UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior goaltender Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) and junior defenseman Cole Hults (Stoughton, Wis.) were each named to the initial list of 78 candidates who were nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award earlier this week.
The award is given annually to the top college hockey player in the nation during a presentation at the Frozen Four.
College hockey fans around the world have their chance to voice their opinions as the Phase I fan voting period is open now through Monday, March 9, 2020. You can vote once per day, per device throughout the entire period. VOTE HERE!
Following the conclusion of Phase I, the list of players will be narrowed to a Top-10 and that announcement will be made on March 18, 2020. Phase II fan voting on the Top-10 will take place from March 18 – March 29. The fans' vote accounts for a full one percent of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year's award recipient.
The Hobey Hat Trick will be announced on April 2 with the Hobey Baker Memorial Award being presented to the winner on April 10, 2020 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championships in Detroit, Mich.
This marks the second time in his career that Jones has been nominated after earning the same distinction as a freshman while Hults is making his first appearance on the list of nominees.
Jones, who holds nearly every goaltending record at Penn State, is currently having a career year leading the Big Ten and ranking tied for fourth in the nation with his 14 wins this season while his 72 career victories are the most among active goaltenders across the nation.
The senior's 38 career Big Ten victories are also a new league standard as he passed Eric Shierhorn's total of 34 back in November. Coincidentally enough, Jones registered career Big Ten win's 34 and 35 against Minnesota at Mariucci Arena back in November.
Jones' .926 save percentage and 2.37 goals against average are current career bests while both rank fourth in the Big Ten and good for 16th and 29th in the nation, respectively.
Hults currently leads the entire Big Ten with a plus-15 rating, good for 11th nationally, but tied for fifth among blue-liners.
The junior is currently on pace to shatter his career-high for points as he leads all Big Ten defensemen and ranks eighth in the conference with 19 points through the first 22 games this season on four goals and 15 assists. His point total is also tied for eighth nationally among defensemen. Hults' 15 assists are the third highest mark in the Big Ten and tops among defensemen while his four goals rank tied for third among blue-liners in the conference.
Earlier this year, Hults became the Penn State all-time leader in points by a defenseman, a record which now stands at 67. Hults' 54 career assists are also the most-ever by a Nittany Lion blue-liner and rank tied for sixth all-time in program history. The junior is just 11 points shy of Vince Pedrie's single-season program record for points by a defenseman with at least 14 games remaining on the schedule.
Hults is currently riding a mini three-game point streak and has at least one point in six of his last eight games.
Penn State resumes conference play this weekend with a pair of games against Michigan at Pegula Ice Arena. Verified resale tickets are available on ticketmaster.com while standing room only tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-NITTANY.
