Twenty years after Tom Kurvers wore the number 22 all the way to the Hobey Baker Award in his senior season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, another Bulldogs’ star wearing the same number has matched his accomplishment.
Junior Lessard — who entered the NCAA championship this season with more goals (30) and points (61) than any other player in college hockey — walked away from the Frozen Four in Boston last weekend with college hockey’s most prestigious and coveted personal award, just days after his team missed the opportunity to play for the championship.
“Although we weren’t able to bring home an NCAA championship, this is a nice consolation prize for our program, but especially for Junior,” said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, who began his coaching career at UMD the same year that Lessard came to the school. “If you take a look at what he has done this year and what he’s meant to our team, he was an obvious choice as a finalist. I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Lessard’s birth name is Lucien Lessard Jr., but he is commonly known as Junior by friends, family and teammates. The senior forward is from St. Joseph deBeauce, Quebec.
“Winning the Hobey Baker Award is truly an honor for me,” Lessard said. “But as far as I’m concerned, this is more of a team award because without my Bulldog teammates, this would not have been possible.”
Lessard is the 24th overall winner of the Hobey Baker Award and is the fourth Bulldog honoree (joining Kurvers, winger Bill Watson [1984-85] and center Chris Marinucci [1993-94]). UMD and the University of Minnesota are the only two schools to produce four award winners.
Lessard, an American Hockey Association first team All-American and both the uscho.com and insidecollegehockey.com National Player of the Year, paced all NCAA forwards in scoring, goals and power play tallies (14) this winter while helping lead UMD to its first NCAA Frozen Four berth since 1985 and a 28-13-4 overall record.
UMD concluded the 2003-04 season on April 8 with a 5-3 semifinal round loss to the University of Denver at the NCAA Frozen Four in Boston, Mass.
The Bulldogs, who will lose only four players (Lessard, defensemen Beau Geisler and Jay Hardwick, and winger Jesse Unklesbay) to graduation, will return some 12 seniors next fall when they embark on their 61st season of intercollegiate hockey.
—compiled from staff reports
