Gustavus is in first place in the MIAC and faces Saint John’s this weekend. (Photo Credit: Pavla Yakimova, Gustavus Athletics)
Only a few weeks remain in the regular season and things start to matter even more now as teams battle for playoff positioning and take aim at clinching a conference title.
Without further delay, here are some predictions for the weekend.
MIAC
St. Scholastica (11-9-1, 6-6) )vs. St. Olaf (9-7-3, 4-5-1
The Saints look to keep pace near the top of the conference standings. St.Scholastica enters the weekend in second place.
The Oles need every win they can get at this point as they are tied for sixth at the moment.
St. Scholastica has won two in a row, scoring five goals in each game. Hunter Hansen is a big part of the offense, scoring 11 goals on the year. The Oles have also won their last two and have gotten solid play from Jonathan Panisa. St. Scholastica, 4-2; St. Olaf, 3-1
Gustavus (12-7, 8-2) vs. Saint John’s (8-11, 5-5)
The Gusties are still holding down first place in the MIAC standings and are looking to bounce back after a tough 5-4 lot to Bethel in a series finale. Jack Suchy and Hunter Newhouse have been instrumental in the Gusties’ offensive success while netminder Colin Androlewicz has also played well.
The Johnnies are in a good spot in the standings, sitting in fourth, and have had a lot of success against the Gusties in recent years. Last season, they swept Gustavus for the fifth consecutive season. Will the streak continue? Saint John’s, 4-3; Gustavus, 5-4
Saint Mary’s (8-10-1, 4-5-1) vs. Bethel (10-7-2, 6-3-1)
Colin Tushie and Joona Juntunen are among the top playmakers in the conference, combining for 30 assists, and they hope to help the Cardinals get back on track. Saint Mary’s has lost its last three games. The Royals sit in third in the league standings and are coming off a big win over Gustavus last week. Now the goal is to keep the momentum on their side. Bethel, 4-2 and 3-2
NCHA
Adrian (14-7, 8-6) )vs. Concordia (11-10, 6-8)
The Bulldogs come in ranked 12th in the USCHO.com poll and are led by Ian Amsbaugh and Bradley Somers, who have scored 12 and 11 goals, respectively. They’ll be looked upon to help Adrian end a three-game losing streak.
The Falcons have put together a turnaround year, sitting a win shy of matching their win total from the last two years combined. Derek Humphreys has played a big role in the success, scoring 14 goals on the season. Adrian, 4-2 and 3-2
Aurora (18-3, 12-2) vs. MSOE (10-8-3, 5-7-2)
The No. 3 Spartans look to keep hold of first place in the conference standings. They have won eight in a row and have the top scoring threat in the conference in Landry Schmuck, who has scored 24 goals on the year. Eddie Shepler is one to watch for the Raiders as he has 10 goals on the season. The Raiders will be ready for the challenge and have a win over nationally ranked St. Norbert this season. Aurora, 5-3 and 4-1
St. Norbert (16-5, 11-3) )vs. Lake Forest (9-11-1, 5-8-1)
Sixth-ranked St. Norbert has won two in a row and features two of the best scoring threats in the country in Liam Fraser and Logan Dombrowsky. The two have combined for 27 goals. Hunter Garvey has been solid in goal with a 2.10 goals against average.
Trevor Faucher has led the way for Lake Forest, scoring 10 goals. The Foresters have won their last two and do have a win over nationally ranked Adrian this season. St. Norbert, 5-2 and 4-2
WIAC
UW-Superior (16-3-2, 9-1-1) vs. UW-Stout (11-8-2, 4-6-1)
The first-place Yellowjackets are riding high into this one, sporting a 13-game unbeaten streak. And this is a team that has been tough in tight games, going 6-3 in games decided by two goals or less. They’ve also been tough defensively, recording four shutouts.
The Blue Devils won’t be a pushover, however, considering they lost 4-3 in overtime to the Yellowjackets back on Dec. 7. Stout comes in on a two-game winning streak and aims for an upset of the 11th-ranked team in the nation. UW-Superior, 5-2 and 4-3
UW-Eau Claire (8-12-1, 6-5) vs. UW-River Falls (11-9-1, 5-5-1)
The Blugolds are trying to get back on track after getting swept by Superior last week. The good news is they already have one win over River Falls this season, winning 3-0 on Dec. 7. The key to to success is a great defensive effort, something the Blugolds should get with Max Gutjahr in goal. He sports a 1.95 goals against average.
Speaking of goaltending, Brennan Boynton has been pretty good for the Falcons, owning a 2.54 goals against average. UW-River Falls, 3-2; UW-Eau Claire, 4-3
St. Anselm center Max Burum hopes to keep his line producing more goals as the Hawks seek another NE-10 title (Photo by Jim Stankiewicz)
With a comfortable lead in the conference standings and just four games remaining on the regular season schedule, the St. Anselm Hawks are not taking the final games of the season lightly in preparation for a NE-10 championship run. While the team has flourished in conference play and found new player combinations to create balanced scoring, a return to health from illness and injury are a must have for the final stretch run.
“We have had to make some adjustments in the lineup just due to a recent flu run through the team and some injuries impacting our depth,” said head coach Larry Rocha. “We have three defensemen out right now and are looking to get them and some other pieces back to get us ready for the final games of the conference schedule before the tournament. Meanwhile we have moved around some of our healthy bodies, and we are seeing some improved production from the new player groupings.”
One of those “new but old” groupings has been the line of Max Burum with Hunter Brackett and the return of Garrett Alberti but not in his normal center position but as a right wing. The line has taken off since their reunion eight games ago and all the players are enjoying the offensive skills and opportunities, they can create with their linemates.
“We had an injury that made us look as some different combinations and Garrett had played with Max and Hunter previously with some success,” noted Rocha. “Garrett is normally a center and a left shot, but we asked him to play right wing and they have really taken off in recent weeks including some big goals last weekend against Post.”
Brackett, a senior forward, has had a breakout year for the Hawks as he leads the team and conference in scoring with seventeen goals and thirty-four points overall. He has been effective in all situations including recording four power play goals as well as opening the scoring in games five times for the Hawks along with producing three game-winning goals.
“Hunter loves to shoot the puck,” state Rocha. “He has a great shot and always looks for the opportunity to shoot as he leads the team in shots on goal. This year, I think Hunter has become more a complete player in taking advantage of his skill to create opportunities for his teammates. Last week against Post, Hunter had the puck on a odd-man rush that turned into a 2-on-1 with Alberti as the trailer. Hunter made a move to look like he was going to shoot the puck, freezing the goaltender before he dished off the pass for Alberti to finish into an open net. That was a great example of his growth as a player. That group has been making the most of their opportunities and setting up each other for success.”
This weekend, the Hawks play their final home games of the season against second-place St. Michaels’s in a series that can secure a first-round bye and potentially the top spot in the standings for the regular season. While most teams might relish the advantage of home-ice, the Hawks are just 5-5-1 in the friendly confines of Sullivan Arena and that is an area of focus for the coaching staff entering the stretch run of the season.
“It is a conundrum,” said Rocha. “We have been better as a road team and I think part of that is when we go away, it is all business in preparing for the game and activites are tightly scheduled. We might be too comfortable at home with friends and family on campus and other distractions that we might not have the same focus. We had to play St. Michael’s earlier, on the road, on separate Tuesdays due to a change in the finals schedule, and we played pretty well earning a couple of wins. We know they are coming into our place looking to turn the tables on us. So now would be a very good time to make our very nice arena a difficult place to play for the opposition. You work very hard all season to earn the home-ice advantage – we need to make sure we are ready to play and take advantage of what we earned.”
The Hawks finish the regular season with a two-game series against cross-town rival Southern New Hampshire before likely enjoying a bye in the quarterfinal round of the NE-10 championship tournament. With a return to health and continued performance form new combinations, the Hawks hope to recapture the conference crown last won in the 2022-23 season.
Derek Humphreys is one of the top goal scorers in the NCHA and has helped Concordia put together a turnaround season. (Photo provided by Concordia Athletics)
Derek Humphreys had a lot of long days over the summer. He worked in a warehouse and then spent his free time shooting pucks.
Humphreys has seen that hard work pay off, establishing himself as one of the top scoring threats in the NCHA while helping the Concordia Falcons put together a turnaround season.
“The offseason for me wasn’t anything pretty,” Humphreys said. “I had a lot of long days working in a warehouse, filling out grocery orders, stacking boxes. After those long days, I’d head back home and hit the weight room and shoot pucks. It was definitely a grind, but it was something I enjoyed.”
The grind has no doubt been worth it.
Humphreys has scored 14 goals and tallied six assists in 21 games for the Falcons, who are 11-10, beating last year’s win total by three games and sit on the brink of their first winning campaign since the 2019-20 season.
“The coaching staff has done a great job of turning the program around and getting us going in the right direction” Humphreys said.
As for his personal success, he points to his teammates.
“It goes back to the team effort,” Humphreys said. “The guys around me have been awesome and are playing well. We are all working hard on and off the ice and I’m doing whatever I can to help the team.”
Humphreys started out playing baseball. He then got into hockey at the age of seven.
“There’s a WHL team called the Spokane Chiefs and I went to a game and came away feeling like maybe Ill give this a shot. I came home and asked my dad if I could try out,” Humphreys said.
What is interesting is that he had no idea his dad used to play hockey.
“The funny thing is he played growing up in Green Bay and played at Notre Dame and in Europe for a bit. I had (hockey) in my blood I guess. I started playing and never looked back.”
As for how Humphreys ended up in Wisconsin after growing up in the state of Washington, he just happened to get noticed while playing junior hockey.
“I finished up juniors in Mason City, Iowa, and had sent an email out to them. But they hadn’t seen it until they came to watch a different team that was playing us in the playoffs,” Humphreys said. “I had a good night and they added me to their list.”
Humphreys managed two goals and six assists his freshman year before scoring 10 goals and five assists last year.
He’s stepped up his game this year, playing a key role in Concordia being able to nearly match its win total (12) from the last two years combined.
Humphreys said the mindset has definitely changed and he’s having a blast.
“It’s been awesome,” Humphreys said. I have no complaints. It’s a great environment all the way around.”
Concordia is currently sixth in the NCHA standings. The Falcons have two weeks to go in the regular season and have a shot at making the league playoffs.
“We just have to keep our nose to the grindstone and not get too comfortable,” Humphreys said. “We have to put our heads down and get back to work, and keep working to get better. We’ll play our hearts out and see what happens.”
