SCC2009 wrote:i can see 2 mr. hockey awards..... one would go to the best player over all in the state of mn like it should be done now, and one can be given to the best minnesotan that has committed to go to the gophers since the majority now go to players going to the gophers. that award has lost all credibility with me. the players who receive it are great players but it is so damn skewed towards gopher recruits its sickening
I disagree. I'm also not sure why it's so hard to accept that in the state of Minnesota, the best player usually chooses to attend the University of Minnesota. Here are winners since 1998 with the Gophers in Bold. Not sure what you would change?
1998 Johnny Pohl- Had he not won the uproar would have been that he got screwed because he played class A.
1999 Jeff Taffe- The 2nd best player was probably Dan Welch, or possibly Matt Koalska, both were also Gophers.
2000 Paul Martin- Do you really want to debate this one?
2001 Marty Sertich (CC)
2002 Gino Guyer- Dave Backes & Ryan Carter have gone on to better careers, but IMO, Guyer was a no brainer at the time.
2003 Nate Dey (SCSU)
2004 Tom Gorowsky (WI) Won it over Alex Goligoski
2005 Brian Lee (UND) Won it over RJ Anderson, Matt Niskanen and TJ Oshie
2006 David Ficsher- I would argue that Jay Barriball was actually the best player, but he also became a Gopher.
2007 Ryan McDonagh (WI) I thought he deserved it over Gopher commit's Patrick White, Taylor Matson, Mike Dorr, and Nick Larson
2008 Aaron Ness- You could make a great argument for Jake Gardiner but remember it is voted on before the state tourney. Ness was coming off a AA championship the year before and a stellar "senior" season, with Roseau the big favorite going into the state tournament
2009 Nick Leddy- I guess over Ben Hanowski and Anders Lee? I think they got it right.
2010 Nick Bjugstad- Mostly Gopher recruits & Brock Nelson among the finalists. I'd say they got it right.