The Marian men’s hockey team has added Rylee Orr to the staff as an assistant coach.
“I’d like to thank (head coach) Clay (Van Diest) and the rest of the hiring committee for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the Marian family,” said Orr in a statement. “I am extremely excited for this opportunity and can’t wait to get on the ice with the guys and get the season going.”
Orr comes to Marian after serving as the head coach at ACHA Division II Oregon for four seasons. The Ducks posted a winning record in all four of his years and he helped guide Oregon to three conference championships and three trips to the ACHA tournament.
His playing career saw him compete at ACHA D-II Utah State for four seasons. Orr served as an alternate captain in his final season and helped lead the Aggies to a conference championship. Following his career at Utah State, Orr played one season professionally in Germany with EHC Neuwied. In his 32 games overseas, Orr led the team in scoring with 22 goals and 20 assists for 42 total points.
“We are thrilled to add coach Orr to the Marian hockey program,” said Van Diest. “Rylee has done a tremendous job building the University of Oregon hockey program into a powerhouse over the last four years. I look forward to him continuing his success with the Sabres. Rylee is a tireless recruiter, a great hockey mind, and will be a great addition to our staff and program as a whole.”
Orr graduated from Utah State in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Movement Science.
Niagara opened the season sweeping Omaha on the road (photo: Niagara 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.
Jim: Well, Ed, let me first start out by saying “Welcome Back” to both you and all of our loyal readers of TMQ. I’m excited to have the college hockey season back underway.
And we’ve already seen some fantastic hockey in just nine days’ worth of games. Denver picked up where it left off in April, following up the national championship trophy by taking home the IceBreaker trophy this past weekend.
Minnesota and Minnesota State rematched their national semifinal from a year ago with a scintillating two-game home-and-home set where the host each earned a victory.
North Dakota swept Holy Cross this past weekend but now has two early-season tests in Quinnipiac and Minnesota over the next two weekends. And Minnesota Duluth started its season with a two-game sweep of Arizona State.
I don’t know about you, but I love some of these early season battles of top teams. And I don’t think it’s inappropriate to say that a lot of the top teams right now coming from outside the eastern time zone (translation: the west is really strong).
Your thoughts?
Ed: I think you’re right about the west being strong. They’re continuing the regional dominance they had last season. The NCHC and Big Ten both have non-conference records at or above .750 right now which may help stake them to seven or even eight NCAA bids between them even if they don’t maintain that lofty percentage the rest of the way.
The IceBreaker win for the Pioneers helps cement them as the top team thus far in the polls – though we should remember that those are volatile and even a split weekend can juggle the rankings for the poll voters. (By the way, since I mentioned the poll, I think it’s useful to mention that about 75% of the poll vote is made up of coaches from all around the country and the remainder is journalists. It’s not solely USCHO’s opinion.)
We should have expected nothing less than that terrific home-and-home split with the Gophers and Mavericks.
But I’m also really impressed with Ohio State. The Buckeyes got a pair of home wins over Wisconsin this past weekend, including a 4-3 win Saturday after falling behind 3-0 early in the second period.
Big Ten coaches picked Wisconsin fourth and Ohio State fifth, but I can see Steve Rohlik’s team contending for the top of the league. Meanwhile, a second consecutive 0-2 start to a season has to concern Badger fans, especially with tough non-league weekends against St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth before hosting Penn State.
Jim: I think that the coaches poll in the Big Ten continues to surprise me. Sure, they seem to figure the top two teams right each year, but there has been a constant disrespect for Ohio State.
A year ago, the Buckeyes were young. But throughout last season, Steve Rohlik’s club proved itself well and I would’ve thought that the coaches would’ve had this year’s Ohio State team in the top three.
I know I had Ohio State top 15 nationally on my poll ballot and after a 4-0-0 start, I’m ready to watch this team put together yet another solid season.
I do want to turn the attention to the east a little bit and Niagara. The Purple Eagles went out to Omaha and swept the Mavericks, 4-3 each night. While those are the only two non-league wins for Atlantic Hockey thus far, it should say a lot about Jason Lammers’ team. It’s early to talk about dark horses, but heck, Niagara was picked to finish ninth in a 10-team league. Is this another example of underestimating teams preseason?
Ed: It certainly was a great pair of wins for Niagara. Chad Veltri was solid in net for the Purple Eagles, which is no surprise to anyone who has watched him in Atlantic Hockey.
As far as underestimating? When there’s so much parity across college hockey and even more so within most D-I conferences, it’s hard to know. I’d say in that conference there’s hardly a dime’s worth of difference between fifth and 10th place. Every team is pretty solid, and I’d agree with the assessment I’ve heard from more than one coach in that league: they don’t have any teams as good as the top teams in the country, but no teams as bad as the worst teams in the country.
What will be interesting is how the Purps take this experience and momentum home to Dwyer Arena as they host the top two in the coaches’ poll, AIC and Sacred Heart on successive weekends.
We mentioned the non-conference success of the NCHC and Big Ten, but right behind them is Hockey East at 11-4-1 outside the league.
Two teams that have stood out early are Northeastern and Connecticut, both of which are perfect so far in this short season. Northeastern is possibly even better than people thought they’d be. And Mike Cavanaugh has to be really pleased with UConn’s best start since the 1975-76 season in what was essentially a Division III schedule.
How do those two Hockey East teams shape up in your mind?
Jim: Well, having seen Northeastern live this weekend, I think they are an elite team. Obviously, having Mike Richter Award winner Devon Levi return this year solidifies that team in goal. But up front, I feel like they have four solid lines offensively. This is a team that couldn’t average three goals a game last year, which held them back. If they can bump that scoring offense up to 3-3.5 goals per game this year, they’ll be a national contender.
UConn is interesting to me. A nice 4-0-0 start but having faced Vermont and Union, teams that are a combined 1-6-1, I’m not sure they’ve faced enough of a test yet (and yes, the same can be said for Northeastern). This weekend’s home series for UConn against Ohio State might be one of the most interesting on the national slate of games.
Another eastern team that interests me is New Hampshire. The Wildcats went to the North Country and earned wins over Clarkson (rallying from 2-0 down to win 4-3) and St. Lawrence. I’ve felt that at some point Michael Souza will put together a team that will return UNH towards the top of college hockey. I’m not sure we can say anything yet, but two wins up North always impress this eastern guy.
Anyone else stand out for you, Ed? It’s early, but I feel like we’ve already seen some great storylines developing.
Ed: I think I’d like to keep an eye on the independents, including some teams that are likely to be overlooked but which are in the process of building (or rebuilding) their programs.
The independent most likely to be on everyone’s radar is Arizona State. The Sun Devils open their new home facility, the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena, this weekend against Colgate, and coach Greg Powers has again assembled a schedule that can take them to the NCAA tournament if they win the games they’re supposed to and split or better against top contenders.
LIU is off to a good start. While they are 1-1-1 overall, with the win coming against a Stonehill team transitioning to Division I, the loss was 3-2 in overtime at Northeastern, and the tie was on Sunday at Quinnipiac. Playing close and tough with top teams bodes well for Brett Riley’s Sharks. We should also keep an eye out for an announcement about a scheduling alliance and future conference that will help teams like LIU and Stonehill get more traction.
Lindenwood is 0-4 but has battled well against the powerhouses of Minnesota and Michigan. We’ll get an idea where NHL veteran Rick Zombo’s Lions stand nationally when they take on four consecutive Atlantic Hockey programs, hosting Air Force and visiting AIC, Bentley, and Army.
Alaska Anchorage surprised Western Michigan in a weekend split with the Broncos but lost both games at Colorado College last weekend. Matt Shasby got a win in his first game as head coach at his alma mater and has a decent schedule of contenders, independents, and a couple of club teams set for this season.
Meanwhile in Fairbanks, Eric Largen’s Nanooks are off to a 2-1-1 start and have a pretty tough schedule with a number of NCAA contenders.
Why should we pay attention to these teams? Because the growth of college hockey – and the size of the NCAA tournament field – depends on their success.
Denver knocked off Notre Dame 5-2 last Friday night in the IceBreaker opener at Magness Arena (photo: Justin Tafoya/Clarkson Creative Photography).
Denver is again the top team in the DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, picking up 46 first-place votes in this week’s poll.
Minnesota (one first-place vote) stays No. 2, as does North Dakota (two first-place votes) at No. 3, Minnesota Duluth at No. 4 and Minnesota State sitting fifth.
Michigan is up one to No. 6 and received a first-place vote as well.
Northeastern moves up one to No. 7, followed by Quinnipiac at No. 8, down two spots, Boston University holding steady at No. 9 and St. Cloud State doing the same at No. 10.
The lone new team to enter the rankings this week is Penn State at No. 20.
In addition to the top 20 teams, 17 other teams received votes.
The DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s 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.
DCU (DCU.org), a not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by and operated for its members, is the sponsor of this poll. DCU serves more than 900,000 members and their families in all 50 states.
After a scoreless first period, Sophie Jaques scored 15 seconds into the second to put the Buckeyes up 1-0. Gabby Rosenthal made it 2-0 just a couple of minutes later, but Klára Hymlárová cut the lead to 2-1 all before four minutes had passed. In the third, rookie Sloane Matthews scored her first two goals as a Buckeye to make it a 4-1 game. Jenniina Nylund’s goal made it 4-2, but Paeyten Levis’ empty-netter secured the 5-2 win. On Saturday, goals from Levis and Rosenthal put Ohio State up 2-0 after the first period. Emma Gentry cut into the lead early in the second to make it 2-1. But the Buckeyes reeled off three unanswered in the second to put the game out of reach. Matthews, Sydney Morrow and Jaques all scored to make it 5-1. Jaques scored again in the third to make it 6-1. Nylund scored her second of the weekend late in the third to make it a 6-2 win for OSU.
Bemidji State at (2) Minnesota
The Gophers scored four goals in the opening half of the second period to break open the game en route to a 6-0 win. Abigail Boreen, Peyton Hemp and Abby Murphy each scored twice for Minnesota in the win. In the second meeting, Lizi Norton scored her first goal as a Gopher 1:45 into the first. Kate Boland matched her in the second, tying the game for Bemidji 1:34 into the second. But the Gophers were able to break open the game in the third, outshooting BSU 13-1 in the third and scoring three times to win 4-1. Grace Zumwinkle, Catie Skaja and Emily Oden each lit the lamp. Bemidji State had 24 blocks and Hannah Hogenson had 33 saves in the loss.
(15) Connecticut vs. (3) Northeastern
Alina Mueller, Katy Knoll and Skylar Irving each scored in the second period to lead Northeastern to a 3-0 win. Mueller set a new program record with 21 game-winning goals. On Saturday, she became the third player in program history to reach 200 points. UConn took an early lead thanks to Camryn Wong, but Maureen Murphy tied it up before the end of the first. Mueller’s assist on the goal was her 200th point. Taze Thompson scored early in the second and then Knoll added two goals to give Northeastern the win.
Minnesota State at (4) Minnesota Duluth
Kennedy Bobyck scored a short-handed goal five minutes into the game to put Minnesota State up 1-0. Kylie Hanley responded later in the first to tie it up. The game would then go on for more than 47 minutes without another goal before Ashton Bell wove through the Mavericks on the opening shift of overtime to end the game and give UMD the 2-1 win. Lauren Barbro made 40 saves for MSU in the loss. On Saturday, Taylor Anderson and Gabby Krause scored 23 seconds apart early in the first and those two goals would prove to be the only scoring in the game as the Bulldogs swept the weekend.
St. Thomas at (5) Wisconsin
On Friday, the Badgers third and fourth lines shined as Grace Shirley scored twice and Sarah Wozniewicz, Kirsten Simms and Claire Enright each added a goal to lead Wisconsin to a 5-0 win. In the second game, eight different Badgers – Nicole LaMantia,Laila Edwards, Sarah Wozniewicz, Caroline Harvey, Maddi Wheeler, Jesse Compher, Britta Curl and Casey O’Brien – scored to lift the team to a 9-1 win. LaMantia was the lone UW skater with two goals. Gabby Billing scored a power play goal for the Tommies in the second to ruin the shutout.
(6) Colgate at (11) Penn State
In the first game, Kalty Kaltounkova opened the scoring with a power play goal midway through the second to open the scoring. Penn State replied with an extra attacker goal of their own from Katelyn Roberts. In the opening minutes of the second, Mya Vaslet gave the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead. Kaltounkova netted her second of the day at the midpoint of the third period to tie it up. The game looked to be heading for overtime when Danielle Serdachny crashed the net to score with 30 seconds left in regulation to give Colgate the 3-2 win. On Saturday, the Raiders kept up the game-ending heroics as Elyssa Biederman scored her first collegiate goal with exactly one minute left in regulation to earn Colgate a 2-1 win and weekend sweep. Kaltounkova scored at the end of the first to put them up 1-0. Lyndie Lobdell tied it up in the third for Penn State before Biederman sniped a shot from the top of the circle to secure the win and sweep.
(7) Quinnipiac at St. Anselm
Shay Maloney’s hat trick powered the Bobcats to a 6-1 win on Friday. Tyra Turner’s goal in the first actually had St. Anselm ahead and the teams went into the first intermission tied at one. But it was all Quinnipiac from there. On Saturday, seven different Bobcats – Mallory Mauracher, Sadie Peart, Lexie Adzija, Olivia Mobley, Alexa Hoskin, Nina Steigauf and Kate Reilly – scored to give their team a 7-1 win. Margaret Sullivan’s goal kept it from being a shutout.