Holy Cross’ Liam McLinskey has been a key player this season for the Crusaders (photo: Thomas Wolf Photography).
Like a lot of hockey players, Holy Cross senior forward Liam McLinskey’s journey to conference MVP and All-American wasn’t a straight line.
After two seasons of junior hockey with the Jersey Hitmen of the NCDC where he put up 119 points in 94 games, McLinskey was recruited by Quinnipiac and entered his freshman year in 2021.
But he found it hard to crack the lineup for the Bobcats, a talented team that went on to win the national championship the following season.
“At the end of the year, in my meeting with the coaches, it was pretty clear to me that I probably wasn’t going to play the next year,” said McLinskey. “They were an older team and pretty deep.”
The Pearl River, N.Y, native entered the transfer portal soon after, and was snatched up quickly by Holy Cross coach Bill Riga, who previously recruited McLinskey when Riga was an assistant at Quinnipiac.
“I talked to my family, and talked to my advisor,” said McLinskey. “Coach Riga was first to reach out.”
McLinskey’s first season at Holy Cross, his sophomore year, started slowly, with five goals scored by Christmas. But in the second half, things started to pick up, culminating with a record nine goals in the post season, helping the Crusaders to a spot in the championship game for the first time since 2006.
“Confidence was a major part of it,” said McLinskey. “It took a while getting to know the guys and finding my game. For a whole year (previously) I was practicing but not playing and it took a while to get back in the swing of things.”
McLinskey finished the season with 21 goals and 4 assists, and he complemented that the following year by scoring 18 goals and raising his assist total to 28.
“I’m always trying to get better,” he said. “I’m looking for chances to move the puck better and make plays to help the team.”
If his sophomore season put McLinskey on everyone’s radar, his junior year saw him named a top-10 Hobey Baker finalist, Holy Cross’ first ever. He was also named an All-American, just the second time a Crusader received that honor.
McLinskey, who was also the Atlantic Hockey player of the year in 2023-24, currently has 17 goals and 13 assists. He scored his 100th career point on Jan. 25.
As his college career winds down, McLinskey, an economics major, says the support of his family has helped him immensely.
“They’re at every home game,” he said. “It’s a three or four hour drive, so it’s manageable. They even even flew out to Air Force this season to see me play.”
McLinskey says some of his fondest memories of his college career have been the Crusaders’ playoff runs, which ended a win short of a championship in 2023 and an exit in the semifinals last season.
“The first playoff run (in 2023), we came together as a team and it was a lot of fun. Last year too, we went on a really good run.”
This year, the Crusaders control their own destiny. Win out, and they’ll be the top seed in the conference tournament. Holy Cross hasn’t lost since Jan. 10 (7-0-1).
“We’re also on a little bit of a run right now,” said McLinskey. “We got some guys back from injury and playing well.”
When asked if he’s watching the standings, McLinskey said,”It’s definitely something that we’re aware of, but we’re trying not to think ahead. We’re focused on the next game.”
McLinskey says he’s also not thinking too far ahead about what his post-college career will look like.
“I’m not totally sure yet,” he said. “I want to continue to play hockey, but I’m not sure what path I will go down. I’ll figure it out after our season ends.”
Hunter Brackett leads the NE-10 in scoring and will be looking to add to his totals in rivalry games with St. Michael’s this weekend (Photo by Jim Stankiewicz)
When the calendar turns to February, it is go time for college hockey! There are less than a handful of weekends remaining in the regular season and that means that playoff eligibility, seeding and home-ice berths are all on the line across conferences where there isn’t much of a gap between a lot of teams fighting for the same thing. That translates to some intense hockey games coming down the stretch because and wins and points mean so much. While a few teams have some gap in the standings, it isn’t time to rest on one’s laurels just yet as there are a lot of points still left, and nothing is locked in any conference in the east right now.
Last week my picks finished at an almost perfect 11-1-0 (.916) which is looking like playoff caliber performance at this point in the season. Overall, my season numbers are at 99-43-7 (.688) which only means I can’t let down now and expect that I will hit my season-long goal of a 70% success rate. Here are this week’s game picks for the east:
Thursday, February 6, 2024
Massachusetts-Dartmouth v. Salem State
The Vikings have proven to be a tough team to play against and especially at “The Rockett.” Lots of talented scorers to challenge the goaltenders and Tyler Stewart (UMD) and Landon Greatorex (SSU) are two of the best around this season. Overtime thriller for the home team – Salem State, 5-4
Worcester State v. Anna Maria
The Lancers are on a roll having won three in a row but face a red hot AmCat squad that still has designs on capturing the regular season title. Home ice is exactly where AMC wants to play and Matthew Gilbert and company chalk up another win to keep the positive momentum going – AMC, 4-3
Friday, February 7, 2024
Alvernia v. King’s
The Monarchs are certainly among the hottest teams in the MAC as they enter the weekend on a four-game win streak and aspirations of moving up in the standings. The Golden Wolves are not too far ahead in points to think this is an easy win and the home team shows why playing your best brand of hockey at this time of the year matters – King’s, 3-2
(5) Curry v. Wentworth
The Leopards knocked off Endicott last weekend, so confidence is high for the home team. Best way to lower the confidence is to shut the door on scoring and Curry has one of the best in Shane Soderwall in goal. Not an easy win but a win nonetheless for the Colonels – Curry, 3-1
Albertus Magnus v. Skidmore
The Falcons are coming off a huge home weekend where they knocked off Hobart but now move to the big sheet where a resurgent Thoroughbred squad is trying to get their game right for the post-season. Kaeden Patrick and company find just enough offense to earn the big win and NEHC points they need to move up – Skidmore, 3-2
St. Michael’s v. St. Anselm
The Hawks and Purple Knights are the two top teams in the conference so this one beyond the rivalry matters quite a bit for playoff positioning. Hunter Brackett has been a scoring machine for the home team while David Ciancio and Case Kantgias produce from the blueline for the visitors. Fun game to watch with the Hawks earning an OT win – St. Anselm, 4-3
Potsdam v. (14) Cortland
It maybe took a little longer than some might have expected to see the Red Dragons atop the SUNYAC standings but that is where they want to stay, and the Bears will find that out with the home team starting fast. Too much firepower for the home team that is still looking to establish their presence in front of the home crowd – Cortland, 6-3
Saturday, February 8, 2025
(2) Utica v. Chatham
The Cougars have made things very difficult for opposing teams on their home ice so the Pioneers best come to play for the full sixty minutes. Think things will be low-scoring here with special teams being the difference for the visitors – Utica, 3-2
Salve Regina v. Norwich
The Cadets win or lose in very low-scoring games and will need to find a bit more offense if they expect a “W” against the Seahawks. Joe Johnson and Clark Kerner show up large on the scoresheet in another one-goal game that goes the Cadets way on home ice – Norwich, 4-3
Williams v. (13) Trinity
The Ephs have found their game in recent weeks and sit in a logjam of teams desperately battling for every point in the standings. The Bantams are on home ice and still are within range of Hamilton if they can win out and get some help from another desperate team. Spencer Korona leads the way in a Bantam win – Trinity, 3-2
Stevenson v. Neumann
The Mustangs captured a big win over Wilkes last weekend and really want to keep the momentum going. Evan Beers and Liam McCanney will provide enough offense with Ford DeLoss backstopping another key MAC win – Stevenson, 4-3
Johnson & Wales v. (9) University of New England
The Wildcats have quietly moved into the last home playoff position but face a juggernaut on their home ice. Ryan Kuzmich and Drew Olivieri are too much for the visitors as a close game shifts late with a Nor’easters win – UNE, 4-1
No doubt there will be lots of scoreboard watching across the region as teams look to take care of their own business and hope to get some help elsewhere in the conference. Should be a lot of fun for fans everywhere – “Drop the Puck!”
Reese Laubach has had a strong season up front for the Nittany Lions (photo: Penn State Athletics).
If you need proof of how good the Big Ten is this season, look no further than sixth-place Penn State.
Since the start of the calendar year, the Nittany Lions are 5-2-3, having most recently split a pair of games on the road against No. 13 Michigan. The other loss in that stretch came at home against No. 2 Michigan State Jan. 10, and Penn State rebounded the following night to tie the first-place Spartans and take the extra shootout point.
Also in that span, the Nittany Lions took five of a six possible points when they hosted No. 9 Ohio State Jan. 24-25.
The Nittany Lions needed a strong January after a rough first half in which they hadn’t yet registered a conference win. Their second half has been fueled by the return of goaltender Arsenii Sergeev, who suffered an injury in a Nov. 16 game against Wisconsin and resumed play Jan. 3 in the Big Ten’s Frozen Confines event held in Wrigley Field.
“Obviously, Arsenii came back after Christmas, which is a big help,” said Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky.
After tying Notre Dame 3-3 in Wrigley Field, the Nittany Lions finally got their first B1G win of the season two nights later, a 3-0 shutout in South Bend in which Sergeev made 34 saves. In his 10 games back since injury, Sergeev is 5-2-3 with two shutouts and a 91.1 save percentage.
“Arsenii coming back has made a big difference to our mentality,” said Gadowsky.
With six freshmen seeing significant playing time and three sophomores among Penn State’s scoring leaders, Gadowsky said that there may have been some things to get used to in the first half of the season.
“I think we’re just settling into it,” said Gadowsky. “We have a lot of young players playing some key roles and learning.”
Among the younger players making a significant impact for the Nittany Lions this season is sophomore Aiden Fink, whose average of 1.42 points per game is second-best in the nation. Fink had 15 goals and 19 assists in 34 games last season. Through 18 games this season, Fink has 18 goals and 18 assists. Against the Wolverines last weekend, Fink had two goals in the win and a very pretty shorthanded marker in the third period of Saturday’s loss.
Saturday’s game looked a lot closer than the 7-3 score would indicate. With a 3-2 lead at the start of the third, the Wolverines broke open the game with three even-strength goals scored within a span of just under two minutes and 30 seconds early in the period.
“You certainly don’t have to give up a lot of chances to pay for them,” said Gadowsky, who added that the Nittany Lions played better in Saturday’s loss than Friday’s win. That Saturday loss halted Penn State’s six-game unbeaten streak.
“The players in this league are very skilled. They’re going to find a way to finish, so I think the margin of error is a lot thinner right now because any mistake can end up on the back of your net very quickly.”
Gadowsky lauds the overall depth of the Big Ten and is quick to point out that the conference has had an interleague win percentage that’s topped .700 for three seasons running. There is a significant difference this year, though, from seasons past in terms of scoring.
