Three forwards for the Gophers are on the ballot for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top player in college hockey. They are sophomore Leon Bristedt, and juniors Hudson Fasching and Justin Kloos.
Also making the 66-player list were Jake Guentzel of Omaha, son of Gophers associate head coach Mike Guentzel; Grant Besse of Wisconsin, the former Benilde-St. Margaret's star; and former Benilde player T.J. Moore of Holy Cross.
Three area schools have two nominees apiece: defenseman Andy Welinski and goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo of Minnesota Duluth, defenseman Ethan Prow and goalie Charlie Lindgren of St. Cloud State, and forwards Drake Caggiula and Nick Schmaltz of North Dakota.
After fan balloting online at hobeybaker.com/vote, which began Wednesday, the nominees will be cut to the top 10 on March 16.
Etc.
• St. Cloud State was picked first in the NSIC preseason baseball coaches' poll. The Huskies received 10 of a possible 14 first-place votes (coaches can't vote for their own team) and 190 points. Minnesota State Mankato, which was picked to win the league the past six seasons, was a close second with five first-place votes and 187 points. Augustana was picked third. Teams start playing Feb. 5.
• Two incoming freshmen for the Gophers next season — outside hitter Brittany McLean of Rosemount and 6-4 middle blocker Regan Pittman of Overland Park, Kan. — are among prepvolleyball.com's nominees for national senior player of the year. So is outside hitter Ella Francis of Prior Lake.
• Junior Yu Zhou of the Gophers was named the Big Ten diver of the week. She won the 1- and 3-meter diving events in a double dual against BYU and Denver.
• Rachael Sushner was named the St. Olaf women's soccer coach. She was an assistant coach at Division III Washington and Lee in Lexington, Va., the past three seasons.
