Notre Dame celebrates a victory earlier in the 2024-25 season (photo: Notre Dame Athletics).
“The kids did what I asked them to do.”
That is what Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said after the Fighting Irish bested Minnesota in Big Ten quarterfinal action last weekend. After holding off the Golden Gophers for a 3-2 win Friday, the Irish lost 4-2 Saturday to force a deciding Sunday game
There was little doubt of the outcome. The Irish led 2-0 by the end of the second period on goals by Jayden Davis and Grant Silianoff, and after Minnesota got one back on the power play eight minutes into the third, Cole Knuble made it 3-1 four minutes later and Hunter Strand bagged the empty-netter.
Owen Say made 38 saves in that game, 14 alone in the third period in which the Irish were held to two shots on net.
Friday’s win marked Jackson’s 600th career victory, and packaged with knocking off one of the league’s regular-season co-champs could feel like a fitting sendoff for the man who announced his retirement prior to the beginning of the season.
But the season isn’t over. Now the Irish travel to East Lansing to face off against the other Big Ten regular-season co-champ and Jackson’s alma mater, Michigan State, in a single semifinal game.
As the top seed in the conference, Michigan State had a bye last week, and Spartans coach Adam Nightingale said that the team had two good weeks of practices but are looking forward to returning to action against “a really good Notre Dame team.”
“A ton of respect for their program,” said Nightingale. “We just played the recently, and I think you look at the talent they have up front, especially that top line, and the depth throughout and they’re getting good goaltending and they’re really good on the power play, so it’ll be a really good test for us.”
The other semifinal has Penn State traveling to Ohio State. The Nittany Lions were the other team to win their quarterfinal series on the road, sweeping Michigan with a 6-5 win in overtime Friday and a 5-2 win Saturday.
With his game-winning power-play goal at the five-minute mark of overtime – a goal he scored after putting the puck between his own legs – JJ Wiebusch completed his first career hat trick and gave the Nittany Lions their 11th win over Big Ten opponents since the start of 2025. Wiebusch added another Saturday, a game in which Carson Dyck’s second-period goal held up as the game winner.
Heading into that series in Ann Arbor, Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said that his team was “mentally tough” because of what the Nittany Lions experienced this season, adding that their second-half performance is a testimony to “how far we’ve grown in that aspect.”
In the second half, the Nittany Lions have clawed their way up to 12th in the PairWise Rankings from being down so low in December that their ascent seemed impossible.
Now the Buckeyes – who needed three games to best Penn State in front of practically zero fans in Nationwide Arena last weekend – are rewarded for their quarterfinal performance with one game against college hockey’s hottest team.
Penn State took the opening game of that quarterfinal series 4-1 before Ohio State responded with two 3-2 victories. In Saturday’s game, the Buckeyes were down 2-0 late in the third before Jake Rozzi’s goal brought them to within one, with Gunnarwolfe Fontaine’s late third-period goal tying the game and Riley Thompson’s third game-winning goal of the season winning it at 7:30 in overtime.
Ohio State never trailed in Sunday’s deciding game. Rozzi notched his second of the weekend in that one, with Max Montes getting the unassisted game-winner in the third period. Logan Terness was in net for the series, with 90 total saves on the weekend.
Here’s how teams in the semifinal field compare in a few categories, by the overall numbers.
No. 7 Notre Dame (12-24-1) at No. 1 Michigan State (24-6-4)
Scoring offense: Notre Dame, 2.76 goals per game (37th); Michigan State, 3.56 (seventh)
Scoring defense: Notre Dame, 3.41 goals allowed per game (56th); Michigan State, 2.06 (fourth)
Power play: Notre Dame, 23.1% (16th); Michigan State, 23.3% (15th)
Michigan State went 4-0-0 against Notre Dame in the regular season, outscoring the Fighting Irish 22-8 in those four games. The most recent series was the last of the regular season for the Spartans, a pair of 5-2 road wins Feb. 28-Mar. 1.
Ohio State was 2-1-1 against Penn State in the regular season, but the Nittany Lions got the better of the Buckeyes in Ohio State’s home barn. The Buckeyes swept 4-0 and 4-2 Dec. 5-6 in Pegula Ice Arena. Penn State took five of six points from the Buckeyes in Columbus Jan. 24-25 with a 6-6 tie and shootout point followed by a 3-2 overtime win.
Of the four teams in semifinal action, only Notre Dame needs the conference playoff championship to play in the NCAA tournament. The Spartans are No. 2 in the PairWise Rankings. At No. 10 and No. 12 respectively, the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions are safe, barring some serious post-season weirdness in other conferences.
The puck drops at 6:00 p.m. Saturday in Munn Ice Arena for the game between the Fighting Irish and Spartans. Penn State and Ohio State face off at 8:00 p.m. Saturday in Value City Arena. Both games are televised by the Big Ten Network.
Michael Hrabal has won 17 games this season for UMass (photo: UMass Athletics).
Hockey East is the only one of college hockey’s six conferences to stage an entirely single-elimination tournament.
That’s just fine with Massachusetts coach Greg Carvel.
“Love it,” Carvel said. “I think the three-game series are stupid.”
A best-two-of-three quarterfinal round was a mainstay of the Hockey East tournament until 2021, the first year post-pandemic when the league scrapped the format in favor of three rounds of one-and-done.
For Carvel, it comes down to quality over quantity.
“It’s not the NHL where you can play a seven-game series,” Carvel said. “You earn home ice, you got one game, you should win that game. Why should I have to beat this team twice to move on?”
Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf, while maybe not as adamant in his opposition to best-of-three as Carvel, also favors a single elimination tourney. He said the format allows all 11 teams to participate in a compact tournament that spans only eight days.
“There’s no bye week when you’re idle, and no coach wants to have a bye week,” Metcalf said. “You’re playing single-game playoffs, which is what you do in any regular-season tournament and certainly the NCAAs. So the format is similar. You’re not putting undue wear and tear on your team with a two-out-of-three series.”
Currently, every conference except Hockey East features a three-game series at some point in its tournament. NCHC’s eight-team postseason is set for best-of-three quarterfinals and single-elimination semifinals and final in Minneapolis. ECAC Hockey’s 12-team tournament is single elimination in the preliminary round and best of three in the quarters, followed by a single-elimination final four in Lake Placid, N.Y. B1G and the CCHA do the good ol’ three-game set for its first round and single elimination after that at campus sites.
Atlantic Hockey America takes it to a relative extreme, with best-of-threes in both the quarterfinal and semifinal round, followed by a single-game final, all on campus sites.
A single-elimination quarterfinal, of course, increases the chance of a lower seed pulling off an upset, and creating what some might perceive as a nightmare scenario with the semifinals at TD Garden populated by less heralded teams. However, that has not been the case in the four tournaments Hockey East has staged since converting to an all-single-elimination format. The lowest seed to play at the Garden was No. 7, which happened twice — UMass Lowell in 2021 and Providence in 2023.
In fact, one would have to go back to 2014 for the last time the No. 1 seed failed to reach the Garden — No. 8 Notre Dame eliminated top seed Boston College 2 games to 1 in the quarterfinals. (BC did go on to the Frozen Four that year, losing to eventual champion Union (ECAC Hockey) in the national semifinals).
“That possibility exists,” Metcalf said of a possible scenario where an abnormal number of high seeds were sent packing in early rounds. “We’re also of the mind that there are a lot of teams that would draw well at the Garden. And we’ve sold a lot of tickets to the Garden already without knowing what teams are going to be there.”
Metcalf said a single-elimination tournament makes the regular season more competitive. Since seeds 1-5 receive a bye into the quarterfinals, and 6-8 get home ice in a preliminary round game, it adds a layer of intrigue that he thinks would be missing if only the top eight made the tournament and home ice went to the top four seeds.
