Three Gophers among 77 Hobey Baker candidates

Fan balloting for the Hobey Baker Award began today. To vote go to www.hobeybakeraward.com Fan balloting counts for 1 percent of the selection process.

Among the 77 Hobey Baker Award candidates are three from the Gophers:

* Goalie Kent Patterson, the national player of the month in October

* Forward Nick Bjugstad, the national player of the month in November

* Forward Kyle Rau, the national rookie of the month in October

There are 15 other WCHA candidates from seven other teams. The list:

Colorado College: Gabe Guentzel, D; Jaden and Rylan Schwartz, Fs ... Guentzel is the son of Gophers associate head coach Mike Guentzel, the Schwartzes are brothers

Minnesota Duluth: J.T. Brown, Jack Connolly, Travis Oleksuk ... Bulldogs are the nation's No. 1-rated team and have a 16-game unbeaten streak (14-0-2)

Nebraska Omaha: Matt White, Terry Broadhurst

North Dakota: Ben Blood, Danny Kristo ... Gophers are playing at the Ralph this weekend

St. Cloud State: Ben Hanowski

Wisconsin: Justin Schultz, Mark Zengerle