Baker candidates named

BOSTON – Five seniors and five juniors were named Friday as candidates for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, which goes to the nation’s top college hockey player.

The winner of the award will be announced April 1 after the NCAA championship game in Detroit.

Nominees from Hockey East are senior left wing Rick Bennett of Providence and junior defenseman Greg Brown and junior center Dave Emma, both of Boston College.

Chosen from the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference were junior goalie Dave Gagnon of Colgate and junior center Joe Juneau of RPI.

The candidates from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association are juior defenseman Rob Blake and senior center Nelson Emerson, both of Bowling Green, and senior center Kip Miller of Michigan State.

The two finalists from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association are senior defenseman Russ Parent of North Dakota and senior center Dave Shields of Denver.

Shields leads WCHA players in overall scoring with 31 goals and 43 assists in 42 games. Parent had nine goals and 45 assists in 40 games.

Brown, who led Boston College to its fifth Hockey East regular-season championship in six years, also was named Friday as the conference’s player of the year for the second straight season.

Lane MacDonald of Harvard, which won the NCAA championship last season, won the Hobey Baker Award in 1989.