BUFFALO, N.Y. – University of Massachusetts hockey sophomore defenseman Cale Makar has been named the winner of the 2019 Hobey Baker Award, the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Selection Committee announced on Friday in a nationally televised ceremony at the HarborCenter as a part of the weekend's Frozen Four festivities. He is the first-ever winner from UMass.

"It has been an honor and a pleasure coaching Cale Makar, a very worthy Hobey Baker winner," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "His hockey ability, combined with his high character and leadership abilities brought UMass hockey to prominence and he will forever be one of the greatest to wear the Minutemen jersey. I want to thank Cale on behalf of our staff, administration and team for being such a tremendous teammate and helping build a culture that will remain the foundation of UMass hockey for years to come."

Chosen as the Hockey East Player of the Year by unanimous selection, the Calgary, Alberta native has also received the Leonard Fowle Award as New England Player of the Year and the Bob Monahan Award (New England's Best Defenseman) in addition to being named a Hockey East First-Team All-Star and a New England All-Star.

Makar has helped elevate Massachusetts hockey to unprecedented success in 2018-19, including program records in wins, conference wins and the team's first-ever Hockey East Regular Season Championship. The first defenseman in history to lead Hockey East in overall scoring with 49 points in 40 games, Makar ranks seventh in the nation in points per-game (1.23), sixth in assists per-game (0.82), third in defenseman scoring and second in plus-minus (+33). He was voted the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Ice Hockey Northeast Regional after leading UMass to its first Frozen Four berth with a goal and an assist and a +3 rating in 4-0 shutouts of Harvard and Notre Dame. In Thursday night's national semifinal, Makar logged his 33^rd assist of the season and helped the Minutemen earn a spot in the NCAA Championship game for the first time in program history.

Makar has broken UMass' single-season records for points by a defenseman and assists by a defenseman this year, marks previously held by UMass Hall of Famer Thomas Poeck. He is currently second in program history for single-season assists, as well, and is fifth for single-season points.

Makar totaled 30 points in 24 Hockey East games on eight goals and 21 assists, ranking second in points per-game (1.25) and first in plus-minus (+21). He was recognized as Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week three times this season, Player of the Week three times and was the Hockey East Player of the Month in October.

The 2018-19 Massachusetts alternate captain has guided the Minutemen to their first No. 1 ranking in school history in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, and the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. His 16 tallies this season have bolstered UMass' highest goals total (151) in the program's Hockey East era. Nationally, the Minutemen ranked third in scoring offense (3.77), tied for fifth in scoring defense (2.00), second in scoring margin (1.82), second in power play (29.3) and fourth in penalty kill (87.2).

Makar, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche, was named No. 1 on ESPN's list of Top 50 NHL Drafted Prospects this March. As a freshman in 2017-18, Makar was a Hockey East Third-Team All-Star and an All-Rookie Team honoree and won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he was one of Canada's three Players of the Tournament and a World Junior Media All-Star Team selection.