The first three Gopher Hobey Baker winners!
A star soccer player, Brian Bonin made a named for himself as a sophomore hockey player in 1989, when he totaled 25 goals and 28 assists in leading the Bears to the State Tournament. The team lost 5-1 in the opening round to eventual champ Roseau, but rebounded to take the consolation championship with a double-overtime victory over Bloomington Kennedy. The following season, Bonin and the Bears gave up a 3-0 lead to eventual state champion Hill Murray in the Section Finals, and sat out the State Tournament.
Bonin’s senior campaign saw the Bears upset early in Sections and missed the State Tournament once again; White Bear has yet win a first-round game. The 5-9 forward was named Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey in 1992 as the state’s top high school player after racking up 22 goals and 35 assists in just 23 games, having sat out a number of contests due to a shoulder injury. Bonin was subsequently drafted in the ninth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins, but instead opted to play for the Gophers and coach Doug Woog.
After a solid freshman campaign at the U of M that saw him scored 28 points in 38 games, Bonin averaged more than a point per game as a sophomore in leading the Gophers past UMass Lowell in double overtime to reach the Frozen Four. The team lost to Boston University in the Semifinals.
Bonin led the WCHA in scoring as a junior and, with freshman Mike Crowley in the fold, the Gophers shook off a fourth-place conference finish to return to the Frozen Four, losing again to Boston University in the Semifinals. Bonin was named an All-American at center and barely missed out on winning the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s top collegiate hockey player, but the Gophers wouldn’t return to the Frozen Four until back-to-back national championships in 2002-03.
Leading the nation in scoring as a senior with 34 goals and 47 assists–a rate of nearly two points per game–Bonin won the Hobey Baker, beating out Boston University playoff nemesis Jay Pandolfo. He also managed a 4.0 GPA as a chemistry major over winter quarter, before being named to the United States squad that took home bronze at the 1996 World Ice Hockey Championships. Bonin scored a goal in eight games en route to what would be the first US medal at the competition in 34 years.
The Career That Was
After being named arguably the best hockey player in high school and the best player in college, Bonin’s pro career never materialized as those amateur accolades suggested it would.
After a solid pro debut with the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL, Bonin averaged more than a point per game in 1997-98 for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. He moved over to the Kansas City Blades of the IHL the following season, then joined the Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL. Bonin capped of the 1998-99 season by joining Jaromir Jagr and company for the final five games of the regular season and three playoff games, going scoreless in his first taste of the NHL.
Bonin signed as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks in the off season and returned to the Crunch, then ended up back with the Lumberjacks for most of 2000-01, racking up 35 goals and 42 assists in 72 games. During the season, he got his second stint in the NHL with the Wild, again going scoreless in seven games.
With his NHL prospects on hold, Bonin left the States to continue his pro career in Switzerland. In two season with the SCL Tigers, Bonin continued to put up the sort of solid scoring numbers he had previously throughout his pro career, including 15 points in eight games for the Tigers’ playoff run in 2002.
A broken wrist kept the former Gopher sidelined for the entirety of the 2003-04 season, before he signed on for a final professional campaign with the Worcester IceCats of the AHL, where he scored a goal in four games before retiring for good.
Having played high school, college and pro hockey in his home state, Bonin is undoubtedly best remembered for his amateur accomplishments rather than his nondescript pro career, and has made numerous appearances as a television commentator during the State High School Tournament.