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Chilliwack Chief grads all over Hobey Baker fan vote list

Several alums of the BCHL club are in the mix for the top award in NCAA Div 1 men’s hockey
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Former Chilliwack Chief Mathieu Caron (left) is one of 84 NCAA Div 1 hockey players in the running for the Hobey Baker award. (Darren Francis photo)

Several Chilliwack Chiefs alums are in the running for the prestigious Hobey Baker award. The annual honour is given to the top player in NCAA Div 1 men’s hockey and a former Chiefs netminder has put together a worthy season. Playing for the Brown University Bears, Mathieu Caron has posted a stingy 2.25 goals-against average and impressive 92.7 save percentage in 19 outings.

The GAA is 22nd best among all NCAA Div 1 keepers and the SP is fifth. Caron’s numbers in his second season with Brown U are well beyond what he did as a freshman when he had a 2.74 GAA and 91.1 SP. The Abbotsford product spent parts of five seasons in Chilliwack between 2016 and 2021 and was part of the Royal Bank Cup championship team in 2018.

Another member of that squad, Anthony Vincent, has enjoyed a breakout season in his senior year. Vincent has collected 13 goals and 24 points in 23 games with the Long Island University Sharks. Vincent played four seasons with the Holy Cross Crusaders prior to this year.

Kevin Wall is wearing an ‘A’ for the Penn State Nittany Lions, and he’s on pace to shatter his career highs and goals and points this season. Wall, who spent the 2018-19 season in Chilliwack, has 12 goals and 24 points in 21 games after producing 16 goals and 29 points in 36 games last year. The 22-year-old forward in his fourth season at Penn State.

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A Wall teammate from 2018-19, Jacques Bouquot, is captaining the Vermont Catamounts and has collected five goals and 13 points in 22 games.

Carter Wilkie, who played in Chilliwack for parts of two seasons (2018 to 2020) is lighting it up in his second season with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Tigers. The 22-year-old Calgary kid has nine goals and 23 points in 22 games.

Players on the Hobey Baker fan ballot with more tenuous ties to Chilliwack include University of Denver forward Massimo Rizzo, Clarkson forward Ayrton Martino and Princeton goaltender Ethan Pearson. All three were part of the Chiefs organization but never logged any regular season games for the BCHL franchise.

Eighty four players in total are up for fan voting, which stays open until midnight on March 26, 2023.

Selected players were nominated by the Div 1 sports information directors for their respective schools.

There are four criteria against which nominees for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award are considered:

- Strength of character, on and off the ice

- Contribution to the integrity of the team and outstanding skills in all phases of the game

- Scholastic achievement and sportsmanship

- Compliance with all NCAA rules, including being a full-time student in an accredited college or university and completing 50 percent or more of the season.

See hobeybaker.com/awards/vote-for-hobey/ for more info.


@ProgressSports
eric.welsh@theprogress.com

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Eric Welsh

About the Author: Eric Welsh

I joined the Chilliwack Progress in 2007, originally hired as a sports reporter.
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