(10) Clarkson at Mercyhurst
Kirstyn McQuigge and Darcie Lappan scored 11 seconds apart to give Clarkson an early 2-0 lead. Mercyhurst cut that in half with a goal from Chantal Ste-Croix and the teams headed to the locker rooms with the Golden Knights up 2-1. Jenna Goodwin scored early in the second to extend the lead to 3-1 and that’s how the game ended. Each goalie made 22 saves in the game. After a scoreless first on Saturday, Ste-Croix added her second of the weekend on a 2-on-1 with Thea Johansson. Clarkson tied it up early in the third after forcing a turnover. Jaden Bodgen’s sharp angle shot equalized the game. In overtime, Johansson won the puck behind her own net and saw Sydney Pedersen taking off up ice. Her perfect pace his Pedersen in stride and she sniped the game-winner.
(14) Vermont at Holy Cross
Mary Edmonds and Carly Beniek had Holy Cross up 2-0 midway through the first period on Friday. Vermont’s Theresa Schafzahl cut into the lead late in the second, but the Crusader defense went to work and kept the Catamounts off the board. They recorded 22 blocks and goalie Madison Beck had 34 saves in the win. On Sunday, Schafzahl scored twice and Tynka Pátková added a goal to give Vermont a 3-0 win.
After completing a comprehensive national search, Albertus Magnus announced Thursday that Stephen Novodor has been named as the Falcons’ inaugural head coach for the women’s hockey team, which is set to begin NCAA Division III play in the 2023-24 academic year.
Novodor brings more than 15 years of experience to the Falcons, including coaching stints at the collegiate, prep school, and youth levels.
“As a hockey coach, Steve has established strong relationships within the state of Connecticut and beyond over the course of his career,” Albertus Magnus director of athletics Michael Kobylanski said in a statement. “He is a proven coach, recruiter, and mentor who will bring excitement to our newly established women’s ice hockey program. We welcome Steve, his wife, and children to the Falcon family.”
Novodor joins the Falcons after most recently serving as an assistant coach at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn. During his 10-plus years at Loomis, the squad claimed the Founders League title in 2015 and the large school New England championship in both 2014 and 2020.
A director and head coach with Yale Youth Hockey since 2014, Novodor preceded that by a run as the head coach at Southern Connecticut State and additional experience with multiple youth and amateur organizations in the state of Connecticut. Under Novodor’s guidance, the Yale Jr. Bulldogs’ 15U Tier I program won a USA Hockey national championship.
Novodor earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Quinnipiac.
Defending national champion Denver added to its trophy collection on Saturday, collecting the IceBreaker Championship with a 3-1 victory over Maine (Photo: Justin Tafoya/Clarkson Creative Photography)
One may have thought that last year was trophy season for Denver, given that it ended last April in Boston with the national championship trophy.
Well, the Pioneers aren’t done collecting the hardware. Behind a two-goal and three-point effort by Carter Mazur, Denver posted a 3-1 victory over Maine to capture the 2022 IceBreaker Championship.
From the first period: Tonight's @Safeway Goal of the Game.
All of the Pioneers offense came in the opening frame. Mike Benning opened the scoring at 6:57 of the first. Then Mazur struck not once, but twice, in a span of 2:23 to open a 3-0 lead.
Penalties hurt the visiting Black Bears, who were forced to kill seven penalties, posting success on six of those kills. And thought the penalty kill was strong in the middle period, Maine spent eight of the 20 minutes on the kill, stifling the comeback.
The IceBreaker consolation game between Air Force and Notre Dame featured plenty of drama as 3-0 and 4-1 before scoring four times in the third – including the tying goal by Ryder Rolston with 1:11 remaining – to force overtime. The game goes into the books as a tie but Air Force officially captured third place winning a shootout.
No. 5 Minnesota State 3, No. 2 Minnesota 2
Friday was a difficult night for the defending national runner up Minnesota State Mavericks.
Saturday was a night of retribution.
Ryan Sandelin’s goal with 6:03 remaining in regulation broke a 2-2 tie as the Mavericks earned the weekend split in what was a rematch of last year’s national semifinal game played in Boston.
Jimmy Snuggerud, who netted a hat trick on Friday, kept his hot hand spotting the Gophers a lead at 15:29 of the first.
Campbell Cichosz netted the equalizer in the second, finishing a feed from Ondrej Pavel.
That set up a great final 20 where the Mavericks grabbed their first lead of the weekend on Josh Groll’s tally at 4:15. Mason Nevers found the equalizer just 61 second later, setting up Sandelin’s dramatic tally.
MOMENTS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO SEE…
Here are a few highlights from Saturday’s action. Have a play you’d like to see in the future? Email it to [email protected].
UConn wins in OT on Chase Bradley goal set up by rookie phenom Matthew Wood
MADISON — The Wisconsin Badgers showed off their roster’s depth on Friday night as their third and fourth lines accounted for all five goals and six of the night’s seven assists in the team’s win over St. Thomas.
The bulk of playing time on Mark Johnson’s Badgers is distributed among the top three lines, with the fourth line playing sparingly as the season progresses. But Claire Enright, Marianne Picard and Grace Shirley made the most of their time, scoring three times.
“As the third and fourth line, we just want to bring the energy to the ice and do whatever we can to keep pucks deep, keep pushing possession, work hard and get those gritty goals when needed. Today it worked and we’re happy it happened,” said Kirsten Simms.
The freshman scored Wisconsin’s third goal with a display of puck control and movement that was the opposite of gritty. However, she was quick to point out that she had the opportunity to show off some moves because her linemates had won battles in transition. The part where she put it in the net was just the final step of a fight for the puck.
Johnson said the game was an important lesson in patience for his team.
“There are going to be some games where you are not getting breaks on every shot you take, the goalie makes a save or you miss the net. Tonight we missed the net early on quite a bit. It is a learning opportunity and still young and time in the season. I am anxious see how we come out in the first ten minutes tomorrow and I am interested in how we respond,” he said.
The Badgers outshot St. Thomas 43-9. It was the fourth-straight game that UW has recorded 40 over more shots on net.
Shirley, who had a career night with two goals and an assist, opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game by corralling a loose, bouncing puck and beating St. Thomas goalie Saskia Maurer.
Sarah Wozniewicz extended the lead midway through the period on a snipe from the slot and the Badgers took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
In the second, Simms carried the puck in and went forehand, backhand, top shelf to give the Badgers a 3-0 lead.
Enright scored her first career goal midway through the final frame on a great effort from Picard, who carried the puck behind the net and waited patiently for the lane to feed Enright as she crashed the net. Her initial shot was saved, but Enright corralled her own rebound and buried it to make it 4-0.
After a blown play in the offensive end, Grace Shirley kept up pressure on the St. Thomas defense. She was able to pokecheck the puck to Simms and then break for the net, where Simms fed her and she one-timed the puck to the back of the net from one knee to make it 5-0.
The two teams face off again at 6 PM central time on Saturday. The game will be streamed on BTN+.
No. 2 Minnesota avenged a loss in last season’s national semifinal on Friday with a 4-1 victory over No. 5 Minnesota State (photo: Jim Rosvold)
Minnesota’s Jimmy Snuggerud potted his first career
hat trick, scoring once in each period, as No. 2 Minnesota enacted a small amount of revenge over No. 5 Minnesota State in a rematch of last year’s national semifinal game, one that was won by the Mavericks.
Snuggerud opened the scoring at 18:21 of the first and doubled the lead at 5:30 of the second.
And after Jake Livingstone pulled the Mavericks within a goal early in the third, Snuggerud completed the hat trick at 10:46 on the power play. Connor Kurth put the game away with an empty-net goal with 2:04 remaining.
The two teams will face one another again on Saturday, though change venues heading to Minnesota State for the rematch.
IceBreaker Tournament (Denver and Colorado Springs, Colo.)
No. 1 Denver 5, No. 11 Notre Dame 2; Maine 4, Air Force 1
Top-ranked Denver, the defending national champion, and Maine each earned victories on Friday in the opening games of the IceBreaker Tournament. The two clubs will meet on Saturday in Denver in a pre-determiner field event, making Saturday’s matchup between the Pioneers and the Black Bears a de facto championship game.
This is the first time the tournament has been hosted by two schools, bringing into play what could have been potential tiebreaker scenarios but none will be needed given that Saturday’s combatants in the Mile High City are Friday’s victors.
Denver never trailed in the game, leading 2-0 and 3-1. But After Chase Blackmun pulled Notre Dame within a goal early in the third, late goals from McKade Webster and Casey Dornbach were needed to seal the victory.
Maine’s victory has a similar script, jumping to a 2-0 lead before Mitchell Digby scored a power play goal for Air Force to send a one-goal game to the third. But Lynden Breen’s two goals in the final period closed out the scoring setting up a title battle at Denver on Saturday.
MOMENTS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO SEE…
UNH’s Liam Devlin scores in OT to lead the Wildcats from 3-0 on the road to beat Clarkson
UNH WINS!!!! Liam Devlin scores the overtime game winner to defeat No. 17 Clarkson 4-3 in the season opener! The Wildcats return to action on Saturday at St. Lawrence at 7 p.m.#BeTheRoarpic.twitter.com/KS9kDLT37j
Can Jakub Dobeš lead Ohio State this weekend over Wisconsin? (photo: Kirk Irwin Photography).
Welcome back to another season of USCHO Edge, a column that looks at college hockey through the light of the oddsmakers.
Not surprisingly, as sports wagering becomes legalized in more and more portions of the country, there are more and more college hockey games that can be wagered upon in areas that allow sports betting.
Thus, if you live in states like Michigan, Colorado, New Hampshire, New York, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, among others, you’re able to make legal wagers on as many as 13 games this Friday on sports wagering apps like DraftKings.
This column will look at five games per week, usually those involving either nationally-ranked teams or well-known rivalries, and give some input on each.
First a quick education on hockey wagering. For each game, there are typically a minimum of three bets you can make: the money line, the puck line and the over/under. For this column we’ll only talk about the money line and puck line to simplify things.
The money line is a number set but the book that if you bet on that team and said team wins, you’re paid. For example, a money line of -160 indicates that if you bet $160, you’d be paid $100 to win, which is actually the original $160 bet plus $100. Thus your “cash” on that bet is $260. A “minus” amount indicates the favorite.
On the other side, the underdog is typically indicated by a “plus” money line. Thus a +190 money line indicates that a $100 money line bet would yield a payout of $190. So the total cash on that bet would be $290.
The over/under bet is a pre-determined number, usually between 5 and 7, for the total number of goals to be scored in the game. Thus a 6.5 over under would cash for the “under” of the final score were, say, 4-2 (total 6) but would cash for the over if the final score was 4-3 (total 7).
There are many complexities to gambling thus we encourage you to familiarize yourself with how to bet on sports before placing any wager. And most importantly, take everything we say here with a grain of salt. We’re no experts. We’re simply giving our thoughts and are not responsible for any loses.
Here are this week’s games:
(All lines reflect Friday games and all odds are taken from the DraftKings sports book app).
As you read down this column, you’ll see me talk about another game as one to steer clear of. Notre Dame and Denver is the opposite. The defending national champions, at home on banner raising night against a Notre Dame team that is young and somewhat inexperienced seems like a steal at -160.
That’s not to say that Notre Dame arrives dead in the water. We saw a year ago when Minnesota State went into UMass and swept the defending national champion that banner-raising weekends can be a bit distracting. But let’s just say that there is a bit of a different between last year’s Minnesota State team and this year’s Notre Dame club.
But that’s why they play the games.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
No. 5 Minnesota State (-105) at No. 2 Minnesota (-125), o/u 5.5
This game is the first of two early-season quagmires for sports books. It’s difficult to set lines, thus both teams are negative to the money line which means no matter which way you bet, the book is going to make some profit. Technically, Minnesota State is the underdog here, which it should be given the loss of goaltender Dryden McKay. Minnesota returns a loaded team and should be the top team in the nation in this handicappers view.
What strikes me as strange is the over/under on this game. Minnesota can score goals and without McKay, Minnesota State should be considered liable to give up more goals than a year ago. Thus the over seems like a clear play here.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
No. 6 Quinnipiac (-120) at Boston College (-110), o/u 5.5
Another of this quagmire situations of a game without a solid favorite is Quinnipiac traveling to Boston College. The Bobcats are thought by some to be the best team in the nation, and that may well be true but Friday will tell that story.
Boston College under first year head coach Greg Brown is one large question mark, though Brown’s success at the Heights as an assistant certainly gives credibility.
This feels like one of those games to stay away from as a bettor as there are too many variables without a good price.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
Miami (+120) at No. 15 UMass Lowell (-150), o/u 6.5
UMass Lowell looked strong in its opener against St. Lawrence on Saturday, answering a question many had about goaltending. Gustavs Gringals, a transfer from Alaska, posted a shutout in his first start for the River Hawks and the lineup provided balanced scoring on the evening.
But this weekend’s opponent is a bit different. Miami, from the NCHC, should prove a decent two-game test for the River Hawks. The RedHawks began with a 2-2 tie and a 4-1 win last weekend at home against the CCHA’s Ferris State.
Given the lack of schedule and the difficulty of knowing much about either team, this is a pretty well-set line on this game. The only question is the high over-under of 6.5, a mark neither team has reached in a combined three games thus far.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
Wisconsin (+165) at No. 14 Ohio State (-205), o/u 6
Wisconsin was not great last year. We get it.
But making them the heaviest underdog on this card seems a little suspect. The Badgers were actually picked ahead of the Buckeyes in the Big Ten preseason poll (which some may point out as mute as Ohio State was dead-last a season ago and nearly won the regular-season title).
But making Ohio State a -205 favorite is crazy to this handicapper. I have no issue with the over/under of 6 as I could see this game being 5-3 or 4-3 (or 4-2 and a dreaded push). But if you want to take an underdog, there’s no doubt this is the highest value you will see on this sheet.
