Merrimack blueliner Zach Uens posted two goals and 19 points in 34 games in 2021-22 (photo: Jim Stankiewicz).
Merrimack junior defenseman Zach Uens has signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
Uens is set to begin his professional career with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.
The Belleville, Ont., native was a fourth-round pick (105th overall) of the Panthers in the 2020 NHL Draft.
“We are proud of Zach,” said Merrimack coach Scott Borek in a statement. “He has worked tirelessly for this opportunity. To have players sign NHL contracts is a goal of the program and we could not be more excited for Zach and his family. He has been a huge part of Merrimack College and Merrimack hockey for the last three years and we very much appreciate his contribution to our program’s growth.”
In 2021-22, Uens netted a pair of goals and added 17 assists for 19 points and a plus-8 on-ice rating in 34 appearances.
Over the course of his collegiate career, Uens played in 82 games and had 44 points on seven goals and 37 assists.
Declan Carlile skated three seasons on the Merrimack back end (photo: Jim Stankiewicz).
Merrimack junior defenseman Declan Carlile has signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, and will forgo his senior season with the Warriors.
Carlile will start his professional career with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.
A Hartland, Mich., native, Carlile was an undrafted free agent and concludes his Merrimack career after three seasons.
“We are very excited for Declan,” Merrimack coach Scott Borek said in a statement. “His work ethic and desire to get better were present every day at Merrimack. Tampa Bay has gotten a good one. His impact on our campus and in our locker room will always be appreciated and we are excited for his next steps.”
The 2021-22 campaign was a dominant one for the defenseman. He led all Warrior rearguards with 24 points on seven goals and 17 assists. He also topped the team with 87 blocked shots and a plus-14 on-ice rating.
In his Merrimack career, he had 56 points in 83 games with 13 goals and 43 helpers.
Bemidji State and Minnesota State meet this weekend with the CCHA title and an NCAA tournament berth at stake (photo: BSU Photo Services).
When it is awarded to either Minnesota State or Bemidji State on Saturday night in Mankato, the Mason Cup will be at the end of its long journey back to its rightful place in the hands of the champions of the CCHA tournament.
The CCHA’s championship trophy was one of the first things CCHA commissioner Don Lucia wanted to bring back when the conference reformed in 2021 – for good reason. He just had to figure out where it was.
“At first, we figured it was in Miami, but then we did some digging and realized Notre Dame still had it,” Lucia said in a phone interview on Monday.
Notre Dame won the last CCHA conference title before conference realignment in 2013 and had kept it somewhere in their hockey facilities ever since.
To get the trophy back, Bowling Green athletic director Bob Moosbrugger made a pit stop in South Bend last spring after going to some BG athletic events and took the trophy home in his car. After sending it away for some much-needed upgrading and fixing, the trophy is back and ready to be presented to the winners this weekend.
“It’s one of those trophies like the MacNaughton Cup. It means something because it’s named after Ron Mason. And he was certainly one of the legends of our game. So I’m looking forward to it, and it’s going to be an honor for me to present that trophy on Saturday night.”
Lucia, who was a former coach at Minnesota, Colorado College and Alaska Fairbanks, knows firsthand how passionate Mason was about growing the game of college hockey and helping out emerging programs. Lucia said his Nanooks teams got into the old CCHA in the early 90s primarily because of Mason’s influence.
“Ron will probably be on the Mount Rushmore of college coaches, not only for the success he had as a coach but he was a great ambassador to college hockey. He was a proponent of growth and he was a proponent of helping emerging programs along,” Lucia said. “I’m sure if Ron had put his foot down and said we want no part of this, we wouldn’t have gotten into the CCHA, but he was the exact opposite. He was pro-expansion, and I think he passed that on (to other coaches).”
That’s why it’s fitting that this new group of CCHA schools decided to keep Mason’s namesake championship trophy. Almost all of them are schools where hockey is the No. 1 sport but don’t have the resources that the big-name programs do. They’ve had to fight for their conference affiliations and even, in some instances, to keep their programs afloat.
Lucia was named the CCHA’s commissioner in the summer of 2020 – almost a year before the conference officially started play in fall of 2021. Lots of preparation went into the inaugural CCHA season and in his eyes, it paid off.
“I thought that since several of the teams were together before, and then with St. Thomas coming in, everybody had a good feel for each other as a group, the ADs had worked together in the past, so I think that was helpful in overall making this a very successful season, certainly on the ice and off the ice as well,” Lucia said.
On the ice, Lucia noted that the league has the possibility to get three teams (MSU, BSU and Michigan Tech) into the NCAA tournament depending on what happens in this weekend’s title game. But aside from those three teams, Lucia pointed out that the parity of the new league, from top to bottom, is much improved.
“The middle was like we expected. We look at the preseason forecasts and, you know, Tech and Minnesota State were there, and then there was that bunch in the middle with Bemidji, Lake State, Northern and Bowling Green and the first round of playoffs kind of dictated how highly competitive it was,” he said. “And I think that squeeze in the middle probably ultimately costs maybe another team from being in a really good spot to make the NCAAs.”
One of the stated goals of the new conference was to have more teams in the top 20 of the Pairwise at the end of the season competing for at-large bids. This year, Minnesota State (1) and Michigan Tech (12) are the only two teams that will finish in the top 20. Northern Michigan (26), Bemidji State (29), Lake Superior (32) and Bowling Green (34) were much lower.
What’s the solution for that? It’s twofold: More separation in the middle of the conference standings combined with better nonconference play.
“I think that there has to be a little bit more separation within the league itself. This year, you have a lot of teams in the middle that were on .500 in the league,” Lucia said. “You do need some teams to separate where instead of two or three teams in the middle that are all around .500 in the league, you need some teams that are three, four games over .500, and then do well nonconference. And we all know the importance of nonconference for the pairwise.
“You know, the old adage is, ‘Schedule the best teams you can beat.’ So you want to make sure that you have a delicate balance of playing good teams, but not over-scheduling in your conference based on where you project your team to be maybe a year or two down the line.”
The CCHA actually did OK in nonconference play this year at 28-32-4, but they were only 2-12-1 against the Big Ten (the 9-12-1 mark against the NCHC was solid).
“Like it or not, the NCHC and the Big Ten are in our footprint. So come the end of the year, you’ve got to win some of those games if you want to be an NCAA tournament team,” Lucia said.
Longtime rivals clash in final
One of the big things for Lucia about joining the CCHA as commissioner is that, as a former coach, he already had great working relationships and friendships with most of the coaches in the league.
So when he awards the Mason Cup this weekend to either Minnesota State’s Mike Hastings or Bemidji State’s Tom Serratore, he’ll be giving the trophy to someone he’s known for a long time. Lucia coached against both when the Mavericks and the Beavers were in the WCHA.
“With Tom and the way they play, they’re built for the playoffs. And there’s no doubt in my mind, they have the ability to go in and upset Minnesota State this weekend provided that, like we all need this time of the year, you’ve got to have good goaltending and specialty teams, you have to be disciplined. You have to get a couple timely goals,” Lucia said. “Obviously, Minnesota State’s the favorite because of what they’ve been able to accomplish all year, I think they’ve only lost one home game all season long. But it’s not a best-of-three, it’s a one-game shot, so if I’m Bemidji, I feel a lot better going in there, having to win just one instead of a best-of-three scenario.”
The Mavericks’ only loss at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center was a 3-1 defeat at the hands of St. Cloud State way back on Oct. 9. Since then they have won 18 consecutive times at home, including sweeping the Beavers by identical 5-1 scores in their regular-season finale Feb. 18-19.
MSU also swept the December series in Bemidji, although historically the teams have been more evenly matched. Last season the Mavericks edged the season series 3-2-1. But the teams have never met in the playoffs at the Division I level. But the teams, who have been playing against one another since the Division II, III and NAIA era, met multiple times in the NCHA tournament and once in the Division III playoffs.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “Two well coached teams, both highly-disciplined and it should be a real nice showcase for the CCHA, in front of a sold-out arena.”
Jason Smallidge has excelled on and off the ice in his four years at Omaha (photo: Omaha Athletics).
Looking to further his education following his collegiate hockey career, Omaha senior defenseman Jason Smallidge has been selected the recipient of the 2022 NCHC postgraduate scholarship.
Smallidge becomes the fourth Maverick to earn the scholarship since it was founded in 2016.
Smallidge is set to graduate from the University of Nebraska Omaha in May with his degree in business finance, banking and financial markets, and investment and portfolio management. He also is minoring in real estate and land use economics. Smallidge has compiled a 3.92 grade-point average during his undergraduate career.
“We are honored to present the NCHC Postgraduate Scholarship to Jason Smallidge of Omaha,” said NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton in a statement. “Jason has certainly shown success in the classroom with a strong GPA and multiple majors and minors. We hope this scholarship can help further Jason’s business education and career path.”
Smallidge is a four-time member of the NCHC academic all-conference team and a four-time NCHC distinguished scholar-athlete, as well as a two-time Krampade/AHCA all-American scholar. In addition, he has made UNO’s Dean’s List and Chancellor’s List each year he’s been at Omaha.
Smallidge has suited up in 89 career games for the Mavericks, including more than 25 games each of his first three seasons. He has racked up 24 points in his career, including seven goals and 17 assists.
Off the ice, Smallidge has been involved in the Omaha community, volunteering at the local children’s hospital and Special Olympics, as well as serving as a youth hockey instructor.
“During the summer after my junior year, I underwent surgery on my wrist. After a long summer of learning to be ambidextrous to complete summer school, there were still complications with my wrist. I was told a full recovery would take 1-2 years. I was distraught because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to play hockey again. This made me realize that hockey doesn’t last forever but an education does,” Smallidge wrote in his nomination. “This is why I want to pursue a master’s degree. I love hockey but due to injuries and an unknown future, I needed to dive deeper into my schoolwork.”
The NCHC’s postgraduate scholarship is funded by a grant from the El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs, which has also supported the NCHC by providing its office headquarters on the grounds of the Penrose House and helping cover the cost of the Penrose Cup. Smallidge’s scholarship award amount will be $7,500.
“The NCHC membership and board of directors are thankful for the support of Mr. Kyle Hybl and the El Pomar Foundation Board of Directors.” Fenton said. “Celebrating our student-athletes’ successes is a cornerstone of our conference and we are proud to share in this honor with El Pomar.”
To be eligible for the postgraduate scholarship, the student-athlete must be a senior on the official NCAA hockey roster with at least a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average, who plans to continue his academic studies beyond his undergraduate degree. The recipient must enroll in a postgraduate degree program within three years of receiving the scholarship to collect the financial aid.
The winner is chosen by a vote of the NCHC’s faculty athletics representatives from among the nominees submitted by each school’s FAR.
The NCHC will announce all of its other year-end individual award winners Thursday evening at the annual NCHC awards celebration.
Quinnipiac goaltender Yaniv Perets has posted video game-like numbers this season for Quinnipiac (photo: Rob Rasmussen).
ECAC Hockey has announced that the 2022 player of the year is Quinnipiac sophomore goaltender Yaniv Perets.
He is the second consecutive Bobcat to earn this honor, following Odeen Tufto in 2021, and was also named goalie of the year on Tuesday.
Perets is the 12th goaltender in league history to be named player of the Year, dating back to 1961-62. He is the third Bobcat to be presented with this award.
One of the best goaltenders in not only the league, but the nation, Perets led all of NCAA hockey in save percentage (.955), GAA (0.82), and shutouts (11). He also eclipsed ECAC Hockey league-only records in all of these categories, putting together one of the best goaltending seasons in the history of the league.
Perets was a huge part of a Bobcat team that finished the season 17-4-1 in league play, earning the Cleary Cup and top seed in the postseason tournament.
Army West Point senior Colin Bilek was a key cog in the Black Knights’ offense this season (photo: Army West Point Athletics).
