The COVID-19 pandemic may have derailed Minnesota Duluth’s run at a historic third-straight NCAA championship in 2019-20.
Like everyone else in college hockey, however, it couldn’t stop Bulldogs junior defenseman Scott Perunovich, who late Saturday was named a three-time All-American and the 40th recipient of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as national player of the year.
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The fast and feisty puck-mover from Hibbing beat out fellow Hobey Hat Trick finalists Jordan Kawaguchi, a junior forward from North Dakota, and Maine junior goaltender Jeremy Swayman.
Perunovich accepted the honor Saturday not in Detroit at the Frozen Four — that and the entirety of the postseason were canceled before it began by the pandemic — but on ESPN's SportsCenter via a video call with host John Buccigross. That didn't lessen the moment for Perunovich one bit, he said.
"It's extremely special," Perunovich said during a virtual press conference from his family's home in Hibbing. "My family, my grandparents are around me right now. To be able to share this with everyone means the world to me. Just to be able to see the joy in their faces when Bucci announced it was pretty special.
"I don't even know if it's set in yet, really. I've had a lot of ex-UMD players who are former Hobey winners texting me. Just to have that support behind me at UMD is just amazing. I'm so grateful for it."
The sixth Bulldog to claim the most prestigious individual award in NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey, Perunovich helped transform the reputation of the program in his three seasons by fueling UMD to back-to-back national championships as a freshman in 2018 and as a sophomore in 2019. The Bulldogs were in a strong position to three-peat sitting at No. 4 in the Pairwise rankings this year when the season was shut down by the coronavirus.
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As was made clear this week by the 2004 Hobey Baker winner from UMD, Junior Lessard, no longer can anyone say, “ ‘That’s the school with the most Hobey Bakers, but what have they won?’ ”
And Perunovich is a big reason why, the Bulldogs’ Hobey fraternity said throughout the week in the lead up to the award presentation.
“They’ll look back and Scotty Perunovich is going to be one of the greatest Bulldogs to ever play. Period,” said Bill Watson, the 1985 Hobey Baker winner from UMD. “He has had such a marvelous career here at UMD. When you look back at our Hobey Baker winners, that’s how they’re looked at. It’s cool to see Scotty held up in that regard because he’s meant that much to our program.”
Perunovich is the 10th Minnesota native and the sixth born in the 218 area code to win the Hobey. He’s the first from Hibbing.
Since the award was first given to Minnesota center Neal Broten of Roseau in 1981, no school has produced more Hobey winners than UMD, which is now two clear of Minnesota’s and Harvard’s four Hobeys.
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.@UMDMensHockey adds to its record Hobey Baker Winners #CongratsScott pic.twitter.com/ECdJIqdsPw
Tom Kurvers was the first Bulldog to win the Hobey in 1984, when the award was just four years old. Watson made it back-to-back for UMD in 1985, with Maine being the only other school to do so since, with Scott Pellerin winning in 1992 and Paul Kariya in 1993.
Chris Marinucci of Grand Rapids became UMD’s third winner in 1994 and Lessard was the fourth in 2004, tying the Bulldogs with the rival Gophers.
Duluth native Jack Connolly became the record-setting fifth winner in 2012, a year after being named a finalist and leading UMD to its first NCAA title in 2011 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Growing up, Perunovich used to drive down from Hibbing to watch Connolly play for the Bulldogs. Originally a forward before being moved back to the blue line, Perunovich said he modeled his game after the Bulldogs' fifth Hobey winner, who like him was on the smaller side.
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"I remember watching him when we were younger and obviously he was a great player for many years here," Perunovich said. "I've looked up to him as a role model and person. I've talked to him many times off the rink and he's a great guy, too. To have that connection with him is great. To have him and his father reach out to me during this whole process was super thoughtful of them, too."
Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin, who has now coached three Hobey winners in his 20 seasons at UMD, compared the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Perunovich to the 5-8, 160-pound Connolly earlier this week. Smart players find a way to succeed with their skill set, no matter their size, Sandelin said.
And like Connolly, Sandelin said Perunovich played a big role in bringing titles to Duluth.
"He was a difference maker, he was that special of a player," Sandelin said of his fellow Hibbing native, Perunovich, on Saturday night. "Jack was the same way. You need those types of players on your team, but (Perunovich) was also a team player. He cared about the team.
"You don't win championships with one player, but those players make a difference on your team. What he did in his three years here, the things he did on the ice that we've talked about a number of times, they speak for itself. He was fun to watch, he was fun to watch."
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Perunovich led UMD in scoring as a freshman and junior, and was the leader in assists in all three seasons. He recorded 11 goals and 25 assists in 42 games in 2017-18 and was named the 2018 Tim Taylor Award winner as national rookie of the year. He then went on to put up three goals and 26 assists in 39 games last year with an injured back.
A three-time All-NCHC selection and the first Bulldog to be named NCHC Player of the Year, Perunovich posted six goals and 34 assists in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season to slot him in a tie for 10th in the nation in scoring and second among all blue liners. His 19 assists and 22 points on the power play tied for tops in the nation among all scorers this year.
“He was the best player in college hockey, from a dominant level controlling a hockey game,” said Minnesota’s Bob Motzko, the former St. Cloud State bench boss who also coached Perunovich on the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team at the World Junior Championship. “He had that ‘it’ factor that doesn’t come around too often.”
The St. Louis Blues selected Perunovich in the second round, No. 45 overall, in 2018 after he’d been passed over in the two previous NHL drafts. Last month, the 21-year-old agreed to a pair of two-year entry level deals — one that would allow him to play in the NHL this year should the 2019-20 season restart, and if not, another contract that would begin in 2020-21.
Scott Perunovich already has impressed @HOFBlues16. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/IgVFzgBvXF
Blues development coach Glen Wesley, a 20-year defenseman in the NHL, has watched Perunovich play a lot for the Bulldogs the last two seasons. Wesley became a fixture at UMD games, home and away this season, with Perunovich previously eligible to become a free agent on June 1.
Wesley said the three-time NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year and first defenseman to ever win the NCHC’s scoring title proved this season he’s much more than a playmaker and puck mover.
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“There’s not a lot of guys in college hockey that have all those tools to be able to do what he can do,” Wesley said. “Everybody talks about his skills and vision and what he can do with the puck. For me personally, his defensive game and how much that’s improved from last year to this year stands out. That’s one of the things for a younger defenseman, it’s such a difficult position to play. As you learn and grow playing the position and where to be fundamentally in the right places at the right time, boxing out, tying up sticks, being smart below the goal line, not chasing guys out, that’s one of the things that Scott has done a phenomenal job working on and improving month-by-month, especially this past year.”
UMD Hobey Baker finalists and winners
Bold indicates winner
2020: Scott Perunovich
2012: Jack Connolly
2011: Jack Connolly
2004: Junior Lessard
1994: Chris Marinucci
1993: Derek Plante
1986: Brett Hull
1986: Norm Maciver
1985: Bill Watson
1984: Tom Kurvers
Northland natives to win the Hobey
2020: Minnesota Duluth defenseman Scott Perunovich, Hibbing
2013: St. Cloud State forward Drew LeBlanc, Duluth
2012: Minnesota Duluth forward Jack Connolly, Duluth
1994: Minnesota Duluth forward Chris Marinucci, Grand Rapids
1988: Minnesota goaltender Robb Stauber, Duluth
This story was updated at 11:51 p.m. April 11 with comments from Scott Perunovich and Scott Sandelin on Saturday, as well as photos, graphics and tweets. It was originally posted at 10:10 p.m. April 11.
