GUSTAV NYQUIST NAMED HOBEY BAKER HAT TRICK FINALIST

PHOTO JEFF SCHOOLS/CMSBMEDIA

ST. PAUL, Minn. -University of Maine men's ice hockey sophomore forward Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) has been named one of the Hobey Hat Trick Finalists, announced on Wednesday by the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation. Nyquist joins New Hampshire's Bobby Butler and Blake Geoffrion of Wisconsin who are the other two finalists for the award. The winner of the 2009 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, honoring college hockey's top player, will be announced at the Frozen Four in Detroit, Mich., on April 9.

Maine has had two Hobey Baker Award winners in school history. Scott Pellerin won the Hobey Baker Award in 1992 and Paul Kariya took home the award the following year in 1993.

"We're very happy and proud of Gustav for earning this tremendous honor," said Maine head coach Tim Whitehead. "He has certainly had a remarkable season helping our team climb back towards where we want to be in the future."

Nyquist leads the nation in scoring with 19 goals and 42 assists for 61 points. His 1.56 points per game also leads the nation. Nyquist's 42 assists are also tops in the nation. He has seven power play goals to go along with four game-winners. Nyquist leads the nation's top-ranked power play, as the Black Bears tallied at a 27.7 percent clip with the man advantage this season.

Nyquist was the lone unanimous selection on the Hockey East First Team. He finished as the league's co-scoring champion with New Hampshire's Bobby Butler and was runner-up for Hockey East Player of the Year. He finished third in the Hockey East Three-Stars Award. Nyquist has also been named to the 2010 All-College Hockey News First Team. He has also been selected to the CollegeHockey247.com All-America First Team.

Nyquist was named the Athletic Republic Hockey East Player of the Month for December. He tallied four goals and added five assists for nine points in Maine's 4-0-1 December. Nyquist was named to the 2009 Florida College Classic All-Tournament Team after leading Maine to the title.




Nyquist's 61 points are the most since Steve Kariya finished with 65 during the 1998-99 season. His 42 assists this past season tied for ninth most in a single season in Maine history.
Nyquist led a Maine team, selected to finish eighth in the 2009 Hockey East Preseason Poll, to a tie for third place in the 2009-10 regular season standings. Maine finished with a record of 19-17-3 and earned a spot in the Hockey East Finals for the first time since the 2004 season. Maine has been ranked as high as 12th in the nation this season.

Nyquist tallied a point in 32 of Maine's 39 games this season. He had a goal and four assists for a career-high five points in Maine's 8-4 win over UMass Lowell on Feb. 19. He scored two goals and added two assists in Maine's 5-1 win over Merrimack on Feb. 27. Scored a goal and dished out a pair of assists in games against Michigan State Feb on 16, Princeton on Dec. 29 and Vermont on Jan. 29.

Nyquist has had a scoring streak of 10 games and a pair of seven game streaks this season. He has been held scoreless in back-to-back games just once.

Nyquist has also provided some last minute heroics for the Black Bears this season. On Oct. 17 against Michigan State, he broke a 3-3 tie with a goal at 18:21 of the third period which gave the Black Bears the victory. On Jan. 9, Nyquist scored the game-winning goal with just 17 seconds remaining against Merrimack.

The Hobey Baker Award will be presented on Friday, April 9 at 7:00 PM from Detroit, Mich., at the site of this year's NCAA Frozen Four. The announcement will be televised live on ESPNU.

Criteria for the award include: strength of character on and off the ice, displaying outstanding skills in all phases of the game, along with consideration given for scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF MAINE