Tennessee's Blake Geoffrion wins Hobey Baker Award as top college hockey player

The storybook senior season of Blake Geoffrion continued this evening in Detroit when has was named the winner of the 2010 Hobey Baker Award, given to US college hockey's best player. Raised in Brentwood, Tennessee, Blake is already a trailblazer for Nashville youth hockey, and as a 2nd-round draft pick of the Nashville Predators, local fans can't wait for the chance to watch him on the ice at Bridgestone Arena some day.

All this, and tomorrow night he gets to skate for the National Championship as Wisconsin takes on Boston College.

If you're on Twitter, be sure to send him your congratulations at @BlakeGeoffrion! The tweet of the day so far goes to @Smashville for this...

Who would have thought someone from Tennessee would have won the Hobey Baker Award before they won the Heisman?    

Follow after the jump for the press release from the Predators, which notes (among other things) that Blake becomes the first Preds prospect to win the Hobey Baker. Colin Wilson was a finalist last year...

Nashville Predators prospect and University of Wisconsin forward Blake Geoffrion is the recipient of the 2010 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given each year to college hockey's top player, it was announced Friday evening at Ford Field in Detroit. Criteria for the award include strength of character on and off the ice, displaying outstanding skills in all phases of the game, sportsmanship and scholastic achievements.

Geoffrion, a tri-captain of this season's Badger squad, enters tomorrow night's National Championship Game against Boston College as the NCAA leader in power-play goals (15), in addition to ranking second in the nation in goals (28). He also finished second in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in points (50), and is among the nation's leaders in shooting percentage (23 percent). Two weeks ago, the WCHA First Team All-Star was named Most Valuable Player of the NCAA West Region after posting five points (2g-3a) in UW wins over Vermont and St. Cloud State to reach the Frozen Four, and he notched a goal and an assist in Thursday's national semifinal victory over RIT.

Nashville's first choice, 56^th overall (second round), in the 2006 Entry Draft, Geoffrion is a complete player. In addition to taking a regular shift for the Badgers, he receives time on both the penalty kill and power play while taking nearly all the team's face-offs in crucial situations.

The 6-2, 188-pound center is a Consumer Science Major and spends time off the ice visiting UW Children's Hospital, where he has been a mentor to cancer patients. He's also a Peer Leader lending assistance to UW students.

The Brentwood, Tenn., native is the first Nashville Youth Hockey League product to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft, and is attempting to be the first-ever fourth generation NHLer. His grandfather, Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion and great grandfather, Howie Morenz, are both Hockey Hall-of-Famers who won a combined nine Stanley Cups as members of the Montreal Canadiens. His father, Danny, was drafted eighth overall by the Canadiens in the 1978 Draft, and played for both Montreal and Winnipeg during his career.