Staff
Ryan Faragher is riding a five-star wave being churned up by his fans in an effort to be named America’s best college hockey player.
The Fort Frances native and starting goalie for the NCAA Division I St. Cloud State (Minn.) Huskies has moved into first place among the 68 candidates for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award in online fan balloting.
He had 7,574 votes as of yesterday morning.
Faragher was in fourth place at this time last week, but a wellspring of support has lifted him to the top of the charts.
Last week’s leader, defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere of the Union College Dutchmen from Schenectady, N.Y., dropped to second place (7,303).
Defenceman Ben Hutton of the Maine Black Bears (7,144) and forward Johnny Gaudreau of the Boston College Eagles (6,979) also both fell one spot to third and fourth, respectively.
The Hobey Baker selection committee will use the vote count as part of their determination of which players will advance to the top 10.
Faragher is sporting a 12-4-3 record with the Huskies so far this season, with a 2.45 GAA and .909 save percentage.
His work between the pipes is a main reason St. Cloud State currently is ranked No. 5 in all of Division I men’s hockey.
The Huskies trail only the top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers, Gaudreau’s No. 2-ranked Eagles, the No. 3-rated Qunnipiac Bobcats (Hamden, Conn.), and Gostisbehere’s Dutchmen at No. 4.
Visit www.hobeybaker.com and click on the “So Vote Hobey Now” link on the home page.
Then find Faragher’s picture (fourth row from the bottom) and click on the “Vote” link.
People are allowed to vote once a day from each IP address.
The award will be handed out April 11.
