INSIDE MEN'S HOCKEY BY PAUL CAPOBIANCO @BadgerMHockey
leads the nation's defensemen with 44 points and a 1.19 points-per-game mark. His 16 goals are tied for the na- tional lead among defenseman, while his 28 assists rank second among rear guards. The fifth Badger top-10 finalist in
four seasons, Schultz was named the 2012 WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the 2012 All- WCHA First Team. All three honors are the second straight for Schultz. His defensive player of the year honor made him the third player in league history to earn the honor twice. A dominant player on the ice,
Schultz named top 10 J
unior defenseman Jus- tin Schultz was named a
2012 Hobey Baker Memorial Award Top 10 finalist last week, earning the honor for the second-straight year. The Hobey Baker Award is an honor given annually to the top collegiate hockey player in the country. Blake Geoffrion became the first
46 ยป VARSITY MARCH 22, 2012
Schultz became the first defenseman in UW history to lead the team in goal scoring and reached 40 for his career through three seasons. The total is good for third on the all-time UW list for scoring among defensemen, just two shy of the school record, while the total also ranks ninth all-time in WCHA his- tory.
finalist for Hobey Baker Junior becomes UW's first two-time finalist
Badger to win the honor when he took home the award in 2010.
The Badgers now have had
12 finalists overall since the award was founded in 1981, including the only school in the country with a finalist in each of the last four seasons. Schultz, a West Kelowna, British Columbia, native
Earlier this season, the assistant
captain became the first Badger de- fenseman since Brian Rafalski
in
the 1994-95 season to reach the 100-point career mark. He used 10- game and seven-game point streaks to help reach the mark. Now at 113 points, Schultz is tied for eighth place among all UW defenseman in program history. The top 10 finalists will be nar- rowed down to three when the Hobey Hat Trick is announced March 29. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner will be announced April 6 at the Frozen Four.
