LAS VEGAS — The happiest person in the Park MGM ballroom on Saturday night as the Hobey Baker Award was announced, other than the recipient of course, might have been the recipient’s grandfather.
Flash back to 33 years ago, when Minnesota Duluth’s Derek Plante was up for the same award, Bruce Plante, a longtime, highly successful high school hockey coach in Minnesota, was understandably disappointed the award went not to Derek, his son, but instead to Maine’s Paul Kariya.
On Saturday night, Bruce Plante finally got to see his progeny hoist the Hobey, as his grandson Max Plante became the seventh Bulldog to win the award that recognizes college hockey’s best player.
“My grandpa was pretty mad that (my dad) didn’t win it,” said Max. “To see the look in his eyes when I won it, my grandpa’s eyes, that was really special.”
Max’s family connection to Duluth goes much deeper than his father. His mother Kristi played two sports for the Bulldogs, older brother Zam is Max’s teammate and younger brother Victor (currently in his second season with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program) plans to suit up in a Bulldog jersey starting this fall.
The desire to play alongside his brothers motivated Max to announce Friday that he will return to Minnesota Duluth next season.
“To have the chance to play with two brothers at that high of a level, and to try and achieve something that I haven’t achieved yet, to win a national championship, that’s the goal I had coming into college hockey,” he said.
Certainly, had Max chosen another college and won the Hobey there, it would still be a moment of pride for the Plantes. But that Max did it in a Bulldog uniform is a symbol of how deeply the family’s roots run at Minnesota Duluth.
“Duluth is our family,” Derek Plante said. “I grew up there. I met Kristi there. We had our formative years there. We have a deep passion for Bulldog hockey. The first time I saw them play for real as UMD Bulldogs, the hair on my arms stood up.
“It was a ‘full-circle’ thing,” Derek continued. “It’s been really fun to see the success they’ve had in a Bulldog jersey.”
Not every college-bound teenager wants to attend his parents’ alma mater, and while Derek said he would have been perfectly happy to see any of his sons ply their hockey trade at another school, the Plante brothers seemed to gravitate toward Duluth.
“We tried to get them to go on other recruiting visits, to try something else,” Derek said. “This was our path — it didn’t necessarily have to be theirs.”
The Plante brothers’ connection on the ice this season was evident every time they played the same shift, and Max paid homage to Zam during his acceptance speech on Saturday night.
“This truly could be you up here,” Max said. “Just about every play I made, you made. I think that’s pretty special.”
Max Plante became the first Minnesota Duluth player to claim the Hobey since Scott Perunovich in 2020. Plante finished tied for third in the country in scoring with 52 points and helped lead the Bulldogs to a 23-15-1 record and their first NCAA tournament berth since 2022. The Bulldogs fell just short of reaching the Frozen Four following a 4-3 loss to Michigan in the Albany Regional final.