Plante is seventh Bulldog to win award as college hockey’s top player

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Committee announced today that the 2026 recipient of college hockey’s top individual award is Max Plante from the University of Minnesota Duluth. The announcement came during a live broadcast on NHL Network and hobeybaker.com.

An outstanding second year player, the sophomore forward from Hermantown, Minnesota has been one of the top scorers in the nation all season long. Teamed up with his brother Zam and Jayson Shaugabay, the trio formed one of the most formidable forward lines across college hockey this past season. Max proved early on this was going to be a special year as he collected points in 11 of his first 13 games of the season.

As the Bulldogs closed out the season with a one-goal loss to Michigan in the NCAA Albany Regional final, Max completed the season with 25 goals and 27 assists for 52 points in 40 games. That positions him third in the nation in points and tied for second in goals. He averaged 3.8 shots per game (152 total) to finish third in the country in shots. He was also top ten in the nation in game winning goals (6), power play goals (8), short-handed goals (2) – all while averaging 1.30 points per game, eighth in the nation. Plante also produced 15 multi-point games.

Plante was recognized with a truck-load of awards including: National Collegiate Hockey Conference Player of the Year, NCHC Forward of the Year, First Team all-conference, College Hockey News Player of the Year and he was named the National Forward of the Month for October when he picked up nine goals and nine assists in his first nine games.

Max’s dad Derek was a Hobey Baker top ten finalist in 1993 as a senior for Minnesota Duluth; went on to a nine-year NHL career, plus five seasons in Europe, before landing with the Bulldogs as an assistant coach for seven years and three more seasons as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Max competed for Team USA at the World Junior Championship for two years (2025 and 2026). The NCHC Scholar-Athlete is a Communications major and lends his spare time assisting at youth hockey clinics and learn to play programs. Max is a second-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings (2024).

Hobey Baker was the legendary Princeton (1914) hockey player known as America’s greatest amateur athlete over one hundred years ago. He redefined how the game was played with his coast-to-coast dashes in an era when hockey was contested by seven players and no forward passes. Baker, a member of the U.S. Army’s Air Corp, died testing a repaired aircraft at the end of World War I after he had completed his military service. The Hobey Baker Award criteria include displaying outstanding skills in all phases of the game, strength of character on and off the ice, sportsmanship, and scholastic achievements.

Plante was selected from a group of ten finalists by a 30-member selection committee and online fan balloting.

Past winners: