Andrew Poulias and UW-Stevens Point gear up for another weekend of hockey. (Photo Credit: Rachel McCulloch/UW Stevens Point Athletics)
Week No. 2 of the college hockey season is here and one of the highlights will be Adrian’s weekend in New York. The Bulldogs play Cortland and Oswego in games that could go a long way for them come March.
There are also a couple of conference matchups and some intriguing non-conference battles. Let the puck drop on week two.
Friday
Bethel at UW-Stevens Point
The Royals are searching for their first win. Facing the No. 11 team in the nation on the road won’t be the easiest place to get it.
Bethel nearly won its opener, losing 2-1 to Marian in OT, but had a tough time against No. 5 St. Norbert, falling 5-2. They’ll need to generate some offense early to have a shot against the Pointers, who held off Dubuque in overtime for their first win. Like Bethel, goals haven’t been easy to come by for UW-Stevens Point, which has scored just three on the year. This one should be competitive. UW-Stevens Point, 3-2
Adrian at Cortland
Big test on the road for the second-ranked team in the nation. The Bulldogs are playing a ranked team for the second straight week as Cortland is 10th in the latest USCHO.com poll and unbeaten at 2-0. The Bulldogs are 1-1 and know what it’s going to take win a matchup like this. The Red Dragons have outscored their opposition 12-4 so far. This should be a fight to the finish. Adrian, 4-3
Saturday
St. Olaf at UW-Superior
The Oles are winless after week one and now hit the road for a pair of games in Wisconsin, finishing the weekend with a showdown against the Yellowjackets. St. Olaf will look to get its offense back on track after being shutout by Marian and hope to limit the opponent’s offensive success after giving up 12 goals in its first two games. UW-Superior is playing hockey for the first time this season and will look to end the weekend on a high note. UW-Superior, 5-3
Saint John’s at St. Scholastica
The Johnnies took the first one in this series by a 4-2 score on Thursday and now take aim at a sweep and great shot of momentum early on in the MIAC race. Cam Boche scored twice in Thursday’s win and will look to duplicate that effort in this one. Jon Howe made 28 saves. The Saints are home for this game and that could prove to be an advantage. Saint John’s, 4-2
Bethel at UW-Eau Claire
The Blugolds received votes in the latest national poll and aims to cap its first weekend of the season with a strong performance. UW-Eau Claire has a lot of potential on offense and the experience of goaltender Matt Gutjahr is the kind of thing that can make a big difference in what should be a tightly contested game. UW-Eau Claire, 4-2
Adrian at Oswego
The Bulldogs cap their trip to New York with a game against the Lakers, who have started the season 0-1-1. Oswego did receive votes in the national poll this week and will be hungry for an upset. It will be interesting to see how Adrian handles the final night of this trip considering it will have played Cortland the night before. Adrian, 3-1
Friday and Saturday
Concordia at Augsburg
Nothing like an early-season MIAC battle between two teams that will certainly be in the mix for a title.
The Cobbers are 2-0 and feeling good early on, especially considering they came through in the third period twice to secure their two wins. Netminder Dane Couture is the reigning defensive player of the week in the conference.
Augsburg is 1-1 and ready to set the tone early in its bid to win the MIAC this season. Grahm Harris has played well so far, dishing out four assists and tallying one goal. Augsburg, 5-3; Concordia, 3-2
Aurora vs. Lake Forest
The Spartans come in ranked 14th nationally and unbeaten at 2-0. They picked up a huge win over UW-Stevens Point last week, winning 7-2, and also edged Augsburg 5-4 in overtime. Landry Schmuck will look to step up again after finishing with three goals and an assist last weekend. If the Spartans are clicking on offense, they’ll be tough to beat. For Lake Forest, it’s a chance to make a statement after starting the year 1-1. Aurora, 4-2 and 5-3
Unbeaten Cortland will be looking for some big goals to take down #2 ranked Adrian on Friday in front of a raucous home crowd for their AFSP Charity Game (Photo by Dani Zehr Photography)
It is week two of the season and who knows what surprises the schedule and results will bring to us this week. We certainly saw the gamut of top end talent performing, early season tournament action, ranked opponent battles and enough overtime and upset results to make things very interesting for the remainder of the season. Lots of conference games kicking off this week with some intriguing matchups amongst favored teams expected to compete for league titles as well as some inter-regional games that should be dramatic in their own right.
I am sure everyone is loving the early action and frankly my first week of predictions has me pretty fired up as I finished last week at 10-2-0 (.833). It would be nice to get on a roll like a lot of teams who saw success are looking to repeat this week regardless of the opponent. For others that were slow out of the gate, there is no time like the present to rebound. Here are this week’s picks for the east:
Friday, November 8, 2024
(2) Adrian v. (10) Cortland
The Red Dragons have had this contest circled on the calendar for quite some time as they promote suicide prevention and mental health awareness through a game sweater auction and other events in support of the local American Foundation For Suicide Prevention (AFSP). For anyone interested, donations can be made at:
Cortland is hosting the 2024 #stopsuicide Resource Fair and Charity Hockey Game and faces a tough-out coming to town in a Bulldog team that mirrors its name on the ice. Late goal sends everyone home happy as the home team ekes it out – Cortland, 4-3
Endicott v. (6) Curry
The Gulls were stunned last week by Southern Maine and now play perhaps their biggest contender in the CNE in week one of conference play. It’s been tough to score on Shane Soderwall and the Colonels and while the Gulls light the lamp, two isn’t enough to pick up a road win – Curry, 3-2
Babson v. (9) Skidmore
The battle of green and white finds the home team having a bit of an advantage in their barn. This game will be fast-paced and there will be opportunities aplenty to challenge goaltending on both ends of the ice. Kaeden Patrick and company seal a late win on the power play for big points in the NEHC conference – Skidmore, 4-3
(8) Plattsburgh v. Plymouth State
The Panthers absolutely do not want to star their season with three losses this early and because they will be extra focused and hungry this will not be a trap game for the Cardinals who take advantage of great goaltending and special teams to take a one-goal win – Plattsburgh, 3-2
Southern New Hampshire v. Assumption
The re-match of last year’s NE-10 conference championship won’t be going extra time but Collin Berke & Company are going to be very focused to shut down Ronny Paragallo and the Greyhounds offense. Fast start helps the home team to overcome a late Penmen rally – Assumption, 4-2
(3) Utica v. Nazareth
The Pioneers played two solid road games last week where they split a series against Adrian. Nazareth brings a different challenge with UCHC points on the line. Constant pressure and balance yields results for the visitors in a comfortable road win against the Golden Flyers – Utica, 5-2
Saturday, November 9, 2024
Alvernia v. (12) Stevenson
The Mustangs want to send a clear message that they are the top team in the MAC and the Golden Wolves would like nothing better than to upset the home team on Saturday. Thinking this one is more low scoring than one would expect from these rosters and that means a close one-goal win for the home team – Stevenson, 3-2
Albertus Magnus v. Norwich
The Falcons are now part of the NEHC this season and open on the road with a Norwich team looking to find some offense after being shut out by Curry last weekend. Clark Kerner and a veteran group of forwards find the back of the net just enough with an empty-net helper to seal the win over the Falcons – Norwich, 3-1
Western New England v. (13) University of New England
The Nor’easters got great goaltending from Joe Stanizzi last week in a shut out win over Plymouth State. Now UNE is the hunted ranked team but home ice matters a lot in the CNE and captain Ryan Kuzmich will make sure his team is focused on the ice to earn the win – UNE, 5-2
Brockport v. Manhattanville
The Golden Eagles didn’t have much to show for their play in the Buffalo State tournament last weekend and now face a Valiant team looking to get out of the gates with some early success. Sticking with the home team in this UCHC matchup – Manhattanville, 5-2
Keene State v. Massachusetts-Dartmouth
The Owls lost a heartbreaker in overtime last week to Rivier with less than 30 seconds remaining on the clock. The new D-III squad showed they could score some goals and this week end up on the winning end of the scoreboard in another entertaining offensive display – Keene State, 5-4
Arcadia v. Misericordia
The Knights take on first-year team Misericordia in MAC play and find that the new-kids-on-the-block are hardly a pushover. Visitors need to be wary of local support and passionate fanbase making the home team very motivated for a win that eludes them in the final period – Arcadia, 4-3
Exciting league games, non-conference action and what D-III schools do so well, great charity and awareness focus by teams using their hockey platform to educate, raise awareness and funds for important causes on campus and off in their local communities. This season if a team is looking to get a charity game featured in the weekly picks column, please contact me ([email protected]) with all the relevant information and I will pick one game as a featured spotlight game to help promote the event across the avid D-II/III readership at USCHO.
Week two should bring a little heightened excitement knowing these games and pints could mean a lot come the second half. Don’t leave points on the ice – “Drop the Puck!”
Daunte Fortner is in his final season with the Marian Sabres. (Photo provided by Marian Athletics)
For Daunte Fortner, nothing beats being on the ice. Its’s when he’s at his best and when he’s having the most fun.
Hockey has also added a lot to his life as a whole.
“I love the people you meet and the place it can bring you,” Fortner said. “I’ve been all over North America playing the sport. Hockey is fun. It’s exciting. I have the most fun when I’m on the ice making plays and succeeding with teammates.”
Fortner is now in his final year at Marian and is poised to be a key playmaker once again.
A year ago, he led the team in assists with 13 and finished second in total points.
Through two games this season, both wins for Marian, Fortner has come through with one assist.
Making plays to set up teammates for goals is something he takes a lot of pride in.
“I try to help everyone out on the ice, get everyone the puck and give them chances and opportunities,” Fortner said. “The better you move the puck, the better the chance you have to score a goal.”
Fortner has done that well, racking up 25 assists in his collegiate career to go along with 13 goals. And he spent the offseason trying to be even better at his craft.
“I worked on quicker shots, quicker release shooting through screens, and just being a leader,” Fortner said.
Hockey has always been a sport Fortner has played. He started at a young age and hasn’t looked back.
“My dad played and he got me into it,” Fortner said. “I’ve always enjoyed playing it.”
Fortner played junior hockey before arriving on campus, including one year with the Philadelphia Hockey Club, where he came through with 21 assists and five goals.
When it came to finding a college to play at, Marian just proved to be the right fit for the Michigan native.
“They offered me a spot and I thought it was a good fit,” Fortner said. “It was close to home and I’m an education major, and the school has a good education program. It all added up.”
The wins have added up early for Fortner and the Sabres, who are 2-0 after beating Bethel 2-1 in overtime and rolled past St. Olaf 4-0.
They are off this week but open NCHA play next week against nationally ranked St. Norbert, one of four teams in the conference who are ranked.
Marian finished 9-17-1 last season and 5-12-1 in the conference.
“The NCHA is one of the best conferences in the country,” Fortner said. “Every game is a battle. Every game is a dogfight.”
Fortner said he is enjoying the opportunity to play college hockey one more time, especially with how competitive it is, and is locked in on doing what he can to help the team continue to thrive.
“We’re focused on winning but we aren’t looking too far ahead,” Fortner said. “It’s about winning each weekend. Everything is going well so far. “As a group, we are playing faster and everyone is stepping up.”
USCHO Edge hosts Jim Connelly, Dan Rubin, and Ed Trefzger look at money lines and over/under for five games (plus our “pizza money” game) on November 8, 2024:
Notre Dame +190 @ Michigan -250; over/under 6.5
Ohio State +200 @ Michigan State -270; o/u 5.5
Maine +165 @ Boston College -215; o/u 5.5
Arizona State +135 @ Colorado College -175; o/u 5.5
North Dakota -195 @ Minnesota Duluth +150; o/u 6.5
Our “pizza money” game:
UMass Lowell +260 @ Boston University -360; o/u 6.5
The NCAA Division I council voted Thursday to make Canadian Hockey League (major junior) players eligible for NCAA Division I hockey and those players may start to participate on NCAA Division I hockey teams effective August 1, 2025.
Players may participate in the CHL (Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League, and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League) without jeopardizing their NCAA Division I hockey eligibility provided they were not compensated above actual and necessary expenses for their participation.
The new eligibility for CHL players does not apply to NCAA Division III; CHL players are still ineligible for NCAA Division III hockey.
The United States Hockey League (USHL) released a statement shortly after today’s announcement.
“Since its inception, the United States Hockey League (USHL) development model has been holistically and intentionally aligned with the student-athlete experience,” reads the statement. “The USHL remains the world’s premier development path. All aspects of the league are focused on preparing athletes for collegiate and professional hockey, inclusive of on-ice, academic and character development. The USHL claims more than half of NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey players, while producing more NHL draft picks than any other league in the world over the past eight seasons. The USHL prepares players by providing them exposure, resources and experiences that empower young men for peak success.”
The CHL also released a statement.
“The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) along with its member leagues, the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), are aware of the rule change announced earlier today by the NCAA which alters the eligibility of CHL players allowing them to play NCAA Division 1 Hockey starting next season,” the statement said. “While we will take time to fully review this rule change, we believe this is a positive development that will provide our players with more opportunities to continue their hockey and academic careers following their time in the CHL. It will also give young players and their families more options in choosing their development path, which includes opening up the CHL – the best development hockey league in the world for players aged 16-20 – to more players worldwide. For 55 consecutive years, the CHL has been the number one supplier of talent to the NHL. At the beginning of the 2024-25 NHL campaign, there were 390 CHL graduates on NHL rosters, marking once again the most of any development league in the world. Additionally, at last summer’s 2024 NHL Draft, the CHL led the way as 88 CHL players were drafted including 14 in the first round.
“We remain strongly committed to carrying on that tradition of success on the ice while embracing the enhanced academic options that this rule change will present off the ice.”
OHL commissioner Bryan Crawford put out an open letter regarding today’s ruling.
“Today is a big day for hockey and the young players that make our great game so special,” Crawford wrote. “On behalf of the Ontario Hockey League, I’m excited to share the collective enthusiasm expressed league-wide following the NCAA Division I council’s vote affirming the eligibility of Canadian Hockey League players for NCAA Division I hockey programs effective August 1, 2025. This is a landmark decision that gives OHL players additional avenues and opportunities to pursue their hockey, academic and life goals upon graduation from our league. It also opens the OHL’s doors to talented young student athletes with NCAA aspirations, providing them the opportunity to take their game to the next level in the number one development league in the world. The OHL will continue to maintain a high standard as the leading supplier of talent to the National Hockey League while emphasizing the same blend of on-ice excellence with an off-ice commitment to character development and academics that has made the League what it is today.
“Through this transition, the league will continue to honor its commitments through the OHL scholarship and development program to players as they play out their years of eligibility, setting 20- and 21-year-old graduates up for success as they embark on new challenges both on the ice and in the classroom through both the NCAA and U SPORTS. The Ontario Hockey League has produced world class talent for decades, and this latest development signals a new chapter in the story of the greatest junior hockey league in the world. It’s a pleasure to be part of the OHL community and I share our collective excitement for what the future holds.”
WHL commissioner Dan Near today issued a statement.
“Today’s announcement that CHL players will now be eligible to compete in NCAA D1 Hockey beginning in the 2025-26 season represents a historic and consequential outcome that will be celebrated by all of those invested in the on- and off-ice development of young players,” said Near. “This decision creates opportunity for the brightest elite hockey players in Western Canada and the Western U.S. to now choose the WHL as the preferred destination for their development from the age of 16-20, without fear of compromising their NCAA eligibility. As always – the player is at the heart of what we do across the WHL through our 22 Member Clubs. Most of our graduates note their time in “The Dub” were the best years of their lives. We are thrilled that upon graduation from the WHL, players will have additional options as they pursue the next step in their personal and hockey journey. We look forward to the opportunity to welcome a new wave of talent and we take great pride in our responsibility to support all WHL players in the pursuit of their goals – be that on the ice, in the classroom, and as contributing members of the community.
“Players completing their eligibility with the WHL will continue to receive access to our leading post-secondary scholarship, funded by our 22 Member Clubs. In the 2023-24 season, the education bills for over 300 WHL Alumni were paid directly by the League and Clubs totaling in excess of $3 million in funding. The WHL is proud to continue this practice. The best in the West can now look forward to chasing their dreams alongside one another in the world’s finest development league for junior hockey players – the Western Hockey League.”
“We don’t have all the details of the new rule at this time, but based on what we do know, we view this historic change in a positive light,” added QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini in a statement. “First and foremost, I believe this is beneficial to younger players. The players and their families won’t have to rush to make an important decision at such a young age (15). All the best players from 16 to 20 years old will have the opportunity to play in the QMJHL (CHL), the best development league in the world.
“For the QMJHL and our 18 teams, the player is always at the heart of our priorities, added Cecchini. I hear often from our alumni that their years in the QMJHL were the best of their lives. We are delighted that after completing their careers in the QMJHL, players will have additional options to pursue their athletic and academic goals. We are also very much looking forward to welcoming a whole new wave of talented players, who, under the old rules, avoided our league to preserve their NCAA eligibility.”
“The QMJHL is proud to point out that once players’ commitments are completed, they have access to important scholarship programs. For the 2023-2024 season alone, over $2 million in scholarships were awarded to our alumni via the League and its teams. The QMJHL will continue to do everything in its power to contribute to the development, guidance and success of our players, both on the ice and at school.”
Zach Nehring has been named the NCHC’s rookie of the month after a stellar October with Western Michigan (photo: Kayla Schuberth).
Last June, Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler attended the 2023 NHL Draft specifically to witness Broncos recruit Zach Nehring becoming the Winnipeg Jets’ third-round pick.
Nehring had been on WMU’s radar for some time, stemming from his successful prep hockey career at Minnesota’s Shattuck-St. Mary’s School. And now, there’s no surprise in the Broncos’ camp that the freshman forward from Minot, N.D., was named as the NCHC’s rookie of the month for October.
“He’s exactly the player we recruited,” Ferschweiler said. “He’s big, he’s long, he skates well for a big man, he works very hard, he’s got really good hockey sense, and he has a nice set of hands, especially tight in around the net.
“He has done nothing but impress, literally since the second he stepped on campus, but he’s exactly the player the Jets drafted and who we recruited. I couldn’t be happier with Zach Nehring.”
WMU’s joint-tallest player at 6 feet, 5 inches, Nehring averaged more than a point per game in his first month of college hockey. Through four games, he has five points on three goals and two assists. He is also plus-4 for the season, he’s tied for the WMU team lead in points, and his three blocked shots on defense have him first in that category among Bronco forwards.
“The way we play puts a lot of pressure on people’s skating, but it also puts pressure on the other team to defend us, and right away, there was a little adjustment for Zach in terms of how active you have to be to play in our system, but he’s up to speed now and his play shows it,” Ferschweiler said.