“You’re able to reward teams for their place in the regular season,” he said. “(Seeds) 1-2-3 get something more than 4; 4 gets something more than 5 gets; 5 gets something more than 6 gets. You’re playing for something right through to the end of the regular season.”
With the conclusion of Wednesday night’s preliminary round, the Hockey East quarterfinals are now set. On Saturday, No. 6 UMass (2-1 winner over No. 11 Vermont) will visit No. 3 Boston University; No. 7 Lowell (3-2 overtime winner vs. New Hampshire) is at No. 2 Maine; and No. 9 Northeastern (3-2 overtime winner at Merrimack and the only lower seed to advance to the quarterfinals) is at No. 1 BC.
One quarterfinal matchup was already set — No. 5 Providence will visit No. 4 Connecticut on Friday night. The semifinals and final are March 20-21 at TD Garden.
Cole Eiserman popped a hat trick Jan. 11 for BU (photo: Matt Woolverton).
Hockey East has announced the 2024-25 all-rookie team and six other season-long awards as voted by the league’s 11 head coaches.
All-Rookie Team
G: Callum Tung, UConn
D: Cole Hutson, Boston University *
D: Francesco Dell’Elce, Massachusetts
F: James Hagens, Boston College *
F: Teddy Stiga, Boston College *
F: Cole Eiserman, Boston University
F: Colin Kessler, Vermont * unanimous selection
Also recognized were a pair of graduate students for their defensive abilities, as Boston College’s Eamon Powell has been named best defensive defenseman while UConn’s Hudson Schandor was voted best defensive forward.
Two statistical awards have been formally announced, both awarded to Boston College sophomore forward Ryan Leonard, who became just the second player to reach 25 goals in Hockey East play since 2000-01. He was also honored with the Hockey East three stars award as he compiled the highest total number of points earned when named a first, second, or third star of the game in Hockey East contests.
Hockey East’s two sportsmanship awards have been bestowed upon Schandor, who will be presented with the Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award, given by the league to one player who has consistently demonstrated superior conduct and sportsmanship on and off the ice. The Massachusetts Minutemen were acknowledged with the Charlie Holt team sportsmanship award for accruing the fewest average penalty minutes per Hockey East game.
From left, Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey, Casey O’Brien.
The Wisconsin trio of Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey and Casey O’Brien has been named the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top three finalists.
This marks the second time ever (2013, Minnesota), that all three finalists hail from the same school.
The winner of the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will be announced on Saturday, March 22, at 11:30 a.m. CT as part of a live show on the NHL Network at the McNamara Alumni Center on the Minnesota campus.
The live show – part of Saturday at the Women’s Frozen Four – is free and open to the public. Doors open at 11 a.m. CT. After the show, fans will have the opportunity to get autographs from previous Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Winners AJ Mleczko (Harvard, 1999), Krissy Wendell (Minnesota, 2005), Kendall Coyne Schofield (Northeastern, 2016) and Taylor Heise (Minnesota, 2022).
2025 PATTY KAZMAIER MEMORIAL AWARD TOP-THREE FINALISTS
LAILA EDWARDS • JUNIOR • FORWARD • WISCONSIN
Ranks third in country in goals per game (.79) and second in goals (30) … Tied for second in nation in points per game (1.71) and total points (65) … Ranks fifth nationally in assists per game (0.92) … Helped lead Wisconsin to the WCHA Final Faceoff Championship and WCHA Regular Season Championship, a record of 35-1-2 and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament … All-WCHA First Team selection … Ranks second in WCHA in points in conference contests (48) … Forbes 2025 30 Athletes Under 30 Selection … WCHA Forward of the Month for November … Two-time WCHA Forward of the Week (Oct. 14, Jan. 20) … Volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House of Dane County and American Family Children’s Hospital at the Badger Patio.
CAROLINE HARVEY • JUNIOR • DEFENDER • WISCONSIN
Leads defenders nationally in points per game (1.53), goals per game (.42) and assists per game (1.11) … Ranks third in the nation for all players in assists per game and sixth in points per game … Has 58 points (16G, 42A), the most of any defender nationally … WCHA Defender of the Year … Helped lead Wisconsin to the WCHA Final Faceoff Championship and WCHA Regular Season Championship, a record of 35-1-2 and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament … All-WCHA First Team selection … Named to WCHA Final Faceoff All-Tournament Team … Three-time WCHA Defender of the Month (October, November, February) … HCA National Co-Player of the Month for September … Six-time WCHA Defender of the Week (Sept. 30, Oct. 7, Oct. 21, Nov. 4, Dec. 2, Feb. 24) … Volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House and American Family Children’s Hospital at the Badger Patio.
CASEY O’BRIEN • FIFTH YEAR • FORWARD • WISCONSIN
Leads nation in points per game (2.18) and assists per game (1.53) … Ranks seventh in the country in goals per game (.66) … Leads the nation in points (83) and assists (58), and is seventh in goals (25) … Helped Wisconsin to the WCHA Final Faceoff Championship and WCHA Regular Season Championship, a record of 35-1-2 and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament … WCHA Player and Forward of the Year … All-WCHA First Team selection … Named to WCHA Final Faceoff Most Outstanding Player and also a member of the All-Tournament Team … HCA National Co-Player of the Month for September … Two-time WCHA Forward of the Month for September and October … Three-time WCHA Forward of the Week (Sept. 30, Oct. 7, Feb. 10) … Has volunteered at the American Family Children’s Hospital Bucky Locker Room Patio, the Ronald McDonald House and Augie’s Lunches with Love.
Jackson Jutting had a solid season at both ends of the ice in 2024-25 for Bemidji State (photo: Brent Cizek).
The CCHA has announced three year-end award winners for the 2024-25 season.
Bemidji State’s Jackson Jutting has been named defensive forward of the year, Michigan Tech’s Chase Pietila was voted defensive defenseman of the year and Michigan Tech’s Elias Jansson has claimed rookie of the year honors.
Jutting was co-defensive forward of the year last season and returned to produce 10 goals and six assists for 16 points in 26 conference games. Posting a minus-4 in league play, he had 81 shots on goal, while blocking 12 and winning 313 draws, compared to 289 losses for a 52% rate. Overall, he has 14 goals and eight assists for 22 points in 37 games.
An all-CCHA first team selection, Pietila anchored the Michigan Tech blue line in all 26 CCHA games this season, collecting five goals and eight assists for 13 points. Producing an even rating throughout the conference schedule, he recorded 55 shots on goal and blocked 25 in his own end, with two power-play tallies. He had an assist and was a plus-3 in the Huskies’ 9-5 win at Bemidji State on Dec. 14, before blocking a season-best six shots against Lake Superior State on Jan. 10. Overall, he had seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points this season.
Jansson paced CCHA rookies with 20 points in conference play, scoring 10 goals with 10 assists. Totaling 61 shots, he was plus-1 with five power-play goals, one game winner and one hat trick. He also had two blocks defensively. Overall, he recorded 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points.
Voting for the all-CCHA teams and year-end awards was conducted by the nine head coaches at each CCHA school, based on CCHA conference games only. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
Jake Livanavage has been a force at both ends of the ice this season for North Dakota (photo: Russell Hons).
One day after revealing its all-rookie team, the NCHC unveiled its three all-conference teams for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday.
With the addition of a ninth member, this year marks the first time the conference has awarded an all-NCHC third team, after previously only honoring two all-conference teams its first 11 years.
The NCHC will announce its individual award finalists on Thursday. Individual award winners will be revealed at the final NCHC awards celebration in Saint Paul, Minn., on March 20 on the eve of the 2025 NCHC Frozen Faceoff.