Five of the nation’s top 12 points leaders play in the Big Ten. Michigan State’s Isaac Howard leads the nation with an average of 1.43 ponts per game, followed immediately by Fink. Minnesota’s Jimmy Snuggerud (1.37) is fifth. Notre Dame’s Cole Knuble (1.23, 11th) and Wisconsin’s Quinn Finley (1.21, 12th) round out that five among the top dozen.
There are only three conferences represented among the top 15 points scorers nationally – Big Ten, Hockey East, NCHC – and the only players in that list whose teams are currently unranked in the USCHO Poll and not among the top 20 teams in the PairWise are Fink and Knuble.
“It’s an extremely competitive conference,” said Gadowsky. “It’s fantastic. Obviously, it’s great for fans, it’s great for development and I think it’s a big reason why a lot of players come here.
“Every night is extremely important and going to be extremely competitive, and you have to be playing your best hockey to win. You don’t win in this league by playing well. You have to play very well to win in this conference and it certainly keeps you on your toes.”
This weekend, the Nittany Lions travel to play No. 19 Wisconsin, another B1G team looking for a little second-half redemption. The Badgers have improved significantly as the season has progressed, but January hasn’t rewarded them much for that effort. Last weekend, Wisconsin dropped two games to No. 3 Minnesota, and Wisconsin 1-4-1 in Big Ten games since Jan. 3.
None of that matters, said Gadowsky.
“You’re not going to play one game in the Big Ten that’s going to be a cakewalk,” he said. “Not one.”
The Nittany Lions will be looking for their first win against Wisconsin since a 6-1 home win over the Badgers Feb. 24, 2023. That’s a streak of seven consecutive Wisconsin wins in this series.
The Badgers are in fifth place in the Big Ten with 24 points, one behind fourth-place Michigan. In the conference playoffs, the top seed gets a first-round bye and the next three teams host a first-round series, so the Badgers have some added incentive in this series, especially since the Wolverines are playing at Michigan State Friday and against the Spartans at Little Caesars Arena Saturday.
Gadowsky said that the Nittany Lions know what’s in store for them this weekend in the Kohl Center.
“We expect the same thing we get every weekend from the Big Ten,” said Gadowsky. “It is very special, it’s very intense, there’s a lot up for grabs, and it is a lot of fun.
“It’s not great for the color of coaches’ hair, but it’s really good entertainment.”
Friday’s game begins at 7 p.m. CT with Saturday’s game starting an hour earlier. Both games will be streamed online on Big Ten Plus.
Cutter Gauthier played the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons for Boston College (photo: John Quackenbos).
The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston has announced that 26 players are semifinalists for the 72nd Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born Division I college hockey player in New England.
The nation’s oldest nationally-recognized college hockey honor, the Walter Brown Award was established in 1953 by the members of the 1933 Massachusetts Rangers, the first American team ever to win the World Championship Tournament. Brown coached the Rangers to the title in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where the team defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime in the championship game.
Sixteen teams are represented in the slate of candidates that includes 19 forwards, three defensemen, and four goaltenders. Seventeen semifinalist nominees are from teams in Hockey East, five nominees are from ECAC Hockey and four are from Atlantic Hockey America. Boston College leads the way with four semifinalists, while Boston University, Brown, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Northeastern, and Quinnipiac each have two.
The 2024 winner was Boston College forward Cutter Gauthier.
The following is the complete list of the 2025 semifinalists with stats through Feb. 2, 2025.
Bentley: Junior goalie Connor Hasley (North Tonawanda, NY) 2.28 GAA, .912 save pct.
Boston College: Sophomore forward Gabe Perreault (Hinsdale, IL) 9-23-32; freshman forward James Hagens (Hauppauge, NY) 6-21-27; sophomore forward Ryan Leonard (Amherst, MA) 22-8-30; and sophomore goalie Jacob Fowler (Melbourne, FL) 1.63 GAA, .938 save pct.
Boston University: Junior forward Quinn Hutson (Chicago, IL) 15-15-30; freshman defenseman Cole Hutson (North Barrington, IL) 5-17-22; and freshman forward Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, MA) 15-7-22
Brown: Junior forward Ryan St. Louis (Old Greenwich, CT) 5-10-15; and sophomore goalie Lawton Zacher (Buffalo, NY) 2.17 GAA, .930 save pct.
Connecticut: Sophomore forward Jake Richard (Jacksonville, FL) 8-12-20; and sophomore forward Joey Muldowney (Lake View, NY) 13-12-25
Stonehill: Sophomore forward Anthony Galante (Morganville, NJ) 12-9-21.
Vermont: Freshman forward Max Strand (Roseau, MN) 7-13-20.
“This is a superb field of semifinalists. There’s plenty of hockey yet to be played, with almost six weeks remaining in the regular season, so we’ll be following them all very closely,” said committee chairman Tim Costello.
The Gridiron Club will announce the winner of the 73rd Walter Brown Award in the final week of March.
BU players celebrate a goal from Monday’s Beanpot semifinal win over Harvard (photo: Fia McCarty).
Should Boston University be fortunate enough to win the Beanpot for the 31st time on Monday, freshman forward Cole Hutson knows exactly what he’s going to do with the iconic trophy — figuratively, if probably not literally.
“Super excited, obviously,” said Hutson, who is the younger brother of former BU standout Lane Hutson, who currently plays in the NHL for Montreal. “Got a chance to do something Lane hasn’t done, so hopefully we can get a win and I can hold it over his head.”
So now Cole Hutson, who scored twice in BU’s 7-1 rout of Harvard in Monday night’s semifinal, has a chance to help bring the Terriers their first Beanpot title since 2022, predating Lane Hutson’s time at the school, where he was a first-team All American in both of his two seasons. Junior forward Devin Kaplan also scored twice vs. Harvard.
In BU’s way Monday night will be longtime rival Boston College — the 23rd all-time Beanpot championship meeting between the Eagles and the Terriers (BU holds a 12-10 edge). BC, which earned its way to Monday night’s final with an 8-2 win over Northeastern, is No. 1 in the latest USCHO men’s D-I poll but will be looking for its 21st Beanpot title and first since 2016 — the longest drought of any of the four annual participants.
“It’s been a few years,” BC’s third-year coach Greg Brown said. “They’ve heard enough stories. They watched other BC teams do well before them, so they want to have a chance at that, be a part of it. The last couple of years we didn’t get to the final game, so you could feel the gravity, the importance of this game (vs. Northeastern). The older guys were pushing that message before the game and the team responded well.”
For BU, the opportunity is there not only to add another Beanpot to their record haul, but to avenge a two-game sweep of a home-and-home series at the hands of BC just two weekends earlier. BC won 6-2 at home on Jan. 24 and 2-0 at BU the next night.
“We just made too many mistakes the first night, really careless mistakes with the puck,” said fourth-year Boston University coach Jay Pandolfo. “Their transition game’s so good, and (we) didn’t do a good job with it. Second night, I thought we were more detailed. We still made some puck-management mistakes the second night, (but) we were a more competitive team the second night we played them.”
Before Monday night’s clash, BC and BU have regular-season business to take care of on the Friday between, which Pandolfo said is not necessarily an unwelcome scenario.
“I think it actually helps,” said Pandolfo. “You’re not thinking about the (Beanpot) final all week. You have some other things to focus on. It’s actually a good distraction that we have that game on Friday so we can focus on that and not worry too much about Monday night.”
Both BC and BU will be on the road Friday — BU is at Merrimack and BC, currently No. 1 in the USCHO men’s D-I poll, will be at New Hampshire.
Brown said he also welcomes the opportunity to play a regular-season game and pump the breaks on the Beanpot hoopla.
“You have to kind of temper emotions,” Brown said. “If you think about the Beanpot final all week, you might be pretty mentally tired by Monday. So we’re going to put all our attention right now on things we can do better from this game.”
NOTES:
Monday’s Beanpot championship will be the third of potentially five meetings between the schools this season (rematches in the Hockey East and NCAA tournaments are more than plausible).
The Terriers will be hoping recent history repeats itself. Last year, BC also swept a home-and-home series just one weekend before the Beanpot and BU won 4-3 when the teams met in the semifinals.
Monday will mark the first time BC has advanced into the title game since 2019 and the first final vs. BU since 2016, a 1-0 overtime win for the Eagles.
BU’s 2022 Beanpot win was the only one in a six-tournament stretch won by a school other than Northeastern.
The final will air live on NESN following the conclusion of the consolation game between Northeastern and Harvard, which starts at 4:30 p.m.
Western Michigan captain Tim Washe has compiled 17 points in 24 games this season for the Broncos (photo: Colorado College Athletics).
There’s still more than a month left of regular-season hockey yet to be played, but as now, the NCHC is on course to have three of its teams play in this year’s NCAA tournament.
That could certainly change, especially if a lower-seeded team goes on a tear at just the right time and wins the conference’s playoff title or, depending on the team, picks off the right opponents. Unpredictable as that might be, it would be a fool’s errand to say it won’t happen.
It’s only coming up on three years ago that Minnesota Duluth won the 2022 NCHC Frozen Faceoff as the No. 4 seed. St. Cloud State did the same in 2015, and in 2014, Denver won as the sixth seed.
The landscape is a little different now, of course. Western Michigan is one of the best teams in college hockey, and if the NCAA tournament began today, the Broncos and Denver would both be in line for No. 2 regional seeds. Arizona State would also make the cut, in the Sun Devils’ first season as a conference member.
Could we still have more NCHC teams fight their way into contention? Time will tell, and you already know to follow my colleague Jim Connelly’s weekly Bracketology columns to see who might be going where come late March. But for now, let’s take a closer look at the NCHC’s contenders.
Western Michigan (No. 5 in the PairWise Rankings): The Broncos are fresh off a road split against a Colorado College team that appears to be course-correcting, picking up wins over ranked opponents in two of the Tigers’ last three games. But WMU is generally great on the road (8-3-0) and is 9-1-1 at home, too, leaving the Broncos in good shape down the stretch. They have a reasonably favorable remaining schedule, too, with only two games against teams currently in line for a NCAA tournament spot (at Arizona State, Feb. 21-22).
Denver (tied with Boston University for 8th): The Pioneers did split a road series two weeks ago against a Minnesota Duluth team that has been struggling for consistency, but on the whole, what’s not to like about the defending national champions? They’re 4-1-1 in their last six games, and after only falling in a 16-round (sixteen!) overtime shootout last Friday against Omaha, DU came back the next night and scored 11 unanswered goals in an 11-2 win. Imagine putting seven past your conference’s reigning goaltender of the month. Or don’t, because the Pioneers just did it.