“He’s got a number of points, but his quality of play is even higher than his point total. His consistency of play has been one of his most impressive qualities. The reason we recruited him was his work ethic combined with his hockey sense, and when you put those things together, you have a player that continues to do it right, and he’s done it right lots.”
Nehring’s hockey IQ has been on display for years. He had 87 points in 57 games for Shattuck-St. Mary’s 16U AAA team, at the time that he caught the attention of WMU’s coaches. He has since played one season of junior hockey with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. He totaled 14 points on nine goals and five assists, after recovering from an early-season injury.
“He stuck out like a sore thumb at Shattuck,” Ferschweiler said. “We really tend to pick people with an inner drive, people who are self-motivated and love the work and love the process, and everything we saw was confirmed by the Shattuck coaches of who Zach was as a young man, what he was as a hockey player and that he wanted to be great.”
Fourteenth-ranked WMU is 3-1 heading into the Broncos’ opening NCHC series this weekend at Omaha, and Ferschweiler is eager to see what problems Nehring can give opponents going forward.
“It’s a day-by-day process, and especially for the young guys,” Ferschweiler said. “It’s been our stated goal from the start of the year that we’re here to get better every day, and that’s Zach’s goal, as well. He continues to round out his game, and it’s already really good in lots and lots of spots.
“We always talk with our guys about, ‘What do you want to repeat, and what do you want to improve?’ We’re going to work on that on a daily basis, but I think Zach is going to be a great Bronco until he’s a great pro, whenever that is.”
Minnesota State and St. Thomas meet this weekend in a home-and-home series (photo: Minnesota State Athletics).
Nobody can accuse Minnesota State of taking the easy way out to start the 2024-25 season.
In their first five weeks of play, the Mavericks have skated every weekend without a bye, and their opponents have included: two top-10-ranked nonconference opponents (Michigan and North Dakota), one team that was ranked before the series (Omaha), one Hockey East team (Merrimack) and a CCHA matchup against your biggest league rival and defending conference champ (Bemidji State).
The fact that MSU has gone 6-4-0 in that grueling 10-game start to the season is impressive, but Mavericks head coach Luke Strand knows things won’t get any easier now, especially in week six. Minnesota State has a home-and-home series with yet another instate rival, St. Thomas. The Tommies finished tied for second in the CCHA and were picked to finish first in the preseason polls.
“Our conference is tight just out of our familiarity with one another, the coaches do a great job preparing for each other, the players, the way our league plays is very hard. It’s kind of that iron sharpens iron piece every week. You better be ready, the other group can come out and make a difference,” Strand said during his weekly press conference. “We’ve been on a roll on the schedule, where there’s been no off nights, so when we’ve decided to not be so hot, we’ve felt it, and the other times when we’ve been on top of our game, we’ve taken advantage of it.”
The Tommies have, so far, had a more mixed start to the season, going 2-4-1 with a similarly rough schedule that has included St. Cloud State, Minnesota, Vermont and CCHA newcomer Augustana. But Strand knows how dangerous St. Thomas can be.
“They get up and go offensively, and they make plays in all three zones. You look at how they scored a week ago, from an empty netter to shortys to power plays to on the attack. They’re a dangerous team that I think if you take your foot off the gas and start looking around, they can capitalize quickly, to their credit,” Strand said.
The Mavericks-Tommies rivalry isn’t exactly new – they’ve been playing since the 70s when both teams were in the lower divisions of the NCAA – but since 2021 when St. Thomas moved up to Division I, the programs have played at least four times every season. The Mavericks swept the season series in 2021-22 by lopsided margins but the games have gotten progressively better, including last season, when they split their season series in four incredibly close games.
Tommies head coach Rico Blasi said in his press conference Monday that he likes where this rivalry is headed, and the home-and-home series adds another element to it. The teams will play at the Tommies’ home rink in suburban Mendota Heights on Friday before traveling 80 miles to Mankato on Friday. A second home and home series is scheduled for the end of January.
“I think it’s good for both programs and fanbases. Certainly, we’re not capable of doing it with everyone in our conference, but when you can do it, it certainly adds to the rivalry,” Blasi said. “Right now, they’re top of the nation in terms of creating scoring chances. They’re really good off transition and entering the zone. You’re going to have to play some really good team defense, track back and be aware of their forwards and D entering the rush, and their goaltender is playing well.”
That goaltender Blasi mentioned is junior Alex Tracy. The Chicago native has been a workhorse for the Mavericks, starting in every game this season with numbers that are among the best in the country. His .914 save percentage currently leads the NCAA, and he’s given up just 14 goals through 10 games (a 1.41 goals-against average).
“I think he gives our team so much belief. Usually what happens when a goalie is so good you think you can go for it a little bit offensively because if you know you trip up and make a mistake, he’s got your back. That doesn’t always lead to goals, but it does lead to improved posture on the rink,” Strand said.
Although it didn’t lead to a glut of goals last weekend in Bemidji – the Mavericks lost 1-0 on Friday before beating the Beavers 2-1 on Saturday, in part because the Beavers have a rock-solid goalie of their own in Mattias Sholl – it has led to some goals in other games. In the season opener against Michigan, for example, Tracy made 32 saves and the Mavericks backed him up with five opportunistic goals to win 5-2 despite being outshot in the game.
This weekend’s series will feature another solid goaltending matchup–albeit this one is more like a triple-threat match than a one-on-one. St. Thomas’ goalie rotation of Aaron Trotter and Jake Sibell was outstanding last season; this year their numbers are not quite the same through a smaller sample size of seven games but they’re still a dangerous tandem. Trotter started both games in last weekend’s split against Augustana.
Strand said the key to playing well against a good goaltender – as his team did last weekend in Bemidji and will this week against St. Thomas – is to make sure you don’t get rattled because the netminder is taking goals off the scoreboard.
“Traffic is going to be a big piece of it,” he said. “Anything you can get after seconds and rebounds will be key. Not that they give up many, but you have to be a predictable group to each other. We have to give ourselves the best chance to create after pick recoveries and stay on the offense.”
Cornell was a step ahead of North Dakota much of last weekend (photo: Caroline Sherman/Cornell Athletics).
Every year, the debate surrounding the Ivy League schools in college hockey ends with one of the more mind-boggling stalemates among the sport’s followers.
It seldom advances beyond their unique or quirky scheduling arrangement limiting the six hockey-sponsored schools to six fewer games than the rest of college hockey, a debate that’s almost never accurately explained or outlined with concrete or historical documentation. They rank as six of the most historic or ancient (pun intended) schools in college hockey, but asking anyone about their status usually draws an eye roll or annoyed grunt.
Nobody believes in the Ivy League, and it’s completely mind-bending to discuss their overall strength as other teams pile victories around them. Because they’re not playing, the rationale at the start of the season implies that other teams are simply better, and any immediate loss is treated as reason to dump the teams under some unadvanced or misplaced bias.
The fact remains that Ivy League hockey programs are nationally competitive, and the snickering over Cornell’s status as a top-10 team without a game played quickly fell apart when the Big Red swept North Dakota last weekend. In an instant, the one first place vote that drew considerable consternation became more of a ringing endorsement for a team that improved to 2-0 under a head coach who entered his final season of proving any and all doubters wrong.
“I thought we played hard,” said Mike Schafer of his team’s two victories over the sixth-ranked Fighting Hawks. “We’re a 07. For us, the first two games of the year are where we made quite a few mistakes. We didn’t play as physical as we needed to play, and they were sharp against our penalty kill. We made some mistakes, and our goaltending had to bail us out, so there are some things to work, but any time you can get two wins against a heck of a hockey team, you’re pleased when you could play solidly.”
Schafer entered his 30th and final season as Cornell’s head coach with six previous trips to the top of the ECAC mountain, but previous success didn’t stop doubters from loudly talking about the Big Red ahead of the Friday-Saturday doubleheader. They’d swept non-conference games to start two of the previous three seasons, but the wins over Minnesota-Duluth and Alaska flimsily fell apart under a season-long microscope.
Non-believers possessed plenty of ammunition against a team emanating from a league with less national firepower than Hockey East or the Big Ten, and not even finishing the season as the No. 12 team in the Pairwise with an NCAA Northeast Regional win over Maine was enough to stop the chuckling at the Big Red’s preseason status.
None of that quashed the belief in Cornell’s internal mechanisms, though, and playing with an edge allowed the Big Red to rally past the Fighting Hawks in one of the higher-profile non-conference matchups of the season’s first month.
On both nights, Cornell was forced to confront an opponent that wouldn’t stop, and on Friday, North Dakota negated Nick DeSantis’ goal in the first 100 seconds by potting a tying goal before the four-minute mark. Less than 90 seconds later, Tyler Catalano beat goalie TJ Semptimphelter, and after Nicholas Wolfenberg added a third goal in the first period, head coach Brad Berry opted for a change to Hobie Hedquist between the pipes as part of a 4-1 opening night win.
“One of the biggest mistakes I made as a young coach was assuming that veterans know what’s going on and can kickstart everything back up,” Schafer said. “Everybody wants to try to do a little bit more, but new guys are in the lineup and others might want more roles. Guys might have gotten better [in the offseason], so one of the mistakes we didn’t make this year as a coaching staff, we went right back to basics. We retaught everything, redid everything, and we got ready to get those fundamentals and foundations under us so we could proceed to get better as a team.”