Denver won the 2024-25 Gold Pan series with a 4-1 victory over the Colorado College last Friday night at Magness Arena (photo: Isaac Wasserman/Clarkson Creative Photography).
The NCHC playoffs officially begin this Friday, but Denver coach David Carle and his Pioneers must feel like they’ve already been there for weeks.
Despite being 26-9-1 tied with Boston College and Western Michigan for the most wins in the country, defending national champion Denver had plenty to do in order to secure a favorable draw for the start of the 2025 postseason. A home-and-home sweep last weekend against in-state rival Colorado College saw the Pioneers lock up the No. 3 seed for the NCHC playoffs, where they’ll face CC again this weekend at home in a best-of-three series.
“We were in a home-ice battle, really, from January on,” Carle said. “There were a lot of parts of the second half where we were sitting in a place where we were looking like going on the road, and that was a challenge for us to try and get ourselves in a position to get home and get back to Magness Arena for home ice.
“We felt like everything was in our control, and I’m just proud of the guys for going out and executing at a high level to get the sweep last weekend and secure that home ice.”
Denver is entering the playoffs in a good spot, having won five of the Pioneers’ last six games. Most recently, sophomore Eric Pohlkamp’s career-high four points with three assists helped Denver to a 4-1 home win Friday to clinch the Gold Pan season series with CC. When the venue changed Saturday to the Tigers’ Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, four different Pioneers scored in a 4-3 victory that saw DU withstand a two-goal third-period comeback attempt from its host.
“You can see our group dial it in a little bit more with the way we need to play to have success,” Carle said of the seasonal muscle memory his team has started showing again. “That’s led by our guys wearing letters, our returners, our guys who played in big games and big moments and had success winning national championships, conference championships, Gold Pans, regular-season championships.
“There’s a lot of winning that has occurred in the room, and they know what it takes but every year is also different, and it’s about how each team responds. There are people who were on those teams that aren’t in this room, so people have to step up in different ways.”
Now, Denver has to tap the reset button before facing CC again for a fifth, sixth and potentially seventh time this season. Both teams know there’s still a lot out there for them to achieve. Denver would be a regional No. 3 seed if the NCAA tournament began today, and just like the Pioneers have shown in recent weeks, keeping the right mentality going forward can only help.
“Our approach is to have a killer instinct,” Carle said. “This is the best time of year, because you get the opportunity to send teams home, and that’s the task at hand.
“The hardest thing to do in sport is to end teams’ seasons, but it’s a learned skill and you need to have a real killer instinct and a ruthlessness about you to be able to accomplish that.”
Bemidji State goalie Mattias Sholl has played well all season for the Beavers (photo: Bemidji State Athletics).
Once you get to the semifinal round of college hockey’s conference tournament season, it’s a pretty decent guess that most of the teams left are playing their best hockey of the season.
After all, teams that win best-two-of-three series generally don’t luck into winning those playoff series. It takes hard work to beat a team twice in the playoffs.
But this season’s CCHA Mason Cup semifinal matchups feature some tantalizing matchups with, fittingly, the hottest teams in the CCHA right now.
In the first semifinal, third-seeded St. Thomas will host fourth-seeded Bowling Green while the second semifinal features the two most recent MacNaughton Cup champs–top seeded Minnesota State won the CCHA this year while seventh-seeded Bemidji State took home the honor last season. The longtime rivals will be going head-to-head in Mankato just two weeks removed from playing a rivalry series in the same place.
St. Thomas, who is 14-3-1 since the start of the new year, swept Ferris State 7-3 and 4-1 this weekend to win their first-ever playoff series at the Division 1 level.
“As I said Saturday night, the game is full of opportunities to make plays and the team that makes the most plays usually wins the game,” St. Thomas head coach Rico Blasi said in his media availability this week. “We got a few more bounces than they did, and we were able to capitalize, but from this point on they’re one-game shots so you’ve got to work for your opportunities and you’ve got to be really stingy about what you give up.”
Liam Malmquist and Lucas Wahlin–both of whom were named first-team all-CCHA this week and are up for the league’s forward or the year award–starred for the Tommies in the series against the Bulldogs. Malmquist scored five times on the weekend–including a hat trick on Saturday–while Wahlin scored shorthanded on Friday and added three helpers on the weekend. The two seniors lead all CCHA players in points with 42 and 39 respectively.
Blasi was asked about his players’ chances to win some CCHA silverware and said the two players have been instrumental to the team’s success.
“That’s for other people to decide, but our culture is all about team and our identity is all about a process that we go through from day to day, and those guys work their process really well and they play their role,” Blasi said. “That’s how you build a team, and the responsibility everybody has within their role is really important to let guys do what they do. And those two guys can’t do what they do if everybody else doesn’t take responsibility for their own.”
Now the Tommies (18-13-5 overall) host Bowling Green (18-13-4) in a one-game semifinal at St. Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
“I think I picked them to finish in the top two to be honest with you,” Blasi said of BG. “They’re a very deep team up front, their D corps is very mobile and has good size, and their goaltending is really good, so it’s usually a good combination for a pretty good season. They play hard, they’re well coached. This is semifinals now, everybody’s going to be at their best and you’ve got to be ready to go.”
The Falcons also swept their first-round series last week, earning two hard-fought wins against Michigan Tech. Quinn Emerson’s game-winner on Friday night was the difference in BG’s 2-1 overtime win, then the Falcons finished it off Saturday with a 4-0 win. Christian Stoever stopped 27 shots for his third shutout of the season.
St. Thomas and Bowling Green played four times during the regular season, with the Tommies winning the season series 2-1-1.
“Right now, they’re the team to beat. I think they were maybe preseason favorites in this league, and they’ve played well lately,” BGSU head coach Dennis Williams said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “Obviously, they’re very well coached, and Rico has a really good track record in college hockey from his time in Miami and what he’s done there in St. Thomas. So we’re excited to be on to the next round, where we’re going to put our best foot forward, and we’re going to try to definitely play to our identity and how we want to play.”
Bowling Green has also been one of college hockey’s best teams since January. They’ve got a record of 10-6-2 since then, and played their way into a first-round home ice playoff spot down the stretch.
“I think any time that we’re able to continue playing, it’s always an exciting time. I thought the series was a really hard-fought series against Michigan Tech,” Williams said. “And we know how difficult it is in a best-of-three to try to win them both and to be able to do it in two straight. Probably wasn’t something that I think everybody would predict. You know, the parity of the league and the series means that most of the outcomes of most series this year, if you look at them, have been splits. So I was really proud of our guys.”
The other semifinal features a pair of familiar instate rivals once again facing off in the CCHA playoffs. The last time the two teams met in the Mason Cup tournament in Mankato, it was the 2021 final. The Mavericks scored in overtime and celebrated with the Mason Cup on the ice before video replay made it clear that no goal was scored. After a lengthy delay, the teams came back out on the ice to continue the overtime before Minnesota State scored one that counted and put it away.
This year, the teams are once again evenly matched–as befits an old rivalry that dates back to the 1960s. The Mavericks beat the Beavers twice this season, once in Bemidji and once in Mankato. The other two games were a 1-0 Beaver win in Bemidji and a 1-1 game in which BSU rallied for the draw and then won the shootout. The only game that wasn’t within one goal was a 5-1 Maverick victory on the last game of the regular season.
“I think you can see a little bit of almost an evolution of the two teams,” MSU head coach Luke Strand said of the matchups so far this season. “We played there earlier in the year and I can’t say we were feeling each other out, but at the same time, it’s early in the season. Then you play at the end of the year, you know each other but there’s different circumstances on the line. And now, it’s a one-and-done, so I just think you’re up for a whale of a game in so many ways. We’re going to get their best and they’re going to get our best.”
