Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger look at the games of the past weekend and the news of the week in this D-I college hockey podcast.
This podcast is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 6th and 8th, 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Secure your seats at NCAA.com/mfrozenfour
Topics include:
• Down goes No. 1 again as St. Cloud State is swept by Minnesota Duluth
• Quinnipiac rebounds with Connecticut Ice win
• Michigan sweeps Penn State
• Maine sweeps Providence
• Notre Dame sweeps Wisconsin
• Minnesota State wins eighth straight
• Michigan Tech sweeps Northern Michigan
• Harvard bounces back
• PairWise peculiarities and a breakdown by league
Andrew Kurapov and Endicott celebrated a strong weekend against Curry including a 2-1 overtime win at home on Saturday (photo by Endicott Athletics)
There is no doubt things are heating up in all the conferences in the east. Plattsburgh now sits atop the SUNYAC while Trinity has taken over the top spot in NESCAC. Utica, Endicott and Plymouth State continue as unbeatens in conference play but the battles up and down the standings are even more contested in the final weeks of the regular season and heading into conference tournament play. Here is the wrap-up for action in the East last week:
CCC
Endicott and Curry played a critical home-and-home series for the battle at the top of the CCC standings. On Friday, the host Colonels took advantage of a Timmy Kent goal in the first period and Ben Beister’s shorthanded tally in the second period for a 2-1 lead entering the final 20 minutes of regulation. Andrew Kurapov tied the game with just 39 seconds remaining on the clock for a 2-2 tie. Overtime could not decide a winner but Kurapov scored the only goal in the shootout for the Gulls. Reid Cooper was outstanding in goal for Curry stopping 38 of 40 shots. On Saturday, the scene shifted to Endicott where the game was again tightly played in playoff fashion. Makem Demers gave the Colonels a 1-0 lead that stood until Jackson Sterrett tied the game with a power play goal midway through the third period. In overtime there was a winner, and it was Kurapov again scoring a big goal for the Gulls in a 2-1 win.
Independents
Canton hosted Anna Maria for a two-game series and took both games over the AmCats. On Friday, Sam Martin got the Kangaroos off to a fast start with a power play goal and a shorthanded goal for an early 2-0 lead. AMC would tie the game in the second period before Brendan Morrow and Zac Sirota gave the Kangaroos some breathing room in the final period of a 4-2 win. On Saturday, the Kangaroos held a 3-0 lead after two periods of action only to see the AmCats tie the game in the first eight minutes of play of the third period. Noah Robinson would score the game-winner just over a minute later in a 4-3 win for Canton – the team’s tenth win of the season.
MASCAC
Plymouth State got a major surprise from visiting Salem State on Thursday night as the Vikings raced to a 4-1 lead just over a minute into the second period. That is when the Panther offense kicked things into high gear scoring six unanswered goals in route to an 8-5 win. On Saturday, things were a little tighter on the ice at home against Fitchburg State. Gene Bouthiette scored both Falcon goals as the visitors held a 2-1 lead after two periods of play. With just under five minutes remaining in regulation time, Carson Lanceleve scored a power play goal to tie the game at 2-2. It took awhile but in overtime Niks Krollis gave PSU the 3-2 win with just three seconds remaining in the extra session to keep the Panthers undefeated in MASCAC play.
NE-10
Six different goal scorers and three power play goals helped Assumption to a 6-3 win over Franklin Pierce on Friday night. On Saturday, the Greyhounds couldn’t keep the Ravens down as the home team rallied from two-goal deficits three times to tie the game at 4-4 early in the third period on a goal from Cody Rumsen. William Smith provided the game-winning goal for Assumption to take a 5-4 win and weekend sweep of the Ravens. Assumption now stands at 10-4-0 in NE-10 play.
St. Michael’s continued their torrid play in January with a weekend sweep of Southern New Hampshire. On Friday, Jeremy Routh recorded a hat trick in a 6-1 win for the Purple Knights. On Saturday, it was SNHU that broke the ice before St. Michael’s scored five goals in a row for the 5-1 win. Brennan McFarland scored a pair of goals and Routh added three assists in the sweep that moved the Purple Knights to 8-5-1 in conference play.
NEHC
Castleton played the first of their travel partner games on Tuesday night with the Spartans adding to the growing list of upsets across D-III hockey. Carrying a 3-2 lead late into the third period, Castleton’s Andrew Stefura scored with just under two minutes remaining in regulation to tie the game at 3-3 before stunning the Thoroughbreds with the overtime winner. Goaltender Brandon Collett was outstanding with fifty saves for Castleton in the 4-3 OT win.
Hobart took a pair of games over Massachusetts-Boston and Johnson & Wales over the weekend to move to 19-2-0 on the season. Artem Buzoverya scored a pair of goals in Friday’s 6-1 win over the Beacons. On Saturday, the Wildcats scored first for a short lived lead as Jonah Alexander scored twice in a 5-1 win for the Statesmen.
Norwich played just a single NEHC game against travel partner new England College and skated away with a 6-0 win. Andrew Albano made thirty-three saves to earn the shutout while Patrick O’Neal scored a pair of goals for the Cadets who moved to 11-1-2 in NEHC play.
NESCAC
Trinity continued their strong play in January with a 1-1 tie with Hamilton on Friday night and a 4-0 win over Amherst on Saturday. The win moved the Bantams to the top of the NESCAC standings. On Friday, Trinity outshot Hamilton by a wide margin but the Continentals’ Jack Grant made 46 saves surrendering just Nicholas Siffringer’s second period goal in a 1-1 overtime tie. On Saturday, the battle for the top of the standings saw a scoreless first period before the Bantams broke out with four goals in the second period led by Gerrard Maretta’s hat trick. Devon Bobek made 13 saves for the Bantams in the shutout win.
After tying Trinity on Friday, Hamilton extended Wesleyan’s difficult week with a 2-1 overtime win on Saturday. Grant was again outstanding in goal for the Continentals making 24 saves while Grisha Gotovets scored the game-winner just 28 seconds into overtime. The win moved Hamilton to 9-8-1 overall and 7-4-1 in NESCAC play.
Colby extended an exceptional record in their long-time rivalry with Bowdoin on Saturday night with a 4-0 shutout win. Andy Beran backstopped the win while four different players scored for the Mules who are now 11-0-1 in their last 12 games against the Polar Bears.
SUNYAC
Plattsburgh moved to the top of the SUNYAC standings with a pair of wins over Brockport and Geneseo. The Cardinals took advantage of two goals by Bennett Stockdale that broke a 1-1 tie in route to a 4-1 win over the Golden Eagles. Eli Shiller picked up the win making 25 saves. On Saturday, the Cardinals took a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Adam Tretowicz and Jake Lanyi only to see the Knights answer back with two quick goals in the opening minutes of the second period. The score remained tied until Carson Gallagher broke the deadlock midway through the third period for the 3-2 road win. Jacob Hearne made twenty-two saves for the win.
Oswego started the weekend atop the standings but fell in overtime on Friday to Cortland. Evan Beaudry’s goal in the final minute of the period left the teams tied at 2-2 after 20 minutes of play. Cortland’s Nick Grupp gave the Red Dragons a one-goal lead after two periods of play. Alex DiCarlo tied the score at 3-3 early in the third period and the score remained that way to close out regulation time. In overtime, Domenic Settimo scored to give Cortland the upset win just over a minute into the extra session. Goaltender Luca Durante made thirty-nine saves for Cortland.
UCHC
Nazareth traveled to face Utica for two games over the weekend and was looking to benchmark their stature against the top team in the conference. The Pioneers were hardly hospitable hosts as they swept the weekend series by scores of 6-1 and 4-1 over the Golden Flyers. On Friday night, the Pioneers opened up a 2-1 game with two goals in each of the second and third periods to comfortably win. Six different players scored goals for Utica. On Saturday, Henry McKinney gave the visitors a 1-0 lead after the first period but four unanswered goals including two on the power play, provided all the offense Utica would need in the 4-1 win that moved them to 14-0-0 in UCHC play.
It was not easy, but Wilkes extended their win streak to seven games with a pair of 4-3 overtime wins over Lebanon Valley this past weekend. Wilkes took three different leads over LVC on Friday only to see the Flying Dutchmen rally to tie the game at 3-3 at the end of regulation. In overtime, Ben Stefanini scored the deciding goal for the Colonels in the win. On Saturday, it was Wilkes’ turn to rally as Cam Lowe’s third period goal sent the game to overtime, where Billy Berry was the hero with the game-winner to extend the Colonels win streak.
Three Biscuits
Andrew Stefura and Brandon Collett – Castleton – each contributed significantly in the Spartans 4-3 overtime win over Skidmore on Tuesday night. Collett stopped 50 of 53 shots while Stefura provided both the game tying and game-winning goals.
Gerrard Maretta – Trinity – scored a hat trick in the second period to spearhead a 4-0 Bantam win over Amherst on Saturday. The win moved Trinity into first place in the NESCAC standings.
Andrew Kurapov – Endicott – scored three goals including an overtime game winner for the Gulls in their weekend series with Curry where they earned a tie (shootout win) and an overtime win to remain unbeaten in CCC play.
There are going to be more and more ups and downs as we officially enter February and the final weeks of the regular season. Everyone looking for wins and points and the consistent game that will have the team playing for something meaningful come playoff time.
On Friday Jenn Gardiner and Paetyn Levis each scored twice and Madison Bizal added three assists to lead the Buckeyes to a 6-2 win. Sophie Jaques also added a goal and an assist. Madison Mashuga and Kelsey King each scored for the Mavericks in the loss. In the second game, Makenna Webster, Levis, Sofie Lundin and Riley Brengman scored for OSU in a 4-2 win. Emma Peschel added two assists. For Minnesota State, Charlotte Avervik and Claire Butorac scored in the loss.
St. Lawrence at (2) Yale
Carina DiAntonio had two goals and one assist, Claire Dalton had one goal and two assists and Charlotte Welch added three assists as the Bulldogs took a 6-1 win to earn their 20th victory of the season. Abby Hustler scored for St. Lawrence in the loss.
(9) Clarkson at (2) Yale
The Bulldogs used a goal in each period to defeat Clarkson on Saturday. Vita Poniatovskaia, Emma Seitz and Claire Dalton each lit the lamp for Yale to lead them to the 3-0 win.
(3) Minnesota at (6) Minnesota Duluth
On Friday, the two teams felt each other out in the first, with neither team coming out with an advantage. Catie Skaja redirected Madeline Wethington’s shot from the point to give the Gophers a 1-0 lead midway through the second. Taylor Stewart tied the game for UMD just 37 seconds in to the third. But the Bulldogs couldn’t hold off Minnesota as Abbey Murphy and Grace Zumwinkle combined for two goals to put the game out of reach and give the Gophers a 3-1 win. In the second game of the series, Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Peyton Hemp and Josefin Bouveng, but UMD wouldn’t let the game get away from them. Gabby Krause scored on the power play to make it 2-1 before Hemp scored her second of the game to make it 3-1 at the second intermission. Mannon McMahon cut the lead once again early in the third to make it 3-2 before Abigail Boreen’s unassisted goal put Minnesota ahead 4-2. Taylor Anderson’s power play goal made it a one-goal game once again and the Bulldogs had momentum as they pulled the goal with about three minutes to go. They had a number of close calls, but Skylar Vetter and the Gophers stood tall on defense and held out to get the 4-3 win.
Princeton at (4) Quinnipiac
Maddy Samoskevich scored in the first few minutes on Saturday and the Bobcats did not look back as they earned their 11th shutout this season with a 3-0 win. Olivia Mobley and Kendall Cooper also lit the lamp in the win. Home cooking must have been the key for the Tigers, because the second half of this series moved to Princeton and the home team absolutely went off. Three different Princeton skaters – Maggie Connors, Sarah Fillier and Jane Kuehl – netted hat tricks. Kuehl started by scoring her first collegiate goal, but finished with a hat trick. This was the most the Tigers had scored in a game since a 11-1 win over St. Lawrence on Jan. 5, 1997. The 11 goals tied the most allowed by Quinnipiac in program history, since the Bobcats began play in 2000. Sadie Peart, Maya Labad and Olivia Mobley scored for Quinnipiac in the loss.
Dartmouth at (5) Colgate
Kalty Kaltounková led the Raiders to a 7-0 victory by scoring two goals and compiling three assists. Danielle Serdachny contributed a goal and two assists and Dara Greig had two goals in the win.
Harvard at (5) Colgate
The teams fought to a scoreless first, but Colgate started to pull away in the second. Kaitlyn O’Donohoe made it 1-0 in the opening minutes of the frame and Elyssa Biederman extended it to 2-0. But Kristin Della Rovere cut the lead to 2-1 with only 1.5 seconds left in the middle frame. Tessa Folk’s third period goal secured the 3-1 win for the Raiders.
Holy Cross at (7) Northeastern
Alina Müller’s goal 95 seconds into the game was her 168th career point in Hockey East play, which set a new league record. Peyton Anderson, Maude Poulin-Labelle and Megan Carter each scored for Northeastern to make it a 4-0 win.
(8) Wisconsin at St. Thomas
The Tommies opened the scoring on Friday as Maddy Clough took advantage of a turnover to get in on the net. But the Badgers responded with the first of Casey O’Brien’s two goals before intermission and then pulled away in the second two frames. Jesse Compher posted her 150th collegiate point while Nicole LaMantia and O’Brien collected their 100 points as Badgers. In the second game, Maddi Wheeler, Kirsten Simms and O’Brien each scored to give Wisconsin the 3-0 win.
(9) Clarkson at Brown
Madie Stockfish scored on a breakaway to put Brown up 1-0 early, but Clarkson responded with two goals from Anne Cherkowski and another from Jenna Godwin to earn a 3-1 win. Stephanie Markowski had two assists in the win.
Harvard at (10) Cornell
It was an offensive outburst on Friday as the two teams combined for 13 goals, but it was the Crimson who came out ahead in a back and forth 7-6 win. The teams let fans know the game would be crazy in the opening minute as Anne Bloomer scored 14 seconds in and Caroline Chan responded just 24 seconds later to make it 1-1 :36 into the game. Things calmed down for a bit before picking up in the final few minutes. Kaitlin Jockims scored on the power play to give Cornell a 2-1 lead. Bloomer scored her second of the period to tie it at 2 before Paige Lester added her own power play tally to give Harvard a 3-2 win at the end of the first period. In the second, McKenna VanGelder and Gillis Frechette scored for Cornell, but in the middle Bloomer Gabi Davidson Adams scored twice for Harvard. Jade Arnone made it 6-4 for Harvard late in the second, but Izzy Daniel’s goal in the final minute of the frame closed the game to 6-5. Shannon Hollands extended the Crimson’s lead once more late in the third. Cornell fought back once more with another goal from VanGelder, but they ran out of time and Harvard took the win.
Dartmouth at (10) Cornell
After a back and forth first frame, Dartmouth exploded for three goals in the second to go ahead 3-0. Jenna Donohue, Maura Fiorenza and Laura Fuoco each lit the lamp. In the third, Izzy Daniel ruined the shutout bid, but Dartmouth responded just 40 seconds later to extend the lead to 4-1 thanks to CC Bowlby, who also added a late tally to secure the 5-1 win. Elle Sullivan made 31 saves in the win.
(11) Vermont at Boston College
Katie Pyne and Abby Newhook scored in the second period to put Boston College up 2-0. But Vermont would claw their way back with goals from Corinne McCool and Natálie Mlýnková each scoring to make it 2-2 after the second intermission. Mlýnková added another goal in the third to give the Catamounts the 3-2 win.
(11) Vermont at Boston University
Catherine Foulem scored on a beauty of a shot from the bottom of the circle (her first goal since mid-November) to put BU up 1-0 early in the first. Evelyne Blais-Savoie tied it up before intermission and then Vermont put on the pressure in the second, outshooting the Terriers 14-5, but Andrea Brandli stood tall and kept the game tied. After a scoreless third, Julia Nearis scored just 19 seconds into overtime, taking a turnover straight to the net for the game-winner.
Lindenwood at (12) Penn State
The Nittany Lions set a new program record with their 19th win on Friday. Eleri MacKay led PSU with two goals and an assist. Olivia Wallin, Julie Gough and Katelyn Roberts also scored for Penn State in the 5-1 win. Morgan Neitzke scored for Lindenwood in the loss. On Saturday, Lindenwood was up 1-0 after the first thanks to Neitzke and doubled their lead early in the second thanks to Sydney Rarick. Courtney Correia and Wallin each scored in the second to tie the game before intermission. MacKay gave PSU the lead and then Kiara Zanon’s tally midway through the third broke the single-season program record for goals in a season with 21. MacKay and Alyssa Machado extended the lead to 6-2. Thea Jorgensen cut the lead to 6-3 late in the frame, but Lindenwood ran out of time and Penn State took the win and weekend sweep.
(13) Providence at New Hampshire
Sara Hjalmarsson’s hat trick and Noemi Neubauerova’s two goals led the Friars to a 7-4 win on Friday. Providence had a 3-1 lead heading into the third and extended it to 6-1 before New Hampshire started to fight their way back into the game. Brianna Brooks, Chavonne Truter and Tamara Therius each scored in a 90 second stretch to make it a 6-4 game, but Hjalmarsson’s empty-netter shut down the comeback and secured the 7-4 win.
(13) Providence at Maine
The Black Bears got into their second shootout of the weekend against Providence on Saturday. Alyssa Wruble put Maine up early before Lindsay Bochna tied it for the Friars later in the period. Lilli Welcke’s goal less than a minute after that would send Maine to the locker room up 2-1. Elise Morphy’s slapper from the point gave the Black Bears a 3-1 lead midway through the second and it looked like that’s how the period would end, but Maddy Coen’s goal with .2 seconds left in the frame closed the gap to 3-2. The goal spurred on Providence, who scored two more early in the third to give them their first lead of the game 4-3. Lauren DeBlos and Sara Hjalmarsson each lit the lamp. Lilli Welcke’s late power play goal forced overtime where a winner couldn’t be decided and the game ended 4-4. Providence won the shootout to earn the extra conference point.
(14) Connecticut at Maine
The Black Bears eked out an overtime win in a close, back and forth affair on Friday. The game got off to a quick start with Jada Habisch scoring for UConn just 25 seconds in and Ava Stevenson responding with her first collegiate goal to make it 1-1 before two minutes had elapsed. Anna Caumo continued the trend, scoring her first collegiate goal to put Maine up 2-1 midway through the period before Habisch scored her second just before intermission to send the teams to the locker rooms tied 2-2. The Black Bears looked like they might be pulling away when Ida Kuoppala forced a turnover and fed Ally Johnson to make it 3-2 and then the two switched roles, as Johnson won a faceoff to feed Kuoppala, who’s goal made it 4-2. But Connecticut responded in the final few minutes of the second with a power play goal from Claire Peterson and a goal from Coryn Tormala to tie the game at 4-4. After all that excitement, the third period was about fighting for any advantage, which could not be found in regulation. In overtime, Grace Heiting stole the puck at center ice and took off to score the game-winner and give Maine the 5-4 win.
New Hampshire at (14) Connecticut
Nicky Harnett made 12 of her 22 saves in the third period to keep the shutout in tact and help UNH to a 3-0 win. Kira Juodikis scored on a wrap around to put the Wildcats up 1-0 in the second. In the final frame, Emily Rickwood took advantage of a 5 on 3 to make it a 2-0 game and Annie Berry added an empty-netter to secure the victory.
Bemidji State at (15) St. Cloud State
Jojo Chobak earned her fourth shutout of the season, tying the program’s single-season record, with 32 saves in the game, including 17 in the third period. Not only did the defense kill three penalties, but they capitalized on special teams as Jenniina Nylund and Addi Scribner each scored on the player advantage to give SCSU the 2-0 win. On Saturday, Claire Vekich’s power play goal in the opening minutes of the second was the only tally until Scribner tied it up midway through the third. Courtney Hall collected a rebound and pulled up a quick wrap around to tuck the puck in and net the game-winner for St. Cloud to make it 2-1.
Quinnipiac celebrates its 2023 Connecticut Ice championship Saturday night (photo: Rob Rasmussen).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1) Here we go again
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
The No. 1 team in the nation was newly anointed last week as St. Cloud State. In their first weekend since gaining the honor, the Huskies lost. Without question, that means that Monday afternoon will bring a new top-ranked team after several challengers won their way into the serious stages of the conversation.
This time, it was Minnesota Duluth, the former national championship contender that looked like an NCAA tournament berth was far from reality after it pushed towards February with a sub-.500 record. The Bulldogs swept their rivals from Central Minnesota with their first weekend sweep since mid-October and their first six-point series of the NCHC season, but the way they won – scoring four unanswered goals on Friday before scoring two power-play goals and a short-handed strike in the first period of Saturday’s game, ensured the top-ranked Huskies never led at any point this weekend.
Friday night’s four-goal outburst exclusively used the power play and resulted in a Ben Steeves hat trick, while a fourth power-play goal on Saturday by the freshman from New Hampshire matched his output from a two-game swing in early December. It was his second hat trick after he scored three goals against Colorado College as part of a season where 10 of his 16 goals have come via the power play.