Spilling that momentum and mentality into Saturday night enabled the Big Red to score a second victory by coming from behind. Like Friday, Cornell scored its first goal in the first three minutes of the first period, but after Jack O’Leary added a second goal halfway through the second, North Dakota went on a tear and scored three goals over eight minutes. James scored almost immediately after O’Leary to empty air out of Lynah Rink’s balloon, but the 3-2 lead forced Schafer to confront his team’s resilience in the locker room ahead of a third-period rally that added three goals and upended the Fighting Hawks with a 5-3 decision.
“They’re resilient,” said Schafer of his team. “They started to develop that ability last year, even in the ECAC semifinal against Dartmouth, but the way they came out in the third and made adjustments to play together is something that we struggled with early in last year. There was a quiet confidence to our locker room, and we were disappointed with some of the mistakes that we made that we won’t make over the next two or three weeks. But we just stuck with the game plan.”
By executing, Cornell’s band of Big Red skaters silenced doubters who spent a month looking at a team with no record in the national top-10. The team that earned one intrepid first place vote replaced North Dakota as the No. 6 team in this week’s USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, and an ECAC league looking to fill its top slot vacuum after Quinnipiac slipped to No. 15 nationally found its early season candidate in the team that didn’t appear in a game until the calendar turned to November.
“This isn’t so much about trying to play catch up,” said Schafer, “but it’s more about battling through some of the physicality that needs to be caught up. You’re going to make mistakes that are just early season mistakes, and you hope you can survive them. You know they’re coming, and when we did, [goalie] Ian Shane made saves when we needed him. That’s the thing; it’s not about effort. We came out and played really strong.”
The sixth-ranked Big Red enter into Ivy League and ECAC play this weekend when they face Yale and the debuting Brown at home in Ithaca, N.Y.
Chris Hall spent last season on the bench at Babson (photo: Babson Athletics).
As Roger Williams University prepares to kick off a men’s hockey program in the fall of 2025, Chris Hall has been named the first head coach for the rebooted program.
Roger Williams is located in Bristol, R.I.
“I’m incredibly honored to be the first leader of the RWU men’s ice hockey program in this new era,” Hall said in a news release. “It is an amazing time to be a Hawk. A significant investment in hockey, combined with a powerful academic experience and a welcoming community, makes Roger Williams a great destination for college athletes, and I am excited to build a competitive program.”
The Hawks have been competing at the ACHA level and will make the jump to the NCAA ranks in the CNE conference in 2025-26.
“We are thrilled to welcome Chris Hall as our inaugural men’s varsity ice hockey coach,” said Roger Williams VP for student life John King. “We had a terrific candidate pool, but Chris’s deep experience as a full-time assistant coach at the collegiate level, strong knowledge and passion for the game, and commitment to the student-athlete experience were important to a new program in a highly competitive conference.”
“We are excited to have Chris join the RWU Athletics family as the first Men’s Ice Hockey Coach in our rebooted varsity program,” said Hawks director of athletics, intramurals and recreation Kiki Jacobs. “His energy and enthusiasm were evident throughout the entire process. His connections within the ice hockey community will help him recruit regionally, nationally, and internationally to get the program off the ground in a competitive CNE.”
Hall has most recently served as assistant coach at Babson last season, helping coach the school’s team to a 14-10-2 record, with a 12-5-1 record in the NEHC.
Before his stop at Babson, Hall gained experience at the Division I level from 2018 to 2023, serving as an assistant for Merrimack’s women’s hockey program. Hall helped coach the best finish in program history in 2018-19, finishing 16-10-5 in the Hockey East. Hall also had playoff success in 2022 and 2023, picking up the first playoff wins in program history. Working with defense, goaltenders, and special teams, Hall’s power-play unit was ranked 16th in the nation and fourth in Hockey East (19.3%). Hall also helped to build recruiting pipelines in numerous regions internationally, while also helping to develop four all-Hockey East selections and six Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) and Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) signees.
From 2012 until 2018, Hall was at Colby, where he was an assistant on the 2017-18 Edward Jeremiah Award staff, awarded to the Division III men’s hockey coaching staff of the year. During the stop, he also held his first head coaching job, leading the men’s golf team for the Mules. The 2017-18 season saw the Mules win their first ever NESCAC championship in men’s hockey while also earning a trip the NCAA Division III semifinals.
During the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, Hall was a graduate assistant and director of hockey operations at UMass, where he coordinated day-to-day operations of the program, including Frozen Fenway. He worked with the Friends of UMass Hockey and managed the yearly operating budget.
His first position after graduating in 2010 from Notre Dame was at Amherst College, where he was the goaltender coach for the Mammoths. He coached the Division III player of the year and first team All-American goaltender Jonathan La Rose during the 2011-12 campaign.
During his time with the Fighting Irish, Hall worked with the hockey team as a student assistant, where the program won 116 games in five seasons and appeared in three NCAA tournaments, reaching the national title game in 2008.
Hall expressed his thanks for the support he has received in gaining this appointment to RWU.
“Two words immediately come to mind: gratitude and excitement,” Hall said. “I’m grateful to president Ioannis Miaoulis, vice president John King, athletic director Kiki Jacobs, and the entire hiring committee for the opportunity to join the RWU community. I am also indebted to the coaches and mentors who have helped me get to this point in my career. I would not be the person I am today without Jamie Rice, Erin Hamlen, Blaise MacDonald, Don Cahoon, and Jeff Jackson. Most of all, I am grateful for the lifelong support of my partner, Katherine.”
Hall will begin his post with the Hawks on Nov. 12.
Artem Buzoverya transferred to Bentley this season after four seasons and two D-III national titles at Hobart (photo: Ryan DeSantis/Bentley University).
Last season was the first for Andy Jones behind the bench at Bentley.
Jones, who was appointed in late June of 2023, didn’t have a lot of time to get to know his team well and inherited a recruiting class put together by the departing Ryan Soderquist.
The Falcons were picked to finish in last place in 2023-24 and made that prediction look silly, finishing tied for sixth and one point out of a first-round bye.
A heartbreaking overtime loss to Robert Morris in the playoffs didn’t diminish a season to build on.
And so far, Bentley is doing just that. Bolstered by a veteran lineup that includes five returning fifth-year players, the Falcons are looking to improve on an impressive season.
So far, so good. Bentley is 4-3-1, including 3-1 in league play. Last weekend, Jones’ team swept Sacred Heart, the consensus preseason pick to win the league, 4-2 and 6-4.
“(The overtime loss last year) wasn’t overly fitting to the season we put together,” said Jones. “I thought we were a little bit flat in that game. After, we talked about how it felt and how to use it to get better.
“Outside of that, I was proud of some of the habits we developed over the course of last season and how we’d show up to play.”
Leading the way so far are grad students AJ Hodges and Ethan Leyh (tied for the team lead in points with seven each) In all, fifth-year players comprise four of the top five scorers for the Falcons.
All but one of the five graduate students had previously transferred from other programs, but stayed at Bentley for as long as possible, a good reflection on Jones’ program.
“To me that says they have had a good experience at Bentley,” he said. “Our hope is that they continue to benefit, and we continue to benefit from those guys.”
Jones specifically mentioned defenseman Nick Bochen, who came to Bentley from Quinnipiac in 2021. Bochen is tied for second on the team with six points with classmate Nik Armstrong-Kingkade.
“Nick’s known for contributing offensively, but what doesn’t get mentioned is that he is an elite defender with his stick and his feet,” said Jones.
The other graduate student on the roster is Artem Buzoverya, a defenseman who transferred to Bentley from Hobart, where he was a Division III All-American and helped the Statemen to two national titles.
“We’re looking for really good people to help our culture,” said Jones about Buzoverya. “He’s a great guy with a great story; he’s overcome a lot. I have a soft spot for guys who have challenging stories.
“Good people with good habits and details, I tend to root for those guys.”
Jones thinks that a tough non-conference schedule is helping his team prepare for some of the top teams in Atlantic Hockey America. So far, the Falcons have one-goal losses to Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as well as a win and a tie against Long Island.
“Our guys want a challenging schedule,” said Jones, whose team will also face Maine, Northeastern, and Princeton in non-conference play. “It’s fun to play in an awesome environment against good competition.
“Against UMass, I thought we played pretty well, said Jones. “But not for 60 minutes. In the second period, they smoked us. We learned about the importance of starting a period strong.
“I also thought we played pretty darn well against UNH. Some of the moments of the game got away from us. We took four penalties in the third and overtime that were costly. Another lesson learned.”
Bentley hosts Rochester Institute of Technology for a pair of games this weekend, the first of six straight home games that also have the Falcons hosting American International and Air Force.
“I’m excited,” he said. “With the next six at home, it’s an opportunity to build some momentum.
“This weekend we’ve got RIT, and based on the past couple of seasons, the league (championship) runs through Rochester. AIC and RIT have set the bar for our league for several years.”
Jones says that his team is up to the challenge.
“In the big picture, I’m pleased with the fact that we show up every night,” he said. “That’s the culture we’re building.”
Anna Maria College won the Worcester City Cup to open the season and now has its sights set on more success in its new MASCAC affiliation (Photo by Anna Maria Athletics)
For six seasons, the Anna Maria College hockey team has played among the independent teams against D-II and D-III teams without an opportunity to win a conference title and very limited visibility on a national level. This season as a new member of the MASCAC conference, there is so much to play for and the AmCats are relishing the opportunity to play important games each and every game this season.
