DULUTH — Bill Watson’s 1985 Hobey Baker Memorial Award is up for auction, and is fetching bids closing in on $10,000.
Watson is the second of an NCAA-record six players from the University of Minnesota Duluth to win the most prestigious individual award in men’s college hockey, which is handed out every year during the Frozen Four to the most outstanding player in the NCAA.
As a junior forward from Powerview, Manitoba, Watson scored 49 goals and 60 assists for 109 points in 1984-85 while leading the Bulldogs to a second-consecutive NCAA Frozen Four appearance, as well as a WCHA championship.
Tom Kurvers was the first Bulldog to win the Hobey Baker, earning the award the year before in 1983-84. Watson said winning the Hobey in back-to-back seasons helped create a strong bond between him and Kurvers, who died in 2021 at the age of 58 from cancer.
Watson said Kurver’s passing put into perspective what’s most important to him from his time at UMD — his teammates, his friends and family. He’ll still be a Hobey Baker Award winner with or without the hardware.
“Some 40 years after it, what you cherish the most are your teammates,” Watson said. “For me, it’s not just my teammates, but my classmates — Jimmy Toninato, Matt Christensen, Guy Gosselin, Norm Maciver, Mark Odnokon. Those were my classmates. I so enjoy when we get together and see each other, and of course, when we get together with all our teammates from that era. That means more than anything. That’s what’s so special.”
Two versions of the 41.5-pound trophy are awarded each season — one to the individual winner and another to the school. Up for sale is Watson’s personal 1985 trophy, which includes his name engraved on the base.
Classic Auctions in Montreal, Quebec, is auctioning the trophy, with bids accepted through Dec. 2. The trophy is not in mint condition. According to the description, the gold-colored metal plate has some wear and it has separated from the acrylic base. It will need to be reglued, according to the listing.
Watson said the top and the base became separated shortly after he accepted the award while he was bringing it back to Duluth, and he just never got around to gluing it back together.
Marc Juteau, the president and founder of Classic Auctions Inc., said this is the first time a Hobey Baker Memorial Award has been offered for public sale. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award trophy is an important piece of hockey history, and its sale should draw significant interest, Juteau said.
“For me, that’s a really, really important trophy and I don’t see that necessarily another one to come up for sale anytime soon,” said Juteau, who admitted the value is tough to gauge because one has never come up for sale before. “I wouldn’t be surprised to get a lot more bids on it.”
Now in his early 60s, Watson said he and his wife, Molly, are starting to downsize. Watson said they would like to put the proceeds toward a couple of things they support, including the scholarship they started at UMD’s Labovitz School of Business and Economic in memory of their son, Jack, who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
“Somebody else is going to see some nice value in it, and God bless them. There’s so many of those rabid collectors out there,” Watson said. “There’s some good causes that will get funded because of it.”
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