DURHAM – University of New Hampshire hockey fans have been calling him “Hobey Haydar” all season. Now, UNH senior center Darren Haydar is one step closer to laying official claim to that title.

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Committee announced yesterday that Haydar is one of three finalists for the honor, joining St. Cloud State’s Mark Hartigan and Minnesota’s Jordan Leopold.

“I think he’s got a real good shot at it,” UNH coach Dick Umile said. “I think he’s the guy in the East. He can’t do anymore than he’s done.”

The announcement will be made Friday, April 5 in St. Paul, Minn., on the off day between the NCAA semifinals and championship game.

The Wildcats, 30-6-3 and No. 1 in the nation, face archrival Maine Thursday at 1:30 p.m. for the right to play Saturday.

Haydar leads UNH in scoring with a national-best 76 points on 31 goals and 45 assists. The captain of the Wildcats and Hockey East Player of the Year, Haydar has averaged 1.95 points per game, also a national best.

While he has been an MVP in three tournaments this season, Haydar is also a star off the ice as an active participant in community activities and academics. Haydar has also been durable, playing in a school-record 157 straight games, his entire career.

For Haydar, the Hobey would be nice, but the NCAA title is heaven.

“It’s great to be a part of it. It’s a great honor,” Haydar said. “The national championship is definitely a higher level than the Hobey Baker. The Hobey Baker is for an individual and hockey is a team game.”

That’s not to say Haydar hasn’t thought about what it would be like to hoist the hardware.

“I’ve thought about it. It would be fun,” he said. “It’s just something you can look back on and have that award. It’d be nice to have in the trophy case.”

The Wildcats have had one Hobey winner, Jason Krog in 1999. Haydar was a freshman on Krog’s line for a UNH team that fell to Maine 3-2 in the NCAA title game.

St. Cloud’s Hartigan is a junior forward boasting the nation’s top goal-production with 37. He added 38 assists for 75 points, with a national-high of six shorthanded goals. He was the WCHA Player of the Year.

With St. Cloud eliminated last weekend in the West Regional, Hartigan signed a pro contract with the Atlanta Thrashers yesterday.

A senior defenseman with the Golden Gophers, Leopold is a sleeper pick for the Hobey. A finalist for the award last season, Leopold has scored the most points of any defenseman in the country with 20-26-46.

Leopold is the captain of Minnesota, which will play Michigan in Thursday’s 7:30 semifinal. Leopold was WCHA Defensive Player of the Year. The last defenseman to win the Hobey was Boston College’s Mike Mottau two years ago.

The announcement of the award, which is named for former Princeton great and St. Paul’s School star Hobey Baker, will be carried live on Fox Sports Net at 1:30 p.m.

For the first time this year, the field was pared from the initial 10 announced official candidates to the final three. Also new this year, no one will know the winner until that final name is called.

“No one will know until that moment,” Umile said. “It will be great.”