The debut of USCHO Edge with Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger is an evolution of our Game of the Week podcast. We’ll select five games among top 20 teams and look at money lines and over/under as well as giving an in-depth look at the matchups.
Austin Magera figures to be a focal point of the Sacred Heart offense this season (photo: Sacred Heart Athletics).
It’s difficult to predict what will happen in a college hockey season, but coaches and journalists try, issuing preseason polls and predictions at this time of year.
It’s a difficult and usually futile effort, especially when it comes to Atlantic Hockey.
Air Force coach Frank Serratore should know. His Falcons were picked ninth in last season’s coaches’ preseason poll and ended up playing in the AHA championship game.
“Our league’s coaches are really good at almost everything,” he said. “One thing that they’re not good at is picking these polls.”
“We’ve got a better chance of hitting the power ball than hitting the right order.”
American International will try to become the first school to win five consecutive Atlantic Hockey regular-season titles, after setting the record with its fourth in a row last season. Eric Lang’s squad also has three straight playoff championships over that same period (there was no playoff champ in 2020).
But AIC lost a whopping 18 players in the offseason to graduation and transfer, bringing in the same number of new players.
Is this a rebuild or a reload? One thing is certain, Lang and his team won’t be complacent.
“It’s very exciting for our staff,” he said. “We’ve got 18 new faces. We’ll continue to adapt. If you look at the way we played four years ago (compared to now), you’ll see two different types of hockey teams. There are some non-negotiables but we’re always evolving.”
New faces, same objective.
“The goal doesn’t change because of what we lost and how young we will be,” said Lang. “Our best hockey will be late.”
Goaltending questions
About half of the teams in Atlantic Hockey have a clear frontrunner for the starting goaltending position heading into the season:
Army West Point: Gavin Abric (junior)
Canisius: Jacob Barczewski (senior)
Niagara: Chad Veltri (junior)
Rochester Institute of Technology: Tommy Scarfone (sophomore)
Sacred Heart: Justin Robbins (senior)
It’s not to say that all of these players are locks, but all return either as the incumbent or with significant experience.
The other five teams start the season with no clear starter, so expect to see some battles.
More than a one-bid league?
Will Atlantic Hockey continue to be a one-bid league this season, or get multiple teams in the national tournament for the first time since 2013?
“It’s a possibility,” said Canisius coach Trevor Large. “We’re getting better in several aspects. It’s hard to say one hundred percent when that will happen again, but it’s a possibility that we are working towards, two schools if not more.”
That will probably hinge on the league’s ability win out of conference. Last season, Atlantic Hockey had a non-conference record of 22-49-4 (.320), its best since 2017-18, but not as good as in 2013 (.365).
2013’s non-conference winning percentage wasn’t stellar, but Niagara dominated league play that season, going 22-6-2 in conference. That, combined with a passable non-conference record, but the Purple Eagles high enough in the Pairwise to get them in as an at-large team.
League parity has increased since then, making the possibility of one team standing head and shoulders above the rest less likely. That makes a good league non-conference record even more important.
Most AHA teams will play the majority of their non-conference games in the first two months of the season, so we’ll know early what the prospects of an at-large team will be.
Eight is enough
Atlantic Hockey has instituted a new playoff format this season. For the first time, not every team will qualify for the postseason, and for the first time since 2006, there will not be a neutral site for the semifinals and finals.
First-round byes are gone as well. Instead, the top four teams at the end of the regular season will host the bottom four in best-of-three series.
The top two surviving seeds will host best-of-three semifinal series, with the highest surviving seed hosting a single game championship a week later.
To keep the postseason at three rounds, only eight teams qualify, making the regular season a fight not only for position, but for survival.
New digs, old friends
Sacred Heart is scheduled to open the Martire Family Arena, its new on-campus facility
on January 14, moving from the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport to an on-campus facility. The men’s team hosts Boston College in its first game in the new barn.
This is the third new Atlantic Hockey on-campus location built in the last eight years, with several other facilities getting on and off-ice improvements during that span as well.
And finally, Robert Morris will return to Atlantic Hockey for the 2023-24 season. The school suddenly canceled its men’s and women’s hockey programs at the end of the 2021 season, but a successful fundraising effort by alumni and the Pittsburgh hockey community restored both.
In April, Atlantic Hockey voted to reinstate RMU, bringing the number of teams back to 11.
Willie Reim will wear a ‘C’ this season for Air Force (photo: Trevor Co/Air Force Academy).
AIR FORCE
HEAD COACH: Frank Serratore (26th season at Air Force)
LAST SEASON: 16-17-3, 11-12-3 (6th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Will Gavin (Jr., 16g-13a-29pts); F Willie Reim (Sr., 11g-14a-25pts); D Brandon Koch (Sr., 3g-22a-25pts); G Guy Blessing (2-1; 3.02 GAA; .890 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: G Alex Schilling (14-16-3; 3.51 GAA; .879 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Mason McCormick (Waterloo, USHL); D Brett Oberle (Wenatchee, BCHL); G Aaron Randazzo (Green Bay, USHL); F Max Itagaki (Nanaimo, BCHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: Last year was magical for the young Falcons, rising through the standings through the season and getting to the conference championship game.
Goaltender Alex Schilling, the lone senior on that team, will be missed, but everyone else is back for coach Frank Serratore.
That includes preseason all-star defenseman Brandon Koch (25 points last season), as well as leading scorer Will Gavin (29 points).
“(Last year) was one of my most gratifying seasons ever,” said Serratore. “We’ve got everyone back except our goalie. We need to replace a valuable puzzle piece. But we’re optimistic. Last year we were more boy than man; this year we’re more man than boy.”
Goaltending is the main question for the Falcons. Serratore will look to sophomore Guy Blessing, who started two games last season.
“Blessing is the frontrunner,” said Serratore. “But the position is open.”
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Third
Blake Bennett put on a show in the 2022 Atlantic Hockey tournament (photo: Kelly Shea/AIC).
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL
HEAD COACH: Eric Lang (7th season)
LAST SEASON: 22-13-3, 17-7-2 (1st) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Blake Bennett (Sr., 20g-14a-29pts); D Luis Linder (So., 4g-14a-18pts); F Julius Janhonen (Jr., 6g-8a-14pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Justin Young (12g-19a-31pts); F Chris Theodore (10g-19a-29pts); D Zak Galambos (5g-24a-20pts); F Jake Stella (12g-16a-28pts); G Jake Kucharski (12-7-3; 2.39 GAA; .910 SV%); G Alex Calvaruso (10-5; 2.56 GAA; .906 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Jordan Biro (Colorado College, NCHA); F Dustin Manz (Lake Superior State, CCHA); G Alexander Aslanidis (Western Michigan, NCHA), F Alexander Malinowski (Fairbanks, NAHL) F Grayson Dietrich (Drumheller, AJHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: If the Yellow Jackets are going to win an unprecedented fifth consecutive regular season title, they’re going to do so with a vastly changed roster. Seven of AIC’s top eight scorers and eighteen players in all have graduated or transferred out.
But coach Eric Lang is looking forward to the challenge.
“We’ve got 18 new faces,” he said. “And this is the best recruiting class we’ve ever had.”
AIC will need contributions from those new faces, as well as another huge season from last year’s playoff MVP Blake Bennet, who registered consecutive postseason hat-tricks.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Second
Army West Point goalie Gavin Abric was rock-solid in net last season for the Black Knights (photo: Army Athletics).
ARMY WEST POINT
HEAD COACH: Brian Riley (19th season)
LAST SEASON: 14-17-4, 12-11-3 (T-3rd) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: G Gavin Abric (Jr., 13-13-4; 2.51 GAA; .925 SV%); D Anthony Firriolo (9g-12a-21pts); F Joey Baez (So., 7g-10a-17pts); F Ricky Lyle (Jr., 8g-8a-16pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Colin Bilek (11g-20a-31pts); F Eric Butte (11g-6a-17pts); F Daniel Haider (8g-12a-20pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Max Itagaki (Nanaimo, BCHL); D John Driscoll (Green Bay, USHL); F Lucas Kanta (Minnesota, NAHL); Joey Dosan (Springfield, NAHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: Don’t be surprised if the Black Knights take a step back this season after losing some key talent, including All-American Colin Bilek.
But there’s still plenty left in the cupboard, including goaltender Gavin Abric. It will come down to how fast 10 freshmen come up to speed, all the more difficult at a service academy.
“We’re excited about the season,” said coach Brian Riley. “We lost three forwards and three ‘D’ that played a lot of minutes, but we’ve got a good group and Abric back.”
Senior defenseman Anthony Firriolo leads all returning scorers with 46 career points, including 21 last season.
“Four of our first six are non-league games,” said Riley. “We hope to get some guys experience in those as we get into league play.”
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Seventh
Nick Bochen scored in Bentley’s season opener last weekend against Boston University (photo: Bentley Athletics).
BENTLEY
HEAD COACH: Ryan Soderquist (21st season)
LAST SEASON: 14-20-2, 10-14-2 (9th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Matt Gosiewski (Jr.,7g-16a-23pts); F Cole Kodsi (Jr., 10g-13a-23pts); F Dylan Pitera (Gr., 7g-13a-20pts); G Nicholas Grabko (3-9-1; 3.34 GAA; .896 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: D Drew Bavaro (9g-18a-27pts); D Matt Lombardozzi (10g-9a-19pts); F Colin Rutherford (7g-10a-17pts); G Evan DeBrouwer (9-9-1; 2.74 GAA; .908 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Ethan Leyh (Quinnipiac, ECAC); Nicholas Niemo (Lone Star (NAHL); F Ryan Upson (Langley, BCHL); G Connor Hasley (Ceder Rapids, USHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Falcons are looking for consistency this season, after starting strong last year but fading down the stretch.
High-scoring defensemen Drew Bavaro and Matt Lombardozzi have departed, but Ryan Soderquist’s team looks to get points from some new faces, including four transfers, two each from Quinnipiac and Mass-Lowell.
Forwards Matt Gosiewski and Cole Kodsi are the returning point scorers, each tallying 23 last season.
“We have 12 new players, some that have already played college hockey at a high level,” said Soderquist. “They come from winning programs with strong cultures.”
Bentley opens with seven non-conference games, including Boston University and Ohio State. Northeastern comes later in the schedule.
“It’s a tough non-conference schedule,” said Soderquist. “We’re looking at October as an opportunity to come together as a team.”
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Eighth
Canisius sophomore Keaton Mastrodonato looks to be a top offensive player this season for Canisius (photo: www.tomwolf.smugmug.com).
CANISIUS
HEAD COACH: Trevor Large (6th season)
LAST SEASON: 16-16-3, 13-11-2 (2nd) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: G Jacob Barczewski (Sr., 13-14-1; 2.42 GAA; .923 SV%); F Keaton Mastrodonato (Sr., 11g-15a-26pts); F Max Kouznetsov (Jr., 12g-11a-23pts); D David Melaragni (2g-14a-16pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Austin Alger (11g-10a-21pts); F Lee Lapid (11g-12a-23pts); F Mitchell Martan (5g-17a-22pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Oliver Tarr (Haliburton County, OJHL); D Tyrell Buckley (Michigan Tech, CCHA) D Brenden Datema (Michigan Tech, CCHA) F Nick Bowman (Rensselaer, ECAC)
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Golden Griffins are one of a handful of teams with an experienced starter in goal, preseason co-player of the year Jacob Barczewski.
“He has the respect of the conference, he’s had a lot of success,” said Canisius coach Trevor Large. “The guys love him and want to play for him.”
Large likes what he’s seen so far. Besides Barczewski, Canisius returns its top two scorers and four experienced defenders, including league all-stars Keaton Mastrodonato and David Melaragni.
“There’s great energy,” Large said. “A lot of leadership in the room. We have a lot of depth at all positions.”
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Fourth
Nick Hale registered 22 points from the back end last season for Holy Cross (photo: Mark Seliger Photography).
HOLY CROSS
HEAD COACH: Bill Riga (2nd season)
LAST SEASON: 12-23-2, 10-14-2 (10th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: D Nick Hale (4g-18a-22pts); F Matt Guerra (7g-11a-18pts); F Jack Ricketts (10g-8a-18pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Ryan Liebold (10g-16a-26pts); D Matt Slick (4g-7a-11pts); G Matt Radomsky (8-14-2; 2.47 GAA; .906SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Devin Phillips (Brooks, AJHL); F Liam McLinskey (Quinnipiac, ECAC); G Louden Hogg (Fargo, USHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: With a year under their belts, coach Bill Riga and his staff hope to build on last year’s gradual progress throughout the season.
“We’re starting from a different place,” said Riga. “We’re looking for more results after starting (from scratch) last year with everything new. We’re expecting familiarity and continuity.”
Leading scorer Ryan Liebold and starting goaltender Matt Radomsky have transferred out, but there’s a base to build on providing that the ten newcomers can make an impact.
That’s especially true in net, where returning backup Thomas Hale will battle Bentley transfer Jason Grande and newcomer Louden Hogg.
“Right now, it’s a three-man competition,” said Riga. “We hope that our depth in goal will be a strength for us this year.”
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Tenth
Jonathan Bendorf celebrates a goal during the 2020-21 season (photo: Ed Mailliard).
MERCYHURST
HEAD COACH: Rick Gotkin (35th season)
LAST SEASON: 16-19-4, 10-12-4 (7th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Carson Briere (Jr., 13g-14a-27pts); F Rylee St. Onge (Sr., 15g-8a-23pts); F Jonathan Bendorf (Sr., 6g-14a-20pts)
KEY LOSSES: G Kyle McClellan (12-13-2; 2.56 GAA; .932 SV%) F Austin Heidemann (12g-15a-27pts); F Dante Sheriff (8g-19a-27pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: G Owen Say (Salmon Arm, BCHL); F Tyler Gaulin (Maine, NAHL); F Ryan Coughlin (Maine, NAHL); G Tyler Harmon (Vermont, ECAC)
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Lakers are getting older and getting better, playing their best hockey at the end of last season. Keeping things rolling into this season may come down to which new goaltender steps up to replace the departed Kyle McClellan, who transferred to Wisconsin.
