Cam Atkinson Named Hobey Baker Award Hat Trick Finalist

Congrats to BC's Cam Atkinson, who has been named one of three finalists for this year's Hobey Baker Award. Atkinson joins North Dakota's Matt Frattin and Miami's Andy Miele as this year's top three finalists.

Atkinson finished the year as the Eagles' top scorer, registering 52 points - 31 goals and 21 assists - in 39 games. He finishes his career with 124 points and 68 goals in 117 games.

Inside College Hockey breaks down why Cam will win this year's Hobey Baker:

"You may not find a more consistent player in college hockey in terms of offensive production-he had 15 goals and 11 assists in the first half of the season and 16 goals and 10 assists in the second half, and was held scoreless in back-to-back games on just one occasion. Atkinson could also give his team a boost when needed; in the seven games immediately following Boston College losses this season, Atkinson had four goals and five assists."

Working against his chances are the fact that he wasn't even named Hockey East Player of the Year (he was robbed!) and BC's first round exit in this year's NCAA Tournament. Every year is different though. Some years the Committee seems to put a disproportionate amount of weight on postseason results while other years, regular season performance is weighted more heavily (cough, Ryan Miller, cough).

Atkinson is going up against North Dakota's Matt Frattin, the nation's leading scorer with 36 goals and Miami's Andy Miele, who has an absurd 71 total points this season.

You could probably question whether any of these three players are the most valuable on their respective teams. BC has goalie John Muse and fellow linemate Brian Gibbons. North Dakota has goalie Aaron Dell. Miami has Carter Camper, who was also one of this year's top 10 finalists for the award.

If I had to wager a guess, my gut tells me Matt Frattin wins this year's Hobey Baker with Miele finishing second. Statistically, Atkinson has the weakest of the three resumes and Frattin has his team in the Frozen Four while BC and Miami are sitting home.

The 2011 award winner will be announced on Friday, April 8 at the Frozen Four in St. Paul. The announcement will air on ESPNU at 6 PM Eastern.

The school lays claim to just two Hobey Baker Award winners -- David Emma (1991) and Mike Mottau (2000). Atkinson is only the 17th player to be named as a Hobey Baker finalist and the first since Gerbe achieved the feat three years ago.