“This is a great thing for our program,” stated head coach David McCauley. “For the first time we actually have a standings board in our locker room at our home rink that we can measure our performance solely based on our results against teams we want see ourselves higher in the standings. Having a chance to play for a conference championship and possibly earn a bid to the national tournament is what every coach wants for his program. It took us awhile to get here but we are very excited about the opportunity to showcase our program and compete in the MASCAC.”
The AmCats join the 10-team league along with Rivier from the Independent ranks knowing that they have had success on the ice against several of the conference incumbents including the repeat defending champions from Plymouth State.
“We have played well against Plymouth State the past couple of seasons winning non-conference games against them,” noted McCauley. “Stakes are different this year knowing we are playing them and all the other teams two times with a chance of seeing teams a third time in the playoffs. All I know is you need to win the last one if you want any shot of sitting atop the conference. The league has great balance and historically strong programs like Fitchburg State, Massachusetts-Dartmouth and Westfield State but we all know in D-III any team can win on any night if your team doesn’t show up to play so it will be a different challenge getting our team to play all our games with the intensity needed because they all count in the standings. Even our non-conference schedule is difficult with teams like Curry from the CNE and Hamilton from NESCAC. We want to play really good teams to strengthen our program and show our kids what excellence looks like across D-III hockey.”
Having already scrimmaged Endicott (a 3-2 loss) and the University of New England (a 2-0 win), McCauley likes what he sees from a very deep roster of players that has talent and balance. The AmCats only lost one of their top twelve forwards from last season and have all their key point producers back with an added year of experience. Four new defensemen join the team in front of starting goaltender Matthew Hennessey and Cole Johnston along with two first-years for added depth and competition for the crease. Leadership is solid with captain Derek Raposo and assistants Justin Taylor and Brandon Della Paolera continuing the culture that the AmCats are always a difficult team to play against starting with the season opening Worcester City Cup (Woo Cup) tournament and their opening night game against Assumption.
“We haven’t forgotten that we lost twice to Assumption last season including the Woo Cup tournament,” said McCauley. Always good motivation going into the season to want to come out playing good hockey against a quality opponent. We set this tournament up sort of like the Beanpot with the four schools from the Worcester area (Nichols and Worcester State are the other two teams) and it would be great if we could get this to the level of playing at the DCU Center with great support from the school administrators and student bodies. We are not quite there yet but it would be great for Worcester and D-II/III hockey in the area. It is always nice to play for a trophy to start the season and would be nicer to win it.”
The AmCats follow up the Woo Cup with non-conference action against Morrisville (SUNYAC) and Hamilton before opening their MASCAC schedule with Rivier and Westfield State to close out the first month of the season.
“We really are excited to get going,” said McCauley. “The exhibition games were great but now we want to play games where the score matters, and the results are meaningful. There will be a lot of new things to adjust to this season including the conference game schedule of Thursday and Saturday games, but it is all part of bringing our program forward and finally having something to compete for.”
Anna Maria successfully launched the season last weekend with wins over Assumption (4-2) and Nichols (4-1) last weekend to claim the Worcester City Cup for the first time and now turns its focus on the rest of the season and success in their new conference.
Ryan Chesley is the second player in Minnesota history to wear No. 71 after Donald Bodin (1949-50) (photo: Bjorn Franke).
After sweeping Penn State in their opening weekend of Big Ten play, Minnesota is 7-1-0, the team’s best start since beginning the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season with 10 wins in a row.
The seven wins in eight games is the Golden Gophers’ best start under Bob Motzko outside of that truncated season.
“A lot of guys feeling confident about their offense and we’ve scored some goals,” said Motzko. “We thought even going into last week, it’s not going to stay at that pace, but we’re off to a good start.”
Heading into that series against Penn State, the Gophers were averaging 5.5 goals per game, with 14 different Gophers contributing to the 33-goal total through six games. That high voltage production came to a halt against the Nittany Lions. Minnesota beat Penn State 3-1 Friday, scoring the only power-play goal the Nittany Lions have given up so far this season. Jimmy Snuggerud and Jimmy Clark each had two goals on the weekend, with Clark’s game-winning goal Saturday with 26 seconds left in regulation.
“It was a lot tighter than we’ve seen at some points,” said Motzko. “Penn State’s an excellent skating team so they do a good job in the neutral zone, clogging it up, and with their speed, they can get to spots and make it hard.
Motzko said that he told his team the Monday before the Penn State series, “We haven’t been punched in the nose yet. I want to know how we respond. Well, we got punched in the nose and I like how we responded,” adding that he liked how the Gophers played “when it was tight.”
“Our power play gets a big goal Friday night and that was the difference,” said Motzko. “The next night, it was just a fight to whoever could find a way to get one in.”
In the 1-0 win, the Nittany Lions limited the Gophers to 12 total shots on goal. “I liked how we played in those minutes,” said Motzko. “We stayed with it. We stayed strong.”
Motzko said that there are several factors that are contributing to Minnesota’s fast start, one being the way the Gophers’ defense is playing both sides of the puck.
“We really felt like our defensive core could take a massive step forward in being offensively productive for us,” said Motzko. “Our ‘D’ core was excellent a year ago, but they had nine goals.”
Now that the Gopher blue line is more veteran, Motzko said that’s a “catalyst for us,” leading to a much more offensive-minded defense.
Two Gopher defensemen alone have combined for eight goals through eight games this season. Sophomore Sam Rinzel and junior Ryan Chesley have each netted four goals. Rinzel, a first-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2022 NHL Draft, had two goals total in 39 games last season. Chesley, a second-rounder with the Washington Capitals in 2022, had four goals through 75 games in his first two seasons with Minnesota.
Minnesota’s blue line isn’t sacrificing defense for scoring. The Gophers are holding opponents to 1.62 goals per game with a .895 penalty kill percentage.
Sophomore Nathan Airey and grad transfer Liam Souliere have split time evenly in the Minnesota net. Backing up Justen Close, Airey played three games last season with an .865 save percentage and 3.23 goals-against average. Airey is 4-0-0 this season with significantly improved numbers (.908 SV%, 2.00 GAA).
Souliere earned the shutout win against his old teammates Saturday night, his first of the season, his first since March 2023, and the fourth of his career. Souliere has settled in nicely with the Gophers, with a 3-1-0 record, a 1.25 GAA and a .948 SV%, stats that put him among the top 10 goalies in the nation in both categories and numbers that at least so far surpass anything from Souliere’s four seasons with Penn State.
An offense that’s clicking, a defense that is increasingly comfortable at the opposite end of the ice and two goalies combining for the 10th-best GAA in the nation – it’s all a powerful combination, one that Motzko attributes to maturity, especially that of Minnesota’s junior class. Chesley isn’t the only junior seeing improved numbers.
Forward Connor Kurth had seven goals in 37 games last season and 21 total points. Thanks in part to his hat trick against Air Force Oct. 11, Kurth has a team-leading six goals. Brody Lamb had 12 goals in 39 games last season and has five so far with a hat trick of his own against St. Thomas Oct. 26. Juniors have accounted for 21 of Minnesota’s 37 goals this season.
“I call that a junior class that’s now become upperclassmen,” said Motzko. “They’ve been through great wars with us in the last two years … so we’ve got an upper-class group with a lot of confidence and they’re being joined by a younger group – Jimmy Clark in his sophomore year, Ollie Moore – it’s just that we’ve got tremendous depth inside our forwards, solid depth, and we can contributions through all our lines.”
Even with the Gophers’ early success, Motzko is cautiously optimistic about how the season may transpire.
“You don’t win championships early, but you can lose them,” said Motzko. “Early you want you to be really relevant, hanging in there. You want to put yourself in a good spot.
“The key is, get in the [NCAA] tournament. Get in the tournament and you’ve got a chance. There was a time not many years ago at the start of a given year [when] there were probably eight or nine teams that had a true chance to win a title. Now, there could be 15, 16 that have a true chance to win it. The key is to get in the tournament.
Minnesota hosts Wisconsin this weekend, a 2-6-0 team coming off a road split with Notre Dame. The Badgers lost 3-2 in overtime Friday and won 2-1 Saturday.
Motzko knows that “for sure” the series with Wisconsin will be very hard fought.
“They were on an hour before us [Saturday] and we got to watch the early part of their game against Notre Dame, and they took it to Notre Dame in the early stages of the game,” said Motzko. “They looked really solid.”
Last season, the Gophers were 5-3-0 through their first eight games, and two of those three losses were at home against Wisconsin. Minnesota eventually went 1-2-1 against the Badgers last year, with the final two games going to overtime.
USCHO.com’s Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look back at last week’s results in NCAA women’s hockey, including a bounce back by Quinnipiac in ECAC Hockey and more questions for Clarkson and Cornell. Wisconsin, meanwhile, kept rolling along with two more shutouts.
Then we take a look ahead at this week’s start of the Rivalry Series between the U.S. and Canada, where Minnesota defender Chloe Primerano and former Boston College and Wisconsin forward Daryl Watts will debut for Canada.
We finish with a look ahead at some games to watch on a lighter schedule.
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].
Philip Svedebäck and Zachary Borgiel have been a solid 1-2 punch in the Providence crease this season (Svedebäck photo/Lydia Vigneau, Borgiel photo: Providence Athletics).