“We’re different from where we were a year ago, and very different from three, four years ago,” said coach Rick Gotkin, entering his 35th season at Mercyhurst. “Back then we were a young hockey team. Now we’re an older hockey team.”
The Lakers have some holes to fill up front, but look to dynamic forward Carson Briere to build on last season’s 27 points.
The Lakers will be challenged early with eight non-conference games to open the season, including visits to Erie by Ohio State and Penn State.
“Having two Big 10 games on campus is pretty exciting,” said Gotkin. “We start with eight non-conference games, so we hope to learn a lot about our team during that stretch.”
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Sixth
Chad Veltri enters 2022-23 as Niagara’s No. 1 goaltender (photo: Niagara Athletics).
NIAGARA
HEAD COACH: Jason Lammers (6th season)
LAST SEASON: 11-23-3, 10-13-3 (8th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Ryan Naumovski (Sr.,7g-16a-23pts); F Ryan Cox (Gr.,11g-8a-19pts); F Albin Nilsson (Sr., 8g-13a-21pts); G Chad Veltri (Jr., 10-14-2; 2.94 GAA .898 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: D Chris Harpur (3g-14a-17pts); F Walker Sommer (8g-7a-15pts); D Zac Herrmann (5g-10a-15pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Glebs Prohorenkovs (Amarillo, NAHL); D Max Ruoho (Minnesota, NAHL); D David Posma (New Jersey, NAHL); F Casey Carreau (Boston College, Hockey East)
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Purple Eagles have mix of young and old, returning their top three scorers (plus Boston College transfer Casey Carreau) as well as starting goaltender Chad Veltri, but also featuring 16 underclassmen on their roster including eight freshmen.
“We’re excited to have some maturity and what comes with it,” said coach Jason Lammers. “We also have a young group. We’re excited about what that mix brings.”
Seniors Ryan Naumovski (23 points last season) and Albin Nilsson (21 points) lead a group of experienced forwards.
Niagara opens with a series at Omaha, but then plays six conference games in October, so the Purple Eagles will need to gel fast with early points on the line.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Ninth
Elijah Gonsalves looks to build on a strong freshman season for RIT (photo: Ariana Shchuka).
ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
HEAD COACH: Wayne Wilson (24th season)
LAST SEASON: 18-16-4, 12-10-4 (4th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Carter Wilkie (So., 13g-17a-30pts); F Colby Walker (Gr., 11g-8a-19pts); G Tommy Scarfone (So., 8-9-1; 2.46 GAA; .919 SV%) F Elijah Gonsalves (2g-4a-6pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Will Calverley (15g-12a-27pts); F Jake Hammacher (9g-12a-21pts); D Dan Willett (5g-13a-18pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: D Xavier Lapointe (Flin Flon, SJHL); F Simon Isabelle (Ottawa, CCHL); D Gustav Blom (New Mexico, NAHL); D Matt Kellenberger (Princeton, ECAC)
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Tigers were one of the oldest teams in the country last season, with 10 seniors and grad students. This will be the case again, with a group of 10 players that are either seniors or fifth-years.
But they have holes to fill, especially those left by All-American forward Will Calverley and defenseman Dan Willett, who played in a conference-record 166 games.
“We’ve got a lot of depth and excited by the opportunity to fill those gaps,” said coach Wayne Wilson.
RIT expects a boost from the return of forward Elijah Gonsalves, who missed most of last season due to injury.
Last season’s Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year Carter Wilkie is also back, looking to improve on last season’s 30 points.
“We finish off last year as a semifinalist and want to improve on that,” said Wilson.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Fifth
Braeden Tuck popped 12 goals last season for Sacred Heart (photo: Matt Dewkett).
SACRED HEART
HEAD COACH: C.J. Marottolo (14th season)
LAST SEASON: 15-18-4, 11-12-3 (5th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Neil Shea (Sr., 11g-20a-31pts); F Braeden Tuck (Sr., 12g-15a-27pts); F Austin Magera (GR., 10G-14A-24pts); F Ryan Steele (Gr., 10g-11a-21pts)
KEY LOSSES: G Josh Benson (4-3-1; 3.05 GAA; 887 SV%); F Todd Goehring (9g-3a-12pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Aiden Connolly (Maine, NAHL); F Blake Humphrey (Sioux Falls, USHL); G Brandon Milberg (Wichita, NAHL); D Julian Kislin (Northeastern, Hockey East)
2022-23 PREDICTION: Sacred Heart has been building for this season and is expected to be one of the top teams in the league.
The Pioneers return 78 percent of their point production from last season, including their top seven scorers. At the top of that list is senior Neil Shea, the AHA preseason co-player of the year.
“We’ve got 12 seniors,” said coach CJ Marottolo. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had that kind of veteran presence.
“We fell short last season, so we have a lot to prove.”
When Mel Ruzzi took over as head coach of the Brown Bears before last season, the team had not finished above 11th in the ECAC since 2012. As mentioned in the ECAC season preview, it has been 13 years since the last time this team managed six conference victories and nine years since they last won six games in a season overall. In addition, Ruzzi is the fifth coach over the course of the last ten seasons Brown has played.
Last season, they finished ninth in the ECAC with an overall record of 6-18-5 and a conference record of 6-12-4, earning them 22 points in the standings. That’s the same number of points they earned in the three previous seasons combined and more than any other season dating back to 2006.
While there’s a tendency in sports to want to talk about a team’s turnaround in terms of rebuilding, Ruzzi says she’s hesitant to use the word.
“I’m not a fan of that word. The reason I say that is because when you reference rebuild, it talks about that what’s here is not good enough, and we need to redo the whole thing.”
That’s not the situation she found when she took over the team.
Instead, she has repeatedly called her student-athletes “the greatest group of women athletes I could have ever asked for.” They were eager to learn and improve and looking for a staff to mirror back the focus, trust and commitment they had for the program and the game of hockey.
“It was a change in approach. Every one of them wanted to get better. They thanked us for caring so deeply and valuing them so deeply. They were a hungry group. There was no need to change culture. They needed to find their confidence,” said Ruzzi.
Immediately upon being hired, Ruzzi asked her new team to grant her trust and then set about proving to them that their trust was not misplaced. She said she made it clear that she believed in them and cared about them and wanted their time on the Brown women’s hockey team to be enriching and fulfilling, but also fun.
“It was belief in the people that are here in the room right now. We attacked this year with a ‘rebuild’ by changing expectations and changing standards. It wasn’t about a change in personnel,” she said.
It took some time for things to come together in a way that showed up on the scoresheet. The team headed into winter break with a 1-12-2 record. But the team kept working and focusing on their three key themes of grit, gratitude and trust and they started to see their hard work pay off. They went 5-6-3 in the second half of the season, including closing out the season unbeaten in seven of their final nine games, including a pair of wins over nationally ranked opponents.
Ruzzi remembers getting emotional after her team’s season-ending 1-0 win over Quinnipiac and got choked up again recalling it. It wasn’t just about her team getting a big win. It was the realization that the journey was over with that group of women, she said.
“We had 16 players on a roster that never played in D1 hockey. They were so mature. They were so growth-minded. They were so unafraid. Every time I pushed, they got better and then they wanted to be pushed harder. I think their expectations for themselves were even higher than mine and I thought that was such a gift,” said Ruzzi. “They accepted us right away as a staff. They let us be part of their lives. They were genuine and made every day so much fun. They made it fun.”
It’s a shame the team’s season ended at that point, as only the top eight teams in the ECAC advance to the conference tournament. Had the field been expanded, Brown would likely have gone on to play Princeton, a team they’d tied just the week before. And, as Ruzzi pointed out, since the men’s ECAC tournament features all 12 teams, the Brown men’s team finished ninth and were an overtime goal away from advancing to the second round.
The Brown women’s team was one of the toughest teams to play against as the season wound down and were never given the chance to see if they could carry that through. They peaked at the right time, something Ruzzi said comes from a tenant she learned from her dad as well as her college coach at Providence, Bob Deraney. The key, she said, is to just get better.
“I think that is going to be a trademark of us. We’re going to evolve. We’re a team that’s always going to be on the rise,” she said. “We were in every game. We never gave up. Our goal is to be hard to play against.”
The difficulty for Ruzzi and her staff will be replicating the chemistry, camaraderie and trust of that first season year in and year out. She said she doesn’t want to get hung up on wins and losses, which is good, because in a conference where more than half the teams are nationally ranked, team and player growth may not bear out in the win column.
“I never want to get hung up on the wins and losses. I want to focus on pushing their limits, growing them as athletes, growing them as people and having a really good time together doing it,” Ruzzi said.
That being said, wins are still the hopeful outcome. The idea is that those values and that work will manifest in better play and – naturally – more wins. Last season, there were measurable improvements in team offense and defense in a short amount of time. She sees the potential in her program and her players.
“I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t think we didn’t have a chance to build something really special,” she said.
Ruzzi compared the season to a hamster wheel and pointed out that it’s difficult to handle losing all the time and stay focused. She learned in her first year as a head coach how important it is to keep perspective and maintain a happy environment. Her commitment to the student-athletes and their experience is so important because for many of these players, these four years are the culmination of a life spent playing hockey.
“For right now, you’re not going to get paid a billion dollars to play women’s hockey, so it has to be a passion. it has to be something you love. Our job is to stoke that fire.”
The BC-BU rivalry will continue in 2022-23 (photo: Kyle Prudhomme).
New coaches at two of the league’s Boston-based schools, high expectations for the other, and the return of Frozen Fenway highlight the storylines heading into Hockey East’s 39th season.
For the first time since almost fifty years, the Battle of Comm. Ave between Boston College and Boston University will feature neither longtime Eagles coach Jerry York or BU’s Jack Parker. York decided to hang up his practice skates last spring after 28 seasons and four NCAA national championships with the Eagles. Parker, of course, called it quits in 2013 after four decades on the Terriers bench, amassing 900 wins and three NCAA titles.
In their places are rookies Greg Brown at BC and Jay Pandolfo down the street at BU, the latter taking over for Albie O’Connell, who was relieved of his duties after four years at the helm.
“Jay and I both lived this rivalry for a long time,” said Brown, who played for BC and spent 14 seasons behind the bench for the Eagles from 2004-18 as an assistant on York’s staff. “You get to see each other all the time, you’re combatting each other (for) recruits, you’re combatting each other in every game, bragging rights for the alumni — all that is a huge part of it. It’s great to be involved in it.”
Pandolfo played for the Terriers’ 1995 NCAA championship team and is the first D-I men’s ice hockey coach to have won an NCAA championship and two Stanley Cups as a player. Most recently he was an assistant coach with the Bruins.
“It’s obviously always been a huge rivalry,” Pandolfo said. “I was fortunate when I was at BU that BC was down a little bit, so I was on the right side of it more often than not. But I expect it will be very competitive over the next few years. I’m really looking forward to it.”
York’s departure means UMass-Lowell coach Norm Bazin and Providence’s Nate Leaman as the most tenured in the league at 12 years apiece. It also leaves Leaman and UMass’s Greg Carvel as the only active coaches in the league to have won an NCAA championship as a head coach.
Northeastern, which finished first in the regular-season standings last year for the first time ever, wsa picked to finish first by both the coaches and the media in this year’s preseason polls.
“As a group, we felt like we had a good team in the locker room (last year),” said second-year Huskies coach Jerry Keefe. “I think that’s all that kind of matters to us. (This) league is so good game-in, game-out, no matter who you’re playing. You gotta show up every weekend. Every point is important. Each week you just want to continue to get better and better.”
An outdoor doubleheader at Fenway Park on Jan. 7 will feature Northeastern vs. UConn and UMass vs. Boston College. The event piggybacks off the NHL’s Winter Classic, which will be played on New Year’s Day between the Penguins and the Bruins.
Northeastern’s Aiden McDonough, who led the league in goals last year and hails from nearby Milton, Mass., called the event a “bucket list” experience.
“I’ve been going to baseball games there my whole life,” he said, also noting that he was in the crowd as a pre-teen when the Bruins played the Flyers in the 2010 Winter Classic and skated at the park in the days surrounding that game. “I’m super excited to get there and play a game so close to home and so close to our school. It will be a lot of fun.”
Nikita Nesterenko will be a key cog among the forwards for BC this season (photo: Rich Gagnon).
BOSTON COLLEGE
HEAD COACH: Greg Brown (first season)
LAST SEASON: 15-18-5 (9-12-3 Hockey East, eighth, lost in second round of conference tournament)
KEY LOSSES: Forwards Jack McBain (19-14-33) and Marc McLaughlin (21-11-32), and defenseman Drew Helleson (4-21-25), and Jack St. Ivany (4-20-24)
KEY ADDITIONS: Forwards Cam Burke (Notre Dame) and Christian O’Neill (Princeton) and defenseman Seamus Powell (U.S. National Team Development Program)
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Eagles were hit hard with the departure of last season’s top five scorers, and head coach Jerry York after 28 years and four NCAA championships. Yet the cupboard is far from bare at The Heights. Scorers Nikita Nesterenko, Trevor Kuntar and Colby Ambrosio return to the lineup, goalie Henry Wilder is back after making six starts last season, and Marshall Warren enters his fourth season as one of the team’s top defensemen.
JD’s PREDICTION: Sixth
Drew Commesso should see the bulk of time in net this season for BU (photo: Rich Gagnon).