2) BU Rhett-y for No. 1
It feels like it’s been forever since Boston University held the top spot in the national polls. Hockey East’s dynamics changed significantly over the past decade, and the Terriers themselves underwent an overhaul in the years after David Quinn left the college ranks for an opportunity with the New York Rangers. The rise of other programs like UMass and Northeastern shuffled BU into the periphery, and even the Beanpot championships that felt inevitable moved to Northeastern and Harvard – an unthinkable thought after BU won its 30th championship in 2015.
Then came this past weekend and an absolute thumping that the No. 4 team in the nation put on its most hated rival with one weekend remaining until the Beanpot. BU took six points from Boston College and overall dominated the Eagles, beating them 6-3 on Friday night after opening up a 6-1 lead in the first two-plus periods. It preceded a 3-1 win on Saturday at Conte Forum that saw a scoreless first period before Wilmer Skoog and Case McCarthy posted an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the first half of the second period.
In each game, Boston College did what was expected by bringing the battle to its ancient enemy, but the six-point weekend rocketed BU into a four-point lead in Hockey East. Though Minnesota and Quinnipiac both swept their respective weekends, there stands a chance that the Terriers are ready to regain the spotlight that’s eluded the tradition and history now hanging in Agganis Arena.
3) Not so fast, my friend. -Minnesota, probably.
The only thing standing in BU’s way, though, is a Gopher-sized beatdown that Michigan State absorbed in its two-game swing at Mariucci Arena. Sure, the BU story would be great for the Massachusetts folks, but Minnesota dropped a snowman on its Big Ten rival with an 8-0 victory before rallying from two separate one-goal deficits in the second period on Saturday to claim a 6-3 win.
Minnesota actually scored five consecutive goals in that second game and used a 16-6 shot advantage in the second period to post three goals before the frame ended. Jimmy Snuggerud finished the Saturday game with two goals, but the goals from Garrett Pinoniemi and Bryce Brodzinski gave the Gophers a one-goal lead at the end of the second that never surrendered.
The Gophers exited the weekend at the top-ranked team in the Pairwise Rankings, and with a 14-3-1 record that features an overtime win, the 20-7-1 team now holds a 16-point lead in the Big Ten. It’s almost elementary to think it would take a collapse to dethrone Minnesota from the top spot in arguably the best conference in the country, and the dominance all but means the team should be No. 1 on Monday.
4) Or maybe it’s Quinnipiac?
BU and Minnesota are the biggest, baddest teams in the yard, but it wasn’t too long ago that Quinnipiac, the prohibitive favorite in ECAC, stood as the No. 1 team in the nation. It’s not the Bobcats fault that the two wins at the Connecticut Ice Tournament felt like they were under the radar when higher profile rivalries stole the spotlight, but the 5-0 win over Sacred Heart preceded a “neutral site” victory over Connecticut in a tournament hosted in Hamden.
Including Yale, which lost to UConn before dropping the consolation game against Sacred Heart, the tournament maintained its status as a Connecticut-based rival to the Boston-based Beanpot to its north, and the one-goal win over the Huskies cemented a wild atmosphere for the No. 2 team in the Pairwise Rankings. The teams simply traded leads and shots against one another before the Bobcats scored twice in the third period to overcome the Huskies, and two power play goals included one from Ethan de Jong, who had two goals in the championship game en route to tournament MVP honors.
Quinnipiac remained undefeated on home ice with the wins – even though they were technically neutral ice games – and the 20-3-3 Bobcats remained the best team in the nation by winning percentage, even though their overall RPI number and the combined strength of ECAC relegated them to the second spot behind the Gophers.
5) The Commonwealth is blue
The University of Massachusetts is more than just a single campus, but the name UMass itself belongs to the flagship campus in Amherst. Located in Western Massachusetts, it’s the only version of the state system that uses the mononym, and the Minutemen justified their lofty standing within the Commonwealth by winning the first national championship outside of the Boston Beanpot schools.
That’s always been ironic in Massachusetts because UMass-Lowell, the “other UMass” in Hockey East, was once regarded as one of Hockey East’s breakout programs after it advanced to the 2013 Frozen Four. The three-time conference champions always operated in the shadow of their larger system brother, but on Friday night, the rivalry’s renewal at Tsongas Arena ended with a 1-0 defensive duel for the ages.
The teams combined for 55 shots while being whistled for minimal penalties, and Dillan Bentley’s goal with just under 12 minutes remaining in the second period stood up against a barrage at both ends of the ice. The win snapped a 10-game winless streak in the Kennedy Cup series between the two schools and earned head coach Norm Bazin his 21st victory over the Minutemen since becoming the head coach of his alma mater.
6) …And so is the Last Frontier
The Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup had already been decided earlier this year when Alaska defeated Alaska-Anchorage on four separate occasions at the start of the year, but the Nanooks swept the returning series with wins at both the Seawolf Sports Complex and the Carlson Center over the weekend.
Saturday’s game had been Fairbanks’ first home game since last December’s win over UAA, but the comeback victory saw Brady Risk score in the first minute of overtime after Alaska scored twice across 30 seconds with under five minutes remaining in the game. Trailing 3-1, Chase Dubois’s second power play goal brought the Nanooks within one of Anchorage, and Anton Rubtsove scored 30 seconds later during the same five-minute major to tie the game at 3-3.
It was the 12th consecutive Governor’s Cup win for the Nanooks, who improved to 13-9-2 on the season and capped a six-game series between the two teams in the northernmost state in college hockey.
7) ECAC operates according to its chalkboard
ECAC Hockey’s lone travel weekend sent Cornell and Colgate to Dartmouth and Harvard, but any hope of seeing upsets upend the conference standings went by the wayside when the league went through the motions of a largely indistinct weekend. Cornell beat Dartmouth while Colgate stole a point against Havard, and the Crimson ended any threat from their rival Big Red by scoring four unanswered goals in a 6-2 win. Dartmouth, meanwhile, picked up a point from the Raiders before losing, 4-3, on Alex Young’s fourth period winner.
The lone exception to a weekend that wasn’t overly notable came in the North Country, where St. Lawrence took a pair of 4-2 victories from travel partner Clarkson. The preseason favorite to challenge Quinnipiac for the league championship, the Golden Knights instead sit in seventh with Brown breathing down its neck while the Saints jumped ahead of Princeton and into the conversation for the last first round bye spot occupied by Colgate.
8) Enemies on the ice, brothers in arms
The Army-Air Force series in Atlantic Hockey has long been one of the league’s more celebrated events, but the pageantry of the matchup between the two service academies reaches well beyond a final score and into the annals of games defined by big moments and memorable frenzies within the cadets who attend both institutions.
Both teams earned a victory this weekend, but the true meaning of the game occurred after the final whistle when both rosters stood around center ice at Tate Rink for a collective stick salute. The sight is a common once in a matchup steeped in tradition, but the vision is still jarring in the reminder that the players on the ice stand for something greater than just wins and losses. Every year, the graduates from Army West Point and Air Force move into defensive positions as members of the United States military, and it’s the only matchup where every player on the ice is willing to die for everyone watching in the stands.
9) The dreaded triple hat trick
Fourth-ranked Quinnipiac entered its matchup with travel partner Princeton on Sunday as the front-running challenger to second-ranked Yale in both the women’s hockey national polls and the ECAC’s women’s division. A 4-0 win over the Tigers on Saturday made sense given the six-game winning streak that ended only when Yale won a 4-2 game at the M&T Bank Arena.
It didn’t seem like Princeton, a team that was under .500 and coming off five straight losses, posed much of a threat, but that’s where hockey got weird.
Three different Tigers scored hat tricks against the Bobcats, and a 1-1 game turned into one of the biggest routs of the season in an 11-3 win for the home side. Four different players scored in the first period, and Jane Kuehl capped the extravaganza with her third goal with under two minutes remaining in the game. She joined Sarah Fillier and Maggie Connors as players receiving chapeaus on the ice, and it upended the national conversation in women’s hockey after Quinnipiac lost for just the third time in league play this year.
10) Colby beats Bowdoin in 218th meeting
The weekend itself was riddled with rivalries, but perhaps the most intense matchup belonged to the Division III ranks, where Bowdoin and Colby met for the 218th overall time. Colby’s 4-0 victory was the 12th consecutive game without a loss for the Mules, who were last defeated by the Polar Bears in Dec. 2015.
The sellout crowd of 2,400 fans were treated to a two-goal outburst by John McElany and Jake Macdonald in the second period before Griffin Grise and Ryan Doolin scored in the third, and Andy Beran posted 25 saves, including 12 in the first period, as the Mules won for the 10th time this season.
No. 4 Boston University (19-6-0)
01/27/2023 – RV Boston College 3 at No. 4 Boston University 6
01/28/2023 – No. 4 Boston University 3 at RV Boston College 1
No. 5 Denver (20-7-0)
01/27/2023 – Colorado College 0 at No. 5 Denver 2
No. 6 Penn State (18-9-1)
01/27/2023 – No. 6 Penn State 3 at No. 7 Michigan 7
01/28/2023 – No. 6 Penn State 4 at No. 7 Michigan 5
No. 7 Michigan (16-9-1)
01/27/2023 – No. 6 Penn State 3 at No. 7 Michigan 7
01/28/2023 – No. 6 Penn State 4 at No. 7 Michigan 5
No. 8 Ohio State (16-9-1)
Did not play.
No. 9 Western Michigan (17-10-0)
01/27/2023 – RV Omaha 1 at No. 9 Western Michigan 6
01/28/2023 – RV Omaha 2 at No. 9 Western Michigan 0
Minnesota got seven points from its top line in a 6-3 win over No. 15 Michigan State Saturday afternoon inside 3M Arena at Mariucci.
Jimmy Snuggerud scored twice as part of a three-point performance, Matthew Knies went for a goal and a helper, and Ryan Chesley picked up his first collegiate game-winning goal to secure the sweep. Five unanswered goals, including three in the second period, helped the Golden Gophers erase a one-goal deficit and earn their 13th straight victory against the Spartans.
“We responded,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said. “We tied it, got down, tied it again and then we kept responding. We got better as the game went on. It wasn’t an ‘A’ game, but we got better.”
With the win, the Gophers take the series and hit 20 wins for the third straight season.
Justen Close turned aside 26 shots for the win between the pipes.
Karsen Dorwart had a goal and an assist for MSU and Dylan St. Cyr finished with 24 saves in taking the loss.
No. 3 Quinnipiac 4, No. 12 Connecticut 3
For the second consecutive season, No. 3 Quinnipiac is the champion of Connecticut.