Atlantic Hockey announced Wednesday its 2021-22 all-Atlantic Hockey teams and the all-rookie team.
Regular-season champion AIC led all teams in selections with five players chosen. Air Force, Army West Point, Canisius, RIT and Sacred Heart each had three players chosen while Bentley, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst and Niagara each had one representative.
First Team
Chris Theodore, F, Sr., AIC
Colin Bilek, F, Sr., Army West Point
Will Calverley, F, Sr., RIT
Zak Galambos, D, Jr., AIC
Drew Bavaro, D, So., Bentley
Jacob Barczewski, G, Jr., Canisius
Second Team
Keaton Mastrodonato, F, Jr., Canisius
Neil Shea, F, Jr., Sacred Heart
Jake Stella, F, Jr., AIC
Anthony Firriolo, D, Jr., Army West Point
Logan Britt, D, Jr., Sacred Heart
Gavin Abric, G, So., Army West Point
Third Team
Braeden Tuck, F, Jr., Sacred Heart
Carson Briere, F, So., Mercyhurst
Ryan Leibold, F, Sr., Holy Cross
Brandon Koch, D, Jr., Air Force
David Melaragni, D, Jr., Canisius
Jake Kucharski, G, So., AIC
All-Rookie Team
Carter Wilkie, F, RIT
Clayton Cosentino, F, Air Force
Shane Ott, F, Niagara
Luis Lindner, D, AIC
Mitchell Digby, D, Air Force
Tommy Scarfone, G, RIT
Colgate players celebrate a goal during last weekend’s win over Cornell (photo: Olivia Hokanson).
Three years ago, Clarkson’s Chris Klack scored in overtime to win the ECAC Hockey championship at the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid.
It’s been a long wait since then.
For the first time since 2019, ECAC Hockey is heading back to Lake Placid for the league’s championship weekend. The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while last year’s abbreviated league tournament was held at campus arenas.
Top seeds Quinnipiac and Clarkson swept their respective series, while No. 3 Harvard and No. 5 Colgate needed three games to reach the semifinals. The Crimson held off Rensselaer, while the Raiders knocked off travel partner and No. 4 Cornell. With the Big Red knocked out, that means that the last time all four of the top seeds made the conference semifinals was in 2012.
The league championship will continue to stay in Lake Placid, as ECAC Hockey and the New York State Olympic Regional Development announced a three-year agreement earlier this season to keep the tournament at Herb Brooks Arena.
The arena will look different than the last time it hosted the ECAC Hockey championship. Updates completed since then include new restrooms, a renovated concourse, and modernized media and concession areas.
But the most important update was to the rink itself, which now has a smaller NHL sized ice sheet as opposed to its larger Olympic configuration.
“I’m excited it’s going to regulation size sheet this year,” Clarkson coach Casey Jones said. “It wasn’t an advantage for anybody, but it was just the fact that no one had played on it all year. There’s no comparison in terms of the venue. You go through town and see all the jerseys walking up and down the street and in restaurants.”
The Golden Knights will play Harvard in the semifinals, while Quinnipiac faces off against Colgate.
Here is a closer look at those matchups:
No. 5 Colgate vs. No. 1 Quinnipiac
Season series: Quinnipiac 2-0 Start time: 4 p.m. EST
Quinnipiac goalie Yaniv Perets has been one of the best goalies in the country. But Colgate’s Mitch Benson has a stalwart for the Raiders after missing all of last season with a concussion.
“The work that he put in to get himself in this position is inspiring,” Colgate coach Don Vaughan said. “He’s earned everything that he’s gotten this year. I’ve never seen him play with this much confidence. He’s got a very calming effect; he doesn’t get fired up and he’s a very intelligent guy.”
Benson stopped 101 of 106 shots in the three-game series last weekend against Cornell, good for a .953 save percentage.
Colgate had consecutive championship appearances in 2014 and 2015. If the Raiders are going to break though this year, they’ll have to do it without leading scorer Colton Young, who missed the final game against the Big Red with an injury and is out for this weekend.
On Sunday, Matt Verboon replaced Young on the top line next to his brother Alex and Josh McKechney, but Vaughan said Colgate could use several players in that spot this weekend.
The Raiders will be facing a Quinnipiac team that has been one of the most dominant in the country this season. Outside of Perets in goal, the Bobcats have been led by an experienced group that includes five graduate transfers.
While the new transfer rules last offseason opened up more player movement, Quinnipiac has had at least one transfer player in all but one season starting with the 2012-13 Frozen Four team, when Bowling Green transfer Jordan Samuels-Thomas led the Bobcats in goals.
One of this year’s transfers who has had the biggest impact is forward Oliver Chau, who won a championship at Massachusetts last season and is currently second in points for the Bobcats.
“He’s one of the best 200-foot players I’ve ever had,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “He’s a great teammate, a great leader. He’s a big reason why we’ve been as good as we are this year. He’s great in big games; anytime we’ve played a big game this, he’s been outstanding.”
Prediction: Quinnipiac wins
No. 3 Harvard vs. No. 2 Clarkson
Season series: Clarkson 2-0 Start time: 7:30 p.m. EST
This is the third straight season that these teams have met in the semifinals. The Golden Knights are 2-1 in those matchups, winning in 2019 and 2018. Harvard has made the semifinals in every full league season since 2015, making three league championships in that span and winning two (2015, 2017).
The Crimson have a young and talented forward group lead by ECAC Hockey rookie of the year Alex Laferriere and first-round NHL draft pick Matthew Coronato.
“His game has rounded out; he plays in a lot of situations,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said of Laferriere.
The Crimson will face one of the most balanced teams in ECAC Hockey this season in Clarkson. The Golden Knights were tested by some injuries early in the season but came together in the second half of the season. Clarkson only lost three times December and swept Union in the second round of the playoffs last weekend.
The Golden Knights have a number of options to shut down Harvard’s attack, including graduate student Zach Tsekos, who was named the league’s top defensive forward and a group of defensemen that has a good combination of size and skill.