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
HEAD COACH: Jay Pandolfo (first season)
LAST SEASON: 19-13-3 (13-8-3 Hockey East, T-fourth, lost in quarterfinals of conference tournament)
KEY LOSSES: Forwards Logan Cockerill (5-6-11) and Robert Mastrosimone (11-14-25) and defenseman Alex Vlasic (1-7-8)
KEY ADDITIONS: Forwards Devin Kaplan (U.S. national U-18 team) and Ryan Greene (Green Bay, USHL) and defenseman Lane Hutson (U.S. National Team Development Program)
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Jay Pandolfo era begins for BU after taking over from Albie O’Connell, who was let go after four seasons. Pandolfo was the associate head coach for the Terriers last season after spending the previous seven with the Bruins organization. Eight of the Terriers’ nine top scorers are back, including assist-machine Domenick Fensore. Olympian Drew Commesso was twice conference goalie of the month last season and is poised for another solid season between the pipes.
JD’s PREDICTION: Third.
Roman Kinal is back for his senior season with UConn (photo: Stephen Slade).
CONNECTICUT
HEAD COACH: Mike Cavanaugh (10th season)
LAST SEASON: 20-16-0 (14-10-0 Hockey East, T-fourth, lost in conference championship game)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Senior defenseman Roman Kinal (3-4-7), junior forward Ryan Tverberg (14-18-32), junior forward Hudson Schandor (5-13-18)
KEY LOSSES: Goalie Darion Hanson (20-15, 2.24, .923) and forwards Jachym Kondelik (12-21-33) and Vladislav Firstov (12-11-23)
KEY ADDITIONS: Forwards Adam Dawe (Maine), Justin Pearson (Yale) and Ty Amonte (BU)
2022-23 PREDICTION: Coming off a breakout season in which it fell one overtime goal of an NCAA tournament appearance, UConn will have to overcome some serious losses to see the same success in 2022-23. Ryan Tverberg led the team in scoring last year and is back, but the Huskies will have to do without standout goalie Darion Hanson, who played all but one game last season.
JD’s PREDICTION: Seventh.
David Breazeale emerged as one of Maine’s top blueliners last season (photo: Maine Athletics).
MAINE
HEAD COACH: Ben Barr (second season)
LAST SEASON: 7-22-4 (5-17-2 Hockey East, 11th, lost in first round of conference tournament)
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Black Bears’ two top scorers from last season, Lynden Breen and Donavan Villeneuve-Houle, return to a team looking to improve on its last-place finish in 2021-22. Goalie Victor Ostman brings veteran leadership to the position, while David Breazeale will anchor the defense.
JD’s PREDICTION: 10th.
Greg Carvel enters his seventh season behind the bench at UMass (photo: Rich Gagnon).
MASSACHUSETTS
HEAD COACH: Greg Carvel (seventh season)
LAST SEASON: (22-13-2, 14-8-2 Hockey East, second, won conference tournament, lost in first round of NCAA tournament)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Sophomore defenseman Scott Morrow (13-20-33), sophomore defenseman Ryan Ufko (5-26-31), senior forward Cal Kiefiuk (6-12-18)
KEY LOSSES: Forward Josh Lopina (12-15-27), goalie Matt Murray, forward Bobby Trivigno (20-29-49) and defenseman Matthew Kessel (6-11-17)
KEY ADDITIONS: Goalie Cole Brady (Arizona State) and forwards Matt Koopman (Providence) and Josh Nodler (Michigan State)
2022-23 PREDICTION: If UMass is to three-peat as conference tournament champion, it’ll have to do it without a lot of the offensive firepower it depended on in its last two title-winning seasons. The Minutemen will depend on Scott Morrow and and Ryan Ufko — each with 30-plus points last year — to pick up most of the offensive slack.
JD’s PREDICTION: Second
Carl Berglund celebrates a goal last season for UMass Lowell (photo: Rich Gagnon).
UMASS LOWELL
HEAD COACH: Norm Bazin (12th season)
LAST SEASON: 21-11-3 (12-3-3 Hockey East, lost in conference semifinals, lost in first round of NCAA tournament)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Graduate student defenseman Jon McDonald (1-9-10), senior forward Carl Berglund (9-19-28), sophomore forward Matt Crasa (12-9-21)
KEY LOSSES: Goalie Owen Savory (20-7-2, 1.93, .926) and forwards Andre Lee (16-12-28) and Lucas Condotta (10-13-23)
KEY ADDITIONS: Defenseman Mitchell Becker (New Mexico, NAHL), goalie Gustavs Davis Grigals (Alaska) and forward Owen Fowler (Sioux City, USHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: Alaska transfer Gustavs Davis Grigals will have big skates to fill in net, replacing the departed Owen Savory, a second-team all-conference pick last season. Forwards Matt Crasa and Carl Berglund will carry much of the scoring load.
JD’s PREDICTION: Fourth.
Zachary Borgiel earned nine wins for Merrimack in 2021-22 (photo: Jim Stankiewicz).
MERRIMACK
HEAD COACH: Scott Borek (fifth season)
LAST SEASON: 19-15-1 (13-11-0 Hockey East, lost in quarterfinals of conference tournament)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Sophomore goalie Hugo Ollas (10-6, 2.24, .920), junior goalie Zachary Borgiel (9-8-1, 3.03, .891), senior forward Ben Brar (11-9-20), grad student forward Jordan Seyfert (6-9-15)
KEY LOSSES: Defenseman Declan Carlile (7-17-24) and forwards Max Newton (14-24-38) and Steven Jandric (8-20-28)
KEY ADDITIONS: Forwards Tristan Crozier (Brown), Otto Leppanen (RPI), Will Calverley (RIT) and Ryan Leibold (Holy Cross)
2022-23 PREDICTION: Merrimack enters the season with a roster heavy on veterans — a list, however, that unfortunately does not include their top two scorers from last season. Goalies Hugo Ollas and Zachary Borgiel split duty almost right down the middle last season and are expected to platoon at the position this year as well.
JD’s PREDICTION: Ninth.
Colton Huard has proven to be a steady force on the back end for UNH (photo: Chris Wong).
NEW HAMPSHIRE
HEAD COACH: Mike Souza (fifth season)
LAST SEASON: 14-19-1 (8-15-1 Hockey East, ninth, lost in first round of conference tournament)
KEY LOSSES: Goalie Mike Robinson (12-14, 2.62, .904) and forwards Jackson Pierson (12-12-24) and Tyler Ward (11-16-27)
KEY ADDITIONS: Defensemen Jack Babbage (Quinnipiac) and Nico Devita (Ferris State) and forward Ryan Black (Babson)
2022-23 PREDICTION: Gone are UNH’s top two scorers from last season, but double-digit scorers Liam Devlin and Colton Huard are back along with top defenseman Alex Gagne. Ryan Black, one of the nation’s top Division III players last year at Babson, will bolster the Wildcats’ offense. UNH is young in net with promising prospect Tyler Muszelik from the U.S. U-18 team expected to vie for minutes.
JD’s PREDICTION: Eighth.
Devon Levi saw the bulk of time in net last season for Northeastern (photo: Jim Pierce).
NORTHEASTERN
HEAD COACH: Jamie Keefe (second season)
LAST SEASON: 25-13-1 (15-8-1 Hockey East, lost in semifinals of conference tournament and first round of NCAA tournament)
KEY LOSSES: Forward Ty Jackson (6-14-20) and defensemen Jordan Harris (5-15-20) and Tommy Miller (1-8-9)
KEY ADDITIONS: Forward Cam Lund (Green Bay, USHL) and defensemen Jackson Dorrington (Green Bay, USHL) and Hunter McDonald (Chicago, USHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: Expectations are high for the Huskies this season, chosen No. 1 in both the coaches’ and media preseason poll. Whether or not they live up to those expectations will depend heavily on the success of goalie Devon Levi, who won the Richter award last season as the best in the nation at that position and is a hot preseason pick for the Hobey Baker Award; and Aidan McDonough, who led the league in goals in 2021-22.
JD’s PREDICTION: First.
Max Crozier was a top scorer in 2021-22 for the Friars (photo: Rich Gagnon).
PROVIDENCE
HEAD COACH: Nate Leaman (12th season)
LAST SEASON: 22-14-2 (12-11-1 Hockey East, seventh, lost in second round of conference tournament)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Senior defenseman Max Crozier (7-16-23), junior forward Brett Berard (18-20-38), senior forward Patrick Moynihan (11-14-25), sophomore forward Riley Duran (10-9-19) junior forward Nick Poisson (10-25-35), senior forward Jamie Engelbert (7-11-18), sophomore defenseman Guillaume Richard (3-11-14)
KEY LOSSES: Goalie Jaxson Stauber and forwards Parker Ford (13-14-27) and Kohen Olischefski (8-10-18)
KEY ADDITIONS: Goalies Austin Roden (Omaha) and Philip Svedeback (Dubuque, USHL) and forward Brady Berard (U.S. National Team Development Program)
2022-23 PREDICTION: All but one skater on the Friars’ roster that appeared on the league’s end-of-year all-star team, or were awarded the weekly player, defenseman, goalie or rookie awards, are back. In net, it’s a different story, as Providence’s roster features a trio of newcomers — Bruins draft pick Philip Svedeback of Växjö, Sweden, sophomore John Driscoll and Omaha (NCHC) transfer Austin Roden.
JD’s PREDICTION: Fifth
Jacques Bouquot will serve as Vermont’s captain this season (photo: Vermont Athletics).
VERMONT
HEAD COACH: Todd Woodcroft (third season)
LAST SEASON: 7-22-4 (6-16-2 Hockey East, lost in first round of conference tournament)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Senior forward Jacques Bouquot (6-9-15), junior goalie Gabe Carriere (6-13-2, 2.91, .902), grad student defenseman Robbie Stucker (3-9-12)
KEY LOSSES: Forward Philip Lagunov (8-7-15) and defensemen Andrew Lucas (3-9-12) and Robbie Stucker (3-9-12)
KEY ADDITIONS: Defensemen Eric Gotz (Michigan Tech) and Joe Leahy (Cornell) and goalie Oskar Autio (Penn State)
2022-23 PREDICTION: With top scorer Jacques Bouquot and standout defenseman Robbie Stucker, who was fourth on the team in scoring, back for another season, the Catamounts could make some noise in 2022-23. Goalie Gabe Carriere, who accounted for six of the team’s eight wins last year, is back for another go-around.
Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Boston University first-year head coach Jay Pandolfo about this year’s Terriers and returning to coach at his alma mater after a 15-year NHL playing career and assistant coaching positions at the NHL level.
Luke Hughes finished his freshman season for Michigan helping the Wolverines to the Frozen Four (photo: Michigan Photography).
Is this B1G Hockey’s big season?
Finally?
While Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin have 23 national championships among them, not one of those titles was captured as a member of the Big Ten.
Since its inaugural season in 2013-14, B1G Hockey has sent teams to the Frozen Four seven times, and two B1G teams have played their way into the very last game of the season. In 2018, Notre Dame lost the title game to Minnesota Duluth, and Minnesota fell to Union in 2014.
All told, three teams that have been in the Big Ten since the league’s inception – Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State – have made a collective five Frozen Four appearances since 2014. Notre Dame adds another Frozen Four appearance in 2018, at the end of the first season of B1G Hockey for the Fighting Irish.
Granted, having the smallest number of teams of any D-I conference gives the Big Ten a probability disadvantage for Frozen Four appearances, but given the high expectations of this high-profile league, the lack of national bragging rights becomes increasingly conspicuous with each passing season.
Tick tock, B1G Hockey.
Alumni return to coach
It’s difficult for programs to win conference championships, let alone national titles, during times of change. In the earliest years of B1G conference play, season-to-season results varied considerably because of ongoing program changes that several teams were navigating. Then COVID hit. Then came the transfer portal.
And now both B1G schools in Michigan have new head coaches, each hired for very different reasons – and each inheriting very different teams.
At Michigan State, Adam Nightingale takes over after Danton Cole shepherded the Spartans through a five-season record of 58-101-12. Like Cole, Nightingale is a Spartan alum, having transferred to Michigan State from Lake Superior State midway through his collegiate career, and playing two years with the Spartans (2003-05).
Nightingale inherits a team that finished in last place in 2021-22. In fact, Michigan State has anchored the Big Ten standings for five of the last seven years, and the two years that the Spartans rose above last place during that span saw them finishing one spot above last place.
“Everyone knows what Michigan State hockey can be,” said Nightingale. “It’s our job to get it there. We know that where we want to get to doesn’t happen overnight as well.
“Right now, it’s about laying a foundation of doing it the right way, and practicing the right way, and eating the right way, and sleeping the right way, and doing all those little things it takes to be a special program.”
Nightingale served as head coach of the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2020 to 2022, and he spent one season behind the Detroit Red Wings bench as an assistant (2019-20). He says that he’s grateful for the opportunity at Michigan State, but even more excited for his players as the season begins.
“Any time there’s a coaching change, [players] want to get out there and show the coach and show the staff and show the fans that you can be a big part of the solution.”
Just over an hour away, Brandon Naurato has begun his first year as interim head coach of the Wolverines after Michigan declined to renew Mel Pearson’s contract following the release of a report that detailed issues with the climate and culture of Michigan’s hockey program.
As head coach from 2017 to 2022, Pearson led the Wolverines to a record of 99-65-16. The Wolverines finished second in the Big Ten last season and under Pearson, Michigan went to the national tournament three times and made two Frozen Four appearances.
Naurato doesn’t inherit a program that’s rebuilding. Naurato inherits a culture that needs rehabbing. Since taking over as interim head coach in early August, Naurato has said repeatedly that he’s committed to transparency and communication. After spending 2021-22 as an assistant at Michigan, Naurato has confidence that his players know what to do.
