ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gustav Myquist is in some pretty elite company.

The University of Maine sophomore forward from Malmo, Sweden is one of the Hobey Hat Trick Finalists, announced Wednesday by the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation.

Nyquist joins New Hampshire’s Bobby Butler and Blake Geoffrion of Wisconsin as finalists for the prestigious award.

Two Maine players have previously won the Hobey Baker Award: Scott Pellerin in 1992 and Paul Kariya in 1993.

“We’re very happy and proud of Gustav for earning this tremendous honor,” Maine coach Tim Whitehead said in a news release Wednesday. “He has certainly had a remarkable season helping our team climb back towards where we want to be in the future.”

Nyquist leads the nation in scoring (19 goals and 42 assists for 61 points), points per game (1.56) and assists (42). He has seven power play goals to go along with four game-winners.

Nyquist led the nation’s top-ranked power play, as the Black Bears tallied at a 27.7 percent clip with the man advantage this season.

He was the lone unanimous selection on the Hockey East first team. He finished as the league’s co-scoring champion with Butler, and was runner-up for Hockey East Player of the Year.

Nyquist has also been named to the 2010 All-College Hockey News First Team. He has also been selected to the CollegeHockey247.com All-America First Team.

He tallied at least a point in 32 of Maine’s 39 games this season. He had a goal and four assists for a career-high five points in Maine’s 8-4 win over Lowell on Feb. 19. He scored two goals and added two assists in Maine’s 5-1 win over Merrimack on Feb. 27, and he scored a goal and dished out a pair of assists in games against Michigan State Feb on 16, Princeton on Dec. 29 and Vermont on Jan. 29.

Nyquist has had a scoring streak of 10 games and a pair of seven game streaks this season. He has been held scoreless in back-to-back games just once.

The Hobey Baker Award will be presented on Friday, April 9 at 7 p.m. in Detroit, at the site of this year’s NCAA Frozen Four. The announcement will be televised live on ESPNU.

Criteria for the award include strength of character on and off the ice, outstanding skills in all phases of the game, and consideration is given for scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.