The top-seeded Mavericks swept Lake Superior State in their quarterfinal matchup, while the seventh-seeded Beavers lost their opening game to second-seeded Augustana before taking the final two to earn the win. Adam Flammang scored the game-winner in each game, including in Sunday’s overtime thriller.
“I think Bemidji is good. I don’t think they’re a seven by any means,” Strand said. “They’ve beat some great teams, so the fact that they won isn’t really a surprise marker on my side of it. They’ve got great balance. (Mattias) Sholl’s been a great star in the net and at the same time their special teams have done their job, so they’re playing a good game right now.”
Tyler Kopff scores for Brown against Princeton last Friday night Friday night at Meehan Auditorium (photo: Chip DeLorenzo).
Last week’s first round came and went with few of the ripples associated with a hockey postseason.
All four home teams from ECAC Hockey’s single-elimination series advanced to create the first chalk-based quarterfinal since 2022, but beyond the higher-seeded victories sat games devoid of the normal drama associated with winner-take-all scenarios.
The lone exception came when Brown’s 2-1 lead dripped into traded goals in the last minute of a 3-2 victory, but the Bears never surrendered their lead. Still, it was more than what Dartmouth, Cornell and Harvard delivered after the trio of Ivy League schools blistered past their respective opponents.
Pardon the double-negative – or even the triple-negative – but the weekend excitement didn’t stack up against a postseason known for producing one or two upsets from its first round. A shift into this week’s best-of-three quarterfinals now offers a more natural setting for the teams to throw more caution to the wind, but knowing a team is two wins away from achieving a trip to Lake Placid’s Herb Brooks Arena is balanced by the introduction of the four best programs from ECAC’s regular season.
Maybe there’s a dramatic flair or two in store for the end of this year’s campus-based hockey, but before we look at those matchups, let’s take a look back at some of the facts and fun from last weekend’s two-day event:
First-Round Fallout
-The first offseason domino dropped on Monday when RPI announced its intention to replace head coach Dave Smith. Few expressed shock at the decision, but replacing the former Canisius head coach requires a reset for a team that’s faced its own share of headwinds over the past three decades. Smith previously won a conference championship while leading Canisius to the 2013 Atlantic Hockey postseason crown, but his job with the Engineers advanced little beyond a fourth place finish in his third season. To be fair, RPI joined Union and the Ivy League institutions in opting out of the 2020-21 season, but the sixth-place finish in 2022 steadily backslid through two finishes in the league’s bottom four.
-Smith won a playoff game last year with the Engineers, but RPI still hasn’t advanced to the league semifinals since the institution of a four-round setup. An at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Tournament is the only trip to the national tournament since Buddy Powers and Dan Fridgen engineered consecutive berths in 1994 and 1995, and the only finish better than fourth place over the past 30 years occurred when Seth Appert finished second during the 2012-2013 season. Positioned to clinch a potential at-large bid during that year, a three-game loss to Brown dropped the Engineers outside of the Pairwise Rankings’ overall bubble.
-As for the rest of the playoff weekend, deciding three games by three-plus goals flopped the weekend into its most lopsided ending of the short, three-year tenure of single-elimination games. The two four-goal games were the most since Colgate and Union eliminated Yale and Princeton by four goals during two sweeps in 2022, coincidentally the last time that all four home sides advanced.
-Brown’s win over Princeton officially means that all 12 teams have appeared in at least one quarterfinal series since the eight teams opted out of competition during the COVID-19 season in 2020-21.
-Four Ivy League teams at Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth and Harvard all won and advanced to the quarterfinal for the first time since the league expanded its playoff to include a first round. Gaining four Ancient Eight sides to the quarterfinal is one less than the five teams that qualified in 2019, but it’s worth noting how seeing all six teams play through the first round is incredibly rare. In Cornell’s case, for example, playing in the first round hadn’t happened since 2016.
The Lerchies, Pt. 1
I’ve had an incredible college hockey career spanning 10-plus years and all three eastern conferences, but covering all Hockey East, ECAC and Atlantic Hockey America in some capacity is nothing compared to the interpersonal relationships fomented over the years. More specifically, this site keeps me coming back for more on an annual basis because I love working with the people, both at the schools and on our pages, and spending the past four years as the ECAC columnist reconnected me with the league that started my college hockey media lifestyle (shoutout to my brother, Mike, for taking me into the Brown press box while I was a teenager).
Atlantic Hockey writer Chris Lerch is among one of my closest confidants and a former tight colleague from when we split AHA coverage, and I took special pride in torturing him with our postseason award season. Dubbed “The Lerchies,” I drove him nuts by naming the postseason awards column after him, after which he maneuvered the schedule and renamed the awards after me. Since I’m now covering ECAC, he really can’t do anything to stop me from naming the awards after him.
I’m pretty sure he hasn’t covered an ECAC game since joining the USCHO crew, but I don’t really care. My awards column is named for him, it’s an inside joke, and nobody can tell me to change it.
So there. The Lerchies. Let’s hit it with the first group before we move into next week’s second team and first team all-conference names, along with individual awards.
All-Rookie Team (players are listed alphabetically by school)
F: Brian Nicholas, Brown
F: Mick Thompson, Harvard
F: Ben Muthersbaugh, Union
D: Michael Neumeier, Colgate
D: Hayden Stavroff, Dartmouth
G: Ben Charette, Harvard
Third Team
F: Tyler Kopff, Brown
F: Nikita Nikora, Dartmouth
F: Jack Ricketts, Quinnipiac
D: Tim Rego, Cornell
D: John Prokop, Union
G: Andrew Takacs, Colgate
Now onto the quarterfinal round and the return to a traditional best-of-three world:
The future
Quarterfinals, held March 14-16 on campus sites (best-of-three series)
No. 8 Brown at No. 1 Quinnipiac
No. 7 Harvard at No. 2 Clarkson
No. 6 Cornell at No. 3 Colgate
No. 5 Dartmouth at No. 4 Union
Semifinals, held March 21 at Lake Placid’s Herb Brooks Arena (single elimination):
Lowest Remaining Seed vs. Best Remaining Seed
Second-Lowest Remaining Seed vs. Second-Best Remaining Seed
Championship, held March 22 at Lake Placid’s Herb Brooks Arena (single elimination):
Lowest Remaining Seed vs. Best Remaining Seed
Quarterfinal Matchups
No. 8 Brown at No. 1 Quinnipiac
Head-to-head result: Brown failed to beat Quinnipiac in either of their two meetings, but the first matchup in October at least produced a one-goal game in Rhode Island. The later rematch in Connecticut offered a 4-0 blowout that concluded a four-game winning streak for the Bobcats, a streak that later served as the foundation for the final run to the No. 1 seed in the league.
Last trip to championship weekend: Nobody really needs to dive into Quinnipiac’s well-documented postseason results – or lack thereof – because the Bobcats are still a mainstay in Lake Placid. They’ve qualified by winning their way through the quarterfinals for three straight years, and even the 2020 team held a No. 3 seed before the pandemic canceled the overall postseason. The 2021 team earned a bye to the finals when St. Lawrence and Colgate entered the conference tournament outside of Clarkson’s opt-out, so the last team to fail to advance to a semifinal by losing a best-of-three series was the 2019 team, which lost to (pause for dramatic effect)
Brown.
Yep, Brown. Since Quinnipiac replaced Vermont for the 2005-2006 season, the Bears have been to three semifinals. Each one was held at a different site (2010: Albany. 2013: Atlantic City. 2019: Lake Placid), but each postseason run required a win over a No. 1 seed at some point during the postseason. Without fail, that No. 1 team was from Connecticut, and the 2013 and 2019 runs specifically occurred when the Bears upended Quinnipiac.
