ST. PAUL, Minn. – Senior Clayton Phillips (Edina, Minn.) along with junior classmates Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) and Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) were each nominated to the initial list for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as announced on Wednesday morning. The award is presented annually to the top player in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

This marks the first nomination of each individual's career as the trio joins seven other Big Ten student-athletes on the initial fan ballot of 77 student-athletes representing 42 different institutions. Fan voting is open now and will run through March 6. Each fan is allowed one VOTE per day during this initial phase. Phase two of fan voting will begin once the list has been narrowed to the top-10 finalists on March 17 and run through March 27. The fan vote accounts for a full one percent of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year's award recipient.

The Hobey Hat Trick will then be announced on March 31 with the winner to be awarded during the 2022 Frozen Four in Boston on April 8.

Phillips is in the middle of a career year for the Nittany Lions with five goals and five assists for 10 points and is tied for the team lead with a plus/minus of +9. As well as being a career-high, the senior's five goals this season place him tied for fourth in the conference among defensemen and tied for 11th nationally. His 10 points are also tied for 13th among Big Ten blue-liners.

Wall and MacEachern are each tied for the team lead with a career-best 20 points placing them tied for seventh in the Big Ten and 41st nationally. Wall's career-high 13 goals paces Penn State and ranks third in the Big Ten and tied for seventh nationally while MacEachern is tied for fifth in the conference and 20th in the nation with his single-season best 11 tallies.

For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.