Paul Kariya is the first freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award. He notched 25 goals and 75 assists for 100 points in 39 games during his only full season of college hockey, helping the Black Bears to an impressive 42-1-2 record and the 1992-93 NCAA and Hockey East titles. He won the 1992-93 Hockey East scoring title with 15 goals and 48 assists in conference play—a record for a freshman—and had a Hockey East record 23-game scoring streak and a school record 31-game scoring streak. Growing up in North Vancouver, B.C., he helped Team Canada to a silver medal finish in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and a gold medal at the world hockey championships later that same year. Picked fourth overall by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, the durable high-scoring forward completed 15 NHL seasons. In addition to Anaheim, he has played for Colorado, Nashville, and St. Louis. Kariya averaged a point per game in his pro career and won the Lady Byng Trophy twice as the NHL’s most gentlemanly player. He retired after sitting out the 2010-11 season with post-concussion syndrome.