“Our culture in the locker room last year was unbelievable and that’s a credit to Nick Blankenburg and the other seniors and captains,” said Naurato. “I think [captain] Nolan Moyle has followed that up with his leadership group this year. Everyone treats everyone the way they want to be treated – with respect.”
Like Nightingale, Naurato brings some NHL experience to the Big Ten. From 2018 to 2021, Naurato was a player development consultant for the Detroit Red Wings. For eight years prior to that, he was director of player development for USA Hockey.
Voted “Most Likely to Succeed”
For the third consecutive season, Minnesota has been voted the team to beat in the Big Ten preseason coaches poll. In 2020-21, the Golden Gophers placed second to Wisconsin. Last year, the coaches were right on the money.
After capturing the regular-season title last year, Minnesota lost to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament championship, but the Gophers played their way through to the Frozen Four, losing to Minnesota State in semifinal action. That was a particularly painful loss, as Minnesota bowed out against Minnesota State in the NCAA West Regional final game the year before.
“We are knocking on the door,” said coach Bob Motzko. “It’s going to happen and that’s what we have to do. The fact that we’re short, 60 minutes to getting to the championship game, we got to go back and build it again. It’s the journey to get there, and we got heart, character and leadership that wants to get there.”
The Golden Gophers will have keen competition for that top spot from several teams in the league, most notably from the Fighting Irish, who were picked in the preseason poll to finish second. Notre Dame returns an overall veteran core and add to that experience with six graduate student players, including three who have transferred for this season.
Michigan may be in the first-place mix as well. The Wolverines are gifted.
Everyone wants to advance
As the 2021-22 season closed, it was clear that the Big Ten was a three-tier team. Minnesota and Michigan were the top contenders, as the regular-season and playoff champions, respectively. The Fighting Irish flirted with greatness, but Notre Dame and Ohio State – right behind the Irish in the standings – never could find the consistency to challenge for the top spot.
After fourth-place Ohio State, the results for the remaining teams dip dramatically. The Buckeyes finished with 42 points; Wisconsin and Penn State, tied for fifth place, had 20 points each. Michigan State finished with 17.
To take a step this season, Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik said, “We want to build from the net out. Hopefully our goaltenders will have the same kind of year that we had last year. We’ve got to score by committee.”
Build from the net out. Score by committee. Words for nearly every B1G team to live by.
Erik Portillo should see a heavy workload in the Michigan net this season (photo: Jonathan Knight).
MICHIGAN
HEAD COACH: Brandon Naurato (first season, interim)
KEY LOSSES: Forwards Matty Beniers (20-23—43), Brendon Brisson (21-21—42), Thomas Bordeleau (12-25—37) and Kent Johnson (8-29—37); defenseman Owen Power (3-29—32)
2022-23 PREDICTION: It’s difficult to know how this season will go for Michigan, for reasons both on and off the ice. The good news is that interim head coach Brandon Naurato has 12 freshmen who weren’t associated with the tumultuous events surrounding Mel Pearson’s departure. A dozen rookies – that can also be the not-so-good news. Newcomers bring energy. The veterans who return are very talented. Can I roll some dice?
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Third.
Erik Middendorf is a reliable two-way player for the Spartans (photo: Michigan State Athletics).
MICHIGAN STATE
HEAD COACH: Adam Nightingale (first season)
LAST SEASON: 12-23-1, 6-18-0 B1G (7th)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Fifth-year defenseman Cole Krygier (4-7—11), sophomore defenseman David Gucciardi (5-6—11), junior forward Jeremy Davidson (11-11—22), senior forward Erik Middendorf (12-8—20)
KEY ADDITIONS: Transfer goalie Dylan St. Cyr (Notre Dame), transfer forward Miroslav Mucha (Lake Superior State), forwards Gavin best (NAHL) and Daniel Russell (USHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: After languishing at or near the bottom of the Big Ten standings for years, the Spartans get the chance to rebuild with a new head coach, a renovated Munn Ice Arena, and a veteran team that includes six graduate students and a fifth-year senior. Picked to finish last in the preseason coaches’ poll, I like the bounce that new coaching – among other things – will bring.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Sixth.
Minnesota’s Matthew Knies should be a top player in the Big Ten for the 2022-23 season (photo: Bjorn Franke).
MINNESOTA
HEAD COACH: Bob Motzko (fifth season)
LAST SEASON: 26-13-0, 18-6-0 B1G (1st)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Junior defenseman Brock Faber (2-12—14), senior defenseman Jackson LaCombe (3-27—30), sophomore forward Matthew Knies (15-18—33), senior goaltender Justen Close (14-5-0, 1.95 GAA, .925 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: Forwards Ben Myers (17-24—41), Blake McLaughlin (13-20—33) and Sammy Walker (14-13—27)
KEY ADDITIONS: Forwards Logan Cooley (U.S. NTDP) and Connor Kurth (USHL), defensemen Ryan Chesley (U.S. NTDP) and Jimmy Snuggerud (U.S. NTDP)
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Golden Gophers are another team with a large freshman class, but Minnesota’s rookies are promising. Additionally, the returning talent is tested. If the newcomers can contribute offensively, there’s a very good chance that Minnesota will once again prove the predictors correct.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Second.
Trevor Janicke celebrates a goal last season during Notre Dame’s two-game sweep over Michigan (photo: Notre Dame Athletics).
NOTRE DAME
HEAD COACH: Jeff Jackson (18th season)
LAST SEASON: 28-12-0, 17-7-0 B1G (3rd)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Grad student Nick Lievermann (6-21—27), junior forwards Trevor Janicke (15-9—24) and Landon Slaggert (12-14—26), sophomore forward Ryder Rolston (10-17—27), junior Ryan Bischel (10-4-0, 2.08 GAA, .924%)
KEY LOSSES: Forwards Max Ellis (16-12—28) and Graham Slaggert (12-13—25), defensemen Spence Stastney (7-20—27), goaltender Matthew Galajda (18-8-0, 1.90 GAA, .933 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: Transfer forwards Chayse Primeau (Omaha) and Jackson Pierson (New Hampshire), transfer defenseman Ben Brinkman (Minnesota), forward Finlay Williams (BCHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: With only four freshmen on the roster, the Fighting Irish may be the most experienced team in the Big Ten. With consistent play from Bischel in net – and the right chemistry – I think that Notre Dame may be the team to chase this season.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: First.
Jakub Dobeš was the top goalie last season for Ohio State and figures to be in that role again in 2022-23 for the Buckeyes (photo: Kirk Irwin Photography).
KEY LOSSES: Forwards Georgii Merkulov (20-14—34) and Quinn Preston (7-12—19), defenseman William Riedell (3-7—10)
KEY ADDITIONS: Transfer defenseman Scooter Brickey (Western Michigan), defenseman Tyler Duke (U.S. NTDP), forward Stephen Halliday (USHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: For the past few seasons, the Buckeyes have been the proverbial “this close” to turning a corner. That is likely where Ohio State will be at the end of this campaign as well – and not for lack of trying or lack of talent in several positions. Dobes is the real deal in net, but the team defense in front of him is inconsistent and the Buckeyes need some fire up front.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Fourth.
Connor MacEachern will be a go-to player this season for Penn State (photo: Craig Houtz).
PENN STATE
HEAD COACH: Guy Gadowsky (11th season)
LAST SEASON: 17-20-1, 6-17-1 B1G (tied 5th)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Senior forward Kevin Wall (16-13—29) and Connor MacEachern (14-14—28), sophomore forward Ryan Kirwan (13-13—26), fifth-year defenseman Paul DeNaples (2-6—8), sophomore defenseman Jimmy Dowd (3-18—21), junior goaltender Liam Souliere (7-7-1, 2.87 GAA, .905 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: Transfer forwards Ashton Calder (North Dakota) and Ture Linden (Rensselaer), defensemen Carter Schade (USHL) and Jarod Crespo (USHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: To finish higher than near the bottom of the Big Ten standings, the Nittany Lions need to improve well beyond last season’s team defense, which was 41st in the nation. There is some new blood on the Penn State blue line and returning goaltender Liam Souliere has promise. The Nittany Lions can always score, but defense wins games.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: Seventh.
Corson Ceulemans is back for his sophomore season on the back end for the Badgers (photo: Tom Lynn).
WISCONSIN
HEAD COACH: Tony Granato (seventh season)
LAST SEASON: 10-24-3, 6-17-1 B1G (tied 5th)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: Grad student forwards Brock Caufield (7-12—19), Jack Gorniak (5-10—15) and Dominick Mersch (5-5—10), junior forward Mathieu De St. Phalle (10-12—22), sophomore defenseman Corson Ceulemans (7-15—22), senior goaltender Jared Moe (8-16-3, 3.04 GAA, .916 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: Forwards Tarek Baker (5-12—17) and Roman Ahcan (5-7—12), defenseman Jesper Peltonen (2-5—7)
KEY ADDITIONS: Transfer forward Ty Smilinac (Quinnipiac), transfer goaltender Kyle McClellan (Mercyhurst), forwards Cruz Lucius (U.S. NTDP) and Charlie Stramel (U.S. NTDP), defenseman Tyson Jugnauth (BCHL)
2022-23 PREDICTION: In the preseason Big Ten coaches’ poll, the Badgers were picked to finish fourth in conference play – one spot down from where they were picked at the start of the 2021-22 season and one spot above where Wisconsin actually finished. The Badgers ended last season with the 54th-best team defense nationally (3.57 goals allowed per game) and 54th-best offense (2.05 goals scored per game). I would like to have the optimism that the B1G coaches do.
Cade Borchardt collected 24 points in 27 games during the 2021-22 season for Minnesota State (photo: Minnesota State Athletics).
The first season of the CCHA’s return to competition was nearly perfect.
We’ll stress the word “nearly” there.
Minnesota State came within a period of winning its first-ever national title, leading Denver 1-0 going into the third period of the NCAA championship game before ultimately losing 5-1.
That, of course, wasn’t the way the Mavericks – or anyone in the newly-reconstituted league, for that matter – wanted the season to end. But it wasn’t a bad way for the league to announce itself coming out of the gate.
“We want to build off last year’s success,” CCHA commissioner Don Lucia said during the conference’s preseason media conference call last month, giving a laundry list all the league’s accomplishments in its first season:
• Minnesota State and Michigan Tech made the national tournament
• Minnesota State played for a national title
• The Mavericks’ Dryden McKay won the Hobey Baker Award
• A sold-out, drama-filled, instant-classic conference championship game in between MSU and Bemidji State in Mankato
• The league recorded a .478 nonconference winning percentage – better than the old WCHA ever had since realignment
• The addition of both St. Thomas and Augustana to the league. The Tommies joined last year from Division III while Augustana is starting its program from scratch and will start playing competitive games in 2023-24.
“A lot of things happened in the CCHA and we’re hopeful we can continue to build off that,” Lucia said.
One theme touched upon often during the preseason conference call was the league’s unpredictable nature. Aside from the Mavericks, who were picked to win another title by six of the conference’s eight coaches, nobody can say with much certainty where any of the other teams will finish. That says a lot about the caliber of programs in the CCHA.
“You look at individual polls that come out or players that you voted on for preseason player of the year, there’s so many teams that have very good rosters this year that, you look top to bottom, there’s no holes in our league right now,” said Northern Michigan coach Grant Potulny, whose Wildcats were picked to finish second in the preseason poll and garnered the other two first-place votes. The Wildcats added to an already-impressive roster in the offseason, with the addition of freshman forward Joey Larson – the coaches’ pick for preseason rookie of the year – and UConn transfer Artem Shlaine, a New Jersey Devils draft pick.
“I think with the exception of Mankato, you could make an argument for almost anyone to move one, two, three or four places,” Potulny said.
Nowhere was that more apparent than with a team like Lake Superior State. The Lakers return a ton of experience, including preseason all-CCHA pick Louis Boudon, yet they were only sixth.
“We were picked sixth two years ago when we hung a banner and went back to the tournament and that’s where we expect to be again this year, competing for a banner and returning to the tournament,” LSSU coach Damon Whitten said, referring to the WCHA tournament title and NCAA tournament berth the Lakers won in 2021. “This is again our best team in nine years. And I think the polls will prove to be a little bit off in that regard.”
Ty Eigner, whose Bowling Green Falcons were picked to finish third, said one thing he appreciates about playing in the league is how familiar the coaches are with the other programs.
“We know it’s going to be a competitive league, we feel like we’re a team that if we can play to our strength and do the things that we were recruited to do, we’re going to be a team that is difficult to play against and be in a position, down the stretch in February, to be contending with three or four other teams for the league championship,” Eigner said.
All of the coaches agreed that Mankato was the team to beat and should be considered favorites until proven otherwise – and rightly so. But even despite this, there could be an opening for someone else. The Mavericks lost McKay after his Hobey Baker season and will also be without Nathan Smith and Julian Napravnik, the top two scorers in the CCHA last season.
Mavericks head coach Mike Hastings certainly won’t take anything for granted.
“Our conference keeps you honest,” he said, noting that turnover is a part of life in college hockey and it’s up to the next crop of players to take advantage of their opportunities.
“The coaching staffs in our league are very pronounced in their experience, and they’re very good at what they do. What it shows you is that in our league, there are no easy outs. And there’s not going to be any this year. It’s an incredible challenge to play in this league and trying to compete for championships. That’s what we’re all trying to do and we’re excited about what’s in front of us this year.”
Mattias Sholl played a steady game all season in 2021-22 for Bemidji State (photo: BSU Photo Services).