Arizona State (13th): I’m not sure there’s a team I’m higher on at this point than the Sun Devils. After dealing with several injury concerns with top-tier players earlier this season, ASU has won five of its last six games. Here’s hoping that Artem Shlaine makes a quick but safe return to the lineup, following a scary hit last Saturday at Miami that sent him awkwardly flying into the bottom of the boards behind the RedHawks’ net. He is listed as day-to-day, which, for whatever it’s worth, is a far better prognosis than it could’ve been.
North Dakota (22nd): It’s hard to know what to make of the Fighting Hawks. They’re hovering above the .500 mark both home and away, but after losing three of four against Arizona State and Western Michigan, UND came back last week and took five points with a regulation win and shootout victory at St. Cloud State. The Hawks still have Denver and WMU left to play, as well as Omaha and Duluth down the stretch, but I’m very interested to see how UND’s home series this weekend with Colorado College will go. If the Hawks manage a couple of convincing wins there, bundle that with their 6-2 win Saturday at SCSU and you’ve got a team looking plenty dangerous.
The NCHC’s chances for additional NCAA tournament teams goes down considerably after UND: St. Cloud State is 29th in the PairWise, with Omaha 33rd, Colorado College 35th, Duluth 37th and Miami tied for second-bottom at 62nd.
Augustana men’s hockey head coach Garrett Raboin joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger discussing challenges and successes of starting a Division I college hockey program from scratch and into its second year.
Raboin discusses the unique journey of assembling a team, the benefits brought by the transfer portal, and the impact of a strong goaltender. He also reflects on his coaching influences and experiences, including his role in two gold medal-winning World Junior teams. The conversation touches on building a program culture, the strategic fit within the CCHA, and the advantages of a smaller yet vibrant home arena. Raboin emphasizes the importance of regional and international recruitment and looks ahead to the team’s ongoing development and upcoming pivotal games.
This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Get your tickets now at ncaa.com/frozenfour
Bowling Green goalie Christian Stoever has been a top player this season for the Falcons (photo: Hailey Pettit-Mastroianni/BGSU Athletics).
Bowling Green picked the best time to be playing its best hockey.
Since being swept in their road series against Minnesota State on Dec. 6-7 in Mankato, Minn., the Falcons have turned the corner. They’ve lost just once in regulation since then (a 4-3 decision against Ferris State in Big Rapids in January) and have taken points from every single series since then.
It’s something that first-year coach Dennis Williams said he wanted to happen.
“I think what’s really important to understand for our group was that we had to get points every weekend, and we’ve been able to do that,” Williams said Monday, following their five-point weekend against Northern Michigan. “I think our guys have done a really nice job of, I always say, be happy, but never be satisfied. We’re just worrying about us. We’ve been able to come out and give our best effort, and so I’ve been really happy with our group, and happy the way we’re playing.”
The Falcons (now 14-9-4 overall and 10-6-4 in CCHA play) have played well enough in the second half of the season that they’ve pulled themselves up to fourth place in the CCHA standings–currently, they’re in position for home ice in the first round of the Mason Cup playoffs and they have an outside shot at a MacNaughton Cup title if other results go their way.
“I think everybody goes out at the beginning of the year with the same mindset. Everybody wants to win the league. Everybody wants to get home ice, but we’ve barely spoken about that as a team,” Williams said. “We just talk about the process of it, and the way we play will be a byproduct or an indication of what we do with our details and habits.
One thing the Falcons have been able to control of late: Keeping the puck out of the net. Senior goaltender Christian Stoever, since returning to the net midway through the season following an injury, has been one of the best netminders in college hockey. He’s 9-1-3 with the nation’s best save percentage (.948) and is in the top 10 nationally in goals against average (1.86). His only official loss in that span was an overtime game against Augustana in which the Falcons failed to score a goal to back him up and lost 1-0 in the 3-on-3.
“Christian has done a really nice job giving us an opportunity to win each night. And that’s what you need out of your goalies,” Williams said. “He’s been able to make the saves he’s supposed to make and mix in some of the big ones for our group, and he’s done just that.
“But we’ve been happy with both our goalies, both him and Cole Moore, and it’s great to see Christian back in his last year, playing the way he is right now, and giving us a chance. So we’re very fortunate to have two very capable goalies that we can depend and rely on. And obviously it’s nice to see Christian back playing to his caliber and to his level of hockey.”
That weekend against Augustana aside, BGSU has been getting some good offensive contributions to back their goaltenders up. In every other game since the start of 2025, the Falcons have scored at least three goals. Brody Waters currently leads the league with 14 goals, while Ryan O’Hara’s 23 points is No. 8 in the CCHA. Six other players have double-digit points, including sophomore Ben Doran, who plays on a line with Waters and O’Hara.
“Brody’s put together a really good string here, and it’s been an integral part of our power play, Right now, the line of Brody Waters, Ryan O’Hara and Ben Doran, has been playing together the last few weekends and have contributed five on five and on the power play,” Williams said. “But I think what’s really important is you’ve got to have depth. You’ve got to have multiple lines contributing. And I think what we’re still figuring out is what lines are going to gel and build together and contribute. As of right now, I’ve been really happy.”
The Falcons have three more league series remaining. This weekend they host St. Thomas. Then, following a bye week, they travel to Bemidji for two games against the Beavers before returning home to host Lake Superior State.
“It’s great to know that we’re in contention, maybe, to have home ice, but we also know there’s six games left,” Williams said. “You can go from where we are now to first, or to eighth. So I don’t know if we’re really in a position to really think anything different than what we control, and that’s all we’re really focusing on.”
Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com recap last week’s contentious series between Ohio State and Minnesota and look at the games that made a change at the top of ECAC Hockey.
Boston University moved four points ahead of UConn atop the Hockey East standings with an overtime win over Northeastern on Tuesday, and the Terriers and UConn meet on Friday.
Michigan’s feasibility study was reported on this week by mlive.com, and Nicole and Todd share their thoughts on the results as well as answer a reader question about the impacts of NIL on women’s hockey transfers.
This week’s Bracketology has some changes, and we wrap up with a look ahead at this week’s games.
The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for our mailbag? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].
Union took a 2-1 win over Brown last Saturday (photo: Dominique Del Prete).
February is usually a month wrought with hand-wringing within the college hockey community.
Teams and programs need points more than ever to advance their postseason dreams into optimal positions while teams hanging around the national Pairwise Rankings bubble can’t let their own clutch results slip through fingertips. One or two missed opportunities is the difference between ended national championship dreams and a trip to the 16-team bracket in March, and scoreboard-watching is tempting regardless of how many people deny their nightly glances.
In New York’s Capital District, Union coach Josh Hauge, like 11 other ECAC teams not named Quinnipiac, understands both the challenge and luxury of not having to worry about that Pairwise battle. His Garnet Chargers hold the 16th-best winning percentage in the country and a 15-9-2 overall record, but playing the schedule at hand meant Union entered February as the No. 40 team in the overall Pairwise Rankings – nowhere near a national tournament berth.
Yet few teams hold the dark horse card better than the team playing its final season at Messa Rink. Two regulation losses since Jan. 1 have the Garnet Chargers surging through the ECAC standings, and a five-point weekend against Yale and Brown capped a week in which the Mayor’s Cup trophy returned to Schenectady with a 3-2 overtime win over Rensselaer. Hardly an overlooked team in league circles, Hauge has a team believing in what’s possible, and what’s possible is a potential and hopeful run to the Herb Brooks Arena after the calendar switches to March.
“We’re still trying to figure out how good we can be,” said the coach over the weekend performance. “I think there are times where we’re playing great hockey, but for us, it’s still a battle of doing it shift-in and shift-out while having the mindset of taking that next step.”
Winning five points from Southern New England’s Ivy League travel partners required a little bit of both. Friday night’s game required two comebacks after William Dineen and Micah Berger staked the Elis to a 2-0 lead in the first 13 minutes, but both Drew Sutton and Nate Hanley scored to knot the game before the first period ended. Falling behind again in the second period on Ronan O’Donnell’s goal, Cullen Ferguson scored in the first four minutes of the third period to send the game into overtime, where Hanley and Brandon Buhr overcame Berger’s first round shootout goal to take the second point.
One night later, Union changed its tune by opening the scoring with a pair of goals, but Zackary Tonelli brought Brown within a goal after Caden Villegas and Buhr tallied their strikes in the first two periods. A goaltending duel between Kyle Chauvette and Tyler Shea ended with the Garnet Chargers registering one extra save than the Bears as part of an old-school game featuring 12 different penalties and eight power plays for a Brown team that failed to convert any extra-attacker goals – though Tonelli’s goal was short-handed, for what it’s worth.
“It was a credit to Yale,” said Hauge, “because they came out really hard. They took the game to us a little bit, and it took a little bit for us to really push back. But I thought it was a good response, since we were down 2-0 and able to battle back. Getting to 2-1 was really important and put us in the spot for later on in the game.
“[The messaging] really came from the locker room. At this time of the season, [leadership] is important because you know every point is important and there are only so many games left at Messa, so we had to make sure we’re competing in every single one of them.”
The results were undeniable for a side that opened the 2025 portion of its season in seventh place with a clear ceiling forming over its head. The turn of the year had eliminated some of the parity poking through the middle of ECAC’s league table by returning Quinnipiac and Clarkson to the top three spots in the league, and Colgate’s second-place presence with Dartmouth and Cornell floating around the fourth-place transition spot cocooned a first-round bye away from teams like Princeton, Harvard and Union. The Garnet Chargers had games in hand against everyone, but their preseason eighth-place finish was more prophetic after the first half ended with sweeping losses at Princeton and Quinnipiac and a pair of non-conference losses at Vermont.
The road trips to Brown and Yale weren’t exactly kind spots to start the second half of the year, either. Union hadn’t won a regulation game in Providence since before COVID-19 and hadn’t won in New Haven since the first round of the ill-fated 2020 conference tournament. A combined 6-11-3 over the last 20 meetings against both teams included a 2-7-1 mark against Yale, and whatever success started on Friday nights in the first half of this season hadn’t yet carried over to Saturday’s 3-5-0 record.
