I’ll admit it, I didn’t think UMass hockey forward Cole O’Hara would be a legitimate Hobey Baker Memorial Award candidate. When it was announced on Jan. 22 that O’Hara and Aydar Suniev were two of the more than 90 nominees in all of college hockey, I didn’t think much of it at the time.

While O’Hara had already reached a new single-season high in points in late January (31 points), I was skeptical that the Richmond Hill, Ontario native would be able to sustain the point production that is required in order to have a real shot at the Hobey.

Little did I know, that following that announcement of O’Hara’s nomination, the Nashville Predators draft pick proceeded to register at least one point in 12-straight games — 13 consecutive in total — which set a new Minuteman program record.

Now tied for third in the nation with 51 points as UMass awaits its fate for the NCAA Tournament after an overtime loss in the Hockey East quarterfinal round to Boston University on March 15, one thing is clear: O’Hara should be a serious contender for college hockey’s top individual award.

“I don’t know how many games he doesn’t have a point this year,” Minuteman head coach Greg Carvel said about O’Hara after their huge win at then-No. 1 Boston College on Valentine’s Day. “He had two more points tonight and he’s probably top three in the country. He’s having a hell of a year, he doesn’t get a lot of recognition, but he should, he’s consistent. He’s blocking shots at the end of the game, too. A lot of kids leading the country in scoring aren’t often eating pucks to help your team win.”

To answer Carvel’s query, O’Hara has been held pointless in just seven games during the 2024-25 season. For context, the 6-foot, 183-pounder had seven goals the season prior. O’Hara hasn’t had a point in as many games as a junior as the number of goals he scored as a sophomore. 

Speaking of goals, O’Hara has pumped in 22 pucks past opposing goalies this year (15 more from last year), good for top-10 most in the country. You’ve got to be able to score goals to have a chance at the Hobey, just look at past winners. Macklin Celebrini (38 goals in 2023-24), Adam Fantilli (30 goals in 2022-23) and Cole Caufield (30 goals in 2020-21) have made up three of the past four Hobey Baker winners.

O’Hara is unlikely to reach the 30-goal mark this season, but his overall consistency producing points is why No. 19 has had a career year with the maroon and white this season.

“Just little details away from the rink,” O’Hara said on his consistency after UMass tied UMass Lowell on Feb. 27.  “Just honed in, leaving nothing to chance this year, that’s the biggest thing. Just little details and little routines I’ve found myself getting into, stuck through it the whole year.” 

Not to be overlooked is O’Hara’s playmaking ability. The junior completed a pass over the weekend against the Terriers that thoroughly impressed me. Chasing after a puck in the right corner in the BU zone with a defender right on him, O’Hara collected the puck and in one motion, completed a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Joey Musa all alone in front of the Terriers’ net.

I have no idea how O’Hara knew his teammate was there because he didn’t appear to take a look over his shoulder beforehand. If that doesn’t speak to O’Hara’s high hockey sense, I don’t know what does.

What should help O’Hara’s case even more so is the winger’s play in the defensive zone, too. As Carvel mentioned after the victory against the Eagles, O’Hara is just as effective in the Minutemen’s own end, so much so that the 22-year-old is one of the first to hop over the boards when UMass needs to kill a penalty.

“He’s a top player, both sides of the puck,” Carvel said earlier this month. “[He] kills penalties, he’s one of our top four penalty killers. He’s on our top line and our top line is great because they’re all very responsible players. We easily put them out at any time of the game and they might score and they’re going to keep the other team from scoring. I love him because he’s a two-way player. He’s an elite two-way player.”

UMass’ penalty-kill is tied for 14th-best (83.5 kill percentage) in all of college hockey.

I couldn’t find any statistics to support this claim, however O’Hara also has to be one of the Hockey East leaders in takeaways. The right-shot upperclassman regularly strips opposing players of the puck, especially in the neutral zone, then quickly turns up-ice and creates good looks for the Minutemen.

In short, O’Hara has earned the trust from Carvel in all aspects of the game and that is no small feat. It’s easier to be an offensive weapon when you aren’t as committed to defending, yet O’Hara has managed to do both on a very talented UMass squad poised to return to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

“You need your best players to be your highest character [players] to be a good team and that’s the situation for us,” Carvel said after the victory in Lowell. “It doesn’t matter how many points anyone has, when it’s time to eat a puck, they eat pucks. It’s great when your older, best players are doing it.”

As far as the other names in college hockey that’ll be in the mix, I have to imagine Amherst native Ryan Leonard of BC is the front-runner. As previously stated, goals matter and Leonard is the current clubhouse leader in tucks with 29.  Michigan State’s Isaac Howard (47 points) and Penn State’s Aiden Fink (52 points) will likely make the top-10 finalists as well, which is set to be announced later this week.

O’Hara, who was just named a finalist for Hockey East Player of the Year on Monday, deserves to be included in the conversation for the Hobey Baker not only for his offensive prowess, but also his overall positive impact on the ice he’d had for the Minutemen this season.

Should O’Hara be selected for the award, it would mark the second UMass hockey player to do so, following Cale Makar in 2018-19.