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Saints Carey, Flanagan are Hobey finalists, joined by Hughes on ECAC All-Star Squad

Posted 3/22/13

St. Lawrence University's men's hockey program has become the fourth ECAC Hockey team to have two players named to the Hobey Baker top ten list since the inception of the award in 1981 and joins a …

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Saints Carey, Flanagan are Hobey finalists, joined by Hughes on ECAC All-Star Squad

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St. Lawrence University's men's hockey program has become the fourth ECAC Hockey team to have two players named to the Hobey Baker top ten list since the inception of the award in 1981 and joins a select group of league teams to have three players selected as first-team all stars in the same season.

Senior captain Kyle Flanagan and junior wing Greg Carey were named as Hobey Baker Award finalists and first-team All ECAC selections and senior defenseman George Hughes joined them on the first-team all star squad with both announcements being made at the ECAC Championship banquet in Atlantic City Thursday evening. The Hobey Baker Award top ten video is available on the Hobey Baker Award web site: http://www.hobeybakeraward.com.

Flanagan and Carey become the second linemates in ECAC history to be on the same Hobey Baker top ten list, joining the Vermont pair of Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin who were finalists in 1996. Harvard's Allen Bourbeau and Lane MacDonald were finalists in 1989 and the Providence duo of defensemen Randy Velischek and Kurt Kleinendorst were finalists in 1983. Only three ECAC players have ever won the award, all from Harvard: Scott Fusco in 1983, Mark Fusco in 1986 and MacDonald in 1989.

Flanagan, who signed a professional contract with the Philadelphia Flyers for the 2013-14 season, is expected to make his professional debut for the Adirondack Phantoms of the American Hockey League on Friday night.

Flanagan, Carey and Hughes become the second trio in Saint hockey history to earn first-team All ECAC honors in the same season, joining Erik Anderson, Matt Desrosiers and Mike Gellard from the 2000-01 team. The Saints are the only team in the 2000s to have three first-teamers. Boston University had three first team selections four times and four once from 1965-66 to 1975-76, Cornell had three twice and four once between 1966-67 and 1968-69 while Harvard and Vermont each had three selections twice, and RPI, Clarkson and Yale once each since the league went to a six or seven player first team and a second team.

Flanagan and Carey become the eighth and ninth Saint players to be selected as Hobey Baker finalists with Carey the first junior to make the list. Pete Lappin was the first in 1988 with Dan Laperriere finishing as runner-up for the award in 1992. Burke Murphy (1996), Eric Heffler (1999), Erik Anderson (2001), T.J. Trevelyan (2006) and Drew Bagnall (2007) were the other Saints to make the top ten list.

Carey led the nation in goals with 26, was second in points with 48 and first in power play goals and power play points at the end of the regular season. He was ECAC league-only scoring champion with 18 goals and 12 assists and has a sizeable lead in the overall scoring race heading into the ECAC semifinals and finals and NCAA tournament play with 28 goals and 23 assists for 51 points overall. His nearest competitor still in action for the overall scoring title is Yale's Kenny Agostino, who has 37 points. Carey has 66 career goals in 114 games which ranks 13th on the all-time SLU goal scoring list and fifth among players who have played only three seasons. His 28 goals this season are the most since Burke Murphy scored 33 in 1995-96 and his 51 points are the most since Mike Gellard led the East with 57 in 2000-01. Carey was Hockey Commissioner's Association National Player of the Month and ECAC Player of the Month for February after scoring nine goals and assisting on four others in eight games. He tied the SLU record for consecutive games scoring goals with 11 which was originally set in 1952 He is a Dean's list student, he was also SLU's winner of the ECAC Student-Athlete Award and a nominee for the overall league academic award.

Flanagan completed his Saint career with 46 goals and 101 assists for 147 points in 134 games. He is second in the ECAC overall in scoring with 15 goals and 32 assists and is tied for the assist lead with teammate Hughes with 32. The 32 assists are the most since Gellard's 38 in 2000-01 and are the sixth best single-season total in program history. His 101 career assists are seventh all-time and his 147 points rank 13th on the Saint all-time scoring list. He joined Carey among the nation's scoring leaders from January through the end of the season and had 15 multi-point games as a senior and was a three-time ECAC Player of the Week. The first player in SLU history to be named Hockey Commissioner's Association National Player of the Month and was also the first SLU player to be ECAC Player of the Month when he earned that honor in October after scoring five goals and assisting on six others in the Saints first four games. He matched his career high of four points in a game twice in his senior season, the second time coming with a one-goal, three-assist night in game two of the Colgate playoff series, just over 10 days after undergoing surgery for appendicitis. He established career highs for goals, assists and points despite missing three games due to injury or illness.

Hughes led the nation in scoring by defensemen in the regular season and also led the ECAC both overall and in league play in that category and tied Flanagan for the ECAC lead in assist scoring with 32. His 32 assists are second only to Daniel Laperriere's 45 in single-season assists and his career total of 87 is also second on the all-time assist list for defensemen to Laperriere's 106. He is tied for 10th on the all-time Saint assist list. He became the third defenseman in program history to reach 100 career points with an assist in the final game of the regular season and went on to finish with 105 career points on 18 goals and 87 assists in 105 career games. He established career highs for assists and points as a senior.