I guess none of you own a Drop the Puck yearbook ... <g>
 
I can identify 12 occasions on which a goalie has been a Hobey
finalist. They are as follows:
 
1981 Bill Provencher, Bowdoin
1982 Ron Scott, MSU
1983 Ron Scott, MSU
1984 Jon Casey, UND; Cleon Daskalakis, BU
1986 Chris Terreri, Prov.
1988 Robb Stauber, Minn (winner)
1989 Robb Stauber, Minn
1992 Darrin Madeley, LSSU
1994 Neil Little, RPI; Jamie Ram, M.Tech; Dwayne Roloson (UM-L)
 
I have no idea what position Steve Carroll (Mankato St.),
Mark Hentges (St. Thomas) or Rick Strack (Plattsburgh) played,
all of whom were 1981 nominees.
 
As for a Hobey jinx, is it any different than the Heisman Trophy?
Although the winners haven't been blessed with good fortune
(Lane MacDonald's migraines, Mark Fusco's contract squabbles and
Scott Fusco's contract squabbles all come to mind - although all
of them will probably make more money not playing hockey than
most NHL players make playing it), there are plenty of
successful nominees, including:
 
1993 Ted Drury, Greg Johnson, Derek Plante, David Sacco, Bryan Smolinski
1991 Jim Dowd, Shawn McEachern, Joe Juneau
1990 Rob Blake, Nelson Emerson
1989 Stauber, Tim Sweeney
1988 Paul Ranheim
1987 John Cullen, Tony Granto, Craig Janney, Brian Leetch, Joe Nieuwendyk
1986 Mike Donnelly, Brett Hull, Norm Maciver, Terreri
1985 Kelly Miller, Adam Oates, Craig Simpson
1984 Tom Kurvers, Jon Casey, Joel Otto
1983 Scott Bjugstad, Bob Brooke, Bryan Erickson, James Patrick, Randy Velischek
1982 George McPhee, Ed Beers, Kirk McCaskill (oops, wrong sport), Dave Poulin
1981 Neil Broten, Steve Bozek
 
All of these guys had a pretty good cup of coffee, at least (and I
probably missed someone). I think the lack of Hobey winners in the NHL
reflects the type of player who wins (small, flashy forwards), the
difficulty in adjusting to the NHL for any college finesse player
(think about it - how many are scorers in the NHL?) and the fact
that voters are definitely not concerned w/pro potential.
 
Geoff Howell
The Trenton Times
Drop the Puck