Some notes about the playoff head-to-head history: Brown’s three matchups with Quinnipiac spanned all three rounds with the 2019 win in the quarterfinals currently standing as their most recent head-to-head matchup. The 2013 win in the semifinals occurred after No. 7 Brown eliminated No. 2 RPI during the second round, but their lone meeting in the first round ended with fifth-seeded Quinnipiac blowing No. 12 Brown out of the postseason with 6-1 and 5-1 wins.
Things to watch: Quinnipiac handled the last month of the season with a championship mentality, but the Bobcats still don’t have a path to the national tournament with two losses against Brown. The No. 13 Bobcats are still above the cutline, but losses to the No. 43 team in the conference tournament would critically damage their 74 percent chance of making the NCAA Tournament. The recent surges by Penn State and UMass aside, it wouldn’t hurt if Arizona State and North Dakota slipped on a banana peel. A cherry on top would be a New Hampshire win over UMass-Lowell before losing to Boston College.
Shifting to the on-ice product, it’s pretty difficult to beat a team three times, but the Bears offered a direct-yet-formulaic method towards earning its wins over the past two months. Nearly every occasion since late January required goalie Lawton Zacher to stop 25-35 shots while the Brown offense generated an equal number of attempts, a number that played right into Quinnipiac’s sweet spot. Over that same time period, the Bobcats produced a 12-3-1 record whenever a game landed in that same range.
No. 7 Harvard at No. 2 Clarkson
Head-to-head result: Clarkson snuck by Harvard with a one-goal win in an earlier matchup in Cambridge, but the 6-0 blowout in the North Country in mid-February allowed the Golden Knights to sneak back into the national tournament conversation as they started climbing north of the No. 20 spot.
Last trip to championship weekend: Clarkson advanced to the 2022 semifinals before losing to Harvard, but the following year’s trip to the semifinal ended an era for the post-COVID success enjoyed by both teams. Both missed the semifinals last year, and now both stand to break a short drought while extending the other’s inability to reach Lake Placid. By the numbers, Harvard’s pre-pandemic performance sent the Crimson to the semifinals more frequently, but the Golden Knights won the 2019 championship.
Some notes about the playoff head-to-head history: Clarkson earned one of the early ECAC’s most notable upsets with a win over third-seeded Boston College in 1969, but an 8-6 loss to second-seeded Harvard ended the Cinderella bid ahead of the league championship game. Two years later, a rematch in the championship game ended with the Golden Knights winning, but Clarkson’s No. 2 seed shut down the upstart bid from the No. 4 Crimson after previous wins over Brown and Boston University.
Things to watch: Clarkson forward Ayrton Martino is the highest-end scorer in the entire league, but the Golden Knights run deeper than his 45-point season. Nine other players scored at least five goals on the year, but what happens away from the goal scorer is almost as important for a team with seven players holding 10 assists. The power play was especially lethal for Ellis Rickwood, who scored six of his nine goals on special teams, and Kaelen Taylor is arguably the league’s best defenseman.
Facing Harvard is intriguing because the Crimson peaked in the aftermath of the aforementioned 6-0 loss. Last week’s 5-2 win over RPI gave them a win in an offensive-minded track meet featuring 70 shots on goal, and 36 saves from Aku Koskenvuo shook off whatever tournament-style rust existed during the Beanpot loss to Boston University. Throw in a dash of the Harvard top scorers and their ability to go pound-for-pound with anyone in the league on a per-game basis, and this increasingly draws closer and closer to the kind of heavyweight battle expected from both teams.
No. 6 Cornell at No. 3 Colgate
Head-to-head result: The early December home-and-home between the Central New York travel partners ended with the home team winning each night – Cornell won on Friday, 3-2, in overtime before Colgate earned a 6-3 win in Hamilton.
Last trip to championship weekend: Colgate won the 2023 championship before Cornell drove its bus to last season’s title.
Some notes about the playoff head-to-head history: The two most recent defending champions haven’t played one another since Harvard (2015) and Quinnipiac (2016) played one another in the semifinals in 2017, but the odyssey surrounding Colgate and Cornell subtweets a rubber match between the Central New York travel partners.
For starters, this certainly looks like the end of a four-year odyssey that started with their head-to-head quarterfinal in 2022, but consider that crossing paths in the playoffs hadn’t happened since a Third Place game in 2012. Until 2022, they closest they came to one another was on opposite ends of the semifinal in 2014.
Things to watch: No team wants to play a single elimination first round game, but Cornell got right by scoring four times in the third period of its 5-1 win over Yale. Ian Shane’s 11 saves in the second period was a throwback performance after his numbers dipped during the regular season, and the offense steamrolled the Elis after failing to outplay the No. 11-seeded team through two periods on home ice.
Now comes the realest possible test for the preseason favorite because Colgate is a legitimate dark horse candidate within the league. Few are giving the Raiders a chance to outright win the league, but the second-highest overall offense jumped Quinnipiac’s output when the nonconference schedule was removed from consideration. They’re the most accurate-shooting team with goals on roughly 12 to 13 percent of their shots, and the defense allowed more than a half-goal less per game than Yale. Goalie Andrew Takacs saw more ice time than any other goalie, and the top of the offensive chart is as good as the top of Cornell’s scoresheet.
No. 5 Dartmouth at No. 4 Union
Head-to-head result: Dartmouth swept the season series by crushing Union with a 4-0 win at Messa Rink and a hard-fought, 2-1 battle at Thompson Arena.
Last trip to championship weekend: Dartmouth’s snapped a seven-year, five-tournament semifinal-less streak by sweeping the Garnet Chargers at home last year. Those losses prevented Union from advancing to the semis for the first time since 2017.
Some notes about the playoff head-to-head history: Last year’s series in New Hampshire was the first head-to-head postseason meeting since a 2014 quarterfinal series that seemed impossible after a 20-loss Dartmouth squad lost its first game to RPI. Two straight wins over the Engineers clinched a consecutive weekend pass to the Capital District, though top-seeded Union bulldozed its way to the 2014 championship by first sweeping the No. 10 Big Green. Folks of a certain age also likely remember how both teams held some ignominious history by missing the 1992 tournament after their 13 combined points still fell five points less than RPI’s No. 10 spots, a feat somewhat replicated when they missed the 10-team brackets in 1998 and 1998.
Things to watch: Farewell, Messa Rink
Union’s 9-7-2 record at home wasn’t as good as the 11-win season from two years ago, but few teams mastered winning in their own confines quite like a team that produced exactly one sub-.500 season in Schenectady over the past decade. Dartmouth, in particular, struggled with heading to the Albany region through those years, and a seven-game losing streak stamped a 1-13-1 record dating back to the 2011-2012 season.
The good news for Dartmouth? The Big Green beat Union five straight times over the last two seasons and specifically won two games at the Achilles Center since the start of the 2023-2024 campaign.
Looking at this weekend, Union needs to capitalize on whatever opportunities exist because Dartmouth is one of the league’s best teams at avoiding mistakes. Both teams are capable of scoring goals, but the Big Green produced a third-best 2.36 goals against average in ECAC play and killed penalties to the tune of an 89 percent success rate. Union’s power play is good enough to compensate for even a slight rollback, but Dartmouth’s 52 percent faceoff success rate should allow the Big Green to dictate a little bit more pace unless the Garnet Chargers can hold those one or two extra zone entries.
Nick Bochen anchored the Bentley back end this season (photo: Bentley Athletics).
Atlantic Hockey America has announced its 2024-25 all-AHA teams and AHA all-rookie team.