The Bobcats knocked off No. 12 UConn by a 4-3 count at M&T Bank Arena, scoring a pair of third-period goals to clinch the championship for the second consecutive season.
Ethan de Jong tied it with his second of the night and Jake Johnson won it with a top-corner shot from the point with 4:31 to go.
de Jong had a pair of goals on the night, helping earn him Most Outstanding Player accolades on the weekend.
Zach Metsa finished the night with three assists, while de Jong added an assist to match him with three points. Skyler Brind’Amour also had a multi-point contest, scoring the first goal and assisting on the game winner.
Yaniv Perets finished with 25 saves in goal.
For the Huskies, Arsenii Sergeev stopped 26 shots and Justin Pearson had a goal and an assist in the loss.
No. 4 Boston University 3, Boston College 1
Drew Commesso was outstanding in stopping 40 of the 41 shots he faced to backstop No. 4 Boston University to a 3-1 win and sweep over Boston College on Saturday night at Conte Forum.
BU scored twice in the second period to take a 2-0 lead and then added an insurance goal with 8:23 remaining in regulation to create the 3-1 final. Wilmer Skoog and Case McCarthy lit the lamp in the second while Jeremy Wilmer redirected a shot late in the third to put the game out of reach.
Willy with the sweet redirection to put us up by two!
Terriers freshman defenseman Lane Hutson posted his fourth straight two-assist game and became the first defenseman in the country to reach the 30-point mark.
Andre Gasseau netted BC’s lone goal and Mitch Benson posted 22 saves in goal for the Eagles.
No. 10 Harvard 6, No. 11 Cornell 2
Matthew Coronato scored a pair of goals, Sean Farrell notched a career-high four assists, and Mitchell Gibson made 31 saves to lead No. 10 Harvard to a 6-2 win over Cornell Saturday night at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
Henry Thrun, John Farinacci, Ryan Siedem, and Alex Laferriere each had a goal and an assist to help the Crimson improve to 3-0-2 in its last five games against Cornell.
Lynden Breen had a goal and an assist and Didrik Henbrant and Donavan Villeneuve-Houle also scored for Maine.
Philip Svedeback stopped 32 shots between the pipes for Providence.
Holy Cross 4, No. 19 RIT 3 (OT)
Jack Ricketts stopped a rush by RIT’s Carter Wilkie, collected the puck and out-skated the Tigers’ defenseman that was on him, creating a breakaway opportunity and goal with 2:48 remaining in the extra frame for the win Saturday night at Hart Center Rink.
Ricketts also had an assist for a multi-point game, while Devin Phillips, Tyler Ghirardosi, and Nick Hale also scored.
Caleb Moretz went for a goal and a helper for the No. 19 Tigers, and Wilkie and Dimitri Mikrogiannakis added goals.
In goal, Jason Grande made 15 saves for Holy Cross while Tommy Scarfone stopped 23 for the Tigers.
No. 7 Michigan 5, No. 6 Penn State 4
Luke Hughes made history by notching four goals on Saturday night at Yost Ice Arena as seventh-ranked Michigan battled back from a three-goal deficit to knock off No. 6 Penn State by a 5-4 score.
U-M’s comeback win, after being down by three goals, was the first such victory for the Wolverines since Nov. 10, 2017, when the team battled back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Minnesota 5-4 in overtime.
Erik Portillo started in net for the Wolverines, earning his 50th career win as a Wolverine by turning aside 32 of the 36 Nittany Lions shots he faced.
Dylan Duke chipped in a goal for Michigan, while Adam Fantilli notched a pair of assists.
Xander Lamppa, Ture Linden, and Tyler Gratton scored for the Nittany Lions with Christian Berger adding two assists.
Liam Souliere made 22 stops in goal for Penn State.
No. 13 Michigan Tech 4, Northern Michigan 1
No. 13 Michigan Tech swept rival Northern Michigan with a 4-1 win Saturday night at the Berry Events Center.
“I thought our third period was very structured like last night,” Michigan Tech coach Joe Shawhan said on his 60th birthday. “Northern Michigan had some really good chances early but Blake (Pietila) was Blake. I think we got better and better as the game went on, and everyone in the lineup played well.”
Logan Pietila, Arvid Caderoth, Parker Saretsky, and Ryland Mosley scored MTU’s goals and Blake Pietila made 26 saves in goal.
“We have a big one at Bemidji and they have some games to make up, and then we have Bowling Green for Winter Carnival,” Saretsky said. “We need to come ready to work every day and the rest will take care of itself.”
Beni Halacz made 30 saves for the home team and Joey Larson scored for NMU.
Following video review and discussion with the on-ice and off-ice officials working the North Dakota at Miami game last night, the NCHC has determined that a game misconduct penalty was inadvertently not recorded on the official score sheet approved by game officials.
In consultation with the NCAA, the conference has corrected the penalty retroactively, which was the initial intent of the call on the ice.
The penalty not recorded was a game misconduct to North Dakota junior defenseman Tyler Kleven at 19:42 of the third period. Kleven was also assessed a five-minute major penalty for cross-checking at 19:42 of the third period, which was recorded in the original score sheet.
The game misconduct is Kleven’s third game misconduct penalty of the season, which by NCAA rule is an automatic one-game suspension. Kleven will serve the suspension tonight, Saturday, Jan. 28 in UND’s series finale with Miami. He is eligible to return for North Dakota’s series opener at Denver on Friday, Feb. 10.
DUKOVAC
Additionally, Miami freshman forward Max Dukovac was assessed a game disqualification penalty at 19:42 of the third period Friday night, which was recorded in the original score sheet. Per NCAA rules, a game disqualification penalty also carries an automatic one-game suspension. Dukovac will serve his suspension during Saturday’s series finale with North Dakota as well.
“The NCHC takes its responsibility to provide quality officiating and associated communication seriously,” the NCHC said in a statement. “Personnel matters involving on-ice officials and/or conference staff will be addressed internally.”
No. 4 BU scored six straight goals in a 6-3 victory over rival BC on Friday, doing so the Terriers take over first place in Hockey East (Photo: Kyle Prudhomme/BU athletics)
No. 4 Boston University proved how explosive its offense can be, scoring six straight goals to rally from a 1-0 deficit and win, 6-3 over Boston College in the Battle of Commonwealth Avenue, a legendary rivalry game in college hockey.
BU fell behind in the first, 1-0, when Trevor Kuntar registered a power play goal on a clearing pad that hit his body and bounced into the net.
It appeared that the Eagles would carry that lead into the first intermission, before Jay O’Brien tallied a goal with 0.4 second remaining.
Here's a look at OB's buzzer-beater that evened the score at 1-1:
The equalizer seemed to turn the tide. In the second, Jeremy Wilmer and Dylan Peterson added goals before defenseman Ty Gallagher scored twice to open the third and Luke Tuch extended the lead to 6-3 with 5:27 remaining. Gallagher finished the night with two goals and two assists to pace the BU offense.
Drew Commesso earned the victory for BU, making 24 saves.
The two favorites on Friday advanced with little resistance at the Connecticut Ice tournament at Quinnipiac, No. 12 UConn defeated Yale, 6-1, and No. 3 Quinnipiac shut out Sacred Heart, 5-0.
The duo will meet in Saturday’s title game while Yale and Sacred Heart will face-off in the consolation game.
Samu Salminen and and Justin Pearson each registered a goal and an assist and six different players cored goals for UConn in its 6-1 victory over Yale. Collin Graf scored twice for Quinnipiac in its 5-0 victory, while Yaniv Perets needed just 17 saves to earn the shutout victory.
The win for Quinnipiac was head coach Rand Pecknold’s 600th career victory.
Minnesota Duluth 5, No. 1 St. Cloud State 3
Ben Steeves scored three goals in less than 11 minutes to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead as Minnesota Duluth rallied for a 5-3 victory over No. 1 St. Cloud State.
After Steeves completed the hat trick at 1:02 of the third, Kyle Bettens delivered the dagger at 4:03 extending the Bulldogs lead to three.
Adam Ingram netted his second goal of the night with 13:21 left, but Matthew Thiessen shut things down, finishing the game with 25 saves to earn the victory for Minnesota Duluth.
No. 10 Harvard 5, Colgate 4
Harvard scored the game’s final three goals, including Matthew Coronato’s game winner at 3:15 of overtime as the Crimson rallied for a 5-4 victory over Colgate.
Alex Young scored twice for Colgate, which jumped to a 4-2 advantage through two periods. But Zakary Karma and Henry Thrun scored in the third, Thurn’s equalizer coming with 40 seconds remaining.
After Harvard fell behind, 2-0, early Alex Leferriere scored twice late in the first to even the game.
UW-Stout looks to keep its streak going against UW-Stevens Point this weekend. (Photo Credit: Reese Kupsky, UW-Stout Athletics)
The final weekend of January is here and it’s all conference play across the schedule. Saint John’s and Augsburg play a big MIAC series, with Friday’s game being played outdoors, and nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point faces a big test against UW-Stout, the hottest team in the MIAC at the moment. In the NCHA, St. Norbert heads out on the road to take on Trine in a key conference series.
It should be a fun weekend ahead as every team is jockeying for position in the standings going into the final month of the regular season.
St. Scholastica (10-5-2, 7-0-1) vs. Hamline (9-7-1, 2-6)
The first-place Saints look to maintain their hold atop the standings. They have won their last two games and feature two of the best offensive players in the game in Arkhip Ledenkov and Filimo Ledenkov. The two have combined for 25 goals. Nathan Adrian has scored 12 goals on the year. Hamline is led by Sam Dabrowski (9 goals) and is coming off a big win over Saint John’s. St. Scholastica, 4-3 and 3-1
Saint John’s (10-7-2, 6-3-1) vs. Augsburg (9-7-1, 5-3)
The Johnnies face one of their toughest tests of the year as they take on the Auggies in a key MIAC series. There’s an added twist to the Friday night game as it will be played outdoors
Michael Nick is the second best goal scorer in the league, tallying 13 on the season for the Johnnies. Bailey Huber has been tough in goal and leads the league in goals against average (1.77). The Auggies also have a pretty good netminder in Samuel Vyletelka, who sports a 2.38 goals against average. Austin Dollimer has come through with nine goals. It won’t be a surprise if this one ends in a split. Saint John’s 5-3; Augsburg, 4-2
Saint Mary’s (8-8-1, 4-4) vs. Bethel (9-9-1, 4-5-1)
The Cardinals slit with the Oles last weekend and go into this series with a chance to gain some ground in the standings. They are currently sixth in the standings. Saint Mary’s has used a balanced attack this year, with no player scoring more than seven goals.