Don’t call it a goalie controversy.
Instead, file it under a good problem to have for the Providence Friars.
So far, both of the Friars’ netminders have turned in stellar performances. Returning junior Philip Svedebäck of Växjö, Sweden, is 3-1-0 with a .907 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. Graduate transfer Zachary Borgiel of Fort Gratiot, Mich., is 2-0-1 with a .952 save percentage and 1.64 GAA.
It’s left 14-year coach Nate Leaman with the task (enviable or unenviable, depending on whom you ask) of deciding when and where to play each one.
“Rather have two good ones than two bad ones,” said Leaman, with a chuckle. “It’s a healthy competition right now. They’re both playing pretty well. We haven’t had that combination in a long time. It’s very welcome.”
Providence’s recent weekend sweep vs. New Hampshire served as a microcosm of the season, and the goalie situation, for the Friars. Svedebäck made 23 saves in a 6-3 win Friday night at Schneider Arena to open the series. The next night at UNH, Borgiel turned in one of the best goalie performances in the league this year with 43 saves, many of the highlight-reel variety. It was the first shutout of the season for Borgiel and the Friars.
The Friars are 5-1-1 and are unbeaten since a season-opening 5-2 setback at North Dakota, which was then No. 6 in the USCHO Division I Men’s Hockey Poll.
Borgiel transferred from Merrimack, where last season he posted a 6-9-1 record with 3.26 ga and .890 save percentage.
“It’s been great,” Borgiel said of the transition to his new school. “New, fresh scenery is always good. Great guys here and I love the school. The facilities are great. It’s been awesome so far.”
Borgiel earned league goalie of the week honors for his performance against UNH.
Providence has gotten good production from a couple of Wills — graduate student forward Logan Will, who transferred from Colorado College, had a goal and four assists in the sweep vs. UNH, tied for a league-best plus-5 rating for the weekend, and freshman forward Will Elger, who continued his hot start to the year with two goals, one assist and a plus-2 rating vs. the Wildcats. He tallied the game-winning goal in Saturday night’s 3-0 win, his fourth straight game with a goal.
Leaman said Elger’s talent may not have been obvious last year when Elger played for the Omaha Lancers of USHL, but it was apparent early on in his time with the Friars.
“For the amount of ice time he gets, he’s really productive,” Leaman said. “He’s got a very good skill set, he’s got a very good IQ for the game. (For) us, this isn’t a flash, because all through training camp, he kept scoring. (It) didn’t matter who we put him with. He’s got a good stick.”
Next up for Providence is a home and home series vs. Northeastern (Friday at Schneider, Saturday at Matthews; both games start at 7 p.m. on ESPN+). Leaman said to keep the good times rolling, the Friars will have to improve on managing the puck and staying out of the penalty box.
“We just have to be sharper, a little better,” he said. “Better with our sticks. (We) just have to make sure, sticks on puck.”
David “Duke” Snyder, adjunct professor of Physical Education, Emeritus, and former coach of men’s hockey at Wesleyan, passed away on October 25, 2024, at the age of 80.
Snyder completed his BA at St. Lawrence, where he lettered in both hockey and baseball. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1970 as the arena director and assistant men’s hockey coach, and the following year, he took over as the head coach for the team’s first season at the varsity level.
Over the next 32 years, he led the men’s hockey team to 270 wins and a Little Three title.
Snyder had a significant impact on hockey at Wesleyan and on the sport as a whole. Wesleyan’s hockey rink, the former Wesleyan Arena, was officially renamed in 2004 as the Spurrier-Snyder Rink in honor of the contributions of Duke Snyder and his predecessor, Wesleyan’s club hockey coach William Spurrier. Snyder was named NESCAC coach of the year in 2000 and in 2023, received the John “Snooks” Kelley Founders Award from the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) which recognizes those who have contributed to the overall growth and development of the sport of ice hockey in the United States.
In addition to his role with hockey, Snyder made other significant contributions at Wesleyan, including acting as the arena director, serving as the assistant baseball coach, assistant men’s crew coach, head varsity golf coach, and serving for six seasons as the head softball coach. Duke was also instrumental in the development of the women’s hockey program at Wesleyan.
“A very popular and supportive coach, he was highly respected by his players and his colleagues in the coaching profession,” recalled John Biddiscombe, adjunct professor emeritus of physical education. “Students sought out his class offerings because of his engaging teaching style and expert instruction.”
“Duke was a wonderful person who had an engaging way about him,” added Chris Potter, adjunct professor emeritus of physical education and head coach of the Wesleyan men’s hockey team. “He had a tremendous impact on so many people and he optimized what coaching is all about. Winning and losing is part of it, but for Duke the development of young people was his passion.”
Snyder is survived by his wife, Diane, their children, Kristen Snyder Vogel (John) and Todd Snyder (Linda), grandchildren Sarah and Annie Vogel and Caroline and Luke Snyder, his sister, Mary Beth Snyder O’Brien (Tim) and a large extended family. A memorial service is planned for Saturday, April 5, 2025, at 1 p.m. at Wesleyan’s Memorial Chapel, followed by a reception at the Spurrier-Snyder Rink.
Memorial contributions may be made to support ice hockey at Wesleyan University. Gifts may be made online (please choose designation “Other” and note “In Memory of David ‘Duke’ Snyder-Women’s Hockey or Men’s Hockey”), or by mailing a check to Wesleyan University, Office of Advancement, 55 High Street, Middletown, CT 06457, and noting “Snyder/Men’s or Women’s Hockey” in the memo line.
Westfield State celebrates their Western Massachusetts Invitational title as St. Anselm and Anna Maria also captured opening weekend tournaments (Photo by Westfield State Athletics)
Happy Election Day! As my computer and Wi-Fi connection “elected” not to work yesterday, I am supplying an expanded version of the opening weekend wrap-up.
Well, if the week one results are any indication of the season ahead, then we should all buckle up for some exciting and unpredictable hockey in the east. The weekend saw a strong performance from number one-ranked Hobart and a split series between Utica and Adrian, but also saw a ranked Endicott loss to Southern Maine; back-to-back losses for #11 Plymouth State to the University of New England and Babson; St. Anselm winning the Buffalo State tournament and a host of other results including overtime thrillers that clearly illustrates how competitive the D-II/III landscape will be in 2024-25. There is lots to recap so here is some of the best highlights for this past weekend in the east:
CNE
Curry’s Shane Soderwall simply resumed where he left off last season by stopping a lot of pucks and not giving up goals. The Colonels’ netminder posted back-to-back road shutouts in a 2-0 win over Massachusetts-Boston and 3-0 win at Norwich. Soderwall made twenty-nine saves against the Beacons and followed that up with a perfect twenty-five save effort against the Cadets. Forward Eelis Laaksonen scored a goal in each game to help Curry to a strong 2-0-0 start on the season.
The University of New England may have been viewed as a dark horse in the CNE this season but their 5-0 win over #11 Plymouth State on Friday night certainly will garner some attention from future opponents. Goaltender Joe Stanizzi stopped all 39 Panther shots and received solid offensive support from captain Ryan Kuzmich (1G – 2A – 3 points), Drew Olivieri (0G – 3A – 3 points) and Dominic Murphy (2G – 0A – 2 points).
Suffolk opened their season on the road against Salem State and the Rams rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the third period with a goal from Cole Scott to tie the score at 2-2. Neither team could muster a game-winner in regulation but just over a minute into overtime, Gavin Havens provided the game-winning goal for Suffolk in a 3-2 overtime win. Goaltender CJ Hapward stopped thirty-eight shots for the rams to pick up the win.
MAC
League favorite Stevenson opened the season with a two-game series with Canton and after eking out a 4-3 win on Friday night, the Mustangs saw five different goal scorers in a more complete 5-2 win over the Kangaroos. The Mustangs broke open a 2-1 contest with three unanswered goals in the third period. Caden Smith scored goals in both games for Stevenson.
Alvernia opened their season with a pair of SUNYAC foes and split the two games with a runaway win over Morrisville and a lost to Cortland. On Friday, a hat trick from Frazer Dodd and two goals from Isaac Chapman helped the Golden Wolves to a lopsided 10-3 win over the Mustangs. On Saturday against the Red Dragons, a five-goal second period blew open a scoreless tie and gave Cortland a 5-2 win led by a pair of goals each from Nate Berke and Nathan Garnier.
Alvernia and Stevenson will open conference play this weekend against each other.
MASCAC
One of the new teams in the conference, Anna Maria, got their season off to a fast start by winning the Woo Cup tournament amongst the four teams from the Worcester, Massachusetts area. On Friday night, the AmCats broke open a 2-2 tie in the third period on goals from Owen Barrow and Brandon Della Paolera to secure a 4-2 win over Assumption. Saturday’s championship game against Nichols saw the AmCats score three times in the second period to erase a one-goal Bison lead on the way to a 4-1 victory. Derek Raposo scored one goal and added five assists for six points to pace the AMC attack.
Westfield State took the Western Massachusetts Invitational Tournament title with a pair of wins over Franklin Pierce and Western New England. In the opening round game Louis Ouellet and Cooper Board each scored two goals in a 5-2 win over the Ravens. In the title game, a Jesper Seeburg goal broke open a 2-2 tie in the third period and goaltender, Aiden Winslow made the one-goal lead stand up as he made thirty-two saves to help the Owls to the tournament title.
