Pietila named Hobey Baker Candidate
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech senior goaltender Blake Pietila is a candidate for the 2023 Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey's top player. The Hobey Baker's tremendously popular fan-voting will run from now until Sunday, March 5 at hobeybaker.com/vote. Pietila is on the ballot for the third straight season.
Follow the prompts to make your selection from this year's outstanding crop of over 80 college hockey players representing 43 NCAA Division I schools. Please spend some additional time checking out the detailed bios by following the links on each candidate at hobeybaker.com/2023-nominees/
Pietila is a senior from Howell, Michigan, and has started 23 of Tech's 25 games this season. He leads the nation with five shutouts, is sixth nationally with 14 wins, sixth in minutes played, 11th in save percentage (.924), 14th in winning percentage (.652), and 14th in goals-against average (2.12). A mechanical engineering major, Pietila had a 4.0 grade-point average in the fall and holds a 3.2 cumulative GPA.
Pietila was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Month for October, the CCHA Goaltender of the Week three times, and the Most Valuable Player of the Desert Hockey Classic. For his career, he has been a two-time finalist for the Mike Richter Award and is on the 2023 Mike Richter Award Watch List again this season. He has been named to the CCHA and WCHA All-Academic Teams over the past two seasons.
Pietila was an All-CCHA Second Team selection as a junior and holds the Michigan Tech record for shutouts in a career (15) and season (7). As a sophomore, he broke the school records for the best save percentage (.934) and goals-against average (1.81) for a season.
Phase two of fan balloting will come from the list of Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists beginning March 17 and closing March 26. The fans' vote accounts for a percentage of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year's award recipient.
Award criteria include candidates exhibiting the exceptional character traits of the award's namesake, Hobey Baker. A legendary American hero, Baker was a World War I fighter pilot and was known as America's greatest amateur athlete in his day, excelling at hockey and football at Princeton University. Award candidates must demonstrate strength of character both on and off the ice, contribute to the integrity of his team and display outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Consideration should be given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.
Key Hobey Baker announcement dates for 2023 include:
- Top Ten list of finalists: March 15
- Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists: March 30
- Hobey Baker Award announcement: April 7
The 2023 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on Friday, April 7, 2023 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championship in Tampa Bay, FL. The award ceremony will be broadcast nationally on NHL Network and streamed live at hobeybaker.com. For more info on the Hobey Baker Award please visit www.hobeybaker.com. Be sure to also follow Hobey Baker on Twitter for more updates.