Dave Isaac

Cherry Hill (N.J.) Courier-Post

SEWELL – Next week will be familiar to Johnny Gaudreau, and not just because he'll be sitting in an arena near his hometown.

"Johnny Hockey," the pride of Carneys Point, is one of three Hobey Baker Award finalists, just like last year. The nation's leading scorer will find out April 11 at Wells Fargo Center whether he'll be given college hockey's most prestigious award.

Unlike last year, the rest of the Boston College hockey team will be there with him. As much as he appreciated being a finalist last year, he would rather have had his team playing in the Frozen Four.

"Dad," he turned to tell his father, Guy, at last year's ceremony, "that will never happen again."

Sure enough, Gaudreau has led the Eagles back to the Frozen Four, being held in Philadelphia this year. When Gaudreau was a freshman, Boston College defeated Ferris State for the national championship.

"This year, fortunately I got the chance to do both at the same time at one Frozen Four," Gaudreau said in a phone interview Wednesday. "That's what I was kind of hoping for throughout the whole year was to make sure I got my team to the Frozen Four and not just get myself there."

His first task is to beat Union College on April 10 in the national semifinals. Gaudreau will face off against his roommate in World Juniors last year, Flyers prospect Shayne Gostisbehere, a defenseman.

Gaudreau, a fourth-round pick of the Calgary Flames in the 2011 draft, led the nation with 35 goals and 42 assists and developed into an intriguing NHL prospect. At 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds, the undersized winger has come a long way and now faces a decision about turning pro following this, his junior season.

The Flames have put pressure on Gaudreau to make a decision about going pro. They'll want an answer whenever his season ends, which is all the more reason the Gaudreaus feel lucky that Boston College beat UMass-Lowell last week.

Even within the household, the debate rages on.

"My wife and I, we've argued about it quite a few times," Guy Gaudreau said. "As a father, and her as a mother, we'd love for him to go back for his senior year and get a degree. As a hockey person that knows the game, it would be better for him if he wanted to eventually make the NHL to go sign with Calgary."

Of course, if he does, he'll stop his quest for a communications degree a year early. He will only have played with his younger brother Matthew, a freshman on B.C.'s roster, for one season.

"It's made it very, very fun this year getting to be around him the whole year and be on the ice with him every single day," Johnny Gaudreau said. "It's gonna be tough to make a decision whether to stay or leave. I came to B.C. with my brother, and we always wanted to play with each other, and I got to do that this year."

If he were to go pro, Gaudreau would start a new chapter in his hockey career. Like most others, it will probably start with talk about him being too small.

"If the management they had there before was there, like (former general manager Jay) Feaster, the ones that drafted him, I'd be really comfortable letting him go," Guy Gaudreau said. "I know that (Calgary president of hockey operations) Brian Burke likes big boys, big hockey players. My son is not a big hockey player. He's made it clear that he likes him or whatever, but I don't think he's sold on him. That's been John all his life, wherever he tried out. It's always been, 'He's got to prove himself, prove himself, prove himself.' He's done that over and over and over."

The same thing happened when he left Gloucester Catholic High School after three years to go to Iowa and play in the USHL for the Dubuque Fighting Saints.

He finished his season with 72 points in 60 games and was a point-per-game player in 11 playoff games. He has maintained that pace or better in three years at Boston College and in seven games for Team USA in the World Juniors last year.

"I never thought I would get the chance to do something like this growing up," Johnny Gaudreau said. "I was just playing AAA hockey and high school hockey for my school and everything kind of escalated from there. "

Reach Dave Isaac at disaac@cpsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @davegisaac.