OK, I know the Maine fans will shudder at my having brought this up so early :-), but bear with me (pun intended). I talked to a couple of people about this this weekend. They all say the same thing: he's a deserving candidate, but "he's only a freshman". I can't figure this out. Kariya is far and away the leading scorer in the nation with 8-21--29, and most of his assists come when he feeds the goal scorer directly. I already mentioned how some folks think he is too good for college hockey - after his first 9 games. From what I've seen, he's the best player on the best team in the country (Jim Montgomery a close second). He's on pace to smash the all-time single season scoring record. So why doesn't he deserve serious consideration? Why can't a freshman win the Hobey? Stauber won it as a sophomore, and he was dominating enough that they had to give it to him. Kariya is just such a player, but the only knock against him getting it is "he's a freshman; we have to give it to upperclassmen." That's ridiculous. If he continues at or near this pace, he would easily get my vote. I still think it's possible he will tail off and that Montgomery will emerge as Maine's best candidate due to experience, but Kariya shows no signs of tailing off yet - 4 points in the big weekend series against BU. Some have compared him to Brian Leetch in his only season at BC as being a similar playmaker. Kariya is not as good a defensive player, but then again he's not a defenseman. His job is to set up Maine's truckload of goalscorers, and he does that better than anyone I've seen in a long while. Having seen both, I think Kariya is an even better playmaker than Leetch. BTW, Leetch had 9-38--47 in 37 games with BC in 1986-87 and won the HE Player of the Year. And when Kariya gets the puck with a decent scoring chance, forget it, it's buried; that is, unless he somehow uses that Gretzky-like sense to find a Montgomery or Ingraham with an even better opportunity. Another possible roadblock is that no league has ever produced three straight Hobey winners, and I don't know how voters from other conferences feel about awarding it to a HE player for the third straight year. It's also possible that Maine would push Montgomery instead because he's their captain and a senior. But the way things stand, Kariya is the best IMO. If that remains the same come March, I think it would be a shame not to give it to him. --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors (Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.) *HMN*