“If you wanted to win on the big stage, you had to defend big forwards,” Jones said. ‘If you wanted to win on the big stage, I think a differentiating factor for teams is that big skill separates teams. You don’t want to be void of skill, but you want to have long athletic [defensemen] that can move and defend those big skill players if you want to win at the right time of year. It’s a skating game and transition game and I think we have a little complement of both.”
The Golden Knights split Ethan Haider and Jacob Mucitelli in goal throughout the second half of the season, but Jones said it will be Haider in net on Friday.
For Harvard, Mitchell Gibson has been solid in net all season and will lead a Crimson defense that has some size as well.
“You try to play to your strengths and we have good speed and good skill,” Donato said. “Looking at our defense, we actually have some big guys too. It’s a challenge, but I think we’ve got to play to our strengths.”
Carl Berglund and UMass Lowell play UMass this weekend in the Hockey East semifinals (photo: UMass Lowell Athletics).
When Massachusetts senior forward Anthony Del Gaizo said he hopes his team will eventually play on a “bigger stage” than the one it will play on this weekend, he wasn’t speaking literally.
This weekend’s Hockey East men’s semifinals and final will be held at TD Garden, home of the NHL’s Boston Bruins and the biggest hockey stage in New England. But if the second-seeded Minutemen hope to repeat as NCAA national champions, they’ll have to return to Boston in three weeks for the Frozen Four.
Same arena, but a much bigger spotlight awaits should any of this weekend’s semifinalists be fortunate enough to reach the Frozen Four.
That’s why Del Gaizo and the Minutemen (20-12-2, 15-8-2 Hockey East) are trying to take an even-keeled approach to playing for the conference title starting Friday night vs. 3-seed UMass Lowell (21-9-3, 16-8-1).
“We have a lot of experience on the team (playing) a lot of big games so we’re just looking at this one as another game,” Del Gaizo said. “Hopefully, we’ll have even bigger stages down the line this year. Most of these games against UMass Lowell are pretty tight.”
Indeed. Only two regulation goals separated the clubs in three meetings this season — UMass won 3-2 twice in regulation (at home Dec. 4 and in Lowell Jan. 30), while Lowell won a 1-0 shootout after the teams skated to a 4-4 tie (Dec. 3 in Lowell).
Now the teams take their show to Boston for a 7:30 p.m. matchup, following the semifinal matchup between top-seed Northeastern (26-11-1, 16-8-1) and No. 4 Connecticut (19-15-0, 15-10-0).
This year marks the first time in the history of Hockey East that the men’s semifinals will not feature at least one of the league’s original “big four” of Boston College, Boston University, Maine or New Hampshire.
But even with familiar jerseys missing, certainly the tournament’s return to Boston for the first time since 2019 is cause for celebration. There’s a general consensus that a packed Garden will provide an atmosphere fitting of a semifinal field featuring the top four finishers in the league standings.
“Both fans come and show up for both teams, and we think it’s going to be a good atmosphere,” Del Gaizo said. “We just have to be prepared for that. There’s going to be a lot of people there and we can’t let that affect our game.”
The tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2021, the Minutemen beat Lowell in the final 1-0 inside UMass’ empty home rink.
UMass coach Greg Carvel said the rematch aspect, plus the intra-state rivalry, will only add to what he hopes is an exciting atmosphere Friday night.
“I think it’s going to be awesome,” Carvel said. “I hope the place is full and everybody in there is from the state of Massachusetts, cheering for one state school or the other. Two teams that have become rivals, and I think it’s great.”
This will be Lowell’s first trip to the Garden since 2017, when the top-seeded River Hawks beat Notre Dame 5-1 and BC 3-2 for the program’s second tournament title.
“Giving these kids an opportunity to play at the Garden is a big deal,” Lowell coach Norm Bazin said. “For some, it’s going to be the highlight of their career.
“The Garden is just special because it’s the Garden. To get an opportunity to play there means you’re one of the best four teams in the conference. And you’re playing for a championship and you’re still in it.”
Boston College junior defenseman Drew Helleson represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics (photo: Dave Arnold).
The Anaheim Ducks have signed Boston College junior defenseman Drew Helleson to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Helleson will give up his senior season with the Eagles.
Acquired with a second-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft from Colorado for Josh Manson on March 14, Helleson recorded four goals and 25 points in 32 games as a junior in 2021-22 with Boston College. He led Eagles defensemen in points and ranked second among team leaders in assists.
The Farmington, Minn., native collected nine goals and 37 assists for 46 points with a plus-26 rating in 82 career NCAA games with BC from 2019 to 2022, leading team blueliners in scoring each of the last two seasons. He was named to the NCAA All-American second team, a Hockey East first team all-star and the best defensive defenseman in 2020-21 after scoring four goals and 15 points with a plus-23 rating in 22 games. He ranked third among all NCAA skaters in plus-minus.
Originally, Helleson was selected by Colorado in the second round (47th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft.
Alex Vlasic spent three seasons at BU after being drafted by Chicago in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft (photo: Rich Gagnon).
The Chicago Blackhawks announced Tuesday that the team has agreed to terms with Boston University junior defenseman Alex Vlasic on a three-year, entry-level contract that runs through the 2023-24 season.
Vlasic will forgo his senior season with the Terriers.
A native of Wilmette, Ill., Vlasic is scheduled to arrive in Chicago tomorrow and will join the Blackhawks Thursday.
He was originally selected by the Blackhawks in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft.
“It’s rare to find a player of Alex’s skill level and size and we look forward to him continuing his development path with our club,” said Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson in a statement. “His steady development at Boston University was noticeable and encouraging as we chart his future with our team. I know Alex shares our excitement in bringing him back home to Chicago to begin his professional hockey career.”
Vlasic recently completed his junior year at BU, where he played in 32 games while scoring eight points (goal, seven assists) and leading the team with 51 blocked shots. He served as assistant captain this season and was recently named a Hockey East all-star. Vlasic closes out his three-year college career with 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) in 82 games with the Terriers.
Bobby Trivigno served as UMass’ captain during the 2021-22 season (photo: Rich Gagnon).