Bethel is led by Jarrett Cammarata, who has come through with nine goals on the year and he’ll try to help the Royals snap a three-game losing streak. Saint Mary’s, 3-1; Bethel 4-2
St. Olaf (11-7-1, 5-5) vs. Concordia (7-9-1, 4-4)
The Oles are just six points out of first place and could really position itself in a good place going into February with a strong series against the Cobbers. Tyler Cooper has scored the fourth-most goals in the league with 10. The Cobbers have shown they can compete with anyone and have won their last two games after losing their first four games of the month. They have an opportunity to go into February on a high note. St. Olaf, 3-1 and 5-3
UW-Stevens Point (12-4-3, 8-1) vs. UW-Stout (14-4-1, 5-3-1)
The Pointers are ranked ninth in the USCHO D-III men’ poll and face a big test against a hot UW-Stout team. The Blue Devils have won their last five games and are just six points out of first place.
An offensive show could be in store in this series. The top four goal scorers in the conference will be on the ice. Peyton Hart and Jacob Halvorson of UW-Stout have combined for 26 goals. Conor Witherspoon and Andrew Poulias have combined for 19 goals. UW-Stevens Point, 5-4; UW-Stout, 4-3
UW-River Falls (7-11-1, 1-7-1) vs. UW-Superior (10-7-2, 5-3-1)
The Falcons haven’t had an easy season and face a tall order on the road against the Yellowjackets, who feature two of the top goal scorers in the conference in C.J. Walker and Colton Friesen. Both have tallied nine goals apiece. The Falcons have taken nearly 30 shots per game on the season and Mike Gelatt has tallied six goals and seven assists. Yellowjackets should prevail but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Falcons get out of here with a split. UW-Superior, 4-3 and 3-2
St. Norbert (11-6-2, 8-3-1) at Trine (12-6-1, 7-5)
The Green Knights are eager to bounce back after falling in the final game of its series with Marian last weekend. Ben Schmidling will look to play a key role as he ranks second in the league in points with 27. He’s quite the playmaker as he has dished out 18 assists on the season. Trine has an opportunity to make a statement at home against the 12th-ranked team in the nation. Cristian Wong-Ramos ranks third in goals against average (2.28). Colby Entz of St. Norbert is second in that category (1.97). St. Norbert, 4-3; Trine, 3-2
Aurora (14-3-2, 10-0-2) at Marian (7-10-2, 4-6-2)
The Spartans hold down the top spot in the NCHA standings and come in ranked fifth in the country. Jack Jaunich ranks fifth in the league in points (26) while Kobly Thornton has been solid in goal, allowing 2.43 goals per game. Marian is riding the high of a win over St. Norbert last weekend and will need to duplicate that kind of effort to upset the Spartans. Aurora, 5-2 and 4-2
Concordia (3-16, 3-9) at Adrian (14-3-2, 8-3-1)
The Falcons won’t have it easy against the fourth-ranked Bulldogs, especially on the road. They are going to need a stellar defensive effort to get a win, having given up 95 goals on the season while scoring only 41. Adrian is on the cusp of clinching a conference tournament berth and are still one of the top scoring teams around, putting up 86 goals on the year. If that offense is clicking, Adrian will be in good shape. Adrian, 6-2 and 5-1
Jacob Guevin and his Omaha squad head to Western Michigan this weekend (photo: Bonnie Ryan).
It seems like twice every season, the college hockey schedule gods align to produce a handful or great rivalries.
This weekend alone will produce the following rivalry games, among others: BC-BU, UMass-UMass Lowell, Alaska-Alaska Anchorage, CC-Denver, Canisius-Niagara, Air Force at Army West Point, Rensselaer and Union, and Clarkson at St. Lawrence. Maybe not all register among the best games in the nation, but guarantee yourself that there will be plenty of intensity in these matchups.
When you’re looking to bet on these games, often times the underdog value line is best, given that more times than not the actual skill on the ice is surpassed by the passion in the locker rooms.
Thus, as you look at the lines, try to identify a game or two that has some potential value. We admit, we didn’t have lines on a lot of these games. But the few we do, there could be a little bit of hidden value when you contemplate the emotional component of the contest.
All odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook:
Boston College (+185) at Boston University (-230); o/u 6.5
When these two teams faced one another just seven weeks ago, Boston College earned a 9-6 victory at home. So why is this line so lopsided?
Well BU has been elite since that time with just a single loss. But trust me that bookmakers are looking more a BC’s tie and loss to Vermont a weekend ago.
Bouncebacks are typically undervalued in gambling, which in this handicapper’s mind makes BC the better play. Though not a lot of people agree.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
Massachusetts (+145) at UMass Lowell (-165); o/u 5.5
This has been a struggling season for UMass, which after a two-game sweep of Denver hasn’t had the victories this team expected.
Now they roll upon Lowell, a team that isn’t just a rival but one they’ve handled pretty well this season. There was a UMass win in Belfast and a 1-1 tie in Amherst. Now in Lowell, expect a good atmosphere for the River Hawks as they hope to defeat their rivals.
The River Hawks know they are fighting for their PairWise lives right now, needing wins like this one, while UMass needs every win, but more important a Hockey East playoff title, to earn an NCAA bid.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
Penn State (+130) at Michigan (-160); o/u 6.5
Two teams have a great offense. Which wins?
That’s the questions with Penn State and Michigan. The football rivals have played tight in recent matchups, but Michigan has won is of the last seven. That said, the loss was this year in Happy Valley, a 3-0 Penn State win.
It’s difficult to handicap this other than to lean towards the obvious, Michigan. The over/under on the series has wavered above and below the 6.5 line set for this game, which makes that a difficult bet.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
Omaha (+175) at Western Michigan (-215) ; o/u 6.5
The USCHO staff is unanimous with its choice of Western Michigan over Omaha. So let’s try to find a reason that the Mavericks could win.
For one, they’ve already swept Western Michigan, 7-6 and 3-1, at home. Isn’t that enough reason to sway the vote?
Omaha has won five straight games, allowing just four goals in that span. Have we made the case yet?
Maybe folks are favoring Western Michigan because of its six-game winning streak with an offense has produced almost six goals per game. And the Broncos have allowed less than two goals a game in that stretch.
OKay, good reasons to bet on either side.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
St. Cloud State (-175) at Minnesota Duluth (+140); o/u 5
Am I the only person who wonders when the real Minnesota Duluth will show up night in and night out?
This feels like a better than than we’re seeing on paper. And yes, there are always untold stories on why a team struggles. But how does this Bulldogs team consistently struggle?
It’s not the popular pick this weekend, but I like the Bulldogs on Friday. Maybe it’s the home ice advantage. Or just some je ne sais quoi. This team feels better than it’s record and seems due for a home ice upset.
(And don’t take my advice if you like your money. St. Cloud State should win this game easily).
Gustavus pulled off an upset of Augsburg last week for its first MIAC win. (Photo Credit: Gustavus Athletics)
Any given weekend. That’s the theme of D-III West Hockey this season.
A team can go into a big weekend series ranked in the top 15 in the USCHO D-III men’s national poll and seemingly the favorite only to come away feeling the sting of defeat.
The lesson here is that while rankings are great and they look good on resumes, in the end, they don’t guarantee you a whole lot.
Last weekend alone proved as much.
Reigning national champion Adrian took on Lake Forest in a key NCHA series and lost the finale 5-3. Its the second time this season the Foresters have beaten a ranked team. They beat then No. 14 Aurora in early November.
Marian took care of business against nationally ranked St. Norbert and if you are talking biggest upsets of the year. Gustavus might have come away with one of the most surprising results, picking up their first MIAC win of the year against then nationally ranked Augsburg, a final four team a season ago.
Here’s the thing about the Gusties. They had dropped six consecutive games and had lost 4-1 to Augsburg the night before. Not to mention the Gusties had lost 22 consecutive MIAC games prior to that win over an Augsburg team that has consistently been one of the nation’s best teams.
Just goes to show you that records often don’t matter, and if you catch the right breaks, victory is possible.
Perhaps we should have seen this madness coming just before the start of the new year as the Concordia Cobbers closed out 2022 with a win over a ranked Aurora Spartans team.
The upsets haven’t slowed down since.
We’ve seen Saint John’s stun UW-Stevens Point, a team that might just be good enough to make a run at the national title this year. Hamline has even come through an upset of the Pointers this year. It was their first win over the Pointers since 2017.
Bethel has also handed nationally Augsburg a loss when the Auggies were ranked. So has UW-River Falls, which has dealt with its share of up and down moments this year.
The hits the Auggies have taken in a highly competitive region certainly don’t mean they are doomed. They could easily end up as the team to beat when it’s all said and done and play deep into the NCAA tournament.
You just never know how things are going to shake out.
But what we do know is these upsets are great for college hockey. They give fans a reason to believe their team has a shot to win even if the news and notes on paper tell you otherwise.
As far as we all know, though, a game has yet to be won on paper. Hockey games are still settled on the ice and that’s what makes this sport so much fun.
One team dominating a sport isn’t any fun. Having parity and the belief that anything is possible is so much better for everyone involved.
Don’t expect anything to change over the next few weeks leading into conference tournament play. There are going to be more upsets along the way and it would be great to see that theme carry into the national tournament.
Any given weekend aren’t just three words that people like to say to give them hope. They are reality. At least when it comes to D-III hockey in the west region.
USCHO Edge hosts Jim Connelly, Dan Rubin, and Ed Trefzger pick out five games among top 20 D-I college hockey teams, looking at money lines and over/under as well as a further analysis of the matchups.
This week’s games:
• Boston College (+185) at Boston University (-230); o/u 6.5
• Massachusetts (+145) at UMass Lowell (-165); o/u 5.5
• Penn State (+130) at Michigan (-160); o/u 6.5
• Omaha (+175) at Western Michigan (-215) ; o/u 6.5
• St. Cloud State (-175) at Minnesota Duluth (+140); o/u 5
This college hockey podcast is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 6th and 8th, 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Secure your seats at NCAA.com/mfrozenfour
Elmira is now 14-5-0 and has won their last five games, two vs ranked opponents (Photo by Doug Page – Elmira Athletics)
Can’t believe we’re already at the conclusion of week 12 and about to begin week 13 of the hockey season (weeks in terms of playing weeks, not overall). We’re starting to see some teams catching fire, whilst others fading as of late. It’s not always about how you start, but how you finish, as ultimately the conference tournament can earn you a bid whether you performed well during the regular season or not.
Elmira figuring it out?
