Sauer made his debut in the CSTV Hobey Baker Watch this week, becoming the seventh goaltender this season to appear in our top ten (the others, in case you're wondering: current Top Ten members Peter Mannino of Denver and Richard Bachman of Colorado College, Jean-Philippe Lamoureux of North Dakota, Michigan State's Jeff Lerg, Miami's Jeff Zatkoff and Maine's Ben Bishop).

I've just listed seven players who will not win the Hobey this year.

I said it last year in regards to David Brown and pissed off the Notre Dame fans something awful. This year, I'll say it in general, and hopefully, I won't step on as many toes. Well, either that, or I'll piss everyone off. Well, in the case of David Brown, I also ranked him behind another two goalies.

The bottom line is that as I look around this field, I really don't see a guy who's going to be the first since Ryan Miller to win the Hobey as a goaltender. I just don't. At least, not this year.

I am intrigued by Richard Bachman at CC. With the sick numbers he's put up as a freshman, I have to wonder if he'll be hoisting the hardware as a junior, but at the moment, a lot of these goalies aren't even the best Hobey candidates on their own teams...like Bachman relative to Chad Rau, although that's one of the closer comparisons.

Sauer? Big part of Michigan's run, but Hobey candidacy out there is all about Kevin Porter.

Zatkoff? Great season with amazing consistency, but Ryan Jones is such a complete package on and off the ice - and a senior who came back when he didn't have to - that he's the man where Miami is concerned.

We're really not talking about Lerg, Lamoureux, or Bishop anymore.

That leaves Mannino, who also happens to be the best candidate out of the WCHA. I stopped voting for Mannino in the Hobey Watch a while ago - although I must say, I admire his efforts to bring back Denver Boone, right down to those pictures on his pads - as I don't see his performance as being good enough to succeed where the likes of David LeNeveu, David McKee, Brian Elliott and now David Brown have failed.

Sorry, but I don't see this as a goalie year for the Hobey.

But I do have one final goalie thought...I just got the new issue of Sports Illustrated, wherein former UNH goaltender Ty Conklin lists Tiger Woods, Robin Williams and Napoleon as the three people he'd like to have dinner with. Now, Tiger and Williams I can understand, but Napoleon?

You'd think Conklin had enough of feisty short guys when he was playing against BC!