Rivier opened their season with a new cross-state rival as Keene State began play as a D-III hockey club this season in advance of their joining the new Little East conference next season. The game featured a lot of offense as the teams skated to a 5-5 tie in regulation. With just thirty seconds remaining in overtime, the Raiders’ Alfred Rotiroti scored from the slot past Owl netminder Will Slohm for a stunning 6-5 victory.
NE-10
St. Anselm traveled to Buffalo State for an opening season tournament and came home with the championship trophy. On Friday, the Hawks skated to a 2-2 overtime draw with Brockport with goals from Patrick DeMarinis and Hunter Brackett. The game required a shootout to determine a winner and after nine rounds, the Hawks Cam Collins provided the needed goal. Goaltender Cam Carroll made thirty-two saves to help the hawks advance. In the title game there was more drama as St. Anselm faced-off against the host Buffalo State Bengals. Buffalo State had a one-goal lead when the Hawks pulled the goalie late in the third period and found the equalizer off the stick of Luke Linart. In overtime, Mark Blaney secured the win just 56 seconds into the extra session and St. Anselm’s skated off with the title.
St. Michael’s played Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in a two-game series and skated away with a pir of wins by scores of 5-1 and 4-0. On Friday, five different players scored goals for the Purple Knights including power play tallies from Quinn McCarthy and David Ciancio. Saturday saw the Purple Knights score three goals in the third period to break open a one-goal game and goaltender Ethan Plunkett made nineteen saves to earn the shutout win.
Southern New Hampshire opened the season against Framingham State and needed an Austin Hirschberger goal in the third period to earn a 3-2 victory over a stout Rams team. Goaltender Collin Berke made thirty-four saves including thirty in the final two periods to earn the win for the Penmen.
NEHC
Hobart opened their season with a pair of SUNYAC opponents and captured wins over Oswego and Potsdam to start the 24-25 campaign. On Friday, Luke Aquaro opened and closed the scoring for the Statesmen in a 5-2 win over the Lakers. On Saturday, Tanner Daniels, and Ryan Remick each scored a pair of goals as Hobart netted four in the final period for a comfortable 6-0 win over the Bears. Mavrick Goyer earned the shutout making ten saves.
Despite being outshot by a 48-18 margin, the Southern Maine Huskies took advantage of some great goaltending from Mason Palmer and a stunning overtime goal from Nick Nault to upset Endicott on Saturday night. Palmer finished the game with forty-six saves while Nault scored his first goal just 38 seconds into the extra session to stun the Gulls at home.
Babson opened play against Plymouth State who had already lost their opener 5-0 against UNE on Friday. There was plenty of offense on Saturday night with the teams exchanging goals over the second and third periods for a 4-4 tie entering the final minute of play in regulation time. Brendan Kennedy stunned the Panthers with a goal with just four seconds remaining on the clock for a 5-4 Beaver win. Wyatt George scored two goals for Babson while goaltender Brett Cleaves stopped 38 of 42 shots to earn the win.
Skidmore traveled to play Wentworth in their season opener and after a scoreless first period, found their mark with three goals in the final forty minutes for a 3-0 win over the Leopards. The Thoroughbreds held a large shot advantage at 47-22 over Wentworth with Kevin Urquhart, Evan Brown and Jacob Zwirecki providing all the scoring goaltender Joshua Seeley would need in the shutout win.
SUNYAC
Plattsburgh opened their season against VSU-Castleton on Friday night and Kevin Weaver-Vitale was the star for the Cardinals as he scored two goals and assisted on a third tally in a 6-3 Cardinal win over the Spartans. Plattsburgh held a wide advantage in shots at 44-14 and scored a power play and shorthanded goal to hold down the Spartans.
Prior to Saturday’s road win against Alvernia, Cortland opened their season with a game against Lebanon Valley. The Red Dragons used seven different goal scorers including a five-goal second period to cruise to a 7-2 win over the Flying Dutchmen. Matthew DeSpirit scored one goal and added two assists while Nate Berke chipped in with a goal and an assist for Cortland.
The Red Dragons open their home schedule with a ranked opponent on Saturday when Adrian comes to upstate New York.
UCHC
The Utica vs. Adrian matchup always is a post-season national tournament level preview, and this year was no different with each team securing a win in the two-game series hosted by Adrian. On Friday, Adrian took a 2-1 lead very early in the third period and then forward Shane Murphy went to work for the Pioneers. Murphy tied the game just three minutes after the Bulldogs’ goal and then gave Utica a stunning win in the final half minute of regulation time with an assist from transfer Johnny Mulera for the 3-2 final score. On Saturday, the game again was a back-and-forth affair with Adrian rallying to tie the score at 3-3 after two periods of play. Two goals from Jacob Suede and Bradley Somers in the final period secured an Adrian win and series split.
It does seem strange covering a Geneseo result in the UCHC section but here we are describing the Knights’ opening night win over MAC contender Wilkes. Five different players scored for Geneseo in a 5-2 win that saw Geneseo break the game open with three goals in the third period. Congratulations to head coach Chris Schultz and assistant coach Kris Heeres, who has been there for them all, on reaching the 300-win plateau with the victory over the Colonels.
Three Biscuits
Shane Soderwall – Curry – stopped a combined fifty-four shots in back-to-back shutout wins over Massachusetts-Boston and Norwich.
Nate Nault – Southern Maine – scored the overtime winner in a stunning 3-2 Huskies win over a ranked Endicott squad on Friday night.
Mark Blaney – St. Anselm – scored the overtime winning goal for the Hawks to secure a 4-3 win over Buffalo State to win the Buffalo State Invitational Tournament on Saturday.
Bonus Biscuit
David “Duke” Snyder – Wesleyan – condolences and wishes for fond memories to both the Snyder and Wesleyan hockey families on the passing of the long-time coach and father of Wesleyan men’s ice hockey. Duke was one of the good ones!
Week one was nothing short of amazing and some of the matchups in week two appear to keep that trend going into November. Can’t wait to see what happens next and trying very hard not to be surprised by any of it. It is going to be a fun ride!
Minnesota Duluth’s Gabbie Hughes was the 2023 recipient of the Hockey Humanitarian Award (photo: Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation).
The Hockey Humanitarian Award is presented annually to college hockey’s “finest citizen” and seeks to recognize college hockey players, male or female, who contribute to local and/or global communities in a true humanitarian spirit.
Each year the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation receives many submissions from SID’s and hockey coaches across men’s and women’s Division I – Division III varsity programs. The committee then reviews the achievements of this group of nominees. Since 1996, we have welcomed a wide range of candidates, including team captains, role players and campus leaders – all of whom have led volunteer efforts that help children, the handicapped, the homeless and the disadvantaged.
These student-athletes reaffirm each year that there are, throughout this and other college sports, young people who deserve notice for reasons that ultimately are far more important than mere personal athletic statistics or won-lost records.
The Humanitarian Award will again be presented at the Men’s Frozen Four in conjunction with the Hobey Baker Memorial and Mike Richter awards in St. Louis on April 11, 2025. A list of nominees will be announced in January followed by a list of finalists. All finalists will be interviewed in person or via Zoom.
Please follow the nomination requirements and submit via the website on or before December 20, 2024.
Stonehill’s Dominic Campione gets a shot on St. Lawrence goalie Dominic Basse during the Skyhawks’ first NCAA D-I shutout on Nov. 1 (photo: Sophia DiNanno).
Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Ed: Dan, as USCHO’s ECAC Hockey beat writer, I don’t need to tell you how much coaches of the six Ivy League teams dislike being limited to 29 NCAA games each season. Those teams end up beginning play about a month or more behind everyone else.
You might think that would mean shaking off some rust or being a little sloppy in that first weekend. I know I did.
But for two teams, this past weekend got off to a terrific start. Dartmouth had a conference win over Harvard and a non-league win over a Stonehill team that had blanked St. Lawrence, 4-0, on Friday.
And then there’s Cornell.
Some intrepid – and prescient – media member or coach has been voting the Big Red No. 1 in the USCHO men’s D-I hockey poll since preseason. You’ve sworn to us up and down that it wasn’t you (though we haven’t resorted to waterboarding to try to get you to confess). Nevertheless, you were exactly right about Cornell when we looked at odds for Friday’s game at Lynah Rink against North Dakota on our USCHO Edge podcast.
Does the sweep of the Fighting Hawks now bring some overdue respect to No. 6 Cornell in Mike Schafer’s swan song season?
Dan: I remain committed that I had Denver at No. 1 in this week’s poll, so my affiliations to the eastern leagues cannot be used against me in any court of public opinion. That’s right folks – I’m not even voting for Boston College or Bentley!
Look, I think plenty among us don’t want to admit that Ivy League schools aren’t as good as “other” college hockey programs because their later start and lower number of games make them a little more susceptible to missed storylines. By the time we would have talked about Cornell’s first game, for example, we’ve already discussed North Dakota’s titan series against Boston University while weighing Boston College’s games against St. Cloud State. We have trends in every league, including the ECAC, and we’re able to chart those trends. Going backwards to intersect that debate with the season debut of teams that the majority of college hockey folks – including people from out east – isn’t a popular thing to do. I totally get it.