Elmira has been a fascinating story this season, starting off a hot 7-0-0, winning all but one via shutout. They then hit the nucleus of their schedule, facing six ranked teams in their next eight games, five of those games being a top-7 ranked opponent. They went 1-5 during that stretch, including a 7-0 loss to Plattsburgh and a 6-0 loss to Norwich (both consolation tournament games). It looked like their season was taking a wrong turn until as of late, they’ve strung some good wins together. The Soaring Eagles have won their last five games, including wins over #7 Norwich (3-2) & #12 Nazareth (3-2 OT) to improve their record to 14-5-0 on the season (#12 in pairwise).
Head Coach Jake Bobrowski talked about some of his team’s struggles in the first half especially versus ranked opponents and how the team has come around as of late: “I think there were a lot of things going on in the first half. Travel schedules, injury & illness, we didn’t say much about it publicly, but we had a ton of adversity to overcome. I think an example is when we lose 7-0 to Plattsburgh and then the next time it’s an overtime game. We had our lineup back healthy and prepared. I think that’s who we are when we’re healthy and locked in; we can play with anyone.”
Coach Bobrowski then added: “I think a continuation of health and hard work and maybe finally some puck luck. We are healthier and hopefully we can peak at the right time. Every game will be a battle, we know that.”
Elmira’s next games are this weekend 1/27-1/28 on the road vs Johnson & Wales on Friday and then UMass-Boston on Saturday.
A fun Tuesday night
#7 Hamilton (12-3-0) visited #13 Utica (14-1-1) on Tuesday, January 24th for a midweek game that preseason may have been circled by each team, especially Utica, but it turned out to have higher implications than originally thought. Hamilton entered the game with a lot of tough tests behind them, most tests they passed with flying colors (ranked opponents), whilst Utica was a mystery to many. I’ve been high on Utica and was in the preseason, I still feel as though #13 for them is too low, we’ll see if they move up at all, but this team is different to me and will show everyone once the UCHC playoffs begin, possibly getting over that final hump of Nazareth that’s been in the way.
Utica’s Angela Hawthorne made 52 saves in the 2-2 tie vs #7 Hamilton College on Tuesday 1/24/23 (Photo by Kayleigh Sturtevant – Utica Athletics)
This game was even on the scoreboard, but by no means even on the stat sheet. Hamilton jumped out to a 2-0 lead after scoring a quick pair of goals in the 2nd period that were 44 seconds apart, 11:09 & 11:53. Utica would answer however with a quick pair of their own similar to Hamilton’s in the 3rd period. The Pioneers scored a powerplay goal at the 3:31 mark and then just 34 seconds later they scored the even strength tying goal to eventually send the game to overtime, which ended with a 2-2 tie.
The statistical landslide was in favor of the Continentals of Hamilton, outshooting Utica 54-11 and only committing three penalties to Utica’s six. The difference was Utica goaltender Angela Hawthorne, who’s having an outstanding year so far, making 52 saves on the 54 shots she faced and kept the game within reach for her team.
Utica is now unbeaten in their last 16 games (14-0-2) after they also swept Manhattanville 4-0 & 3-1 over this past weekend. Their next games are this weekend on the road at Neumann on 1/27-28 and 4pm/2pm.
A look at pairwise
As mentioned before multiple times, this time of year is when pairwise becomes the end all be all especially in women’s hockey. Unlike the men’s side, where the committee seems to take into consideration other factors at times, you might as well call the pairwise ranking the bible of the women’s tournament. Consistently, we’ve seen the difference between the last at-large bid team and the first team left out, to be as little as one tenth, hundredth, or even thousandth of a percentage point.
Looking back at last season, we saw Colby receive the last at-large bid over Cortland, now there’s a fair argument to be made for both teams to get in, but Colby held on to the last spot by around a hundredth of a point or so ahead of Cortland. The way these two teams finished the season is the main sign that nearly proves pairwise is the bible of the women’s selections, Colby was 16-6-1, Cortland was 18-6-1. Colby ended the season 1-3-1 in their last five games and lost in the NESCAC semifinal, granted, to #3 Amherst, but they finished the season below-par. Cortland on the other hand, was 3-2 in their last five games and took Plattsburgh to overtime and lost 4-3 in the NEWHL championship. Obviously, there’s room for debate on either side of the isle, but regardless of your opinion, situations like this have shown more and more that pairwise is the end all be all for women’s D-III hockey whether we like it that way or not.
Other Notable Results
#3 Plattsburgh defeated Canton 1-0 & Williams 2-1.
King’s will be wearing a special jersey on Friday night against Alvernia to support fundraising for Huntington’s disease – a cause spearheaded by sophomore forward Jack Cooper (Photo by King’s College Athletics)
While the hockey world has long been known for its great philanthropy and support of many diverse charitable endeavors, a close connection to a cause always brings a clearer focus and engagement. Sophomore Jack Cooper at King’s College will be front and center when the hockey team hosts their Huntington’s Disease Awareness Night on Friday in a game against Alvernia. As the primary organizer and sponsor for this year’s fundraising event, Cooper is looking to shine light on the incurable disease that took the lives of both his grandfather and, last spring, his mother Carrie. With a 50/50 chance of inheriting the gene that causes the rare brain disease, Cooper wants to raise awareness and needed funds for research that may someday find a cure.
“We are all so immensely proud and supportive of Jack,” noted head coach Tom Seravalli. “This is very personal for him and while he kept a lot of things close last spring when his mother passed, he is trying to make a positive out of this so that monies can go to research for a cure and awareness can open a dialogue on this particular disease. He has persevered through a lot over the past year and has such a positive, glass half-full attitude, that is driving him to make sure this game garners the awareness and response it deserves for the many diagnosed as well as those living with the possibility of having inherited the gene that causes HD.”
Huntington’s disease causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. It deteriorates a person’s physical and mental abilities, usually during their prime working years and is ultimately fatal. The symptoms of HD are often described as having ALS, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s diseases. – simultaneously.
“Last year we did a prostate cancer game which was a big motivator for me,” said Cooper. “ We raised about $8K and I saw how even at a small school we can make a significant difference. We want to find a cure for the over 200,000 persons that may be carrying the genes and worried about passing it on to future generations. I don’t want young people to have to worry about their future children. Right now, I don’t really want to know if I have it. I am focused on one day at a time and making the most of the opportunity on Friday night with the great support we have received through donations, auction items and everything around the event. I even got as call from Brad Shaw with the Philadelphia Flyers who donated half a dozen signed sticks, a signed Cart Hart jersey and other items for our auction. I am not really an event planner, but it is coming together great, and I hope we can raise a lot of money for the HD organization.”
While the most important fight is off the ice with HD, the game on Friday is one that Cooper really wants to play in and play well for the cause. Injured in December in a game with Arcadia, Cooper’s rehab has him close to a return to the ice but whether he plays or not, he plans to be everywhere in the rink supporting the fundraising and information sharing with the support of his father and sister on Friday night.
“We are going to present Jack with his MAC Rookie of the Year award before the game and have Jack and his family drop the ceremonial face-off,” said Seravalli. “Jack and teammate Tyler Blanchard designed the jerseys we will wear and later auction off for HD. They are really great looking and really capture the sentiment of the night with the “Join the Hunt” and “Care2Cure” slogans built into the stripes in our red and gold color scheme. I am so impressed with all Jack has done for this game and have no doubt it will be a big success in starting more for the HDSA and all those impacted by the disease.”
“We are grateful for families like Jack’s who are willing to share their story and support the Huntington’s Disease Society of America in the fight against the disease,” said Louise Vetter, President & CEO of the HDSA. “Thank you Jack, Coach Seravalli and the King’s College Athletic Department for coordinating HD Awareness Night to generate much needed funds and awareness to help families affected by this devastating brain disease.”
While Coach Seravalli would very much like to see Cooper’s offense in the game, the Monarchs will be looking to take down the Golden Wolves for their third UCHC win of the campaign and second win on home ice in the opener of the two-game series.
“Of course I will be cheering the guys on if I am not on the ice,” stated Cooper. “There will be plenty to do with the 50/50 raffle, auction and raffle prizes and Chuck-A-Puck sales that I will be engaged with during the night. I wear a bracelet with the Care2Cure slogan on it and my mom’s initials were CC – I am looking for a lot of hope towards a cure to come out of the event as the big winner Friday night – and it would be nice if we won on the ice too.”
The link to support the event on Friday is www.HDSA.org/kingshockey
Thanks to Christopher Cosentino from the HDSA for information on the disease.
Carl Berglund has eight goals and 20 points this season for the River Hawks (photo: UMass Lowell Athletics).
There were plenty of celebratory hoots and hollers coming from the UMass Lowell locker room last Saturday night in the immediate aftermath of its most recent game.
It’s safe to say the River Hawks were happy about more than just a 3-2 overtime win at New Hampshire. With four wins in their last five games, Lowell is back on track after a two-game home sweep at the hands of Alaska Anchorage on New Year’s weekend.
The two losses to the Seawolves dropped Lowell to 10-8-1 and to what coach Norm Bazin said was a “low point” for his River Hawks.
“I wasn’t very happy with our conditioning,” Bazin said. “Since then, I feel that we’re maturing as a team, as a group. I like the way we’re trending.”
Lowell now stands at 14-9-1 overall and is right in the middle of the league standings at No. 6 with an 8-5-1 mark. They now sit at No. 18 in the latest USCHO.com men’s D-I poll.
The River Hawks’ recent good fortune has seen them outscore opponents by an 18-12 margin in five games. Their only loss so far in 2023 was a 5-3 setback at Maine on Jan. 14, part of a weekend split in Orono. The overtime win over UNH on Saturday was part of a 5-point weekend against the Wildcats, having won 6-2 the previous night at the Tsongas Center.
“We’re happy to be able to get those Hockey East points,” said River Hawks senior forward (and alternate captain) Zach Kaiser. “We had a little bit of a lull after Christmas, but to get the sweep (over UNH) is huge.”
It hasn’t hurt the River Hawks to have on hand two of the best goalies in the league. Both Henry Welsch and Gustavs Grigals are in the top five leaguewide in both goals-against average (Welsch 1.57 for No. 1, Grigals 1.96 for fourth) and save percentage (Welsch .939 for No. 2, Grigals right behind at No. 3 with .935). Each have started exactly 12 games — Grigals is 8-5 while Welsch is 6-4.
“I’ve got a luxury of starting either one, and the guys believe in both,” said Bazin, who also noted he’s bullish on both starting goalies’ pro prospects. “So far, it’s been working.”
Helping the River Hawks out defensively has been sophomore Isac Jonsson. The Swede was named Hockey East defender of the week with two goals and two assists against UNH in the weekend sweep. Offensively, senior forward Carl Burglund leads Lowell in scoring with 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists).
