It is with great sadness that the Hobey Baker Award committee has learned of the passing of its founder Charles “Chuck” Bard. Chuck passed away peacefully Sunday, January 23 at his home at the age of 96.
Growing up in Minneapolis, Bard graduated from Minneapolis Central High School then joined the U.S. Navy for a two-year stint serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Following his service, Bard attended college at Augsburg College in Minneapolis and grad school at the University of Wisconsin. He entered the banking industry working 17 years at Northwestern National Bank. While there, Chuck became involved in creating the first suburban athletic club in the U.S., and ultimately, was one of the five founders of the Decathlon Athletic Club of Bloomington, MN serving as CEO until his retirement in 1991.
It was while Chuck was serving as CEO of the Decathlon that he formulated a plan to honor the top college hockey player in the nation with an award much like the Heisman Award for football and the Wooden Award for basketball. Assembling an organizational committee, the wheels were put in motion, the name of the award was selected from a group of four finalists and the Hobey Baker Award was introduced for the 1980-81 college hockey season. Neal Broten from the University of Minnesota was the first winner.
Since then, the Hobey has blossomed into college hockey’s top individual prize, achieving worldwide recognition for what the award represents: outstanding hockey skills, leadership, strength of character, sportsmanship and scholastic achievement. The annual award could never have happened without the strong determination of its founder, Chuck Bard.