Ripping off a pair of hard-fought wins under those circumstances therefore created a launching pad for the second half of the year, and Union hasn’t been swept over any of its subsequent weekends. A loss at Clarkson and a loss at home against Dartmouth were sticking points, but an 8-5 win at St. Lawrence brought a road split from the North Country before a 4-1 win against Harvard gained space in the hunt for a first-round home game.
Then came the Mayor’s Cup win over the Engineers and the five-point weekend against Brown and Yale.
“These are guys that stayed with the program after there was a coaching change,” said Hauge, “and they really wanted to leave it in a better spot than what they were already a part of from the beginning. They wanted to make sure this team and this program was in a really good spot, and they take a ton of pride in [building Union hockey]. They’ve put us in a good stretch here to be competing for some – and playing in – some meaningful games down the stretch.”
In a year of improbabilities in ECAC, Union now holds a 40 percent chance of gaining a first-round bye. A last home playoff game at Messa is a virtual lock for at least the first round, and a win moves the likelihood of a best-of-three quarterfinal series north of 50 percent. Anything better than a 50-50 finish in the final eight games of the season increases those likelihoods, and there’s still a very good chance at a top-two finish with an outside shot at the Cleary Cup, though the remaining games still include four games against the Cornell-Colgate duo with a home series against Quinnipiac and Princeton and a road trip to Harvard and Dartmouth sandwiched in between.
In other words, Union’s got a great chance, but it’s because all of the remaining games are against the teams it needs to beat or pass.
“We’re strictly focused on our Friday night opponent [right now],” said Hauge, “and we’ll try to get dialed in. As a staff, we’ll transition to Saturday, but we don’t want the guys to worry about anything other than Friday night, and then on the bus to wherever we have to go after that, that’s when we start focusing on Saturday.”
***
As a reminder, Union hockey is playing this season in honor of its broadcaster, Matt DuBrey, who was diagnosed with leukemia before the season. He’s continuing that battle, and a GoFundMe continues to support Matt and his family. For more information, visit the link for updates and how to donate to Matt as he continues his fight.
Augustana swept Lake Superior State over the weekend, putting the Vikings in first place in the CCHA standings (photo: Kenzie Schmidt).
Welcome to Week 4 of Bracketology.
Each week from now until Selection Sunday, March 23, I will outline the current 16 teams in the men’s NCAA Division I tournament and attempt to seed a bracket based on the current field.
This past weekend, a few teams really helped themselves with victories. Maine, which played a single game against bubble-team Massachusetts, won 3-2 and moved into one of the top four overall seeds in the NCAA field.
Quinnipiac, which is currently the top ECAC team (and for the purposes of this exercise has been the ECAC representative) moved from the tenuous bubble of the PairWise up to 12th. There is quite a gap from Quinnipiac to the current 11th team UMass Lowell, but it is always better to be at the top of the bubble than the bottom.
Augustana, with a pair of victories over Lake Superior State, now sports the best winning percentage in the CCHA. For the purposes of this exercise, Augustana is the CCHA representative as no team is in the top 16 of the PairWise.
All that said, here are the 16 teams who would qualify for the NCAA tournament if the season ended today:
1. Boston College*
2. Michigan State*
3. Minnesota
4. Maine
5. Western Michigan*
6. Connecticut
7. Providence
8. Denver
9. Boston University
10. UMass Lowell
11. Ohio State
12. Quinnipiac*
13. Arizona State
14. Michigan
15. Augustana*
16. Sacred Heart*
* – Indicates team that currently has the top conference winning percentage in their respective conference. While each conference is awarded an autobid for its tournament champion, for the purposes of this exercise we will use the first-place team (based on winning %) to receive the autobid.
With the field of 16 in place, we can now seed the four regions using basic bracket integrity (1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, etc.).
1. Boston College
8. Denver
9. Boston University
16. Sacred Heart
2. Michigan State
7. Providence
10. UMass Lowell
15. Augustana
3. Minnesota
6. Connecticut
11. Ohio State
14. Michigan
4. Maine
5. Western Michigan
12. Quinnipiac
13. Arizona State
As a reminder and also for those who aren’t regular readers of Bracketology, there is one thing that the committee seems to avoid at all costs and that is first-round matchups between teams from the same conference. In the above we have two and both are in the same part of the bracket as 3 Minnesota can’t face 14 Michigan and 7 Providence shouldn’t pair with 10 UMass Lowell.
Let’s start with breaking up Providence and Lowell. This is pretty simple: swap 10 UMass Lowell for 12 Quinnipiac. It’s actually the only swap you can make as any other will still create a matchup of Hockey East teams.
The second conflict is a little trickier to break up Michigan and Minnesota. Ideally, you would align Augustana with Minnesota as that game is almost guaranteed to be played in Fargo, N.D., a little more than three hours from Augustana’s campus in Sioux Falls, S.D. But a simple swap of Michigan and Augustana creates another Big Ten matchup of Michigan and Michigan State.
So how about we swap THREE of the No. 4 seeds? The only one that shouldn’t be touched is the lowest seed in the tournament. That should be reserved for the overall number one seed, Boston College. But the other three can be swapped, so I would pair 15 Augustana vs. 3 Minnesota, 14 Michigan vs. 4 Maine and 13 Arizona State vs. 2 Michigan State.
With that, we have the following bracket:
1. Boston College
8. Denver
9. Boston University
16. Sacred Heart
2. Michigan State
7. Providence
12. Quinnipiac
13. Arizona State
3. Minnesota
6. Connecticut
11. Ohio State
15. Augustana
4. Maine
5. Western Michigan
10. UMass Lowell
14. Michigan
With this bracket in place, Let’s assign regions to each four-team group. When considering this, we must place host schools in the region they are hosting. Right now, none of the four hosts are in the field (New Hampshire, Bowling Green, North Dakota and Penn State). So that’s not an issue this week.
Boston College is the top seed and should play closest to home in Manchester, N.H. Michigan State is the second seed and the closest region is Toledo, Ohio, less than two hours from Lansing. Minnesota is the third overall seed and would head to Fargo, N.D., which leaves Maine to play in Allentown, Pa.
That gives us the following:
Manchester Region
1. Boston College
2. Denver
3. Boston University
4. Sacred Heart
Toledo Region
1. Michigan State
2. Providence
3. Quinnipiac
4. Arizona State
Fargo Region
1. Minnesota
2. Connecticut
3. Ohio State
4. Augustana
Allentown Region
1. Maine
2. Western Michigan
3. UMass Lowell
4. Michigan
Let’s look at how attendance should be in each region. Manchester is fine with BC, BU and Sacred Heart. Toledo should be okay with both Michigan State plus Arizona State has a large global alumni base. Minnesota and Augustana will draw the attendance in Fargo.
The region of concern is Allentown, just like it was last week. Maine and Michigan will bring small crowds, but I don’t know about Western Michigan and UMass Lowell. But there could be a solution.
There is a potential of making another swap of Quinnipiac and Ohio State to set up an opening round game between Quinnipiac and Connecticut, and if that were to occur, it would make sense to move those two teams to Allentown (too bad Bridgeport, Conn., isn’t hosting this year?!). But that requires more movement than is required and is likely overthinking things. So my final bracket
Manchester Region
1. Boston College
2. Denver
3. Boston University
4. Sacred Heart
Toledo Region
1. Michigan State
2. Providence
3. Quinnipiac
4. Arizona State
Fargo Region
1. Minnesota
2. Connecticut
3. Ohio State
4. Augustana
Allentown Region
1. Maine
2. Western Michigan
3. UMass Lowell
4. Michigan
Last in: Arizona State, Michigan First out: New Hampshire, Massachusetts
Michigan Tech swept rival Northern Michigan two weekends ago in a home-and-home set Jan. 24-25 (photo: Michigan Tech 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.
Dan: Hearty happy Tuesday to you all, and especially happy week to my cohost Paula, who I hope dealt with significantly less stomach flu than the Rubin house possessed. I’m not going to lie – I might never give ever getting that sick a second chance, but I’ll shoutout my wife, who picked up significant slack for me despite also being laid out with the same norovirus. While I was barely standing upright and knee-knocking my way down a hallway, she somehow managed to parent both kids despite getting sick in the hours after I caught whatever the kids have.
On to more pressing needs.
It’s Tuesday, but we’re recording this for consumption on Monday. Normally that doesn’t matter, but this Monday features the first round of the Beanpot, an annual exercise in neighborhood parochialism for those of us who grew up in the Boston area. It’s a highlight of the year for all of us around these parts, but I think I’ve learned how to appreciate it more and more in the years following the pandemic.
Before I kick it over, I want to identify my own personal thoughts on the Beanpot. About 10 years ago, I called it overrated because I felt rising powers in college hockey took away from the fallen prestige of a “local tournament.” The four schools weren’t as good as other New England powerhouses, so the Beanpot, to me, was really damaged in its reputation for the first time.
It’s since roared back to life, and I’d argue that this tournament now features three of the best teams in the country in Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern, which transformed its identity from Beanpot also-ran by winning countless trophies over the last decade. Harvard, the lone ECAC entry, is arguably the most historic team in college hockey.
Has there ever been a field like this? I think the GLI comes to mind, but I believe that tournament rotated its fourth spot before Michigan ceased its participation in the post-COVID life.
Paula: There are two oh-so-Boston-centric things that I love about your opening, Dan.
The first is downplaying the Beanpot as “neighborhood parochialism” and a bit about how disillusioned you were with it a decade ago, about how it wasn’t as relevant and yada yada yada.
The second is immediately smashing that to pieces with, “Isn’t this the best field in the history of any college hockey event, ever?!”
I’m paraphrasing that second one, of course. And I’m laughing with you, not at you.
Your opening reminds of the long-ago, east-west college hockey discussions – when there were distinct styles between the different conferences and geographic delineations – in which it was apparent that one of the things that separates college hockey fans is not only geography but perceptions of space and time.
I remember a conversation I had with Jimmy Connelly back in the day, when he was talking about the long drive from Boston to Alfond Arena, and I was like, “Isn’t that just about four hours?” To him, that trip felt transcontinental. From my perspective, it was the day trip that I took on the regular from Columbus to East Lansing and back to cover a single game.
But I digress – or do I?
The Beanpot is a focal point in an area that is hyper focused on college hockey. There are 11 men’s Division I hockey programs in Massachusetts and not one of them more than two hours from Boston – if they aren’t in Boston or the greater Boston metro area already.
Of the seven D-I hockey programs in Michigan, for example, the closest geographically are Michigan and Michigan State, about an hour’s drive apart. But if Michigan Tech were to play Michigan and Huskies fans wanted to make that drive from Houghton to Ann Arbor, they’d be on the road for at least 8.5 hours – without ever having left the state.
