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Preds prospect finalist for Hobey Baker Award…

“What is Brentwood, Tennessee?”

I’ll take “Unlikely Hometowns of College Hockey Phenoms” for $1000, Alex.

Blake Geoffrion, Nashville Predators 2nd round pick in the 2006 draft, has been named a finalist for the 2010 Hobey Baker Award as collegiate hockey’s best player.

And yes, he’s from that hockey hotbed of Brentwood, Tennessee.

Geoffrion and his fellow finalists, Bobby Butler of the University of New Hampshire (undrafted; signed by the Ottawa Senators on March 29, 2010) and Gustav Nyquist of the University of Maine (4th round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2008) are the last men standing from a field of 10 after today’s announcement of the “Hobey Hat Trick.”

Both Butler and Geoffrion are seniors while Nyquist is a sophomore.

Today’s announcement marks the second consecutive year the Preds can brag that a draft pick of theirs has been nominated for the Heisman Trophy of college hockey. Last season, 2008 1st round pick Colin Wilson was named a finalist, only to lose to his Boston University teammate Matt Gilroy.

Of the three finalists, only Geoffrion is still playing as both the Wildcats of New Hampshire and the Black Bears of Maine failed to make the NCAA tournament. Geoffrion, the team captain of the Wisconsin Badgers, leads his team into battle against RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) on April 8. Puck drops at 4pm Central. Both semifinal games will be shown on ESPN2.

While bloodlines don’t usually mean a whole lot, Blake certainly has them. He is the son of Dan Geoffrion, who played three seasons of pro hockey (1 in the WHA and 2 in the NHL). He’s also the grandson of the legendary Bernie Geoffrion. “Boom-Boom” was enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 and was named the 42nd Greatest Hockey Player of All-Time by The Hockey News back in1998. He also happens to be the great-grandson of the “first superstar of the NHL” Howie Morenz.

Both Morenz and Bernie Geoffrion’s numbers (7 and 5, respectively) hang in the rafters of the Bell Centre in Montreal.

(Basically what we’re saying here is he’s no Brett Lindros or Brent Gretzky.)

In the award’s 29 year history, the Hobey Baker winner has never worn a University of Wisconsin sweater.

The award will be announced live on ESPNU on April 9 at 6pm Central.

To read all about the three finalists, click here.