His full name is Bobby Orr Brink — fitting for the NCAA scoring leader and Hobey Baker Award candidate as the country’s best amateur hockey player.
Brink, a University of Denver junior forward, ranks first nationally with 41 points and 32 assists. He is coming off a six-point series in the Pioneers’ two-game sweep over St. Cloud State last weekend.
Brink, who goes by “Bob,” celebrated by having a late dinner with his family and two St. Cloud teammates — both of whom played alongside Brink for Minnetonka High in 2018 when the Skippers won the AA Minnesota state hockey championship. The Huskies’ Joseph Molenaar and Josh Luedtke are also proud Minnetonkans.
“Definitely cool to have bragging rights over them,” Brink said.
Brink, a right winger on the top line, will face another former Minnetonka teammate this weekend in Luke Loheit, a Minnesota-Duluth junior forward. The third-ranked Pioneers (20-5-1), who are on an eight-game winning streak, put their 13-0-1 home record on the line against the No. 8 Bulldogs (14-10-3).
“Another cool matchup with another friend,” Brink said. “Hoping for a big weekend and having bragging rights over him, too.”
Brink takes a career-high 10-game point streak into Friday’s game, a stretch during which he has amassed 20 points to take over the NCAA scoring lead.
“I’m proud of it but it’s not really something I’m paying too much attention to,” Brink said. “When you get wrapped up in stuff like that, it stops going right for you.”
Ditto for the Hobey Baker Award. Brink doesn’t think about becoming DU’s third winner, and first forward.
“I’d be sidetracked,” he said. “It’s important to just focus on winning with your team — rising tide raises all ships.”
Brink, 5-foot-8, 166 pounds, is among DU’s 12 NHL draft picks, including four selected in the second round. The Philadelphia Flyers chose him 34th overall in 2019, following his 35-goal season in 43 games for the junior-A Sioux City Musketeers. Brink had a solid freshman year for the Pioneers as their youngest player in the incomplete season of 2019-20, producing 24 points (11 goals) in 28 games.
Last season, however, Brink struggled along with the entire team. Brink was limited to 15 of 24 games because of injury, COVID and U.S. World Junior Championship duty and produced just two goals as DU finished 10-13-1.
“I feel like he’s got a real purpose and drive to what he’s doing. Last year was a big disappointment for him,” DU coach David Carle said. “He had a really driven summer and wanted to show that last year was an anomaly for himself and for our team.”
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