So to answer your question, Dan, there is no comparison to the Beanpot. Anywhere. Ever.
What makes this year’s Beanpot so special is everything that you hit on about the current participants. While I’d argue that Yale may have something to say about your Harvard claims, there is no denying how good Hockey East is this season and how deep the league is.
The Eagles received 48 of a possible 50 votes for first place in this week’s USCHO poll, and deservedly so. Boston College has shut out its last two consecutive opponents – one of which is Boston University – and the Eagles have three shutouts in their last five games. They look like national contenders.
The Terriers rebounded from a 2-0 loss to the Eagles Jan. 25 with a statement 7-2 win over New Hampshire Jan. 31, and BU is 5-2-0 in the new year. Again, both of those losses were to BC.
Northeastern has losses to Maine and Merrimack in its last two games but with 17 conference points is only five behind Providence, the team in fourth place in Hockey East and the No. 7 team in the country.
Harvard’s season is uneven and the Crimson are 4-6-0 since Jan. 1, but I take your point about what that program means to college hockey and especially locally to Boston – although I suspect that Yale may have a legitimate beef with you about part of your claim.
Dan: Either Yale or Cornell, which I know would feel the horrid feeling of salt in the Big Red wounds from this year.
The preseason No. 1 team in the ECAC is currently hanging around .500 overall with an 8-7-6 record, but the alarming 21-point performance to this point is well under where I thought they’d wind up when I slotted them into the top spot in my prediction. Bad luck, a hangover from last year’s championship season, whatever we want to call it, nearly every metric is currently underperforming. It doesn’t mean Cornell won’t go on a run, but I also thought the Big Red would contend for a top seed in the national tournament. Unfortunately, the breaks in ECAC are also dictating that nobody’s getting one of those.
I’m not really great at calling teams “disappointments” because I’m not in the locker room and don’t see the same film as the coaches. I don’t break things down with the team or understand why puck luck hasn’t broken in any one team’s direction, so in lieu of that, I’d like to switch gears to teams that we think might run the gauntlet and win their conference championship. I think Cornell is a prime example of a team nobody wants to see in the ECAC postseason.
Then again – and here comes my Boston-Jungian duality or something – I don’t know if such a team exists in some leagues. I could conceivably picture any team running the table in the Big Ten, and Hockey East is so deep that Northeastern is the No. 9 seed. Both the Huskies and Wisconsin are under .500 but could win their respective leagues. Maybe a team like Bemidji State is worth a look in the CCHA, and AIC is always lurking for me in Atlantic Hockey, where the Yellow Jackets and RIT are currently in ninth and 10th in the league standings.
Paula: Okay, I’ll play. I’ll start with the league I cover and know the best.
Michigan State has six games left and if they win out, no one can reach them. Two points behind the Spartans, the Golden Gophers will need Michigan State to stumble and then (probably also) win out to take the regular-season title.
After that, it gets trickier. I do not think that any team in the Big Ten can capture the regular season title simply because those top two teams are so, so good – and the rest of the field is much further behind in points. For example, Ohio State is 12 points out of first place and even though the Buckeyes have two games in hand on both the Spartans and Golden Gophers, if the Buckeyes manage to win their final eight games, they’d still need Michigan State to stumble quite a little bit.
The current bottom two B1G teams, Penn State and Notre Dame, can each finish no higher than third place and each would need an awful lot of help to get even that far.
What I find interesting about the Big Ten now is that if the season were to end today, both the Spartans and Gophers would be No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament and both Ohio State and Michigan would be in. Right now, too, Wisconsin sits at No. 17 in the PWR and can, theoretically, play themselves into the tourney. Even Penn State – which was way down in the PWR for the first half – is now at No. 20.
It’s a deep league, and in the conference playoffs, absolutely anything can happen.
A quick look at the NCHC is interesting in a very specific way: only one team in that conference, Miami, has been mathematically eliminated from capturing the regular season title. That doesn’t mean that just anyone else has a chance, but it does give you an idea of how deep that league is, too.
Western Michigan and Arizona State are each tied for 34 points at the top of the NCHC conference standings and each has 11 wins, but the Broncos have two games in hand on the Sun Devils, and Arizona State hosts Western Feb. 21-22. ASU is 6-2-0 in league games in January and WMU is 5-1-0 in conference in that span. It’s impossible for me to pick, but given the games in hand, I’d go with Western.
With 30 points, Omaha’s still in the mix. In addition to needing the teams ahead of them to stumble, though, the Mavericks have series remaining with both the Broncos and Sun Devils. It’s a big hill to climb.
With 25 points, I don’t see North Dakota catching either front-runner, nor do I see Denver – a point behind the Fighting Hawks – doing so. That has a whole lot less to do with the Fighting Hawks and Pioneers than it does with how strong the NCHC is.
In Atlantic Hockey, what interesting positions both Holy Cross and Bentley find themselves in. Even though Sacred Heart is in first place with 25 points, both teams have games in hand on the Pioneers and – mathematically speaking – the Crusaders or Falcons can take the conference title by winning out. My money’s on Holy Cross, and I’m sorry that such an outcome would come at the expense of your Falcons, Dan, as the two teams meet Feb. 20.
My dark horse in the CCHA is third-place Michigan Tech, with two games in hand on both Bowling Green and first-place Minnesota State. The ECAC is so tight that I don’t know how to call it other than to say that Quinnipiac has only lost two games in the second half, both losses to Hockey East teams.
Speaking Hockey East, while my sentimental favorite is Maine, I saw the way those Boston College kids were playing in the World Juniors and I know how good the rest of that team is. Besides, I love the way that Jacob Fowler has played in net this season. If his recent injury is day-to-day and not very serious, Fowler can play the Eagles all the way to a national championship.
And that leads me to a question, Dan: What end-of-season predictions of a national nature are you willing to make now? Got a favorite for the national title? Got favorites for the Hobey and Richter awards?
Dan: If I’m looking strictly out east, I find it difficult to pick against anyone other than Jacob Fowler. The second-year backstop was a finalist during last year’s rookie campaign, but he’s near or at the top of the nation in most goaltending categories for the 2024-2025 campaign. Through 1,300 minutes, he’s posted a 1.63 goals against average with a .938 save percentage and 17 wins. His six shutouts lead the nation, but my one complaint is that he’s rarely tasked with needing to do much for the No. 1 team in the nation. His 528 saves are well south of other goalies with similar bona fides. Even so, he’s got my vote if I had a vote.
The biggest thing that separates Fowler is how much he’s played on the ice, though. I like Ryan Manzella as a freshman sensation for Michigan Tech, but he hasn’t played more than 400 minutes of hockey. Alex Tracy has 1,700 minutes and posted more saves for his junior year, but Fowler’s played a brutal schedule. Albin Boija is an interesting prospect at Maine, but he lost head-to-head to Fowler and is juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust enough behind his counterpart to separate the vote for me.
If I’m looking for a dark horse, I honestly love watching Conor Hasley at Bentley, but his five shutouts were tempered by a bad game against Holy Cross a couple of weeks ago. On the season-long performance, Bentley also isn’t at BC’s level on the national level, so it might take Hasley facing Fowler in the national tournament…or at least make my head explode with that one because the Bentley broadcaster and BC writer/podcaster in me wouldn’t handle it.
As for the Hobey Baker Award, I don’t know if there’s a legitimate pull-away winner from this year’s crop. Last year felt like Macklin Celebrini’s year – though BC people contend that Cutter Gauthier deserved the trophy – and there really isn’t one guy that feels like that odds-on winner for this season. Ryan Leonard is obviously the eastern favorite at BC, but the nation’s leading scorer has to contend with players like Isaac Howard, Jack Devine, Zeev Buium, and teammate Gabe Perreault. And that doesn’t even touch the possible candidacy of a Jimmy Snuggerud.
Looking globally, I don’t have a favorite for the national champion. I suppose I’d be better suited for a odds-related bet discussion on USCHO Edge, but much, for me, depends on what I see in the conference tournament when the benches shorten and the games get a little bit more and more intense. Too many times, we’ve seen the best “team” lose its edge in the national tournament because of the wrong gameplan against the wrong team.
Last point. Here’s the only thing I’m hammering home, and if anyone wants to claim my eastern bias on this one, I’m okay with it. David Berard deserves the Spencer Penrose Award. What he’s done at Stonehill is nothing short of magnificent. He took a team hoisted onto the Division I ranks and converted its one-win campaign into a 10-win program that beat a nationally-ranked UMass Lowell program. I don’t think anyone understands how difficult that job looked, but he turned the Skyhawks into a Division I team.
Repeat: a Division I team.
I know the players who were there last year gave that team their hearts and souls, but Berard’s takeover gave them some results. That’s awesome.
Paula: I see your Eastern bias and raise it with decades spent covering hockey in the “West” – which is anything on this side of the Pennsylvania-Ohio border, as I understand it.
Augustana began the season with a 4-1 win over North Dakota, followed that two weeks later with a sweep of Omaha, is 16-7-3 overall and 8-3-1 in the Vikings’ inaugural CCHA season. I respect what Berard has done at Stonehill, but if we’re looking at similar criteria, my pick would be Garrett Raboin.
Honestly, I think a very strong case can be made for several coaches, but I do think that Adam Nightingale is a strong frontrunner. Yes, he has the resources of a Big Ten school at his disposal, but he and his staff have done some amazing rebuilding in pretty short order.
In 2021-22, the year before Nightingale took over, the Spartans had eight total wins and six in the Big Ten. A season later, they were out of the cellar with an 18-18-2 overall record (10-12-2 B1G) and last season, Michigan State won its first regular-season championship since 2001, their first Big Ten tournament championship since 2006, and the Spartans were a game away from returning to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2007 – in their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2012.
Like you, I am a huge proponent of “small” programs and those without significant resources, but it’s hard to ignore what Nightingale and his staff are doing in East Lansing.
Denver is down one to No. 6, Providence stays seventh, Boston University is up two to No. 8, Ohio State jumps two spots to No. 9, and UMass Lowell falls two to No. 10 in this week’s rankings.
UConn falls out of the top 10, going from No. 9 to No. 11, while Colorado College re-enters the rankings at No. 20 in this week’s rankings.
In addition to the top 20 teams, 13 others received votes this week.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger review games of the weekend and news of the week.