2024-25 ALL-AHA FIRST TEAM
Ethan Leyh, F, Gr., Bentley
Liam McLinskey, F, Sr., Holy Cross
Matthew Wilde, F, So., RIT
Mac Gadowsky, D, So., Army West Point
Nick Bochen, D, Gr., Bentley
Thomas Gale, G, Sr., Holy Cross
2024-25 ALL-AHA THIRD TEAM
Devin Phillips, F, Jr., Holy Cross
Jay Ahearn, F, Sr., Niagara
Tyler Fukakusa, F, So., RIT
Evan Stella, D, Sr., AIC
Hunter Sansbury, D, Sr., Sacred Heart
Ajeet Gundarah, G, Jr., Sacred Heart
2024-25 AHA ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Jack Ivey, F, Fr., Army West Point
Matt Kursonis, F, Fr., Holy Cross
Trevor Hoskin, F, Fr., Niagara
Dominic Payne, D, Fr., Canisius
Dominic Elliott, D, Fr., Robert Morris
Ajeet Gundarah, G, Fr., Sacred Heart
Max Plante had a stellar freshman season at UMD (photo: Minnesota Duluth Athletics).
Seven freshman standouts have been honored by the NCHC on its 2024-25 all-rookie team.
2024-25 NCHC All-Rookie Team
F: Sacha Boisvert, North Dakota – 51 points (17 first-team votes) unanimous
F: Austin Burnevik, St. Cloud State – 37 points (10)
F: Max Plante, Minnesota Duluth – 31 points (8)
F: Cullen Potter, Arizona State – 31 points (8)
D: Joona Väisänen, Western Michigan – 46 points (15)
D: Colin Ralph, St. Cloud State – 27 points (7)
G: Hampton Slukynsky, Western Michigan – 51 points (17) unanimous
Voting for all-rookie team was conducted by the nine head coaches at each school and nine media members, one covering each member school. Coaches and media voted for six forwards, four defensemen and two goaltenders, awarding first-team votes for six players (three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender) and second-team votes for the other six selections. Three points were awarded for a first-team vote while one point was awarded for a second-team vote, with the most points at each position earning the honors. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players, making 17 first-place votes (51 points) the maximum a player can receive.
Lucas Wahlin celebrates a goal last season for St. Thomas (photo: St. Thomas Athletics).
The CCHA has announced its all-rookie team and all-CCHA first and second teams for the 2024-25 season.
CCHA All-Rookie Team
F: Jakub Altrichter, Northern Michigan
F: Elias Jansson, Michigan Tech
F: Logan Morrell, Michigan Tech
D: Rylan Brown, Michigan Tech
D: Isa Parekh, Bemidji State
G: Rorke Applebee, Lake Superior State
All-CCHA First Team
F: Liam Malmquist, Sr., St. Thomas
F: Rhett Pitlick, Sr., Minnesota State
F: Lucas Wahlin, Sr., St. Thomas
D: Evan Murr, So., Minnesota State
D: Chase Pietila, So., Michigan Tech
G: Alex Tracy, So., Minnesota State
All-CCHA Second Team
F: Luke Mobley, Sr., Augustana
F: Ryan O’Hara, Sr., Bowling Green
F: Brody Waters, So., Bowling Green
D: Chase Foley, Gr., St. Thomas
D: Travis Shoudy, Jr., Ferris State
G: Josh Kotai, So., Augustana
Voting for the 2024-25 all-CCHA teams and year-end awards was conducted by the nine head coaches at each CCHA school, based on CCHA conference games only. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
UConn players celebrate an OT win over Maine back on Feb. 22, 2025 (photo: Clarus Multimedia Group).
Welcome to Week 9 of Bracketology.
Each week from now until Selection Sunday on March 23, I will outline the current 16 teams in the men’s NCAA Division I tournament and attempt to seed a bracket based on the current field.
Playoffs continued this past weekend for four of the six leagues, with a couple of big upsets in the Big Ten conference tournament that stirred the PairWise up a little. Michigan was swept by Penn State, which places the Wolverines squarely on the bubble with about a 38% chance to still make the field as an at-large team. That also solidified the case for Penn State, the host school for the Allentown Region.
The other upset was Notre Dame’s two-game sweep of Minnesota. While the Gophers have their NCAA spot locked up, they did fall to fourth in the PairWise, the first time the top five has seen any change in a month.
We’ve also seen something develop that is a bit of an aberration when it comes to the PairWise. With still two weekends of conference tournament action remaining, there really isn’t much of a PairWise bubble left. Most of the teams have locked their position or are so close to a lock that falling below the PairWise bubble isn’t likely.
As we sit here today, only two teams who are still playing can move inside the PairWise cutline without winning their conference tournament: UMass Lowell and Arizona State. But the actual odds of either of these teams earning an at-large bid is less than 2%.
All that said, here are the 16 teams who would qualify for the NCAA tournament if the season ended today:
1. Boston College*
2. Michigan State*
3. Maine
4. Minnesota
5. Western Michigan*
6. Boston University
7. Connecticut
8. Providence
9. Denver
10. Ohio State
11. Massachusetts
12. Penn State
13. Quinnipiac*
14. Michigan
15. Minnesota State*
16. Holy Cross*
* – Indicates the regular-season champion for each conference. While each conference is awarded an autobid for its tournament champion, for the purposes of this exercise we will use regular-season champion to receive the autobid.
With the field of 16 in place, we can now seed the four regions using basic bracket integrity (1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, etc.).
1. Boston College
8. Providence
9. Denver
16. Holy Cross
2. Michigan State
7. Connecticut
10. Ohio State
15. Minnesota State
3. Maine
6. Boston University
12. Penn State
14. Michigan
4. Minnesota
5. Western Michigan
11. UMass
13. Quinnipiac
As a reminder and also for those who aren’t regular readers of Bracketology, there is one thing that the committee seems to avoid at all costs and that is first-round matchups between teams from the same conference. This week, we have just one: 6 Boston University vs. 11 Massachusetts. We can fix this easily by swapping 11 UMass and 12 Penn State. Notice we execute this step before assigning regions, something that will be important given that Penn State is the host in Allentown.
With that swap made, we now need to assign regions to each four-team bracket. As mentioned,Penn State as the host team in Allentown, they need to play there. This actually helps given the swap of UMass and Penn State. When we place Penn State and its four-team bracket in Allentown, we still have the other three top seeds in each region (Boston College, Michigan State and Minnesota) all playing in regions closest to campus.
To accomplish that, we place Boston College as the top seed in Manchester, N.H. Michigan State is the second seed and the closest region is Toledo, Ohio, less than two hours from Lansing. Minnesota ends up relatively close to the Twin Cities in Fargo, N.D.
Maine remains the outlier but as long as they remain a top seed, which is a 43% chance, they’ll play someplace other than Manchester.
That gives us the following:
Manchester Region
1. Boston College
8. Providence
9. Denver
16. Holy Cross
Toledo Region
2. Michigan State
7. Connecticut
10. Ohio State
15. Minnesota State
Allentown Region
3. Maine
6. Boston University
12. Penn State
14. Michigan
Fargo Region
4. Minnesota
5. Western Michigan
11. UMass
13. Quinnipiac
Now let’s look at attendance for each region. Regular readers know this is where we often get creative in hopes of creating better atmospheres in each region.
I actually love where this bracket gets us. Boston College and Providence play in Manchester. Michigan State and Ohio State are in Toledo. Penn State will drive the gate in Allentown. And Minnesota along with rabid college hockey fans in Fargo should drive that region.
With that in mind, we have our final bracket.
Manchester Region
1. Boston College
2. Connecticut
3. Denver
4. Holy Cross
Manchester Region
1. Boston College
8. Providence
9. Denver
16. Holy Cross
Toledo Region
2. Michigan State
7. Connecticut
10. Ohio State
15. Minnesota State
Allentown Region
3. Maine
6. Boston University
12. Penn State
14. Michigan
Fargo Region
4. Minnesota
5. Western Michigan
11. UMass
13. Quinnipiac
Last in: Michigan, Quinnipiac First out: UMass Lowell, Arizona State
Keep an eye on: The Allentown Region. There are a lot of games to play over the next two weekends and some of the rankings could shift and thus significantly change each region. But as it is, the Allentown Region is the “Bracket of Death.” Maine, BU, Penn State and Michigan will be one difficult region from which to emerge. A team that survives that region really earn their spot in the Frozen Four.
Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com start this edition of the PodKaz with a look back on the five conference championships, won by Penn State, Cornell, Boston University, Sacred Heart and Wisconsin.
The NCAA tournament bracket was unveiled Sunday morning but the production left a lot to be desired.
And the show concludes with a discussion of each of the four NCAA regionals, hosted by Wisconsin, Ohio State, Cornell and Minnesota.
The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for our mailbag? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].
AIC players celebrate after downing RIT in overtime on Feb. 28 to advance in the Atlantic Hockey America tournament (photo: AIC Athletics).
Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Ed: Well, Jim, it was an interesting weekend in college hockey. There were a couple of significant upsets, the end of a program, and also some numbers that left us scratching our heads a bit.
Let’s start out with the biggest upset, and that was Notre Dame, the lowest seed in the Big Ten playoffs, taking the best-of-three series at No. 2 seed Minnesota.
The Fighting Irish helped their retiring head coach reach a major milestone on Friday, giving Jeff Jackson his 600th career win in a 3-2 victory at Mariucci. Notre Dame was 4-11-1 in 2025 going into the weekend, but one of those previous wins was 4-3 at Minnesota in overtime back on Jan. 18.
The Golden Gophers evened the series on Saturday with a 4-2 win, but Notre Dame opened up a 2-0 lead in the second period in Sunday’s game three and made Minnesota chase the game en route to a 4-1 win.
“I liked the whole weekend,” said Minnesota coach Bob Motzko despite the Sunday and series loss. “I thought a lot of our play was really good. I just didn’t like the two goals we gave up tonight to fall behind, because we were pretty much controlling how we wanted to play.”
The Gophers have clinched a No. 1 regional berth for the NCAA tournament, but you wonder if this might have been a useful wakeup call as they enter the one-and-done phase of the postseason. Meanwhile, how cool is this for Jackson and his squad to extend what had been a largely disappointing campaign with some success at the end?
Jim: I admit that I didn’t see a Notre Dame win coming. I thought that Minnesota was the best team in the nation not located in Massachusetts, but this bump in the road is eye opening.
The Gophers speed bump the final weekend when they left points on the table against Penn State and lost the first-round bye felt like a good reset. But now that the Gophers are out, fans have to be concerned about whether this becomes a lost season.
There are two LONG weeks that will transpire with a bunch of practices and no games. And this is the ultimate test to see whether or not this team can get things back for a four-game winning streak.
You also mentioned Jeff Jackson and him advancing with the Irish is a great story line. I was bemoaning a week ago that Jackson might end his career on 599 wins. His team made sure that wouldn’t happen.
It was a good weekend for a couple of other coaches whose teams won and advanced in their final season: Cornell’s Mike Schafer and Army West Point’s Brian Riley.
Ed: It’s been a tough 2024-25 for Schafer’s Big Red, which has seen way more than its share of injuries. He’s one of the great coaches of our day – all time, really – and it’s nice to see Cornell keep playing. They’ll have their hands full at their nearby rival Colgate this coming weekend.
Riley announced his retirement in August and at the time, Army West Point also named associate head coach Zach McKelvie, who is also a former Army player, as his successor. When I spoke with Riley a couple of weeks ago, he felt that the naming of McKelvie a season ahead of time was the right decision as it allowed them to make a smooth transition. (Cornell did the same, naming Casey Jones the successor behind the bench at Lynah at Schafer’s retirement announcement last June.)
For Riley, he’s seen his team turn around a season that was off to a terrible start. The Black Knights were just 5-15-0 with a nine-game losing streak heading into the weekend of Jan. 10 and 11 when they exploded for 22 goals in a weekend sweep of Mercyhurst. Then they were off to the races, finishing the regular season at 9-2-2, including that weekend. After a double-overtime win at Niagara in the AHA playoffs on Friday and a loss on Saturday, No. 5 Army moved on to take on No. 1 seed Holy Cross and to extend Riley’s final season by at least two more games.
Jim, it wasn’t the end of a coaching career but the end of a small program that has had a recent history of success and more than a few Cinderella stories, as eighth seed American International lost in overtime of game three of its AHA series at Holy Cross. Coach and alumnus Eric Lang took to X to commemorate what the program had meant, writing, “Nine years and seven championships later, we’ve achieved what many thought impossible in college hockey. We fought hard until the very end.”
While we’ve written here and talked on our Weekend Review podcast a few times about the demise of the program, it seems fitting to give AIC a proper sendoff.
Jim: No doubt the loss of AIC is major for Division I men’s college hockey. Moving the program to Division II is a death sentence for the program.
It is not a death sentence, though, for Eric Lang. He is the No. 1 coaching free agent on the market right now and it isn’t close. There are plenty of athletic directors at small programs (Rensselaer, for example) who know that Lang carries with him a blueprint for how to win in a small, not-so-well-funded program. He could also be a candidate for a top-tier assistant should something open at a larger school.
What Lang did at his alma mater was incredible and I think most outsiders assumed he had deep resources for that sort of success. It was after the program’s future was announced that we all came to realize Lang succeeded despite the support as opposed to with it.
Always makes me wonder how many teams are hamstrung by their own administrations and a lack of support.
Ed: I’d imagine there’s a lot of that. But I’m sure there are also well-funded programs that would tell you their budgets are too tight.
I mentioned numbers at the beginning. We talked a little bit on this week’s Weekend Review podcastabout the lack of any teams on the bubble in the PairWise rankings this week. Normally, we’d see a few teams hovering around the cut line for an at-large bid, but after this past weekend, only a couple of teams are on the outside looking in with even a slim chance to move up.
Only Arizona State and UMass Lowell have a whisker thin chance of making the NCAA tournament if they make it to and lose in their conference championship games. Michigan, after the upset sweep at home vs. Penn State, has to sit and wait and root for Quinnipiac to win the ECAC and keep the Wolverines’ hopes alive at their current No. 14 in the PairWise.
Meanwhile, Hockey East appears poised to send six teams to the tournament, and if Michigan stays in, that would be five from the Big Ten, leaving just two spots for NCHC teams.
Is this shift from the decade-long dominance by the NCHC a temporary blip, just a cyclical thing, or a changing of the guard?
Jim: Well, I can start out by saying this is hardly a changing of the guard when it comes to the NCHC. Heck, even if they only get two teams into the tournament, I think they have an equal shot to Hockey East and Big Ten to crown a national champion.
This is a strange year and the lack of a bubble for all intents and purposes comes from the dominance of the Big Ten and Hockey East in nonconference play. They will likely account for 11 of the 16 overall bids with Hockey East positioned to get 6 and the Big Ten to get 5 teams into the field.
That doesn’t leave room for many other teams. It’s likely that the ECAC champion is the only representative from that conference unless Quinnipiac loses but remains inside the bubble. That is a 50/50 proposition right now for the Bobcats.
The CCHA and AHA champions will be the only representatives from their leagues. That leaves the NCHC.
If Western Michigan or Denver don’t win the tournament, the league will get a third team at the expense of either Michigan or Quinnipiac. But that’s a big if given how well both of these teams are playing coming into this weekend.
All I know is this coming week should be a lot of fun!
Rick Gotkin has more than 600 career wins behind the Mercyhurst bench (photo: Mercyhurst Athletics).
In 1988, the Mercyhurst men’s hockey team appointed a young man by the name of Rick Gotkin as its head coach.
