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

Denver: Drew Shore, F; Jason Zucker, F ... Zucker is a Wild prospect

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

One other notable name on the Hobey Baker Award candidates list iss Anders Lee, a sophomore forward from Notre Dame. He is from Edina.

The top 10 finalists will be named March 15. They will be paired to three on March 29. The winner will be named April 6.

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