The River Hawks’ next four opponents are all unranked — UMass, Boston College, UNH and Maine — before a home-and-home against current No. 17 Providence the weekend of Feb. 17. Bazin doesn’t expect things to be easy for his team the rest of the way.
“As everyone knows, every Hockey East weekend is a new battle,” he said. “There’s nobody that’s easy. It’s tough in Hockey East. I don’t care who you’re playing. To have a sweep in Hockey East is extraordinarily hard. That’s why I’m proud of the guys.”
If the winning trend continues, expect to hear a lot more noise coming from the Lowell locker room.
“You heard us coming through here — guys were pumped up, feeling good,” Kaiser said. “There’s a lot of urgency — guys buying in, doing the right thing, having fun with it, having confidence and keep pushing it.”
Union hopes scenes like this will be aplenty this weekend against RPI (photo: Michael Mason).
This weekend marks the return of several historic rivalries throughout the college hockey landscape.
In nearly every league, a major matchup dots the schedule with a rare confluence of games, and it feels as if fans got together and circled a collective date for the weekend series between Boston College and Boston University, Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech, Air Force and Army, or UMass and UMass Lowell. Even newer matchups like those offered in the Connecticut Ice tournament are on the docket, and anyone willing to stay up late can watch Alaska play Alaska Anchorage in the Governor’s Cup.
In ECAC, the Cornell-Harvard game on Saturday night is likely to take center stage from a conference docket that includes the North Country rivalry between Clarkson and St. Lawrence, but they might pale compared to the Mayor’s Cup matchup between Union and Rensselaer, a game so intense, it’s a non-league matchup offering a third game between the two teams situated in New York’s Capital District.
“There are obviously ups and downs to any season, but for us, there have been some real highs and lows,” said Union coach Josh Hauge. “You look at some of the games that maybe got away from us, and I probably could have done a better job managing those situations, but then there are some really nice wins. To be able to push back and get to .500 in out-of-conference play [coming into this weekend] was huge for us with the start we had, so overall it’s been a lot of fun with a lot of different challenges.”
This weekend is Hauge’s first trip into the Mayor’s Cup matchup, but he’s far from a stranger to the matchup between Union and RPI after the teams split their conference matchup in late October. That series shifted between the two programs with the home team winning each side, and Union rallied to post a 6-0 shutout one night after losing 2-1 in nearby Troy.
It was Union’s 44th overall win in the rivalry and came within a goal of tying the program’s largest margin of victory over RPI that was set during the first-ever matchup in 1924 (though the largest win overall still belongs to the Engineers), but it further laid a rubber match foundation for when Saturday’s third game shifts to MVP Arena in Downtown Albany.
The win was his first ECAC conference victory and preceded a win at Clarkson that rocketed Union into the front of the league’s early run, and though the Dutchmen largely avoided a major downturn of results for most of the first half, Saturday’s non-conference game gives them an opportunity to continue last week’s bounce back from a conference winless streak that stretched through much of January.
With a seven-game winless streak in ECAC games in hand, Union broke out by beating St. Lawrence, 3-2, to gain three points and pull within one game’s work of Brown’s two-point advantage for the last home slot in the first round of the postseason.
“Our biggest challenge has just been our consistency,” Hauge said. “For the most part, there have been three first-year defensemen that have played every single night, or we’ve had three first-year defensemen in the lineup every night. Mason Snell didn’t play last year as a transfer, so some guys that hadn’t seen a ton of minutes are now getting a ton [of time] for us.
“It’s hard to win in college hockey, and the level that you have to compete with on every night, our guys are always working hard. That’s never been an issue.”
The performances are within the realm of expectations for a program that finished last year on the rocky road that began with the saga surrounding then-head coach Rick Bennett. The well-documented drama resulted in his resignation following a midweek win over Dartmouth, and three days after he left the program, Union defeated RPI in the Mayor’s Cup with a 2-0 win at MVP Arena in Albany.
The team only won three of its nine final regular season matchups, though it was still enough to finish in seventh and host Princeton in the first round of the postseason. After a two-game split, Union pushed Clarkson, one of the conference’s strongest teams, to two bitterly-fought overtime games before the season ended with a sweep loss to the Golden Knights in the quarterfinals.
Hauge was an assistant coach for Clarkson during that run, but the meeting between the two clubs incidentally drew a bridge for Casey Jones’ longtime lieutenant to join Union as its next head coach. He was hired in April, less than a week after the Frozen Four concluded, and he spent the next months moving himself southeast to the Albany area while simultaneously reconstructing an emotionally-drained program.
“You want to blend the roster as much as you can [as a new coach],” he said. “We brought in a lot of players, but I never wanted it to feel like there were my players and the guys that were returning. Everyone is our player, and they were all part of our family, and we wanted this team to be a place that was a welcome place for anyone putting on the jersey. If they were putting on the Union jersey, they were valued, whether they were in the lineup or not and whether they were ‘my recruit’ or not.”
That level of stabilization was always going to include some bumps, but many of those feelings could easily vanish if the Dutchmen claim another Mayor’s Cup trophy win. The matchup itself won’t count towards the ECAC standings, but the big game feel of playing on neutral ice in Albany can’t be discounted in a series that lays claim to the oldest days of college hockey.
“I knew what the atmosphere was like at Union, and I knew how hard of a place it was to play,” Hauge said. “Other than that, I knew you could win here because they’d done it before, and with all of the excitement around the program, it was the perfect storm to throw everything into [coming here]. Luckily enough, I was given the opportunity with the potential [of the program]. Everything was kind of building, and I thought it was a great opportunity.”
The Mayor’s Cup game between Union and RPI is scheduled for Saturday night at 6 p.m. from the MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y.
I spent the last two weeks in Sweden for the 2023 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championships. I’ve always had an interest in this tournament, but having the chance to cover the 2022 tournament in Madison really drove home for me how closely tied it is to what I do covering the college game. I was already trying to find a way to make going to Sweden feasible before the 2022 tournament was even finished.
I had been among the people disappointed and loudly upset with poor streams for past iterations of the tournament, but hadn’t really committed to covering the games or the players in a meaningful way before last summer. With the tournament happening 6-9 hours ahead of most North American time zones and the broadcasts in the US only on the NHL Network, the games were broadcast in better quality, but weren’t necessarily more accessible than they had been in the past, making my feel it was even more important to be on site, telling the teams’ stories.
I learned a lot, but there were a couple of things relevant to college hockey that I wanted to make sure to share.
Holding the 2022 tournament at the University of Wisconsin in Madison renewed interest in the NCAA from non-North American players.
For some country’s players, playing in the NCAA has never been more popular. But for others, access to high level women’s leagues at home has given them more options. Add in the pandemic that kept international travel and college visits, European camps and international scouting trips from the universities at a minimum and the NCAA path wasn’t as much of a focus or priority for many players.
Seeing Wisconsin’s facilities and experiencing what it can be like to play in that environment rekindled interest in the American college path for many who played in the 2022 tournament, I was told by one team official. Many of the teenagers weren’t aware of the level of support collegiate students get beyond just coaches and ice time and the tournament encouraged them to do more research into schools across the country. It wasn’t just that they decided they wanted to end up in Madison. They understood that every school has different amenities and facilities and that there are 40 other programs at just the DI level that might be a good fit for them.
For many of the players on teams other than the US and Canada, they are still a year or more out from making a decision, so there weren’t any current commits reported to me by team reps from Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Switzerland, Slovakia and Japan.
Social media impact
Younger European players who hope to play in America already have their favorite and preferred schools and while some of that has to do with national championships won, it also has to do with which players went to that school. It seems to matter less what the programs themselves are putting on instagram and tik tok and more what kind of content, personality and access international players have that allows the younger players to connect with them. The teenagers are attracted to certain schools because the players they know went there. It matters to them that the players are personable and charismatic and that makes the teenagers want to follow in their footsteps, including attending the same school.
Experience matters
This is obvious, but in this case, I don’t mean this in the traditional sense. I feel like one of the big takeaways I have from attending this tournament twice in the last six months is how important it is to have current and former women’s hockey players on the coaching staff who have been in these players’ skates and who can speak with authority on how to handle themselves, particularly in the toughest situations.
I’m not saying those will be the only successful coaches, but I do think there’s no better way to recapture a locker room and demand attention than to be someone those players have watched growing up. The respect has already been earned. And when those coaches talk, their words hold extra weight. These are teenagers, most of whom are playing in their first major international tournament. Coaches have a limited amount of time to really create a team and get them to buy in. The cache former players have puts them a few steps ahead, I think. Not only have those coaches paved the way on the ice, but they’ve stuck around to continue to help push the sport forward.
We need another tier of competition
I’m open to it being U20 or U22 or something else entirely, but watching this tournament made me think about the players I watched six months ago that didn’t head into the NCAA and didn’t make the leap to their senior national team. I was thinking of late blooming players who don’t reach their peak until their 20’s or even after college. There’s this massive gap between U18s and senior national teams and we are losing talented players and the opportunity to add depth to program’s across the world.
There has to be a better way
Folks outside of Sweden may have heard of TV-Pucken, their national tournament for U16 teams representing 24 districts around the country. I learned that TV-Pucken is sometimes the beginning, but more often the end of career aspirations for teenagers across the country. Making your region’s TV-Pucken team (or not) can dictate what club and international opportunities a player gets, as well as which high school they get into (and there are hockey development high schools). That means a player must stand out at 15 or so years old or risk being left out of any chance to play for Sweden or in one of the domestic leagues.
In a country where the head of the Federation has talked about the need for better support and development of girls hockey across Sweden, it is crazy to expect that a girl who has little access to top tier coaching and competition should be able to stand out enough to make their region’s TV-Pucken team (particularly in crowded Stockholm) before they’re in high school and if they don’t, the question of whether they made the TV-Pucken team will follow them on every avenue they try to utilize to keep playing and improving in the future.
More stats
I don’t know why, but official IIHF stats at this tournament do not keep track of blocks and it frustrates me to no end. The way players laid out (particularly Finland and Sweden in the semifinal games) and sold out to keep their team in a game was such an important story line and I wish I had the numbers to back me up. Yes, I could try and track it myself, but I shouldn’t have to. I had a suboptimal gameday experience as working press trying to cover each game and finding time (and space) to do my own stats feels laughable at best.
I just wish folks (federations, programs, governing bodies…) didn’t make it so damn hard to cover women’s hockey.
A son of the great state of Wisconsin, the senior director of sports administration for the Big Ten is of course pleased with what he’s seeing from B1G hockey this season, but his Midwestern sensibilities add a dose of slow-your-roll when discussing any bigger picture.