Hockey East announced Tuesday that Massachusetts senior forward Bobby Trivigno has been awarded the honor of 2021-22 Hockey East player of the year.
Alongside Trivigno, Northeastern sophomore goaltender Devon Levi, who missed all of the 2020-21 season, was named rookie of the year, while the Huskies’ Jerry Keefe was voted coach of the year by his peers.
Trivigno is just the second Minuteman to win the Hockey East player of the year award (Cale Makar, 2018-19) after captaining UMass to a 14-8-2 record and a second-place finish in the Hockey East standings. He was the lone unanimous selection to the all-Hockey East first team and his 45 overall points are fifth in the NCAA. Trivigno finished the season with 32 points in conference play, six more than the next closest competitor, to earn the title of 2021-22 Hockey East scoring champion.
Trivigno’s 1.33 points per game also led all skaters in Hockey East. His 14 goals and 18 assists were marks that were both good for second in the conference, and he paced all players with 85 shots on goal on the season. He was recognized as the Hockey East player of the week on Feb. 7 and Hockey East player of the month for February. He posted at least one point in 27 of his 34 games and had 13 multi-point games.
Levi, who was also a finalist for player of the year, becomes the first non-forward to win rookie of the year since 2012-13 (Jon Gilles). He posted a 12-6-1 record in 19 games for the Hockey East regular-season champion Huskies, the first time the program captured the top seed in the Hockey East tournament.
Levi led all of Hockey East with a .951 save percentage and a 1.64 GAA in his first collegiate season, posting the second-best save percentage in the history of the 38-year-old conference. He also tied for the league-lead with five shutouts, and his 588 saves were good for third in the league. Levi was the sole goaltender named to the all-rookie team, and one of two unanimous selections, as well as the all-Hockey East first team and the recipient of the goaltender of the year award. Levi also took home the three-stars award.
Levi earned multiple in-season awards, named rookie of the week five times, goaltender of the week three times, rookie of the month in October and November, and national rookie of the month in November. Levi also represented Canada at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
Keefe is the first first-year head coach to win the Bob Kullen Award since Dick Umile did so in his first year as a bench boss in 1990-91 with New Hampshire, taking over for the late Bob Kullen. Keefe guided Northeastern to its first-ever Hockey East regular-season championship in his first year at the Huskies’ helm, posting a 15-8-1 record for 47 points in the Hockey East standings.
Northeastern allowed the fewest goals of any team in Hockey East, with just 46 goals allowed on the season, while the offense’s 107 overall goals scored was second-most of any league program. Northeastern also killed penalties at the highest clip of any team this season, with a league-leading 89.3 percent success rate, which was third-best in the NCAA.
Ben Meyers had a stellar season for Minnesota and also played on the United States Olympic team (photo: Minnesota Athletics).
The Big Ten announced Tuesday the hockey all-Big Ten teams and individual award winners as selected by the conference’s coaches and a media panel.
Minnesota’s Ben Meyers was named the Big Ten player of the year, while teammate Brock Faber was tabbed the defensive player of the year, which is awarded to a defenseman or forward.
Ohio State’s Jakub Dobeš was named the goaltender of the year while also sharing freshman of the year laurels with Michigan’s Luke Hughes.
The Wolverines’ Matty Beniers earned scoring champion honors with 27 points in 20 conference games, while Minnesota’s Bob Motzko was selected as the coach of the year.
The Big Ten also recognized seven sportsmanship award honorees. The students chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
FIRST TEAM
MATTY BENIERS, F, MICHIGAN
BEN MEYERS, F, MINNESOTA
Georgii Merkulov, F, Ohio State
Owen Power, D, Michigan
Brock Faber, D, Minnesota
Jakub Dobeš, G, Ohio State
SECOND TEAM
Brendan Brisson, F, Michigan
Matthew Knies, F, Minnesota
Max Ellis, F, Notre Dame
Luke Hughes, D, Michigan
Jackson Lacombe, D, Minnesota
Erik Portillo, G, Michigan
HONORABLE MENTION
Thomas Bordeleau, F, Michigan
Kent Johnson, F, Michigan
Blake McLaughlin, F, Minnesota
Sammy Walker, F, Minnesota
Landon Slaggert, F, Notre Dame
Kevin Wall, F, Penn State
Nick Blankenburg, D, Michigan
Spencer Stastney, D, Notre Dame
Mason Lohrei, D, Ohio State
Drew DeRidder, G, Michigan State
Justen Close, G, Minnesota
Matthew Galajda, G, Notre Dame
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Mackie Samoskevich, F, Michigan
MATTHEW KNIES, F, MINNESOTA
GEORGII MERKULOV, F, OHIO STATE
Luke Hughes, D, Michigan
Mason Lohrei, D, Ohio State
JAKUB DOBEŠ, G, OHIO STATE
UNANIMOUS SELECTIONS IN ALL CAPS
BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Nick Blankenburg, Michigan
Adam Goodsir, Michigan State
Sammy Walker, Minnesota
Graham Slaggert, Notre Dame
Grant Gabriele, Ohio State
Adam Pilewicz, Penn State
Sam Stange, Wisconsin.
Julian Napravnik has been an offensive powerhouse for Minnesota State this season (photo: Matt Dewkett).
The CCHA has announced its two all-CCHA teams for the 2021-22 season.
2021-22 All-CCHA First Team
F – Nathan Smith, Minnesota State – 41 points
F – Brian Halonen, Michigan Tech – (35)
F – Julian Napravnik, Minnesota State (26)
D – Jake Livingstone, Minnesota State (22)
D – Elias Rosén, Bemidji State (18)
G – Dryden McKay, Minnesota State (14)
2021-22 All-CCHA Second Team
F – Owen Sillinger, Bemidji State – 24 points
F – Louis Boudon, Lake Superior State – (11)
F – Trenton Bliss, Michigan Tech – (10)
F – AJ Vanderbeck, Northern Michigan (10)
D – Colin Swoyer, Michigan Tech – (14)
D – Jacob Bengtsson, Lake Superior State – (11)
G – Blake Pietila, Michigan Tech – (8)
Voting for the 2021-22 all-CCHA teams and players and coach of the year awards were conducted by the eight head coaches at each CCHA school. Coaches voted for six forwards, four defenseman and two goaltenders, followed by three rookie forwards and two rookie defensemen, all in descending order, and one rookie goaltender.
