To be, or not Hobey? Gerbe makes award results look silly

DENVER -- The Hobey Baker Award was a joke.

Much like the Heisman in college football, voters for college hockey's MVP hardware too often make up their minds before all the games are played.

Nathan Gerbe, who has 11 points in the tourney, jumps for joy after Boston College wins the title game. (Getty Images)

So let's get that fact out of the way after Boston College's Nathan Gerbe made the Frozen Four his personal ice sculpture. Yeah, you might say BC's junior forward has carved out a career for himself after scoring two goals in the championship game, a combined five in the Frozen Four and seven in the NCAA postseason.

Gerbe didn't win hockey's Heisman, nor did he expect to when the award was handed out Friday. Michigan's Kevin Porter had been the sport's dominant player all season. But Gerbe has been the dominant player of the second season -- aka the NCAA tournament that ended with a 4-1 BC win over Notre Dame.

The 5-foot-5, 165-pound forward had eight points (five goals, three assists) in the two Frozen Four games, 11 in the tournament and 68 for the season. His two-game performance in Denver actually allowed Gerbe to pass Porter for the national lead in goals (35) and points per game (1.58).

So, yeah, the Hobey was a joke.

"He's our Hobey," Terrie Gerbe said of her son from Section 132 at the Pepsi Center. "This is better than the Hobey."

The Gerbe clan watched BC clinch its first national championship since 2001, and third all time. The Eagles were this year's destiny team, shocking North Dakota 6-1 and rolling over Notre Dame, which was in the Frozen Four for the first time.

Terrie is as diminutive as her son. But another son, Joey, is normal size and played some minor league hockey. Nathan was the youngest of six children, so naturally Joey and another brother, Jeff, would torment their little bro' while playing pond hockey.

"I think that's where he never gave up," Terrie said. "He'd come in all upset. I'd tell him to just stay here and sit with me, and about one minute he'd be out there again. It's just not giving up."

Nathan is a human can of Red Bull on the ice. Even after BC's first title in seven years he couldn't be stopped, doing some disco dancing next to the national championship trophy.

Stopping Gerbe had to be Job 1 for Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson. In Thursday's semi, Gerbe scored a hat trick in the first 27 minutes against North Dakota.

Those goals were scored mostly with speed and pluck. Against Notre Dame, Gerbe showed a little bit of Brett Hull's ability to find an open spot on the ice. He broke up a scoreless game in the second period with a wrister from below the left faceoff dot that he ripped over Jordan Pearce's shoulder.