defense (2.06), third in scoring margin (1.81), second in power play (29.1) and seventh in penalty kill (86.9).

Makar, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche, was recently named No. 1 on ESPN's list of Top 50 NHL Drafted Prospects. As a freshman in 2017-18, Makar was a Hockey East Third-Team All-Star and an All-Rookie Team honoree and won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he was one of Canada's three Players of the Tournament and a World Junior Media All-Star Team selection.

Phase II of Hobey Baker fan voting has opened at www.hobeybaker.com/vote where votes can be cast daily.

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Players Mentioned

Cale Makar

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University of Massachusets Athletics