HOUGHTON, Mich. — Michigan Tech fifth-year goaltender Blake Pietila is a candidate for the 2024 Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey’s top player.

The Hobey Baker’s popular fan-voting runs until Sunday, March 20 at hobeybaker.com/vote. Pietila is on the ballot for the fourth straight season and was a Top 10 Finalist in 2023.

College hockey fans can cast their vote by going to the voting website hobeybaker.com/vote Follow the prompts to make your selection from this year’s outstanding crop of over 80 college hockey players representing 64 NCAA Division I schools.

Pietila is a native of Howell, Michigan, and has started 24 of Tech’s 27 games this season. The alternate captain ranks sixth in the nation in minutes played and ninth in the nation with 652 saves this season. Pietila is 10-9-5 between the pipes with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. He graduated in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and is pursuing his MBA.

Pietila was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Month for December after leading the Huskies to the 2023 Great Lakes Invitational Title. He was honored on the GLI All-Tournament Team after making a career-high 54 saves in a shootout win over No. 7 Michigan State. Pietila has also twice been named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week this season–an award he’s received 16 times in his career.

For his career, Pietila has been a three-time finalist for the Mike Richter Award. He was a 2023 First Team All-American and the CCHA Player and Goaltender of the Year last season. He has been named to the CCHA and WCHA All-Academic Teams over the past three seasons.

Pietila was an All-CCHA First Team selection in 2023 and Second Team pick in 2022. He holds Michigan Tech records for wins (68), shutouts (21), goaltender games played (129), season shutouts (10), season goals-against average (1.81), and season save percentage (.934). He is the active NCAA goaltender leader in games played, wins, and shutouts and is third in career saves and seventh in career goals against average.

Phase two of fan balloting will come from the list of Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists beginning March 20 and closing March 31. The fans’ vote accounts for a percentage of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year’s award recipient.

Award criteria include candidates exhibiting the exceptional character traits of the award’s namesake, Hobey Baker. A legendary American hero, Baker was a World War I fighter pilot and was known as America’s greatest amateur athlete in his day, excelling at hockey and football at Princeton University. Award candidates must demonstrate strength of character both on and off the ice, contribute to the integrity of his team and display outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Consideration should be given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.

Key Hobey Baker announcement dates for 2024 include:

• Top Ten list of finalists: March 20

• Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists: April 4

• Hobey Baker Award announcement: April 11

The 2024 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on Friday, April 7, 2024 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championship in St. Paul. The award ceremony will be broadcast nationally on NHL Network and streamed live at hobeybaker.com. For more info on the Hobey Baker Award please visit hobeybaker.com.