St. Paul, Minn. – It’s Hobey Baker time as fan balloting opened for the 2026 Hobey Baker Award.
The Hobey Baker’s tremendously popular fan-voting will run from now until Sunday, March 8 at midnight. College hockey fans can cast their vote by going to the voting website hobeybaker.com/vote. Fans can find their favorite player, then text to vote by following the instructions. Fans can select from this year’s outstanding crop of 87 college hockey players representing 48 NCAA Division I schools. Please spend some additional time to check out the detailed bios on each candidate.
The Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey’s top player, will have a second phase of fan balloting coming from the list of Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists beginning March 18 and closing March 29.
Award criteria include candidates exhibiting the exceptional character traits of the award’s namesake, Hobey Baker. A legendary American hero, Baker was a World War I fighter pilot and was known as America’s greatest amateur athlete in his day, excelling at hockey and football at Princeton University. Award candidates must demonstrate strength of character both on and off the ice, contribute to the integrity of his team and display outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Consideration should be given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.
Key Hobey Baker announcement dates for 2026 include:
- Top Ten list of finalists: March 18
- Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists: April 2
- Hobey Baker Award announcement: April 10
The 2026 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on Friday, April 10, 2026 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championship in Las Vegas, NV. The award ceremony will be broadcast nationally on NHL Network and streamed live at hobeybaker.com. For more info on the Hobey Baker Award please visit www.hobeybaker.com. To access the Hobey logo and trophy photos, please visit www.hobeybaker.com/media.
The candidates listed are based on nominations from their respective schools. Not all schools choose to participate in the Vote for Hobey campaign.