BEMIDJI STATE
HEAD COACH: Tom Serratore (entering his 22nd season at BSU)
LAST SEASON: 19-20-0 (14-12-0 for third in CCHA)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: D Elias Rosen (Sr., 7g-19a-26pts); F Eric Martin (Jr., 3g-16a-19pts); D Will Zmolek (Sr., 5g-10a-15pts); F Ross Armour (Sr., 8g-8a-16pts); G Mattias Sholl (Jr., 13-13-0, .904SV%; 2.75 GAA).
KEY LOSSES: F Owen Sillinger (17g-30a-47pts); F Lukas Sillinger (17g-21a-38pts); F Alex Ierullo (16g-26a-42pts); F Ethan Somoza (10g-12a-22pts).
KEY ADDITIONS: F Mitchell Martan (Tr., Canisius, Atlantic Hockey, 5g-17a-22pts); Kaden Pickering (Tr., St. Lawrence, ECAC, 6g-13a-19pts); F Adam Flamming (Cedar Rapids Roughriders, USHL, 27g-19a-46pts); D Vincent Corcoran (Wichita Falls Warriors, NAHL, 8g-44a-52pts).
2022-23 PREDICTION: Last season’s Beaver squad was deep and talented up front, but the team as a whole was inconsistent, with a sub-.500 overall record and a 14-12 conference mark. Still, that was good enough for a third-place CCHA finish and an unforgettable (for more reasons than one) run to the conference title game. BSU couldn’t manage to earn a back-to-back NCAA tournament berth last season, and it could be even more difficult this year, as they lost four of their top five scorers to graduation and transfer. A stout defensive corps anchored by Rosen, Zmolek and School returns, but until the Beavers find some people to step up on offense, they are likely a mid-table team.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 5th
Nathan Burke popped 16 goals in 2021-22 for Bowling Green (photo: Stephen Linsky/Bowling Green Athletics).
BOWLING GREEN
HEAD COACH: Ty Eigner (entering his fourth season at BGSU)
LAST SEASON: 15-19-3 (11-14-1 for sixth in the CCHA)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Taylor Schneider (Sr., 8g-22a-30pts); F Austen Swankler (8g-18a-26pts); F Nathan Burke (16g-7a-23pts); F Alex Barber (Sr., 10g-15a-25pts).
KEY LOSSES: F Coale Norris (10g-9a-19pts); D Gabriel Chicoine (1g-18a-19pts); F Sam Craggs (9g-5a-14pts).
KEY ADDITIONS: F Chase Gresock (Tr., Miami, NCHC, 9g-10a-19pts); D Zach Vinnell (Tr., Merrimack, Hockey East, 4g-12a-16pts); F Brett Pfoh (Spruce Grove Saints, AJHL, 27g-37a-74pts); D Dalton Norris (Lincoln Stars, USHL, 26g-28a-54pts).
2022-23 PREDICTION: Unlike last season, in which the Falcons lost 11 players to either graduation or the transfer portal, this time around BG has a number of important offensive players returning. That bodes well for the Falcons, who struggled to a sixth-place finish and a first-round, three-game elimination at the hands of Bemidji State. Because all four of BG’s top scorers are back, expect a more competitive Falcon team that should be competing for at least an NCAA bid (if they play their cards right, I think competing for a league title is possible).
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 2nd
Logan Stein starts the year as the No. 1 goalie for Ferris State (photo: Ferris State Athletics).
FERRIS STATE
HEAD COACH: Bob Daniels (entering his 31st season at FSU)
LAST SEASON: 11-24-1 (9-16-1 for seventh in CCHA)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Dallas Tulik (Sr., 7g-12a-19pts); F Bradley Marek (So., 10g-9a-19pts); F Stepan Pokorny (3g-11a-14pts); G Logan Stein (Jr., 7-16-0, .885 SV%, 3.60 GAA).
KEY LOSSES: F Justin Michaelian (8g-15a-23pts); D Brendon Michaelian (1g-12a-13pts).
KEY ADDITIONS: D Matt Slick (Tr., Holy Cross, Atlantic Hockey 5g-7a-11pts); F Connor McGrath (Humboldt Broncos, SJHL, 35g-49a-84pts); F Caiden Gault (Spruce Grove Saints, AJHL, 46-27-73).
2022-23 PREDICTION: Ferris State did a great job bouncing back in 2021-22. Their 11 wins were the Bulldogs’ most in four years and signaled a marked improvement from their dismal one-win campaign in 2020-21 – by far the worst season in program history. Perhaps most importantly, the Bulldogs were competitive last season and beat quite a few teams in the top half of the standings, including Minnesota State and Bemidji State. Even further improvement can be expected and having them ranked seventh is more a reflection of the overall quality of the league and not necessarily a sign of stagnation.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 7th.
France native Louis Boudon will again serve as Lake Superior State’s captain this season (photo: LSSU Athletics).
LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
HEAD COACH: Damon Whitten (entering ninth season at LSSU)
LAST SEASON: 18-18-1 (13-13-0 for fourth in CCHA)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Louis Boudon (Sr., 15g-29a-44pts); D Jacob Bengtsson (Jr., 3g-24a-27pts); F Brandon Puricelli (Sr., 13g-9a-22pts); D Logan Jenuwine (Sr., 9g-11a-20pts); G Ethan Langenegger (Jr., 10-11-1, .912 SV%, 2.65 GAA); G Seth Eisele (8-7-0, .911 SV%; 2.73 GAA).
KEY LOSSES: F Miroslav Mucha (10g-25a-35pts); F Josh Nixon (8g-12a-20pts); D Jacob Nordqvist (5g-11a-16pts); F Dustin Manz (7g-7a-14pts).
KEY ADDITIONS: D Jared Kucharek (Tr., Western Michigan, NCHC, no stats last season); F Connor Milburn (Chilliwack Chiefs, BCHL, 9g-14a-23pts); D Bryan Huggins (Fargo Force, USHL, 1g-10a-11pts).
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Lakers return nearly everyone from a season ago, including star forward Louis Boudon and their outstanding goalie tandem of Ethan Langenegger and Seth Eisele. With a deep, experienced roster – LSSU added just two seniors and a transfer this year – the Lakers should be on track to compete for home ice, an NCAA tournament berth and maybe another trophy.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 3rd.
Michigan Tech goalie Blake Pietila was one of the CCHA’s top netminders last season (photo: Michigan Tech Athletics).
MICHIGAN TECH
HEAD COACH: Joe Shawhan (entering his sixth season at Tech)
LAST SEASON: 21-13-3 (16-8-2 for second in CCHA)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: G Blake Pietila (Sr., 21-13-2, 1.91 GAA, .918 SVG%); F Logan Pietila (13g-10a-23pts); F Tristan Ashbrook (Sr., 11g-8a-19pts); D Brett Thorne (Jr., 5g-12a-17pts).
KEY LOSSES: F Brian Halonen (21g-23a-44pts); F Trenton Bliss (12g-28a-40pts); F Tommy Parrottino (11g-17a-28pts); D Colin Swoyer (5g-18a-23pts).
KEY ADDITIONS: F David Jankowski (Tr., St. Lawrence, ECAC, 4g-12a-16pts); D Ryan O’Connell (Tr., Ohio State, Big Ten, 0g-10a-10pts).
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Huskies lost the bulk of their scoring output from last season’s NCAA tournament team, including 40-plus-point-scorers Brian Halonen–a Hobey Baker Top 10 finalist a year ago–and Trenton Bliss. Tech might struggle in that area, but luckily, they have Blake Pietila back in goal. The Huskies will need him to keep his sub-2.00 goals against average and find some scoring if they want to compete for home ice this year.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 6th.
Brendan Furry will be a go-to player up front this season for Minnesota State (photo: Matt Dewkett).
MINNESOTA STATE
HEAD COACH: Mike Hastings (entering his 11th season at MSU)
LAST SEASON: 38-6-0 (23-3-0 for first in CCHA)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Brendan Furry (Sr., 13g-31a-44pts); F Cade Borchardt (Sr., 15g-26a-41pts); D Jake Livingstone (Jr., 9g-22a-31pts); D Akito Hirose (Jr., 2g-24a-26pts).
KEY LOSSES: G Dryden McKay (38-5-0, 1.31 GAA, .931 SV%); F Nathan Smith (19g-31a-50pts); F Julian Napravnik (18g-31a-49pts); F Reggie Lutz (15g-13a-28pts).
KEY ADDITIONS: G Alex Tracy (Sioux City Musketeers, USHL, 27-10-3, 2.50 GAA, .896 SV%); F Simon Tassy (Salmon Arm Silverbacks, BCHL, 38g-40a-78pts); F Luc Wilson (Penticton Vees, BCHL, 29g-46a-75pts).
2022-23 PREDICTION: For the first time in what seems like forever, there will be a goalie competition at Minnesota State. Dryden McKay has departed, leaving a huge, but important question mark in the MSU lineup. The Mavericks are well-stocked in front of the net, though. Despite losing the high-scoring Nathan Smith and Julian Napravnik, they have plenty of forwards back, and the defense will be in good hands with reigning CCHA Defenseman of the Year Jake Livingstone leading the charge. Will the loss of McKay give any other team an opening to knock off the Mavs this year? It’s possible, but I wouldn’t bet against Minnesota State. Until proven otherwise, they are going to be the presumptive favorites once again.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 1st.
Northern Michigan’s AJ Vanderbeck takes in the cheers after scoring a goal last season (photo: Northern Michigan Athletics).
NORTHERN MICHIGAN
HEAD COACH: Grant Potulny (entering his sixth season at NMU)
LAST SEASON: 20-16-1 (12-13-1 for fifth in CCHA)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F AJ Vanderbeck (Sr., 24g-19a-43pts); F André Ghantous (Sr., 10g-25a-35pts); F Michael Colella (15g-12a-27pts); F David Keefer (10g-12a-22pts).
KEY LOSSES: F Hank Crone (13g-31a-44pts); F Joseph Nardi (3g-11a-14pts); D Trevor Cosgrove (9g-19a-28pts); D Ben Newhouse (5g-22a-27pts).
KEY ADDITIONS: F Joey Larson (Muskegon Lumberjacks, USHL, 32g-34a-66pts); F Artem Shlaine (Tr., UConn, Hockey East, 7g-10a-17pts); D Simon Kjellberg (Tr., RPI, ECAC, 8g-19a-27pts); F Kristóf Papp (Tr., Michigan State, Big Ten, 2g-10a-12pts).
2022-23 PREDICTION: After just missing out on home ice a season ago, the Wildcats return with an intriguing lineup mix hoping to take the next step this year. They lost Hank Crone, but return a pair of scorers in AJ Vanderbeck and André Ghantous. However, what NMU is adding seems even more enticing. CCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year Joey Larson joins the team after a 66-point campaign in the USHL, and the team adds four transfers to the mix, including Artem Shlaine, a Devils draft pick from UCONN. The Wildcats played well last season against a tough schedule, including sweeps of both Minnesota Duluth and Boston University. If they can continue that kind of form, they should be in good shape for home ice.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 4th.
Rico Blasi starts his second season behind the St. Thomas bench (photo: Jim Rosvold).
ST. THOMAS
HEAD COACH: Rico Blasi (entering second season at UST)
LAST SEASON: 3-32-1 (3-22-1 for eighth in CCHA)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Luke Manning (Sr., 8g-7a-15pts); F Matthew Jennings (Sr., 4g-10a-14pts); F Cameron Recchi (So., 5g-7a-12pts); D Trevor Zins (Sr., 3g-7a-10pts); D Nolan Sawchuck (Sr., 1g-9a-10pts).
KEY LOSSES: G Peter Thome (3-24-1, 4.53 GAA, .876 SV%); F Christiano Versich (5g-10a-15pts); F Grant Loven (7g-5a-12pts); F Kyler Grundy (7g-5a-12pts).
KEY ADDITIONS: F Mack Byers (Tr., Northern Michigan, 5g-1a-6pts); F Lucas Wahlin (Lincoln Stars, USHL, 31-30-61); D Braidan Simmons-Fischer (Austin Bruins, NAHL, 7g-10a-17pts); F Ryan O’Neill (St. Cloud Norsemen, NAHL, 30g-50a-80pts); F Jake Braccini (Muskegon Lumberjacks, USHL, 25g-23a-48pts).
2022-23 PREDICTION: The Tommies took their lumps as expected during their first Division I season, but they got noticeably better as the year went on and, despite a roster that continued many Division III holdovers, were holding their own against the likes of Minnesota State and Michigan Tech admirably by the end of the season. It’s too early to expect the Tommies to finish much higher than eighth this season, but it’s clear Blasi is building the blocks of a successful program that will be very strong very soon.
Merrimack announced Tuesday the death of men’s hockey assistant coach Josh Ciocco.
He was 38.
No details were immediately known, but a statement was released from the school.
The Merrimack community and men’s hockey program are deeply saddened by the passing of assistant coach, Josh Ciocco.
Josh was entering his fifth season with the Warriors and was tireless in recruiting talented and dedicated student-athletes to Merrimack, and equally passionate in his commitment to coaching them to reach their greatest potential.
Prior to arriving at Merrimack, Josh served as an assistant coach at Brown University and the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Josh earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2007 from the University of New Hampshire where he was a four-year member of the hockey program, captaining the Wildcats in his senior season. He returned to UNH in 2010 to earn his MBA after competing for two seasons in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers and Fresno Falcons.
Our prayers and deepest condolences are extended to Josh’s parents, brothers and all members of the Merrimack men’s hockey team and coaching staff.
Christopher E. Hopey, Ph.D. President
Jeffrey A. Doggett, Ed.D. Executive Vice President Chief Financial and Operating Officer
Denver celebrates its 2022 national championship (photo: Jim Rosvold).
You’ve clicked on a link to this conference season preview, so chances are you already know how strong the NCHC is.
So does Heather Weems, who spent the last decade as St. Cloud State’s athletic director before being named in May as the NCHC’s new commissioner. She succeeds Josh Fenton, who previously accepted another NCAA Division I commissioner role with the Summit League.
