ANAHEIM, Calif. – University of Maine senior right wing and Hobey Baker Award finalist Steve Kariya said the right man won the award: New Hampshire senior center Jason Krog.

“I’m very happy for him. If I was a voter, I definitely wou “I’m very happy for him. If I was a voter, I definitely would have voted for him,” said Kariya. “He’s the best player in college hockey. He means so much to his team. He’s the big factor in them getting to the NCAA championship game.”

New Hampshire coach Dick Umile credited assistant coach Brian McCloskey with finding Krog and enticing him to attend UNH. But he stopped short of predicting greatness for Krog when he first saw him in a Wildcats uniform.

“To be honest, after the first three or four weeks of practice, I was wondering about him,” smiled Umile.

He isn’t wondering any more.

Krog became the school’s first Hobey Baker Award winner thanks to a phenomenal season in which he has led the country in scoring.

The award is presented annually to college hockey’s most outstanding division I player.

The 5-foot-11, 191-pound center from Fernie, British Columbia, enters Saturday’s the national championship game against Maine with 34 goals and 50 assists in 40 games.

“He has great offensive skills,” said Mighty Ducks of Anaheim General Manager Dave McNab.

Krog called it an, “unbelievable honor that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

He thanked his family, coaches, teammates, fans and the selection committee and praised the other nine finalists.

“It’s an honor to be associated with such great hockey players,” said Krog. “I’d like to thank my teammates for making this season so successful and enjoyable. It is as much their award as it is mine.”

Michigan State center Michael York was the runner-up.

Umile called Krog a “special person” and said he has always played the game with a high level of respect for his teammates and opponents.

“He leads by example,” said Umile.

Merrimack coach Chris Serino, a former UNH assistant, said K Merrimack coach Chris Serino, a former UNH assistant, said Krog is a, “great player and an even better person.”

Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder said Krog, “does things very few others can do like make backhand passes. He does all the little things well.”

Krog said the most satisfying aspect of the award and the season has been the fact “the preseason polls had us picked in the middle of the league. And we weren’t nationally ranked. We lost a lot of offense off last year’s team but everybody stepped up their game.”

He said he worked hard over the summer to prepare for his senior year and it has paid off for him.

Kristine Pierce, an All-American defenseman at the Rochester Institute of Technology, was named the winner of the Hockey Humanitarian Award.

In eight years of volunteerism, Pierce has put in 485 hours through 199 separate activities.

She has been involved in the Big Brother-Big Sister program; two soup kitchens, fall clean-up projects and girls hockey clinics.

Pierce played one year for Maine women’s coach Rick Filighera before redshirting the next season with Hodgkin’s disease.

“He was a phenomenal coach and a phenomenal guy. He was really supportive when I had Hodgkin’s disease,” said Pierce, who considered her award a great honor and urged people to help the needy and exhibit compassion for them.

The 1997-98 Clarkson University men’s hockey team received a special award for helping its community during the ice storm.

HOBEY BAKER WINNERS 1981-Neal Broten, Minnesota, F 1982-George McPhee, Bowling Green, F 1983-Mark Fusco, Harvard, D 1984-Tom Kurvers, Minnesota-Duluth, D 1985-Bill Watson, Minnesota-Duluth, F 1986-Scott Fusco, Harvard, F 1987-Tony Hrkac, North Dakota, F 1988-Robb Stauber, Minnesota, G 1989-Lane MacDonald, Harvard, F 1990-Kip Miller, Michigan St., F 1991-David Emma, Boston College, F 1992-Scott Pellerin, Maine, F 1993-Paul Kariya, Maine, F 1994-Chris Marinucci, Minn.-Duluth, F 1995-Brian Holzinger, Bowling Green, F 1996-Brian Bonin, Minnesota, F 1997-Brendan Morrison, Michigan, F 1998-Chris Drury, Boston University, F 1999-Jason Krog, New Hampshire, C