Duncan, Ehn, Brown named Hobey Baker Award finalists

Mar 29, 2007 - 12:20 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Ryan Duncan has his eyes on two prizes this weekend.

With his North Dakota Fighting Sioux also challenging for the NCAA championship, Duncan on Wednesday was named one of three finalists for the 2007 Hobey Baker Award.

Air Force forward Eric Ehn and Notre Dame goaltender David Brown also are in contention for the award, which is given annually to the top college player in the United States. The winner will be announced Friday, April 6, one day after North Dakota takes on Boston College in the semifinals of the Frozen Four tournament.

A 21-year-old sophomore, Duncan has recorded 31 goals and 26 assists in 42 games for North Dakota this season. Named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Year after leading the conference in points, goals, power-play tallies and game-winners, he is second in the nation in goals and fourth in points.

The 5-8, 155-pound Duncan also is second in the country with 17 power-play tallies. He is looking to follow Tony Hrkac (1987) as the only members of the Fighting Sioux to win the Hobey Baker Award.

Ehn, 23, is second in the nation in assists (40) and points (64) in 40 games. The junior led the Atlantic Hockey Association in goals, assists and points, a category in which he set a conference record.

The AHA Player of the Year, Ehn helped lead the Falcons to their first NCAA tournament appearance this season. He won an impressive 63 percent of his faceoffs and is the first service academy player to be named one of the three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award.

"This is a huge honor on the personal level, but is even bigger for the team and the program," Ehn said. "Any time you get recognized for any award is great, especially one as big as this. I could not be happier for the team to get this kind of recognition and publicity. Hockey is certainly not a game played by one guy, and I think recognition like this shows that we have some pretty good hockey players with some talent here at the Academy."

A 22-year-old senior, Brown posted a 30-6-3 record with a nation-leading 1.58 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 39 contests this campaign. An eighth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2004, he guided the Fighting Irish to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championship and playoff title - both firsts in school history.

The CCHA Player of the Year, Brown also helped Notre Dame to its first NCAA tournament victory, a 3-2 triumph over Alabama-Huntsville in double overtime on Friday. He leaves the Fighting Irish as the school's all-time leader in GAA (2.32), save percentage (.916) and shutouts (12), while placing second with 55 victories.