Weems knew all about the NCHC landscape before taking her new job. A Denver graduate, Weems oversaw a SCSU athletic department whose teams meet Minnesota Duluth regularly in league action, mainly as part of the Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. St. Cloud State also has long-standing rivalries with North Dakota and Omaha from the old WCHA and now-defunct D-II North Central Conference in other sports.
Weems remains in Minnesota, but will be on the road most weekends this season to take in games in a conference that, collectively, has always been at or near the top of the D-I tree since NCHC hockey began in 2013. This includes last season, which finished with Denver earning its ninth national championship all-time, and the Pioneers’ fourth in this millennium.
But that’s not all that the NCHC boasts. Denver also won it all in 2017, Minnesota Duluth won back-to-back national titles in the following two years, and in 2016, North Dakota claimed that crown.
“It’s not just one defending national champion, it’s that we’ve had five in the last six years of NCAA national championship play,” Weems said. “I think there’s a real commitment and understanding that, on our campuses, hockey is a major player and not just a major player for student-athlete experience, but in many cases, it’s a revenue driver and an energy creator.
“It is a rallying point for our campuses and our communities, and so there is very strong respect and a sense of responsibility by our institutions to ensure that our hockey programs are well positioned to maintain success, and that goes back to being able to recruit and retain elite-level athletes.”
That generally hasn’t been a problem, as from top to bottom, NCHC member schools continue to regularly attract recruits that ping on the NHL Central Scouting radar, as well as that of national team selectors.
That, year on year, has maintained the NCHC’s reputation as a meat grinder. There’s no room for complacency, even for a team that went all the way just five months ago.
“It’s a brand-new year and a brand-new team, and everyone starts at zero,” Denver coach David Carle said when asked if the Pioneers’ success last April in Boston changed how the team operated heading into its exhibition game last Saturday against UNLV’s ACHA team.
“We’re all at base camp, trying to climb to the top of the mountain again. We’re turning the page and refocusing with a team that will have a different set of strengths, weaknesses, challenges and identity, and we’re just working to develop that with this year’s group.”
That team identity will likely come together quickly, partly because of the company the Pioneers keep.
In-state rival Colorado College returns its top four scorers and will look to have more success this season in the Tigers’ new arena. Longtime rival North Dakota will look to win another national championship in Florida, like the Fighting Hawks did during a 34-win season in 2016.
Minnesota Duluth is always in the conversation, too, St. Cloud is only two years removed from a national runner-up spot and Western Michigan is fresh off an impressive season under a first-year head coach. Miami and Omaha aren’t too far removed from their most recent long postseason runs, either, and they’ll feel they have the potential to get back there.
That means there are a lot of targets on a lot of backs. Ask Carle about that, though, and he seems to welcome it.
“We’ve talked a little bit about that, just in the sense that everyone knows who we are this year,” he said. “We’re going to get everyone’s best game, but we’ve earned that right through our play last season and what we accomplished.
“Also, I think it’s a really good thing that we’re getting everyone’s best, because we need to make sure we’re giving our best every night in order to have success. We’re not going to be able to sneak out wins on a team’s off-night. We’re going to have to earn everything.”
Sounds familiar.
Hunter McKown will fill a prominent role with the CC offense this season (photo: Casey B. Gibson).
COLORADO COLLEGE
HEAD COACH: Kris Mayotte (entering his second season at CC)
LAST SEASON: 9-24-3 (6-17-1 for 7th in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Hunter McKown (Jr., 13g-8a-21pts); F Stanley Cooley (So., 6g-12a-18pts); D Jack Millar (Jr., 1g-5a-6pts)
KEY LOSSES: D Nicklas Anderson (3g-14a-14 pts); F Jordan Biro (6g-7a-13pts); G Dominic Basse (6-15-2, 3.23 GAA, .888 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Ryan Beck (Dubuque Fighting Saints, USHL); F Noah Luba (Lincoln Stars, USHL); G Kaidan Mbereko (Lincoln Stars, USHL).
2022-23 PREDICTION: Colorado College returns its top four scorers from last season, plus the Tigers’ two returning goaltenders with playing experience from last season. There should also be a good amount of chemistry, too, on a team that didn’t bring in any new transfers this season. Five seniors and a graduate student in defenseman Brian Yoon will look to make Ed Robson Arena a happier hunting ground than it was in its inaugural season, and the Tigers could compete for home ice in the playoffs. However, recent history keeps us from imagining CC, which hasn’t had a winning season in a decade, pulling up trees.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 6th.
DENVER
HEAD COACH: David Carle (entering his fifth season at DU)
LAST SEASON: 31-9-1 (18-6-0 for 1st in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Carter Mazur (So., 14g-24a-38 pts.); D Mike Benning (Jr., 15g-23a-36pts); G Magnus Chrona (Sr., 28-8-1, 2.11 GAA, .911 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Bobby Brink (14g-43a-57pts); F Brett Stapley (18g-25a-43 pts); F Cameron Wright (23g-11a-34pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Rieger Lorenz (Okotoks Oilers, AJHL); F Aidan Thompson (Lincoln Stars, USHL); D Kent Anderson (Green Bay Gamblers, USHL).
2022-23 PREDICTION: What’s not to like about a defending national champion that brings back a lot of its core from last season? Even with Hobey Baker finalist Bobby Brink leaving for the NHL, Denver has plenty of established weapons up front and held onto an exceptional goaltender in Chrona. Denver grabbed 10 of 14 first-place picks in the NCHC’s preseason media poll, and while winning this conference is the opposite of easy, the Pioneers have more than enough talent to do it, and to book a return Frozen Four trip. There might be more national championship rings on the way, too.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 1st.
Miami goalie Ludvig Persson enters the season as the RedHawks’ No. 1 netminder (photo: Miami Athletics).
MIAMI
HEAD COACH: Chris Bergeron (entering his fourth season at MU)
LAST SEASON: 7-27-2 (4-19-1 for 8th in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F PJ Fletcher (Sr., 8g-16a-24pts); F Matthew Barbolini (Jr., 10g-12a-22pts); D Dylan Moulton (Jr., 3g-7a-10pts); G Ludvig Persson (Jr., 6-23-2, 3.93 GAA, .894 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: D Derek Daschke (4g-24a-28 pts); F Matt Barry (8g-15a-23pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F William Hallén (Dubuque Fighting Saints, USHL); D Axel Kumlin (Dubuque Fighting Saints, USHL); F Max Dukovac (Langley Rivermen, BCHL).
2022-23 PREDICTION: Ever since Miami’s NCHC playoff title in 2015, the RedHawks have struggled to regain the momentum they had around that time, when they reached the NCAA tournament nine times in 10 years. Miami is yet to win 10 games in a season under Bergeron, but the RedHawks haven’t been short on good recruits. Persson is better than his goals-against average from last season suggests, and forward Red Savage, who earned NCHC rookie of the week honors four times last season, could be even better after his World Juniors showing this summer. Someone has to finish last, and eventually Miami will be back to finishing comfortably above the basement. Is this the year where that starts? We’re not sure it is.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 8th.
Scott Sandelin has led Minnesota Duluth to three national championships during his tenure (photo: Minnesota Duluth Athletics).
MINNESOTA DULUTH
HEAD COACH: Scott Sandelin (entering his 23rd season at UMD)
LAST SEASON: 22-16-4 (10-10-4 for 5th in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Blake Biondi (Jr., 17g-11a-28pts); D Wyatt Kaiser (Jr., 2g-17a-19pts); F Quinn Olson (Jr., 6g19a-25pts); D Owen Gallatin (So., 2g-15a-17 pts.)
KEY LOSSES: F Kobe Roth (16g-13a-29 pts); F Koby Bender (7g-19a-26pts), G Ryan Fanti (20-12-4, 1.82 GAA, .929 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Isaac Howard (US NTDP); F Cole Spicer (US NTDP); G Zach Sandy (Minot Minotauros, NAHL).
2022-23 PREDICTION: Sandelin was awarded a two-year contract extension this summer, keeping him in Duluth through the 2026-27 season, and it’s easy to see why UMD wants to keep him around. The Bulldogs won back-to-back national titles in 2018 and 2019, and they seem to always be in the discussion. Even last season, when the Bulldogs got into the national tournament despite posting a .500 record in their league. There’s a lot to replace this time around, and it’ll be interesting to see who becomes the new No. 1 goalie with Fanti departing, but if enough pieces fall the right way, this UMD team could be up there with any that we’ve seen in recent years.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 3rd.
Riese Gaber was an offensive force last season for North Dakota, collecting 37 points for the Fighting Hawks (photo: Mark Kuhlmann).
NORTH DAKOTA
HEAD COACH: Brad Berry (entering his eighth season at UND)
LAST SEASON: 24-14-1 (17-6-1 for 2nd in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Riese Gaber (Jr., 15g-22a-37pts); F Jake Schmaltz (So., 8g-16a-24pts); D Ethan Frisch (Sr., 9g-6a-15pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Connor Ford (4g-24a-28 pts); D Jake Sanderson (8g-18a-26pts); G Zach Driscoll (22-11-1, 2.34 GAA, .908 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Jackson Blake (Chicago Steel, USHL); D Ty Farmer (Massachusetts transfer); G Drew DeRidder (Michigan State transfer)
2022-23 PREDICTION: North Dakota’s eighth and most recent national championship came six years ago in Tampa, and with the Frozen Four set to take place there again in April, you know Fighting Hawks fans are already eyeing that potential trip. UND hasn’t been to the Frozen Four since then, though, and while the Hawks haven’t had a losing season in 20 years, they know as well as anyone in the NCHC that nothing is guaranteed. There are some significant departures from last season that need replacing, but enough is back to keep UND plenty competitive. Penciling UND in as a Frozen Four candidate isn’t a bad idea.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 2nd.
Kirby Proctor is a defensive stalwart for the Mavericks (photo: Omaha Athletics).
OMAHA
HEAD COACH: Mike Gabinet (entering his sixth season at UNO)
LAST SEASON: 21-17-0 (11-13-0 for 6th in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Tyler Weiss (Gr., 8g-25a-33pts); F Cameron Berg (So., 8g-16a-24pts); D Kirby Proctor (Jr., 5g-7a-12pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Taylor Ward (19g-20a-39 pts); F Brannon McManus (9g-23a-32pts); G Isaiah Saville (16-14-0, 2.52 GAA, .907 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Tyler Rollwagen (Fargo Force, USHL); D Joaquim Lemay (Lincoln Stars, USHL); G Jake Kucharski (American International transfer)
2022-23 PREDICTION: Weiss was announced late this summer as returning to Omaha for his fifth season, and the Mavericks will need him. Five of their top seven point-producers from last season have moved on, so Weiss and New York Islanders draft pick Berg will be focal points on a team with 10 freshmen. There will be a new starting goaltender, too, as Saville signed a pro contract and Austin Roden transferred to Providence. Could the Mavericks finish much higher than where we have them? Of course, but we’ll wait and see.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 7th.
Jami Krannila celebrates a goal during St. Cloud State’s sweep over Wisconsin last season (photo: Luke Schmidt).
ST. CLOUD STATE
HEAD COACH: Brett Larson (entering his fifth season at SCSU)
LAST SEASON: 18-15-4 (10-10-4 for 4th in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Jami Krannila (Sr., 15g-15a-30pts); F Zach Okabe (Sr., 11g-17a-28pts); D Spencer Meier (Gr., 5g-13a-18pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Kevin Fitzgerald (17g-19a-36 pts); D Nick Perbix (6g-25a-31pts); G Dávid Hrenák (16-11-4, 2.26 GAA, .914 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Adam Ingram (Youngstown Phantoms, USHL); F Ethan AuCoin (Lloydminster Bobcats, AJHL); D Cooper Wylie (Waterloo Black Hawks, USHL); G Dominic Basse (Colorado College transfer)
2022-23 PREDICTION: St. Cloud State made the NCAA tournament in three of Larson’s first four seasons behind the bench, and we think the Huskies will get there again in 2023 despite losing quite a lot of high-end production across the ice. Plenty of talent returns, and Basse transferring in from CC is an interesting wrinkle for a Huskies team that bade farewell to a very good goalie in Hrenák. It might take a little time for this squad to fully gel, but we’re not worried for them. Don’t be surprised if they finish higher than we think they will.
2022-23 PREDICTED FINISH: 4th.
Jason Polin should lead the Western Michigan offense this season (photo: Ashley Huss).
WESTERN MICHIGAN
HEAD COACH: Pat Ferschweiler (entering his second season at WMU)
LAST SEASON: 26-12-1 (14-9-1 for 3rd in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Jason Polin (Sr., 16g-10a-26pts); F Cole Gallant (Gr., 9g-17a-26pts); D Aidan Fulp (Jr., 2g-11a-13pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Drew Worrad (9g-36a-45 pts); F Ethen Frank (26g-13a-39pts); D Ronnie Attard (13g-23a-36pts); G Brandon Bussi (26-12-1, 2.54 GAA, .912 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Ryan McAllister (Brooks Bandits, AJHL); D Samuel Sjolund (Dubuque Fighting Saints, USHL); G Cameron Rowe (Wisconsin transfer)
2022-23 PREDICTION: That WMU just awarded Ferschweiler a new contract that runs through 2025-26 says much for how well the Broncos did in their first season under him as a head coach. There could be some growing pains this time around, though. Western’s top five point-producers from last season are gone, and so is former starting goaltender Brandon Bussi. There’s a lot that’s new about this season’s Broncos, including six transfers, but we think Ferschweiler will keep the team plenty competitive with an eye toward much higher ground than where we have the Broncos for now.
Note: This interview took place in March 2022.
