Nice to see two western players make the top three, I would have to say that
Leopold probably will be the favorite.
Jim Love wrote:

> Hi all -
>
> Clipped from this morning's Minn/St. Paul Star Tribune:
>
> Leopold, Hartigan, Haydar are Hobey Baker Finalists
> Rachel Blount / Star Tribune
>
> The Hobey Baker Award committee announced today that Gophers defenseman
> Jordan Leopold, St. Cloud State forward Mark Hartigan, and New Hampshire
> forward Darren Haydar are the finalists for the award given to college
> hockey's top player.
>
>   [Well, it's nice to see that the Hobey people have at least learned how
> to spell Darren's name ....]
>
> Leopold, a senior from Golden Valley, is tied for the NCAA DivI scoring
> lead among defensemen with 46 points. His 20 goals this season set a
> Gophers record for most goals by a defenseman in a season.
>
> Haydar, a senior and the WCHA player of the year, leads the nation with
> 76 points, and was chosen the Hockey East player of the year.
>
>   [How special that Darren can be named 'Player of the Year' in a league
> he doesn't even play in !!!]
>
> Both players also were Hobey finalists last season, and both will play in
> the NCAA Frozen Four on April 4-6 at Xcel Energy Center.
>
>   [That's funny; I don't recall Darren being a finalist last year, unless
> somehow he shrank a foot over the off-season and gave up the goalie pads
> for a spot on the 1st line ....]
>
>   Sigh .... I guess it's too much to ask that the author of such a piece
> actually proof her work before committing such an atrociously error-
> filled article to print.  This is what happens when kids raised on "whole
> language" curricula grow up to be reporters :-(
>
>   Cheers from the Chesapeake - Jim
>
>   GO BLUE !!!!!