Nearly four decades, 600-plus wins, and a lasting legacy later, he’s preparing for his final season as Gotkin has announced that the 2025-26 campaign — his 38th with the Lakers — will be his last, marking the end of an extraordinary career behind the bench.
“Rick Gotkin is more than a coach — he’s a cornerstone of Mercyhurst University and a legend in the world of college hockey,” said Mercyhurst president Kathleen A. Getz, Ph.D. in a statement “For nearly four decades, he has shaped the lives of countless student-athletes, instilling in them not only a passion for the game but also the values of dedication, teamwork, and integrity. His impact on this university and the sport itself is immeasurable. As he prepares for his final season, we celebrate his extraordinary career and the legacy he leaves behind. Mercyhurst is forever grateful for Coach Gotkin.”
Gotkin was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1959. He attended college at Brockport, where he made the varsity hockey team and played in more than 40 games as a defenseman. He also played hockey for the Binghamton Barons and at Canton.
His time on the ice reinforced his belief that he could never give up the electric atmosphere that is so deeply woven into a career in hockey. So, moving forward, he spent a short time in Scotland where he was a player-coach.
During an interview with USCHO.com a year ago, Gotkin reminisced, “I was not much of a player, so as the coach I was smart enough not to play myself. But I had the opportunity to stay in hockey.”
Gotkin returned to the U.S in 1984 and became the head coach at Canton for a season followed by a stint as assistant coach at RPI for a few seasons, enhancing his experience and coaching style in the process.
It was in 1988 when Mercyhurst named the 29-year-old Gotkin the head coach of its men’s hockey team. The hockey program had just started a season prior with Fred Lane at the helm. In Gotkin’s first season, the Lakers finished with an 11-16-1 record. It took just one season for Gotkin to instill a winning culture in Mercyhurst’s hockey program as the Lakers finished 18-8-4 in his second season.
“Rick not only built the program from the ground up, but he also put Mercyhurst hockey and Mercyhurst University on the national map,” said Lakers athletic director Joe Spano. “It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside him for over 25 years. He has been one of my greatest mentors as a coach. His success is historic, and his legacy will last forever.”
In Gotkin’s 37 years behind the bench, much has changed with Mercyhurst hockey, but he has always taken care of his guys and treated his hockey teams like family. In his early years at Mercyhurst, Gotkin and his wife, Diane, were known to do the team’s laundry and manage the equipment. Prior to the Mercyhurst Ice Center opening in 1991, the players affectionately referred to themselves as the “boys on the bus” due to constantly being on the road.
While Mercyhurst hockey now enjoys access to on-campus facilities and many more staff members than those first few years, to this day, you may still see Gotkin picking up spare hockey pucks around the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
Of historic note, the Mercyhurst men’s hockey team has competed in all three divisions of NCAA hockey during Gotkin’s tenure. Originally hired when the Lakers were Division III, Gotkin oversaw the move to scholarship hockey in D-II and eventually to D-I where the Lakers have remained since 1997.
“Rick Gotkin has been more than just a coach to our men’s ice hockey program—he’s been a mentor, a father figure, and the heart and soul of Mercyhurst hockey,” said Mercyhurst vice president for student life Dr. Laura Zirkle. “His legacy is etched into every corner of our rink, and his impact on the lives of his players will be felt for generations to come. I am happy to count Rick as my friend and I know I speak for many others when I say, we will miss him.”
Gotkin has achieved enviable success in his illustrious career as a head coach. He has 611 total wins, 551 losses, and 111 ties for a 52.4 winning percentage. Currently, he ranks 16th on USCHO.com’s list of all time-winningest coaches. He has coached 1,273 games, surpassing the 1,200 mark in a dominant 7-3 win against Army in the 2022-23 season. Gotkin’s teams have won their conference six times, won the postseason conference championship three times, and appeared in the NCAA tournament six times. Of those six NCAA tournament appearances, two of them featured national championship appearances. Gotkin is also the only hockey coach in NCAA history to take a team to the NCAA tournament at all three divisions of competition.
Gotkin is the longest tenured active coach in the NCAA, posting a winning record in 26 seasons. He has also won AHA coach of the year two times and MAAC coach of the year once. He was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Erie Chapter in 2015 and added to the SUNY Brockport athletic wall of honor in 2023.
“I have spent 37 years coaching at Mercyhurst, a place that always felt like home,” said Gotkin. “I will always cherish the countless memories I have made with our student athletes, alumni, and members of the Erie community and beyond. I want to thank my family, the administration, faculty, staff and my colleagues for their unwavering support. I look forward to what’s ahead for the Mercyhurst hockey program, and I am honored to be part of its legacy.”
Dave Smith spent eight seasons behind the RPI bench (photo: Clarus Multimedia Group).
Rensselaer has announced Dave Smith will not return as head coach of the men’s hockey team.
“Dave has dedicated himself to putting our team in a position to compete in the ECAC each year and we appreciate his leadership. As we move forward, we are determined to have our team compete at the highest level of college hockey,” said RPI director of athletics Dr. Kristie Bowers in a statement.
Smith recently finished his eighth year as head coach of the Engineers. RPI has posted an overall record of 87-152-19 since Smith stepped in prior to the 2017-18 season.
Prior to RPI, Smith was head coach at Canisius for 12 seasons.
A national search for the next head coach of RPI men’s hockey is underway.
Boston College is again the top team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll, grabbing 48 first-place votes in the March 10 rankings.
Michigan State, with the other two first-place votes, stays No. 2, while Western Michigan is up one to No. 3, Maine is up one to No. 4, and Minnesota falls two spots to No. 5.
Denver jumps up one to No. 6, Providence falls one to No. 7, UConn stays eighth, Boston University rises one to No. 9, and Ohio State falls one notch to sit 10th this week.
Previously unranked Omaha enters the rankings at No. 20 in this week’s poll.
In addition to the top 20 teams, 12 others received votes this week.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley. and Ed Trefzger review games of the weekend and news of the week.
Key games and outcomes in the Big Ten, Atlantic Hockey, CCHA, ECAC, Hockey East, and NCHC are examined, with special attention given to underdog victories and their implications for the upcoming semifinals and NCAA tournament. The hosts also delve into the complexities of the Pairwise rankings and what teams need to do to secure their spots. Special mentions include Jeff Jackson’s 600th win and, sadly, the conclusion of AIC’s program.
This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Get your tickets now at ncaa.com/frozenfour
Times are approximate:
00:15 Introduction and sponsorship
00:42 Big Ten upsets and highlights
04:06 Big Ten semifinals preview
06:28 Atlantic Hockey playoff drama
12:47 CCHA playoff recap and upcoming games
16:06 ECAC playoff overview
18:31 Hockey East playoff scenarios
21:17 NCHC playoff matchups and predictions
25:46 Pairwise bubble analysis
38:37 Closing remarks and notables
Aurora, the University of New England, Trine and Utica got at-large bids and Curry and two-time defending champion Hobart earned first-round byes when the 2025 NCAA Division III men’s hockey tournament bracket was announced Monday.
The 14-team tournament starts with six first-round games Saturday, March 15. The quarterfinals are March 22 and the championship weekend is March 28 and 30 at a site to be determined.
The six first-round games are:
• Hamilton at University of New England
• Fitchburg at Utica
• Gustavus Adolphus at St. Norbert
• Oswego at Trine
• Stevenson at Geneseo
• Wisconsin-Eau Claire at Aurora
Curry will host the University of New England-Hamilton winner in the quarterfinals and Hobart will host the Trine-Oswego winner. Another quarterfinal game will match the Utica-Fitchburg winner against the St. Norbert-Gustavus Adolphus winner; the other pairs the Geneseo-Stevenson winner against the Aurora-Eau Claire winner.