It’s disrespectful to the Ivy League teams to look at them as nothing more than “teams that start the season late, and that’s weird” because, frankly, they’re good hockey teams. Harvard and Princeton won the ECAC championship over the last decade, and Dartmouth finished fourth in last year’s league. Yale is a former national champion that once routinely ranked No. 1 in the nation. Brown women’s hockey was the original eastern powerhouse and is ranked again for the first time in nearly 20 years after starting 5-0-0, and I can’t count the number of times the men’s team felt like it was getting the hang of things (shoutout the 2019 triple-overtime game that I called with my brother). Frankly put, Cornell beating and sweeping North Dakota at home shouldn’t surprise anyone for the factors involved with the team, and we should respect the defending league champion for its strength.
Maybe it’s idealistic, but college hockey is more than the same seven teams. That’s something we learned this weekend, and I’m excited to see if other teams can jump off the page and surprise us over the next couple of months. Maybe it’s in the spirit of Election Day (covers up as cabbage is thrown at me), but let’s look down ballot at some of our matchups. I want to start out west with the CCHA. Two one-goal games between Minnesota State and Bemidji State. We knew they’d be low scoring, but how refreshing is it to watch a pair of defensive teams match up with one another?
Ed: My vote has also been for Denver all along. This week 46 voters agree with you and me with the other first-place vote going to a deserving Golden Gophers squad. More on them in a moment.
But back to the CCHA. The scoreboard might look like it was a defensive game between Bemidji and Minnesota State in the Beavers’ 1-0 win, but Tom Serratore’s charges put up 44 shots on Mavericks goaltender Alex Tracy – hardly the smothering sort of defense Minnesota State was known for in the Dryden McKay days of facing a dozen shots in a game. But the split on the weekend does suggest to me that the CCHA is just as wide open as the preseason coaches poll in that league. That had these two teams, along with St. Thomas and Michigan Tech, getting first place votes.
Sometimes you get defensive games from teams you don’t expect. Also referring back to last Friday’s USCHO Edge episode, we looked at an over/under of 6.5 goals in Friday’s Penn State at Minnesota tilt, which ended 3-1 Gophers. Saturday’s 1-0 win by Minnesota was even more remarkable. Penn State held Minnesota to just 12 shots on goal, but it would be Jimmy Clark’s deflection in the high slot of Luke Mittelstadt’s shot from the point that resulted in the game’s only tally. The shutout by grad student transfer Liam Soulière must have been especially sweet for him against his former team.
Things are also feeling a little more wide open to me in the Big Ten. Minnesota is off to a torrid start, Michigan made some noise in its sweep of Boston University, and defending champion Michigan State is certainly going to be in that conversation.
I would have expected the other team in the mix to be Wisconsin after the stellar first campaign under Mike Hastings, but the Badgers have stumbled out of the gate. They may have gotten some much needed “sunshine” (as Hastings told Todd D. Milewski of Badger Extra) with a 2-1 win on Saturday at Notre Dame.
The real surprise in the Big Ten has to be Ohio State. The No. 13 Buckeyes are 7-0-1 with five points taken at Wisconsin as their only Big Ten results. It hasn’t been the toughest schedule, but the good start has made poll voters notice Steve Rohlik’s team.
Back to our election day down ballot analysis. There are a few other teams out there with better-than-expected starts. Who do you put in that category thus far?
Dan: It’s really been a pleasant October surprise to see the resurgence within the UMass Lowell program this year. The 5-1 team is up to No. 17 nationally in this week’s poll – passing UMass for good measure – and while nothing’s been perfect, the wins are in games that were ultimately lost during last year’s inconsistency.
Sure, the wins over Colgate mirrored the wins from last season, and the split against Minnesota-Duluth produced the same results as the Alaska-Anchorage split from the trip to the Great White North, but the wins over Holy Cross and Merrimack pushed this team marginally ahead of last year’s home-and-home against UConn. I didn’t feel like Lowell overpowered either team over the past couple of weeks, but coming from behind to beat Holy Cross in Worcester is sneaky tough because that rink’s a tough place to play. Ditto for going to Merrimack.
I’m a little excited to see how this team fares at BU on Friday. I kind of wish the Friday game was at home to generate some momentum into Saturday, but a win at Agganis places a ton of value on the return trip to Tsongas. It’s probably a higher gamble, but the payout could be worth it…and I don’t mean that from our USCHO Edge podcast perspective.
Also, quick shoutout for Lowell’s win over Duluth on Bluey Night. It’s an awesome show. My kids love it, and I’m pretty sure I love it more.
There was a big part of me that wanted to talk about Bentley there, but I figured I’d leave the early season surprise in Atlantic Hockey to you. You know who I like…who’s your third-party candidate from the AHA?
Ed: Bentley’s home-and-home sweep over preseason coaches pick Sacred Heart certainly caught my attention. Overall, the Falcons’ record doesn’t appear all that remarkable, but they never trailed against Sacred Heart, and now have to be in the conversation for the top four in the conference. I’ve used the phrase “wide open” twice already, but that’s what AHA is feeling like to me. (Might as well throw in the word parity here; it wouldn’t be TMQ without it.)
The other team that should be on everyone’s AHA watch list is Niagara. They’re loaded with offensive weapons this season and are the only Atlantic Hockey team to receive votes this week in the USCHO poll.
Our whirlwind tour around college hockey wouldn’t be complete without a look at the independents. With Augustana moving into the CCHA ahead of schedule, and Arizona State joining the NCHC, we’re left with just five unaffiliated teams this season. While all five are below .500, there have been some significant upsets. I look at Lindenwood’s defeat of Wisconsin (though that might not look as impressive now), LIU over Notre Dame, and Stonehill’s defeat of Merrimack, Lake Superior State, and the 4-0 shutout of St. Lawrence last weekend.
Lindenwood’s Bill Muckalt and Stonehill’s David Berard have engineered some quick turnarounds at their programs. Stonehill has already surpassed its two wins last season (Lindenwood and Assumption). Lindenwood had just six victories in 2023-24, and three of those were against Stonehill.
Thirteen Stonehill players entered the transfer portal at the end of the last season. Five reconsidered after Berard was hired, and five more key players came in via the portal.
The right bench boss sure makes a difference.
Dan: Look, I’ll say this – David Berard is doing Herculean work at Stonehill, the program that became Division I because there was no other option.
I don’t know the semantics or details, so take all of this with a grain of salt. Perceptively, Stonehill went Division I because it had to go Division I. The rest of the school was moving to the Northeast Conference, and the ability to play down to a Division III level was no longer an option for a program that’s been in existence. Rather than cut the team, it moved to a partial D-I schedule in 2022 before winding up in the unenviable position of playing what looked like an underfunded D-I schedule. Those players, for their part, gave the program their blood and tears, but playing in a municipal rink with a team lacking the overall resources – again, from a perception standpoint – as the other programs in the nation looked bad. I felt like that program was a lynchpin for eastern realignment if it could get its house pushed in the right direction because it looks a heckuva lot like the teams pushed into Division I back when the cost containment MAAC formed.
What he’s done is nothing short of remarkable. He kept players and developed them into a winning team that capitalized on Merrimack’s goalie situation. The 4-1 win over Lake Superior wasn’t an aberration, and the win over St. Lawrence was one game after a 2-1 loss to Minnesota Duluth. Those are legitimate programs and legitimate results.
Stonehill still doesn’t have the same profile as the other teams around the nation, but you and I both knew Berard was a great hire based on his reputation for helping build programs. We’d witnessed it at two different stops, essentially. From a coaching standpoint, what he’s accomplished in a short amount of time, I’d go so far as call him a candidate for the Spencer Penrose Award. He’s helped turn that program into a legitimate hockey team, and I’d hate hate hate hate hate HATE to play Stonehill with the mathematics towards the NCAA tournament hanging on the result.
Denver blueliner Eric Pohlkamp has been a star in the early going for the defending national champions (photo: C. Morgan Engel/Clarkson Creative Photography).
Denver is again the top team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll, garnering 48 of 50 first-place votes this week.
Boston College stays No. 2, Minnesota, with a first-place vote, is up one spot to No. 3, Michigan State falls one to No. 4, and Maine moves up two places to sit fifth in this week’s poll.
Cornell picks up a first-place vote and moves up three to No. 6, Michigan is up four to No. 7, Colorado College remains eighth, Boston University tumbles four spots to No. 9, and North Dakota also drops four spots to sit 10th in this week’s rankings.
St. Cloud State falls out of the top 10, going from No. 10 to No. 12.
No new teams enter the poll this week.
In addition to the top 20 teams, 16 other teams received votes in this week’s rankings.
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.
They note weekend sweeps by Michigan and Cornell, Denver’s continued dominance, and Minnesota’s big six Big Ten points over Penn State. They also take a look at strong starts by Maine, Ohio State, and UMass Lowell, Providence’s six-point weekend, and Bentley’s sweep of preseason AHA favorite Sacred Heart.
In their second segment, they turn to this week’s expected CHL eligibility decision by the NCAA D-I council and its impact.
Times are approximate:
00:15 Introduction and Hosts
00:31 Michigan vs BU Recap
00:57 Michigan’s Performance Analysis
03:58 Cornell vs North Dakota Recap
07:56 Denver’s Dominance
13:18 Minnesota vs Penn State Recap
17:39 Surprising Starts
20:32 UMass Lowell’s Strong Start
22:16 Providence’s Six-Point Weekend
23:54 New Hampshire’s Struggles
26:09 Bentley’s Impressive Sweep
28:11 CHL Eligibility Changes
33:46 Impact on Junior Hockey Leagues
38:24 Recruiting Landscape Shifts
40:37 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
