Less than a month after freshman hockey star Adam Fantilli won the Hobey Baker Award — given to the best player in college hockey — former Michigan hockey studs Owen Power and Matty Beniers were named finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy, which is given “”to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.”
The recent accolades — or nominations in the case of Power and Beniers — illustrate the recent success of the Michigan hockey program. Power and Beniers went first and second overall, respectively, in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, and they both made the jump to the professional level after two seasons with the Wolverines.
Power’s rookie season was one of extreme consistency as the 20-year-old played in 79 of the Buffalo Sabres’ 82 games. He tallied four goals and 31 assists for a total of 35 points. He fired off 130 shots, one of which was an overtime game-winner in a 3-2 affair against the Dallas Stars in January.
The Sabres missed out…