Lastly, the eight CCHA head coaches voted for one player or coach from each of the respective individual categories. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players or themselves.
The CCHA will announce its individual award winners on Wednesday and Thursday.
Quinnipiac goalie Yaniv Perets has been dominant between the pipes this season for the Bobcats (photo: Rob Rasmussen).
ECAC Hockey announced Tuesday that the 2022 Ken Dryden Goaltender of the Year is Quinnipiac sophomore Yaniv Perets.
Perets is the second consecutive Bobcat goalie to earn this honor, following teammate Keith Petruzzelli in 2021.
One of the best goaltenders in not only the league, but the nation, Perets led all of NCAA hockey in save percentage (.955), GAA (0.82), and shutouts (11). He also eclipsed ECAC Hockey league-only records in all of these categories, putting together one of the best goaltending seasons in the history of the league. Perets was a huge part of a Bobcat team that finished the season 17-4-1 in league play, earning the Cleary Cup and top seed in the post-season tournament.
He is the fourth Quinnipiac goaltender in program history to earn the goalie of the year honor.
Perets was also honored as a first-team all-league selection and is a finalist for the 2022 player of the year award, which will be announced Wednesday.
UConn players celebrate defeating Boston University and advancing to play for a Hockey East title at TD Garden this coming weekend (photo: Stephen Slade).
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.
Paula: Two weeks ago, Dan, you asked me about potential chaos in the Big Ten playoffs and I said that I didn’t foresee anything out of the ordinary. I also said that the most interesting regular-season race was Hockey East. Well, I was half right – or three-quarters correct, if you look at who’s playing for the B1G playoff title.
What a wild couple of weeks it’s been.
As our friends Jimmy Connelly and Ed Trefzger noted in this space last week, the end of the regular season was chaotic not only for Hockey East but for the NCHC, with huge PairWise implications. I suspected that Boston College would take a game two weeks ago from Massachusetts, but I didn’t foresee that the Minutemen would be swept, opening the door for Northeastern’s first regular-season Hockey East title.
Since Northeastern prevailed over Boston College in the single-elimination Hockey East playoffs last week, we now have an upcoming Huskies vs. Huskies semifinal game in HEA, as Northeastern hosts Connecticut after those Huskies won their first-ever Hockey East playoff game when they beat Boston University.
The only two top-10 DCU/USCHO.com Poll teams to lose in the playoffs last week lost to other top 10 teams when then-No. 8 Notre Dame was eliminated from the Big Ten playoffs by Michigan – marking the first time the Wolverines beat the Fighting Irish this season the first time that Michigan defeated Notre Dame at Yost Arena since 2018 and when then-No. 9 was swept in two games in its best-of-three series against Minnesota Duluth.
Now we have a couple of bubble teams waiting to see how everything plays out and some very good hockey teams waiting until next season to play.
Dan, what struck you about the first full weekend of playoff hockey?
Dan: You know, I have long trumpeted parity in college hockey, but this weekend really kind of kicked that idea to the moon. I was so ready for complete chaos, but it didn’t totally come to fruition based on the seeds.
To your yin, the yang: every league saw its top-seeded team advance to the conference semifinals, and every league except for Atlantic Hockey sent at least its top three teams. The Big Ten championship will pit the top two seeds against one another this weekend. So will the CCHA.
Since we last spoke, ECAC Hockey’s playoffs went 1-8 into the quarterfinal round. So did Hockey East.
Atlantic Hockey, of course, bucked the norm. Bentley swept Niagara on the road to advance to the quarterfinals, and from there, everything went haywire. AIC swept Bentley, but second-seeded Canisius and third-seeded Army both lost to Mercyhurst and Air Force – somewhat ironic that those are their chief history rivalries.
As a result, the Atlantic Hockey championship will be decided between top-seeded AIC, No. 4 RIT, sixth-seeded Air Force, and No. 7 Mercyhurst, and if sports betting were legal in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I wouldn’t be putting confident money on the Yellow Jackets.
But let’s double back for a bit. Because the high seeds all advanced, we can really get a good idea of what’s going to happen with the Pairwise. Clarkson, for example, likely needs to win its way into the tournament by at least advancing to the ECAC championship and then hoping a team like UConn doesn’t bust out of Hockey east.
Northeastern is in a similar predicament, though the Huskies are at No. 14 and have a little bit of space. Still, that “space” can’t really be quantified when you’re down to the final two games of the season. Lose to UConn, and a team like Northeastern is probably out of the tournament. Win two more games, and you’re in anyways.
That’s the way the tournament is meant to feel. You’ve gotta win your way in, which is all we can ask.
I’m curious of your perspective for that sizzle because it feels much different than recent history where the majority of regular season league champions have had their easy way into the tournament. Even for a noted anti-Pairwise guy, that’s fun to see.
Paula: I have absolutely loved the playoff tournament games that I’ve been able to catch and for the very reason that you state. I know that teams value an easy ride, but this should be the hardest-fought, toughest-played hockey of the year and for the most part, it was. As I’ve said before, the conference championships are my favorite hockey to cover; it’s passionate and it’s personal.
You mention the rivalry games in Atlantic Hockey, and I can’t imagine anything more exciting for fans of those teams. Canisius and Mercyhurst are separated by less than 100 miles on I-90 along the shore of Lake Erie. That’s personal. The Air Force-Army series is, for obvious reasons, as personal as it gets.
