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DENVER – Michigan senior forward Kevin Porter didn’t get all the hardware he wanted at the NCAA Frozen Four, but he did walk away with the Hobey Baker Memorial Award – college hockey’s version of the Heisman.

Porter, from Northville, Mich., beat out Boston College forward Nathan Gerbe of Oxford and Miami (Ohio) forward Ryan Jones for the award, which was announced live on ESPNU at the Pepsi Center.

Porter joined former Michigan standout Brendan Morrison as Michigan’s only Hobey winners. Morrison won the award in 1997.

As captain, Porter led a team with 11 freshmen to Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season and playoff titles and a trip to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2003.

Porter had an assist in Michigan’s 5-4 overtime loss to Notre Dame on Thursday and finished the season with 33 goals and 30 assists.

Porter and linemate, roommate and best friend Chad Kolarik became the first pair of 30-goal scorers since 1996-97, when Morrison had 31 goals and Jason Botterill potted 37. The 5-foot-5 Gerbe certainly showed Thursday why he was a Hobey finalist. He had a hat trick and an assist to lead Boston College to a 6-1 victory over North Dakota.

Gerbe’s four-point effort put him past Porter into the national lead for points (64). He could add to that tonight when Boston College plays Notre Dame for the national title.

Asked about the Hobey at a morning practice, Gerbe said: “You never make a team goal for individual players to win awards. I’ve had a great supporting cast around me.

“We still have one goal and that’s not the Hobey.”



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AP-NY-04-11-08 2026EDT

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