Augustine, Howard on Initial Vote For Hobey Ballot

East Lansing, Mich. -- The Michigan State duo of Trey Augustine (South Lyon, Mich.) and Isaac Howard (Hudson, Wis.) are among the players listed on the initial nominees in the annual Vote For Hobey Fan voting, which opened on Wednesday, Jan. 22.

Each of the Division I institutions from around the country nominated players for the Vote for Hobey stage.   Institutions will formally nominate their players and a vote of the head coaches around the country will determine the Hobey Top Ten, which will be announced on March 19. A committee of coaches, administrators and media will then vote to determine the winner, with the top three finalists (announced April 3) brought to St. Louis for the Frozen Four and the announcement ceremony on April 11.

Fans can register and vote daily at www.hobeybaker.com/vote for who they deem the most deserving candidates. Voting will be open through March 9.

Augustine has been among the top goaltenders in the country over his two seasons in East Lansing, and for the second year in a row, is the youngest full-time starting goaltender among Division I squads. A Richter Award finalist in 2024 and on the Watch List again in 2025, Augustine is the Big Ten leader and ranks sixth nationally in wins (12), and save percentage (.932, T-9th NCAA) and is second in shutouts (2, T-9th NCAA). He is third in GAA (1.97, 13th NCAA).   He is also second in the league in games played (17) and minutes played (1033:17). The sophomore owns a 2-1-1 record against teams ranked in the top five among his 12 victories this season. He is 5-2-1 against teams ranked in the top 20 at the time of the game.

Over the last three winters, Augustine has backstopped Team USA to three consecutive medals at the IIHF World Junior Championships, including the nation's first-ever back-to-back gold medals in 2004 and 2005. Augustine is one of 19 goaltenders all-time to make three WJC squads in their career, also an IIHF record for the position. He became Team USA's winningest goaltender at this event with his 11th and 12th all-time victories, moving past Jack Campbell's 10 (2010-12). He compiled a .917 save percentage and 2.52 goals against average in this year's tournament in Ottawa, appearing in five of Team USA's seven games (which includes the semifinals and gold-medal game).

The duo of Howard and Augustine were on the 2024 World Junior squad which captured its gold medal in in Sweden; Augustine also won a bronze in 2023, when he was teammates with MSU teammates Red Savage and Charlie Stramel.   Augustine has also won a silver (2022) and gold (2023) at the U18 World Championships and last spring, made his first men's Team USA senior World Championship squad, playing four games with a roster primarily made up of NHL players.

Howard has already established a career-best offensive season through 24 Michigan State games. Through Jan. 22, he leads the nation in goals (18), goals per game (0.75), points (36), and points per game (1.5), and ranks fourth in the Big Ten in assists per game (0.75). This ties the most goals for an MSU skater in a season since Patrick Khodorenko had 18 in 2018-19. Mitchell Lewandowski had 19 in 2017-18, and Corey Tropp was MSU's last 20-goal scorer, in 2009-10.

All but eight of Howard's points this season (28 of 36) have come with the Spartans skating at even strength. He is playing in all situations as he has rounded out his game – he owns a 2-5-7 scoring line while skating on the power play and also has an assist on one of MSU's shorthanded goals. He owns a +15 rating, good for second on the team and tied for 14th nationally. He has also scored 22 of his 36 points away from Munn Ice Arena this season, with 14 points in home games and an additional 22 on the road as MSU has opened the year with a 19-3-2 overall record and a national ranking in the top four for every week of the season.

Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Isaac Howard

Red Savage

Charlie Stramel

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