Major topics include Minnesota’s sweep over Wisconsin, positioning them closely behind Michigan State in the Big Ten. The hosts discuss Arizona State’s impressive performance in the NCHC and the unexpected success of newcomers like Augustana in the CCHA. Additionally, they cover results from Atlantic Hockey and other key matchups in that conference. The potential implications of the House vs NCAA class action lawsuit, specifically on roster limits and financial structures in college sports, are analyzed in detail.
This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Get your tickets now at ncaa.com/frozenfour
Times are approximate:
00:15 Introduction and sponsorship
00:35 Big Ten race heats up
05:49 Wisconsin’s slim NCAA tournament hopes
08:22 Arizona State’s impressive NCHC run
15:59 Augustana’s unexpected championship bid
23:20 BC Prepares for the Beanpot
24:52 Northeastern and Harvard’s performance recap
26:08 Day-to-Day player conditions and team challenges
29:04 Denver’s dominant victory over Omaha
30:52 Atlantic Hockey standings and key matchups
35:40 House vs NCAA class action lawsuit update
44:38 Concluding thoughts and sponsor message
St. Norbert swept Adrian over the weekend in a key NCHA series. (Photo Credit: Patrick Ferron/St. Norbert)
St. Norbert rose to the occasion in a weekend series against Adrian, with the Green Knights coming through with a sweep in a showdown of nationally ranked opponents.
Seventh-ranked St. Norbert dominated both games against the No. 9 Bulldogs, winning 6-2 and 5-0 on the road to sweep Adrian for only the second time in program history.
The Green Knights improved to 16-5 overall and 11-3 in the NCHA, and in Saturday’s game, 12 players tallied at least one point. St. Norbert scored all five of its goals in the second period.
Ethan Byrne came through with a goal and assist while Liam Fraser finished with two assists. Hunter Garvey was on top of his game as he made 33 saves to help hand Adrian its first shutout loss of the year. The Bulldogs have dropped three in a row.
T.J. Koufis and Brock Baker each scored two goals in Friday’s win. Calvin Hanson racked up a pair of assists. Garvey finished his night with 26 saves as the Green Knights swept a weekend for the first time since Nov. 29-30 against UW-Eau Claire.
Spartans soar to top of standings
The series between Aurora and Trine lived up to the hype. And in the end, the Spartans came through with a sweep in a battle of nationally ranked NCHA teams.
Landry Schmuck proved to be a difference maker in the finale, scoring twice, including from inside the circle for the game winner in a 4-3 win for the No. 3 Spartans on Saturday.
His goal broke a 3-3 tie in the third and lifted Aurora to its eighth consecutive win. Hassan Akl added two assists and JaCob Mucitelli recorded 36 saves as the Spartans took care of business against the fourth-ranked Thunder and took over first place in the conference.
Aurora is 18-3 overall and 12-2 in league play.
Friday’s game was entertaining as well as Aurora and Trine were tied at 3-3 after two periods. The Spartans shifted the momentum in their favor in the third, scoring three times for a 6-3 win.
Matt Weber played in the 100th game of his career for Aurora, scoring two goals in the win, and Akl tallying a goal and assist, and he now has the single-season record for points (40). Mucitelli tallied 24 saves.
Foresters win two
Lake Forest got the job one in a weekend series against Dubuque, finishing off the series with a thrilling 5-4 win in overtime on Saturday.
Jared Gerger scored with 7.3 seconds left in OT to give the Foresters the win.
Chase Freiermuth scored in the win for his eighth goal of the year, while Matteas Derruagh tallied two assists, pushing his total to 13 on the year, the most on the team. Connor Scahill came through with two goals. He scored both of his goals off the power play.
Griffen Sanom and Logan Kittleson tallied two assists apiece while Bobby McCloskey tallied 20 saves. The Foresters improved to 9-11-1 overall and 5-8-1 in the NCHA.
Lake Forest scored twice in the opening period of Friday’s game and the Foresters went on to win 3-0.
McCloskey made 26 saves on his way to his second shutout win of the year. It’s the third of his career.
Gerger, Sanom and Trevor Faucher all scored for Lake Forest. Faucher’s goal was his 10th, the most on the team.
Lucky No. 13
UW-Superior now has a 13-game unbeaten streak after sweeping UW-Eau Claire.
The Yellowjackets won 4-1 and 2-0 to win their third in a row while their 13-game unbeaten streak is now the fifth longest in program history.
Saturday’s win was their fourth shutout victory of the year. Jan Skorpik made 26 saves to help Superior sweep the Blugolds in a series for the first time since 2010.
The Yellowjackets improved to 16-3-1 overall and 9-1-1 in the WIAC, remaining in first place in the league standings.
In Friday’s 4-1 win, Ikki Kogawa and Justin Dauphinais each scored twice. Dauphinais now has a team-best 11 goals on the year while Daniel Rozsival tallied two assists.
Falcons and Pointers split series
UW-River Falls managed a split with No. 10 UW-Stevens Point over the weekend, picking up a 3-2 win over the Pointers on Friday. It’s the second time this year that the Falcons have beaten the Pointers. They won 5-1 on Nov. 22.
Brennan Boynton came through with 31 saves while Max Collette, Dylan Smith and Reid Lune all scored goals.
The Pointers bounced back on Saturday with a 6-2 win. Six different players scored for the Pointers and Alex Proctor made 22 saves. Peyton Hart, Alec Hamady and Owen Dean each tallied a goal and assist for Stevens Point.
Stevens Point improved to 15-5-1 overall and 7-3-1 in the WIAC. River Falls is 11-9-1 overall and 5-5-1 in the league.
Working overtime
Gustavus and Bethel squared off in a pivotal MIAC series and both games ended up going to overtime.
The Gusties lost Saturday’s game 5-4 after rallying for a 4-3 win on Friday in OT. Despite the split, Gustavus remains in first place in the conference standings. Bethel is third.
The Gusties are 12-7 overall and 8-2 in the conference. The Royals sit at 10-7-2 overall and 6-3-1 in the MIAC.
Jack Brown was the hero for Bethel on Saturday, scoring with 1:10 to go in the extra session as Bethel secured its 10th win The Royals have now won 10 or more games in four consecutive seasons. Tyler Braccini played a key role in the win as he scored his 12th goal of the year.
On Friday, Gustavus won its eighth consecutive MIAC game after overcoming a two-goal deficit. Drew Holt scored the game winner at the 3:26 mark of OT.
Oles pick up two big wins
St. Olaf finished off its first MIAC sweep of the season with a 4-1 win over Augsburg on Saturday. The Oles won Friday’s game by a 3-2 score.
St. Olaf has won five of its last six games against Augsburg and is now within a point of a playoff spot in the league after starting the weekend at the bottom of the standings. The Oles are 9-73 overall and 4-5-1 in the MIAC.
Nicholas Sewecke scored a goal on Saturday, marking his third straight game with a tally, and and Camden Benson tallied a goal and assist for his first multi-point game at the college level. Thomas Lalonde made 32 saves.
On Friday, a third period goal by Connor Kalthoff secured a 3-2 win over the Oles. Kalthoff scored with 4:06 to play in the game. Lalonde won his first game of the year as he made 19 saves.
Saints go marching to pair of wins
St. Scholastic had a huge weekend in MIAC play as it swept Saint Mary’s with a pair of 5-1 wins.
The Saints are now in second place in the league standings, sitting at 11-9-1 overall and 6-6 in the MIAC.
On Saturday, Eino Rissanen tallied 44 saves, including 18 in the second period, while Gavin Gunderson scored twice and dished out an assist. Braden Panzer finished with two assists.
In Friday’s game Rissanen came up with nearly 50 saves (48) while Brodie Girod racked up a goal and assist. Tristan Shewchuk did the same while Wyatt Wurst added two assists for the Saints, who have won three of their last four.
Bailey Kirwin and Cody Walker celebrate an Albertus Magnus goal in the Falcon’s 3-2 OT triumph over previously unbeaten Hobart (Photo by Dennis Woxland)
And then there were none…
There will not be an unbeaten NCAA D-III champion this season as Hobart finally lost a hockey game to a determined Albertus Magnus squad in overtime on Friday. Just another illustration of the parity that exists where on any given night any team has a chance for a win. This week saw a number of like contests across the conferences in the region and also produced some tightening in the standings where the final three weeks of play in the regular season should be dramatic. Here is the recap for the exciting action across the east:
CNE
The Curry Colonels continued their winning ways with a pair of wins over Suffolk over the weekend. On Friday, the Colonels offense started fast with three goals in the first five minutes of play and five total in the opening period. Grady Friedman scored the last two goals of the opening twenty minutes and Curry cruised to a 6-2 win over the Rams. In the second game of the weekend, Curry spread out the scoring from four different players and Shane Soderwall stopped twenty-nine shots to post a shutout in a 4-0 win that extended their win streak to nine games. The shutout for Soderwall established a new career mark at Curry in just his second season with the program.
The University of New England kept pace with the league leading Colonels as they also swept a pair of weekend games over Nichols. Playing at home on Friday, the Nor’easters dominated the Bison with a runaway 7-1 win. Cam Bergeman scored two goals and added an assist to pace the UNE attack. Saturday’s return engagement saw things a little tighter as two first period power play goals were all that goaltender Stefan Carney would need in a 2-1 win. Carney stopped thirteen shots to earn the win that extended the Nor’easters win streak to seven games and leapfrogged them past Endicott into second place.
Endicott only split their series with Wentworth to fall into third place in the CNE standings. Friday saw the Gulls needing overtime to defeat the Leopards as Primo Self scored the first goal of the game and then called game in overtime with his second of the night in a 3-2 OT victory. On the road on Saturday, the Leopards opened the scoring with three goals in the second period of play only to see Endicott close the gap to one goal with Brad Zona and Ryan Willett scoring late in the third period. Ethan Lim completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal to seal the win for the Leopards, 4-2.
Johnson & Wales took advantage of an overtime win and an overtime tie (with the shootout win) against Western New England to leapfrog a logjam of teams into fourth place in the standings. On Friday, the teams exchanged goals through out the game with the Golden Bears tying the score at 4-4 late in the third period off the stick of Jordie Morgan. Sam Band, with an assist from Harout Torosian netted the game winner in the final forty-five seconds of overtime for the Wildcats win. On Saturday, Camille Marcoux for WNE in the first period and Brad Crook for JWU early in the second period was all the scoring the game would see as the game ended in a 1-1 overtime tie.
