The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Committee announced today the 2020 recipient of college hockey’s top individual prize is Scott Perunovich (purr-roo-na-vitch) from the University of Minnesota Duluth. The announcement came during a live broadcast on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
The coronavirus pandemic caused the cancelation of the college hockey season, negating an attempt by the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs to win a third straight national title. Nonetheless, it has been a fabulous run for the junior defenseman from Hibbing, Minnesota. Perunovich became the first defenseman to lead the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) in conference scoring, collecting 32 points on four goals and 28 assists in 24 conference games.
Overall, Perunovich tallied six goals and 34 assists for 40 points in 34 Bulldog games. That positioned him tenth in the nation in scoring and second among all defensemen. His 34 assists led all defensemen and was second overall in the nation.
A plethora of honors followed: NCHC Player of the Year, NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year for the third straight season, First Team all-conference for the third straight season and an All American for the third straight season. Additionally, College Hockey News named him their national Player of the Year this past season.
On the ice, he is known as a difference maker, possessing an innate ability to control the pace of the game. The smooth-skating defenseman improved his defensive game significantly in his Hobey Baker season, turning him into a complete player. Especially effective on the power play, Perunovich tied for the national lead in power play points (22) and power play assists (19). He also had 12 multiple-point games, second among all defensemen.
A Communications major at UMD, Perunovich decided to forego his final year of college hockey and signed a pro contract with the team that drafted him, the St. Louis Blues (2nd round, 2018, 45th overall). Perunovich becomes the sixth UMD Bulldog to win the Hobey, the most of any NCAA school. He follows in the skates of Tom Kurvers (1984), Bill Watson (1985), Chris Marinucci (1994), Junior Lessard (2004) and Jack Connolly (2012). This marks the second straight year and third time in four seasons a defenseman has won the Hobey (Cale Makar 2019, Will Butcher 2017).
Finished with 6 goals, 34 assists for 40 points in 34 games – second in nation in assists
Two-time All American and three-time First Team all-conference
Communications major – drafted by St. Louis Blues (2nd round) and recently turned pro
Top Ten:
Finished with 6 goals, 34 assists for 40 points in 34 games – 10th in nation in scoring
19 power play assists tied for first in nation – second in nation in points by a defenseman
Communication major – two-time All American – St. Louis draft (2nd round)
Player Stats
| Type | Season | Team Name | League | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Season | 2024-2025 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Current Season | 2024-2025 | New York Islanders | NHL | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -4 |
| Hobey Winning Season | 2019-2020 | Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth | NCAA | 6 | 34 | 40 | 64 | 18 |
2020 Runner Up
The Fighting Hawks captured the NCHC regular season title while claiming the top spot in the pairwise rankings. They were led by the dynamic Kawaguchi (cow-uh-GOO-chee). He earned 45 points to finish second in the nation in scoring. The assistant captain was valuable in clutch situations with 13 game winning points, including five game winning goals.
- Finished with 15 goals, 30 assists for 45 points in 33 games – had 15 multi-point games
- NCHC Player of the Month (Nov. & Jan.) – national Player of the Month (Nov.)
- Marketing major – active in a variety of community service efforts
No goalie in the nation was busier than Swayman who faced more shots and made more saves than any other goaltender. He played all but seven minutes of the Black Bears season, starting 33 of 34 games. An explosive skater with exceptional anticipation skills, he finished second in the nation in save percentage. Swayman is a finalist for Hockey East Player of the Year.
- His final record was: 18-11-5 – goals against average of 2.07 – save percentage of .939
- Posted three shutouts, all in the final five games – Boston draft (4th round)
- Business Management major – assists at local schools, hospitals and with youth teams
- Winner of Walter Brown Award given to the top American-born player in New England