The cherry on top of a shit sundae, but good for Kevin nonetheless.

Posted under Hockey

Kevin Porter was announced today as a finalist for the 2008 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, honoring college hockey’s top player. The winner of the Hobey Baker award will be announced live on ESPNU Friday the 11th at 7:30 Eastern. Here’s what the Hobey Baker Foundation had to say about Porter:

Kevin Porter of Michigan is a senior forward who almost single-handedly helped Michigan to their national record 23rd Frozen Four. Last weekend in two games at the East Regional, Porter had a hand in six of the seven Michigan goals, bagging five goals and one assist, including four goals in a 5-1 win over Niagara. He is the nation’s scoring leader in points and goals with 33 goals, 29 assists for 62 points in 42 games. Porter sits second in the nation with 15 power-play goals; has recorded 18 multiple-point games and has a plus-minus of +33. His steady, consistent two-way play didn’t go unnoticed as he was named the CCHA Player of the Year and was a finalist for the league’s Best Defensive Forward. The First Team CCHA honoree was named the Hockey Commissioners January National Player of the Month. From Northville, Michigan, Porter is a draft pick of Phoenix. A general studies major, Kevin spends time with visits to Mott Children’s Hospital and volunteers for various Make-A-Wish Foundation activities.

If Porter doesn’t win the award, it’s an even worse sham than Hensick not making the Hat Trick last year.

Posted under Hockey

Behind the spectacular play of netminder Billy Sauer, and another solid performance from soon-to-be Hobey Baker winner Kevin Porter (vote here), Michigan defeated Clarkson Saturday night to advance to the Frozen Four. Aaron Palushaj and Porter gave Michigan two goals, which would up being more than enough to get them the victory. Even a 6-on-3 advantage for the Golden Knights late in the third could not help them decode Sauer, who made 27 saves on the night.

The east regional team consists of four Wolverines, with Sauer and Porter (obvious choices) representing the Wolverines along with teammates Chad Kolarik and Mark Mitera. The Wolverines will advance from the regional to play in the Frozen Four in Denver on April 10th.

Also advancing to the Frozen Four are the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. They defeated Michigan State by a 3-1 count in the West Regional. Michigan will face them in the semifinal game. This works out best for Michigan, as State was one of the few teams that managed to give them trouble over the course of the year (Michigan went 1-2-1 against the Spartans on the season).

On the other side of the Frozen Four, tonight’s games will determine whether North Dakota or Wisconsin and Miami or Boston College will advance to Denver. Michigan fans will probably be pulling for Wisconsin on the one side (a much worse team than North Dakota, and the Sioux have been a Michigan-killer over the past couple years), and Miami on the other (Michigan had a lot of success against Miami this year, with the only non-win being a Shegos-reffed tie). Michigan also beat Boston College in October, but did not have a chance to develop consistency in beating them.

Posted under Hockey

Tonight, Michigan kicks off its 2008 NCAA tournament quest, taking on the #16-overall seed in Niagara. For a full preview of the tournament, check out the Blog that Yost Built.

Don’t forget to vote for Kevin Porter in the Hobey Baker balloting, though he is in a pretty deep hole.

Finally, to get hyped up for the game tonight (and tomorrow if Michigan wins), accept my offering of the highlights from every game that was on WOLV this year:
Western Ontario
Alaska
Bowling Green
NTDP
Western Michigan
Northern Michigan
Nebraska-Omaha

Oooooooooooooooooooooh, see ya.

Posted under Hockey, Video

Michigan Senior Kevin Porter has been named to this list of Ten semi-finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey’s top individual honor. Porter leads the nation in scoring. Here’s what the Hobey Baker folks have to say about Kevin:

Kevin Porter – Michigan, Senior, Forward, Northville, Michigan
Consistency defines the nation’s leading scorer as the Wolverine captain has produced points in all but six of the 38 games he’s played. Porter helped guide his team to the CCHA regular season title and is a finalist for the league’s Player of the Year award and Best Defensive Forward award. He was also named to the CCHA First Team.

• In 38 games, has 28 goals, 28 assists for 56 points – 14 PPG is third in nation
• Second in the country in goals and tied for ninth in assists – 16 multi-point games
• Was third in the nation in scoring last year – Phoenix draft pick

To vote for Porter in the Hobey Baker semifinals, visit the official website. Porter and the Wolverines will take on Miami in the CCHA finals tonight at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Fans can catch the game on FSN Detroit at 7:35.

Posted under Hockey