I had to move to southeast Michigan to understand fully the rivalry between Michigan and Notre Dame. I knew that the schools were less than 200 miles apart. I knew that Jeff Jackson had coached Lake Superior State against Michigan in the old CCHA. What I didn’t know was that the football rivalry between the schools began in the late 1800s and that there some serious mutual, um, athletic aversion between the schools. Add to it the nature of the streak that the Irish had heading to Yost for that semifinal game and the fact that the game was really spectacular hockey, and you have – in my really biased opinion – everything that hockey is all about. The fact that Notre Dame remained in NCAA contention after losing doesn’t hurt the overall Big Ten fandom, either.
I’ve been covering college hockey since 1995, and in that time, one of the things that I’ve seen the sport struggle with most is losing sight of a pretty good big picture – a conference championship – for the even bigger picture of the NCAA tournament. One of the things I always found so endearing about Ferris State coach Bob Daniels is the emphasis he put on a CCHA playoff championship every year when I covered that league. He really taught me the importance of that goal and how it can propel a team all season long.
Of course, that brings me back to your point about the NCAA field, which certainly has clarified given all that transpired last week. There are teams that played really good hockey this season – Merrimack, Boston University (in the second half, at least), Cornell, Providence – whose seasons are over. Meanwhile, there are seven teams playing this weekend that must win their conference playoff titles for an NCAA berth:
Air Force, Bemidji State, Colgate, Connecticut, Harvard, Mercyhurst, RIT. Clarkson and Connecticut, Nos. 16 and 14 respectively in the PairWise – need at least a win apiece. That should make for some even fiercer conference playoff action.
All four NCHC teams still contending for that conference championship and both Big Ten teams vying for the B1G league title are guaranteed a national tournament invitation. I’d like to think that makes conference hardware the focus for the time being in those leagues, that no one succumbs to thinking beyond that trophy – yet.
Dan: I’m not disputing that the NCAA tournament means the most to the sport, but I agree, there’s something to winning a conference tournament that hits differently. I think it’s because of several reasons, but two in particular stand out in my mind.
The fact that these teams play each other all year is probably the biggest on that list. I don’t feel like there are any surprises in a conference tournament. You can make the case that a team catches fire at the right time or needs to play its best hockey in March to win a league tournament, but those teams play each other all season.
Even if there are only a couple of matchups, there’s recent history, and the rivalries that are forged by those games are more intense and more personal, which in turn makes all of this happen. It’s like the Beanpot on steroids, and trust me, there was a period where I used to criticize the Beanpot, though I realize how deep it runs. It’s like facing an Original Six team in the playoffs (sorry, Chicago). It just hits differently.
The second part stems from my belief that teams truly earn their way into the conference semifinals by winning a best-of-three series. Hockey East was the only league to use single elimination throughout its format this year, and while the semifinals and championships are one-and-done games, the quarterfinals in the remaining five leagues are all best-of-three. That means teams have to be the better team over the course of a full weekend. Call it the right matchup or what have you, but winning two games where there aren’t shootouts or ties or 3-on-3 overtimes is pure. I love it.
But within that are the stories of a team coming out of nowhere to win and the tales of teams that suffer heartbreak. I think about North Dakota two years ago when the two losses to Denver knocked a very good team out of the national playoffs with a series sweep while Boston College nearly swept its way into the NCAA Tournament by rallying to beat Providence in three games (with two overtime games sprinkled into that series) before beating UMass at TD Garden. A one-goal loss to Northeastern separated the Eagles from the tournament, but imagine what would’ve happened if they won that tournament.
On a personal note, Brown’s 2003 win over Yale is one of those things I’ll never forget, least of all because I’ll never forget a Yale football player dressed like Superman and waving a Yale flag in the stands. Still a most electric three-game series, and Brown won it in after winning first and third games. And let’s not start about the infamous triple overtime game against Princeton from a couple of years ago that I mention at least once per week.
Anyways, we’re not here for story time, but that’s really the big two for me: 1) you play these teams all year and now have a chance to claim supremacy against them and 2) you have to win a best-of-three series to do it, unless you’re in Hockey East this year (not that there’s anything wrong with the single-elimination format!).
Switching gears, there were a couple of things I saw thrown around the trusty Internet last week that got me interested. One was a switch to best-of-three series in regionals, which I don’t think is feasible but interesting to think about. The other was the possibility of a NIT-style tournament or postseason tournament for teams that don’t play in the NCAA Tournament. I find it most interesting that teams in the NIT often use the tournament as a springboard for future success.
In most years, a regular-season champion that doesn’t win its conference tournament would gain an at-large bid to the national tournament. But I would be intrigued to see if there’s a chance for teams seeded 16-21 or who just missed the tournament to play a quick get-together.
Maybe this is just another of my crazy ideas?
Paula: If you mean a best-of-three for national regionals, I think that’s a terrible idea. I love the one-and-done format of the national tournament. Also, the potential for a three-game grind that increases the odds of injury, even with the week between regionals and the Frozen Four, is enough to nix it. Also, it’s just not feasible timewise or financially.
Just no.
The NIT is another non-starter. D-I hockey doesn’t have the enormous field that D-I basketball has. It would feel like a has-been tournament for four or five teams, one that would incur unnecessary expense – and for what? I don’t see the point of it.
Having said that, I fondly remember a Frozen Four weekend in which some people – I’m not going to name names here – persuaded the person who was likely an intern in charge of the ESPN crawl that there was, in fact, a college hockey NIT happening and that the persons in question were calling in actual scores in actual NIT games. ESPN caught on pretty quickly (sadly) and the scores stopped scrolling along the bottom of the network’s screen. For those of us who witnessed (or perhaps participated) in the prank, it was a funny moment in contemporary college hockey history.
And even though you said this isn’t story time, the mention of the NIT brings up the fictional NIT tournament that fans on the USCHO message boards set up years ago. In fact, the night I met George Gwozdecky in the lounge of the Amway Hotel in Grand Rapids, Mich., during a Midwest Regional weekend, the first thing he did after shaking my hand was ask, “Paula, how are we doing in the NIT?” By “we,” he meant Denver.
Dan, all of this illustrates how small our sport is in so many ways. The hockey community worldwide seems connected and finite, but college hockey is downright familial.
