By Quinnipiac University Athletics Dept.
Adding to their historic 2022-23 resumes, sophomores Collin Graf and Yaniv Perets were named to the Hobey Baker Top 10 as two of 10 finalists for the most prestigious award on college hockey.
Both Graf and Perets are alumni of the NCDC Boston Junior Bruins. Perets played from 2017-19 and helped the Junior Bruins win the 2019 Dineen Cup championship. Graf, who came up from the Junior Bruins 16U (2016-19) and 18U (2018-19), scored 101 points in the NCDC between 2019 and 2021.
Perets is named to the Top 10 for the second consecutive season, while Graf’s selection is his first in his collegiate career. It is the third straight season a Bobcat is on the list, as Keith Petruzzelli was a 2021 Top 10 selection.
Graf enters the ECAC Championship Weekend among the nation’s best in scoring, sitting inside the top 10 in three different offensive categories. He’s third in the nation in assists per game (0.94) and points per game (1.50), while sitting ninth in power-play goals with eight on the year.
The Lincoln, Mass., native recorded a point in 28 of 36 appearances, highlighted by a hat trick at Yale on Nov. 12, as well as a four-assist outing against Union on Dec. 10. He had 17 multi-point games this season.
Perets anchored the nation’s best scoring defense with the Bobcats allowing 1.58 goals per game this season. The Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec, Canada native is the winningest goalie in the country this year, recording an .875 winning percentage over 36 starts. He also leads the country with a 1.52 goals-against average.
The Richter Award finalist also sits inside the top five in shutouts (nine) and save percentage (.927). He also stands alone as the program’s shutout leader with 20 for his career and joined a club of six NCAA goalies in history to record that many shutouts over their career.
The second phase of fan balloting will run March 17-26 and be part of the process to choose the Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists on March 30 at Noon. The Hobey winner will be announced Friday, April 7 during the Frozen Four in a nationally televised show on NHL Network.
Graf, Perets and the Bobcats will play for the Whitelaw Cup as the ECAC Tournament champions this weekend, taking on fifth-seeded Colgate on Friday night at 4 p.m., at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.
The winner will face the winner of Cornell and Harvard on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. All three games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
For an inside look at the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey program, be sure to follow it on social media @QU_MIH or go to gobobcats.com/mih.