“While it’s nice that we’re talking in January about having all of these teams in great positions and how the league looks stronger than perhaps it ever has,” said Augustine. “It’s still only January, and everybody here would be open to admitting that the business end of the season is still coming. We certainly hope that having all these high-end teams – what’s the saying? iron sharpening iron? – is really just the beginning for us and that we can sustain this going forward.”
Augustine joined the Big Ten when the Big Ten joined college hockey. In his current position, he oversees the administrative side of rowing and women’s tennis in addition to hockey and other Olympic sports, but Augustine began on the communication side of things, serving as the primary point of contact for hockey for the Big Ten’s first few seasons as associate director for communications. He also ran the inaugural Big Ten hockey tournament.
In 2016, Augustine moved over to Big Ten football, becoming that sport’s primary media contact and coordinating the massive undertaking that is the Big Ten football championship game.
In his current role, he’s no longer a media contact per se, but he’s back in the hockey world, a place where he’s as knowledgeable as he is comfortable. Augustine now runs coaches meetings, helps construct the Big Ten hockey schedule, coordinates with the Big Ten Network, and runs postseason events. And he has the perfect vantage point from which to provide some perspective about how B1G hockey has emerged as the dominant conference this season.
“We’re in year 10 now and it’s interesting to kind of look back at the trajectory of the conference,” said Augustine. “Some of our main programs were in a little bit of flux – at least our historical programs, perhaps, if you look at where Michigan and Wisconsin were – 10 years ago at the outset of all this.”
When the conference formed in 2013, it drew Wisconsin and Minnesota away from the WCHA and Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State from the CCHA, adding Penn State, which moved to Division 1 hockey in 2012. In 2017, Notre Dame joined the conference as an associate member.
Since its inception, the conference has seen six teams combine for 18 NCAA tournament appearances, including six Frozen Four appearances by four of those teams and two teams – Minnesota (2014) and Notre Dame (2018) – losing in the national championship game.
Even with the title game losses, what the league has put together in 10 seasons is impressive in light of the flux that Augustine mentioned. There has been little consistency to the conference from the very beginning. Ohio State’s Steve Rohlik and Penn State’s Guy Gadowsky share the distinction of being the only two current head coaches who were behind a Big Ten team bench when the conference began in 2013.
Then when world went sideways in 2020, it did so just three months after the Big Ten brought in new commissioner Kevin Warren. Individually, several programs have gone through massive changes and on an administrative level, the conference has seen reorganization during a time when people couldn’t even share office space because of COVID.
With roughly a month of regular-season play remaining, the Big Ten holds the best inter-conference win percentage (.721) in college hockey, has four teams ranked among the top 10 and six of its seven teams at No. 15 or above in the PairWise Rankings. All three B1G series played last weekend saw splits. There’s no denying it’s a tough league. This season, a word that’s bandied about too freely in sports – parity – is also a genuine part of the equation. While the circumstances differ, Augustine said that there have been two times in B1G hockey history where he’s seen this kind of relative parity within the conference.
“One of them is that 2014-15 season,” said Augustine. “That one to me was true parity. It was more parity in the sense that we were lacking at the top, a little less of a situation where you had top-10 teams but just a bunch of teams in that middle tier.” The only Big Ten team that went to the NCAA tournament that season was Minnesota, the regular-season and playoff B1G champions. “I remember we had three teams playing for the championship that last weekend,” said Augustine, “but ultimately none of them were truly a threat at the national level.”
That changed in 2017-2018 when Notre Dame moved from Hockey East to the Big Ten. The Fighting Irish had gone to the NCAA tournament three of the four seasons they played in Hockey East, culminating in their national semifinal loss to eventual champion Denver in the 2017 Frozen Four.
“That was the year that Notre Dame joins the league coming off the Frozen Four and absolutely rolled through the league in the first half,” said Augustine. “It was really something to watch. The second half was a little tighter and ultimately nobody was able to catch them, but I do think that being forced to try to raise their level of play and match what they saw in Notre Dame, that really started to lift the rest of the league. That ended up leading to the three teams in the Frozen Four. That felt like a little bit more of a surprise, perhaps, at the time.”
Augustine said that it’s also interesting to look at the different paths each Big Ten program has taken since the formation of the league.
“Bob at this point has things very much rolling in Minnesota, living up to some very high standards that that fan base has for that program,” said Augustine.
Bob Motzko became the Minnesota coach in 2018, following Don Lucia’s 19-year tenure and Motzko’s own 13 years as St. Cloud State’s head coach.
“Compare that to, say, Ohio State and Penn State,” Augustine said. “Those are the only two coaches in the league who were here for those first games in 2013.”
“Steve at Ohio State, I think it’s fair to say that he’s probably had the most consistent results of any program over the 10 years, and I think perhaps that sometimes goes underappreciated. They’ve been a model of consistency for 10 years. It’s not the same as what’s happening in Michigan or Minnesota or even Wisconsin in stretches where it’s a whole bunch of first-round draft picks filling up the roster. He just finds a way to be successful with what he has year after year after year.
“Then you look at Penn State and the rise they’ve had over 10 years. The fact that they’d reached the point that by March 2020 they had won the [conference] tournament and they had won our regular-season title. For them to kind of have the floor fall out from underneath them a little bit when the season got canceled [in 2020] and perhaps disrupting what they had going, it’s good to see them back to what they’d built their way to.
“And we haven’t even talked about Michigan or Notre Dame or what Adam is doing at Michigan State.”
“Adam,” of course, is Adam Nightingale, one of two first-year Big Ten head coaches. Nightingale is the third head coach that the Spartans have seen since the start of Big Ten hockey, replacing Danton Cole at the start of this season. Cole came in after the Spartans parted ways with Tom Anastos in 2017.
Michigan is also on its third head coach since the formation of B1G hockey. The Wolverines began with Red Berenson, who retired in 2017. Former Michigan associate head coach Mel Pearson left his head coaching position at Michigan Tech to take over after Berenson, but Pearson was let go last August. Brandon Naurato, an assistant under Pearson, has served as interim head coach since.
And Notre Dame – led by Jeff Jackson since 2005 – has continued to push everyone in the conference. Of those 18 NCAA tournament appearances that Big Ten teams have made, four belong to Notre Dame.
The Irish – with their overall record of 11-12-3 and B1G record of 6-8-2-1 – are sitting at No. 15 in the PWR. Because of the strength of the Big Ten this year, Notre Dame has the ability to play itself into the NCAA tournament in its eight remaining games.
Augustine said he grew up watching WCHA hockey at a time when that conference was a dominant force in college hockey, and he knows what can happen when teams are tempered by playing high-end teams week after week.
“I think what’s special this year is that you’ve got six teams the last time I looked in the top 15 in the PairWise,” said Augustine. “Even Wisconsin that isn’t quite at that same level is still sitting around 30th. It’s a Wisconsin team that’s beaten half the other teams in the league so far and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them doing that for the rest of the year.”
As someone who was hired in B1G hockey’s inaugural season to help shape the overall narrative of that new conference, Augustine knows how a good story should end. Happily ever after comes to mind. But in addition to having that pragmatic Midwestern nature, Augustine is also a hockey person. Hockey people are superstitious.
“I think the real difference is that in a lot of ways, what we’re seeing from Big Ten hockey this year is what many of us expected or hoped for all along,” he said. “Whether or not that proves – I’ll stop that train of thought.”
Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Hockey East supervisor of officials Brian Murphy. The discussion about college hockey rules and officiating includes goalie interference, contact to the head, hitting from behind, video review, and protocol and faceoff violations.
This podcast is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 6th and 8th, 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Secure your seats at NCAA.com/mfrozenfour
St. Cloud State goalie Jaxon Castor has won five of his last seven starts for the Huskies (photo: St. Cloud State Athletics).
When describing on Tuesday the elevator pitch for how he likes his St. Cloud State team to play, coach Brett Larson pointed to a pair of wins from last weekend that helped the Huskies become the new No. 1 human-polled team in the country.
A home sweep of third-ranked Denver saw SCSU jump three spaces to the top of the USCHO Division I Men’s Poll. The Huskies scored six of the last seven goals in a 7-3 win Friday, with Jami Krannila scoring twice and then setting up both goals in a 2-0 win Saturday.
Reaching the top of the USCHO poll for the first time since Nov. 2021 involved the Huskies putting in what Larson called the team’s most consistent weekend this season with regards to sticking to the Huskies’ game plan.
“Denver’s certainly one of the best teams we’ve faced, and they created opportunities, but when they did, we got good goaltending and we probably had our best 120 minutes of playing the way we want to play,” Larson said.
“We just did a good job of managing the puck, and we know Denver’s so good off the transition that we wanted to make them play 200 feet. We wanted to try to make their top forwards defend a little bit, and we didn’t want to turn the series into a chance-for-chance track meet. Getting the ground game going a little bit where we could manage the puck, play below the tops of their circles, our guys committed to that throughout the weekend.”
St. Cloud trailed 2-1 coming up on the midway point of Friday’s second period, before Krannila and Jack Rogers scored consecutive goals in a three-minute span. Krannila then put the Huskies ahead for good at 4-2, scoring off an assist from Grant Cruikshank, who started an odd-man rush by jumping out of the penalty box after SCSU killed off a 5-on-3 Denver power play.
Another big three-minute, second-period push provided both of the Huskies’ goals in Saturday’s rematch. Rogers backhanded a shot home at 7:32, and moments later, during a St. Cloud power play, Zach Okabe banged home the rebound from an initial Krannila shot.
Goaltender Jaxon Castor handled the rest, making 19 saves for his second shutout of the season. The first came on Jan. 7, when the Huskies won 3-0 over Minnesota, the only team currently above St. Cloud in the PairWise Rankings, the biggest tool for deciding who gets what come NCAA tournament time.
The Huskies would be a No. 1 regional seed if the tournament started now instead of March. Their wins last weekend were the team’s fifth and sixth this season against teams ranked in the top three.
“I’ve been pleased with how our guys have stepped up in big moments,” Larson said. “When we’ve been faced with a big challenge playing a top team, so far, that has brought out the best in us.”
Sitting atop the polls, though, isn’t something Larson invests thought in. He relayed that to his players during a team meeting Tuesday.
“We talked about just staying in the moment, in the day-to-day development of trying to get better, and preparing for our next opponent, and right now, that’s Minnesota Duluth,” Larson said, pointing to this week’s trip to the Twin Ports area. “It’s always a battle going into Duluth’s rink, and we just talked about limiting outside distractions, and keeping our focus narrow and short-term on what we can control right now.
“The polls at this time of year don’t matter, and every coach will say that the last poll that matters is the last one. Our biggest job is to not think too much about the past or the future, but just focus on right now.”