Weeks ago, Lindenwood University announced that it would take all of its sports to the Division I level. The school, located near St. Louis, already has a women’s hockey team playing D-I hockey, and it’s expected to announce a men’s team. Should things remain as they are, that will add a fourth independent school to the D-I scene. I’d welcome another team to the D-I level, no matter who they are and where they play. Beyond that, I don’t know what to think.
Dan: I think we’re at an interesting point of inflection with respect to realignment.
I believe I discussed this with Ed a while back, but at this point, the seeds that are planted don’t really have much geographical alignment. So either something’s going to give or something’s going to break. Assuming Lindenwood remains independent, it would join Arizona State, Alaska and LIU as schools unaffiliated with a conference. None of those schools have logical fits for a conference, though people love to tell me that LIU belongs in Atlantic Hockey.
At this point, I’d believe Atlantic Hockey should get off its duff and add Robert Morris back already. The Colonials reassumed their position in women’s hockey in the CHA, but there hasn’t been a formal announcement regarding the men’s team. This remains completely and unabashedly ridiculous, so again: would Atlantic Hockey add RMU already and end what’s been drawn out longer than it should? End of story.
Besides that, I don’t quite know where we’re going. Augustana is the fifth team I’m going to add into that mix, but Sioux Falls also doesn’t help any of the schools I already mentioned. Alaska Anchorage is due back next year after the Seawolves were saved, but no league is going to take on both Alaska schools after what happened with the WCHA’s breakaway programs. I’m very confused at what’s to come, and we know that independence is not the most viable option. Conferences and leagues lead to guaranteed home games, and not everyone can get an NHL team to set up shop in their arena for a few years.
So where do we go? I still have no idea. I do know that Lindenwood is in the CHA and has relationships with the Atlantic Hockey schools sponsoring women’s hockey. Adding RMU and Lindenwood, to me, makes the most sense and I could picture giving teams a stop-over in St. Louis on the way to Colorado or vice-versa. I do know this – Lindenwood and LIU are the first teams I’ve seen to elevate men’s hockey after adding women’s hockey. That’s not to say there weren’t others, just that they’re the first for me to see. That makes me think that women’s hockey is helping push the decision. I’m all for that since it also shows that women’s hockey is incredibly viable and is on the verge of a talent explosion.
More hockey is a good thing, but with more hockey comes more responsibility for the rest of us to save those teams and ensure the ones that are added are as viable as possible.
LOWELL, MA – JANUARY 30: Bobby Trivigno #8 of the Massachusetts Minutemen. The UMass Lowell River Hawks play host to the UMass Minutemen during NCAA men’s hockey at the Tsongas Center on January 30, 2022 in Lowell, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rich Gagnon)
Want to see how the PairWise Rankings will respond to the results of the final 14 conference tournament games before Division I men’s hockey’s selection Sunday? We’re ready to help with our PairWise Predictor.
Mattias Sholl played a steady game all season for Bemidji State (photo: BSU Photo Services).
The CCHA announced Monday its 2021-22 all-rookie team.
2021-22 CCHA All-Rookie Team
F – Bradley Marek, Ferris State – 16 points
F – Austen Swankler, Bowling Green – (13)
F – Josh Nixon, Lake Superior State – (12)
D – Eric Parker, Bowling Green – (12)
D – Bennett Zmolek, Minnesota State – (9)
G – Mattias Sholl, Bemidji State – (4)
G – Charlie Glockner, Northern Michigan – (4)
Voting for the 2021-22 all-CCHA teams and players and coach of the Year awards were conducted by the eight head coaches at each CCHA school. Coaches voted for six forwards, four defenseman and two goaltenders, followed by three rookie forwards and two rookie defensemen, all in descending order, and one rookie goaltender.
Lastly, the eight CCHA head coaches voted for one player or coach from each of the respective individual categories. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players or themselves.
The CCHA will announce its 2021-22 all-CCHA first and second teams on Tuesday. Individual award winners will be announced this Wednesday and Thursday.
Harvard’s Alex Laferriere and Quinnipiac’s Rand Pecknold have picked up season honors from ECAC Hockey (photos: Laferriere/Harvard Athletics; Pecknold/Rob Rasmussen).
ECAC Hockey has announced that the 2022 Tim Taylor Coach of the Year is Quinnipiac’s Rand Pecknold and the rookie of the year is Harvard forward Alex Laferriere.
This is the second straight season that Pecknold has claimed this honor, and the fourth time in his career.
Pecknold coached the Bobcats to their second consecutive Cleary Cup in 2021-22 and the top seed in the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Quinnipiac put together one of the best defensive seasons in the history of NCAA hockey, breaking the NCAA team shutouts record. They finished the year 28-5-3 overall, and 17-4-1 in league play, while a number of players have been recognized as finalists for major awards.
Laferriere is the fourth Harvard player in the past six seasons to receive the award, and the eighth in program history.
Leading all ECAC Hockey rookies in both overall scoring (27 points), and in-league scoring (21), his 12 goals against ECAC Hockey opponents were tied for the league-lead amongst all skaters. Laferriere registered points in 16 games, including seven multi-point outings. His best game of the season came on Nov. 6 against Colgate, when the sophomore scored four goals in a 5-1 win over the Raiders.
Minnesota State freshman Will Hillman (19) scored his first career goal in Saturday’s 8-1 win over Northern Michigan (photo: David Faulkner/SPX Sports).
For the eighth consecutive week, Minnesota State is the No. 1 team in the DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.
The Mavericks earned 46 first-place votes in this week’s rankings.
Spots two through seven remain the same as a week ago, with Minnesota, Denver, Michigan, North Dakota, Quinnipiac and Western Michigan ranked, respectively.
Minnesota, Michigan, Denver and Quinnipiac all received one first-place vote as well.
Minnesota Duluth is up two to No. 8, Notre Dame is down one to No. 9, and Northeastern jumps up one to sit 10th this week.
Two teams unranked last week enter the rankings this week, with Harvard at No. 17 and Connecticut at No. 19.
In addition to the top 20 teams, nine other teams also 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.