Independent
Keene State rallied from a 5-2 deficit to score three goals in the third period to send their contest on Tuesday with St. Anselm to overtime where Peter Unger’s second goal of the contest gave the Owls a thrilling 6-5 OT win. On Saturday, two goals each from Thor Hansen and Marcus Chrisafideis paced a comfortable 7-1 win over Franklin Pierce.
MAC
Wilkes split a pair of conference games over the weekend to remain atop the MAC standings. On Thursday, Joe Johnson, and Daniel Nau each scored twice to pace a 7-1 win over Neumann. On Saturday, the Colonels faced a Stevenson squad fresh off a 5-2 loss to King’s and the Mustangs skated off with a 2-0 win to remain in second place, eight points behind Wilkes. Evan Beers scored in the second period and Dylan Florit extended the advantage with a shorthanded goal in the third period that helped goaltender Ford DeLoss (23 saves) earn the important shutout win.
King’s extended their recent good play with another two-win week as they earned victories over Stevenson and Misericordia. Against Stevenson, the Monarchs scored a pair of power play goals led by Ethan Hersant had two goals in the contest for a 5-2 win. Diego D’Alessandro was excellent in the King’s goal making thirty-seven saves to backstop the win. On Saturday, goals from Braydon Buckingham and Patrick Nowak were enough for D’Alessandro (23 saves) to post a 2-1 win over the Cougars.
MASCAC
Anna Maria extended their win streak to six games with wins over Rivier and Framingham State. On Thursday, the AmCats downed the Raiders 5-1 with five different players scoring goals for the home team. Saturday’s contest against the Rams saw neither team able to score in the opening forty minutes of play. Samson Mouland broke the ice with a goal early in the third period and Matthew Gilbert iced the game with his goal in the final ten seconds of regulation. Goaltender Matthew Hennessey earned the shutout win making twenty-seven saves for his tenth win of the season.
Plymouth State stayed ahead of the AmCats posting a pair of wins over Salem State and Massachusetts-Dartmouth. On Thursday, the Panthers built a 3-1 lead on goals by Ethan Stuckless, Brendan Doyle and Will Redick and held on for a 3-2 win. Will Nepveu was great in the Vikings’ net making thirty-seven saves and keeping SSU close. On Saturday, five players scored two goals each in a runaway 10-1 win over the Corsairs. All ten goals were scored at even-strength for the Panthers who extended their win streak to three.
Worcester State picked up a pair of conference wins over Fitchburg State and Westfield State. On Thursday, the Lancers took advantage of three third period goals to erase a 2-1 deficit and skated a way with a 4-3 win over the Falcons. Martin Dlugolinsky netted the game-winning goal with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation. Dlugolinsky again scored what proved to be the game-winning goal on Saturday against the Owls in the third period as the Lancers extended their win streak to three games with a 4-2 win. Goaltender Wyatt Friedlander stopped thirty-six of thirty-eight shots to backstop the Lancers.
Congratulations to head coach Eric Noack who earned his 100th victory at Massachusetts-Dartmouth when the Corsairs downed Framingham State on Thursday, 6-4.
NE-10
Following an overtime loss to Keene State, league-leading St. Anselm returned to NE-10 action and earned a pair of wins over Post. Conor Kelly scored twice, and Garrett Alberti gave the Hawks a 3-2 lead in the final five seconds of the first period. Chase Reynolds power play goal in the third period would be the only other goal in the game as the Hawks took a 4-2 win over the Eagles. On Saturday, the Hawks needed third period goals from Patrick DiMarinis and Hunter Hoffman to break a 1-1 tie on the way to a 3-1 win.
St. Michael’s and Southern New Hampshire split a two-game series. On Friday, the Penmen eked out a 2-1 win against the Purple Knights. All the scoring took place in the third period with Brennan McFarland getting the visitors on the board less than a minute into the final period but Stone Devlin answered for SNHU just seventeen seconds later and Jackson Aldrich netted the game-winner late in the period. Brendan Lynch assisted on both goals for the Penmen. On Saturday, the Purple Knights rebounded with a three-goal third period to erase a 2-1 deficit and skate away with a 4-2 win. McFarland, Jack Tuite, and Devid Ciancio scored in the final twenty minutes to give St. Michael’s a split in the two-game series.
NEHC
Albertus Magnus played host to No. 1 Hobart and the Falcons were ready for the Statesmen on Friday night. Despite being outshot by a 47-24 margin, the Falcons took advantage of their opportunities taking one goal leads on two occasions and forcing the visitors to rally. Tanner Daniels tied the game with just seven seconds remaining in regulation forcing overtime where Zane Kindrachuk beat Damon Beaver under two minutes into the extra session for the 3-2 OT win ending Hobart’s record unbeaten streak. On Saturday, the contest was tied at 1-1 entering the third period where Hobart scored three goals to skate off with a 4-2 win over a very resilient Falcons squad.
Skidmore ended their five-game losing streak and returned to .500 in the NEHC with a pair of wins over Southern Maine. On Friday, the Thoroughbreds scored one goal in the second period and two in the third period to post a 4-1 win over the Huskies. Jacob Zwirecki netted what proved to be the game-winner in the final minute of play of the second period for Skidmore. On Saturday, it was Zwirecki again who broke the 1-1 tie with his third period goal and Evan Brown iced the contest with a power play marker less than two minutes later in a 3-1 win for the Thoroughbreds.
Elmira and Salve Regina split a weekend series with each team taking one-goal wins. On Friday, Ryan Reifler’s overtime goal gave the Soaring Eagles a 3-2 overtime win over the Seahawks. On Saturday, all the scoring came on the man advantage as Elmira’s Eric Bertlesen scored in the final minute of the first period before Salve Regina scored goals on the man advantage in each of the second and third periods to earn a 2-1 road win over Elmira. Matthew Brunton and Brendan Kim scored the goals for Salve Regina while goaltender Cayden Bailey made twenty-eight saves in the win.
NESCAC
In a battle of league leaders on Saturday, Hamilton played Trinity after both teams had won their Friday night contests over Wesleyan and Amherst, respectively. In what was expected to be a low-scoring game, the Continentals and Bantams played a tight checking game that certainly had a playoff atmosphere. Neither team could score in the opening twenty minutes, but Hamilton’s Jackson Krock took advantage of a power play late in the second period for a 1-0 Continental lead. Jakob Karpa answered for the Bantams with a power play goal of his own midway through the third period but Devon de Vries, with an assist from Luke Tchor, scored the game-winning goal with just over five minutes remaining in regulation time. Hamilton’s Charlie Archer stopped 29 of 30 shots while Trinity’s Devon Bobak stopped 24 of 26 Hamilton attempts on goal. Hamilton extended its win streak to nine games and point lead to eight over the Bantams.
Williams won a pair of games over the weekend that finds the Ephs sitting in a cluster of five teams from third place to eighth place separated by just three points. On Friday, Williams started fast with a three-goal first period on the way to a 5-3 win over Conn College. Jake McManus scored a goal and added an assist in the win. On Saturday, Tufts and Williams exchanged goals in the second period setting up a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation time. McManus proved to be the overtime hero for Williams scoring the winning goal just twenty-one seconds into the extra session for a 3-2 win over the Jumbos.
SUNYAC
Cortland has leveraged their strong play of late to move to the top of the SUNYAC standings. On Friday Nate Boat, Nate Berke, and Garrett Krieger provided all the scoring and goaltender Ronan Mobley made twenty-eight saves in a 3-0 shutout win. Against Fredonia on Saturday, the Red Dragons held a 2-1 lead after two periods, but Ryan Bailey scored just twenty-one seconds into the third period for the Blue Devils to tie the game at 2-2. Colby Seitz broke the tie with a power play goal that gave Cortland a 3-2 road win and extended their win streak to four games.
After tying Potsdam 1-1 on Friday night, Oswego played long-time rival Plattsburgh for points coveted by both teams in the league standings. The Cardinals scored a pair of power play goals for a 2-0 advantage after one period of play, but the Lakers answered back with two goals in the second period sending the contest to the final period tied at 2-2. Tyler Ramm gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead, but the Lakers saw three unanswered goals from Daniel Colabufo, Brandon Cohen, and Matt McQuade to send the Lakers off with a 5-3 road win.
After losing to Fredonia 6-2 on Tuesday and Cortland 3-0 on Friday, Buffalo State needed a win to stay near the top of the standings. Facing off against Morrisville, the Bengals scored three goals in each of the first and third periods to cruise to a 6-1 win over the Mustangs. Six different players scored for Buffalo State including three goals on the power play.
UCHC
It is a two-team race at the top of the UCHC standings, but all the conference games are proving to be battles as evidenced by Utica’s sweep of Brockport. After a 7-1 road win over the Golden Eagles on Friday where Jakob Breault and Johnny Mulera each scored two goals, the Pioneers returned home and battled Brockport for a 2-1 win. Breault scored in the second period to tie the contest at 1-1 and Shane Murphy netted the game-winner early in the third period for the 2-1 win. Cole Hudson was immense in goal for Brock[port stopping 49 of 51 shots while Ryan Piros picked up the win stopping 16 of 17 Brockport attempts on goal.
Geneseo looked to keep pace with the Pioneers as the Knights escaped with two one-goal wins over Manhattanville. On Friday, the Knights built leads of 3-0, 4-1 and 5-3 only to see the Valiants keep battling back in a hard-fought 5-4 road win for Geneseo. On Saturday, it was the Knights turn to battle back as Manhattanville carried a 3-2 lead into the third period and up until the final minute of regulation where Filip Wiberg tied the score for Geneseo. In overtime Tommy Winn with an assist from Zach Purcell secured the win for Geneseo, 4-3.
Three Biscuits
Zane Kindrachuk – Albertus Magnus – scored the overtime winning goal for the Falcons in Friday’s 3-2 OT upset win over unbeaten Hobart, ending the NCAA record unbeaten streak by the Statesmen.
Sam Band – Johnson & Wales – netted the overtime winning goal for the Wildcats in crazy 5-4 win over Western New England on Friday night.
Nate Hopkins – Canton – stopped all twenty-three shots attempts by Plattsburgh in a 2-0 road win for the Kangaroos over the Cardinals on Friday night.
The games are certainly heating up as the number of weeks in the regular season dwindle. Just three weeks remain on the calendar making wins and points extremely valuable as teams look to lock-in or improve their position in the conference standings in advance of post-season tournaments. Fun to watch all the way until the end.
Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com recap last week’s contentious series between Ohio State and Minnesota and look at the games that made a change at the top of ECAC Hockey.
