On a bonus episode of the PodKaz from the Frozen Four in Minneapolis, Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com chat with players from three of the four teams.
Ohio State junior defender Emma Peschel discusses the Buckeyes’ search for a second consecutive NCAA championship.
Ashley Messier, a senior defender, talks about Cornell returning to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2019.
And Minnesota freshman defender Chloe Primerano shares how the Gophers are preparing to play the Frozen Four at home.
Ohio State plays Cornell at 4 p.m. Central on Friday, with Wisconsin vs. Minnesota to follow at 7:30 p.m. Central. Both semifinal games stream on ESPN+.
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].
Bemtley went 1-1-1 against Holy Cross during the 2024-25 regular season (photo: Bentley Athletics).
After three rounds of playoffs, the Atlantic Hockey America tournament is down to the final two teams: Holy Cross and Bentley.
They will play a single game on Saturday in Worcester, Mass., for the title and the right to represent the league in the NCAA tournament.
Previewing the finals
No. 3 Bentley at No. 1 Holy Cross
It’s 2006 all over again. That was the last time these teams met in the finals, and the only other time Bentley got this far.
The Falcons have won a program-best 22 games and are on a four-game winning streak, allowing a total of two goals over that span. Goaltender Connor Hasley has posted 11 shutouts so far this season, one way from the all-time record of 12 set by former Niagara goalie and current Mercyhurst assistant coach Greg Gardner in 1999-2000. Gardner played in 41 games that season; Hasley has appeared in 34 so far.
Bentley features two first-team all-conference players in forward Ethan Leyh (16-22-38) and defenseman Nick Bochen (8-19-27).
Hasley, a third-team all-star, is the main reason why the Falcons have allowed the fewest goals per game in the league (2.03).
Holy Cross is led by two first-team all-stars: forward Liam McLinskey and goaltender Thomas Gale. Defenseman Mack Oliphant (second team) and forward Matt Kursonis (all-rookie) were also recognized.
McLinskey is the repeat Player of the Year in Atlantic Hockey America, putting up 51 points so far. Gale has 24 wins this season in net, a school record.
Holy Cross boasts the top power play (23.7%) and penalty kill (90.4%) in the conference. The Crusaders PK is tied with Boston College for best in Division I.
As good as the Crusaders have been this season, they might have been even better. Holy Cross doesn’t have graduate programs, which means players looking for a fifth year due to the pandemic had to go elsewhere. Jack Ricketts has 28 points for Quinnipiac this season, and former teammates Tyler Ghirardosi and Matt Guerra each put up 19 points at Sacred Heart.
Bentley and Holy Cross met three times this season, with the Crusaders posting a pair of wins.
Awards season, final edition
Here is our final set of award winners. The league has published its finalists and winners, as voted by the coaches. The official AHA winners are in bold.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
2024-25 Finalists:
Mac Gadowsky, So., D, Army West Point
Thomas Gale, Sr., G, Holy Cross Liam McLinskey, Sr., F, Holy Cross
Our pick: McLinskey, who again leads the league in scoring (23-28-51). He’s the only player to win Atlantic Hockey POTY twice.
FORWARD OF THE YEAR
2024-25 Finalists
Ethan Leyh, Gr., F, Bentley Liam McLinskey, Sr., F, Holy Cross
Matthew Wilde, So., F, RIT
Our pick: McLinskey, who leads the league in goals (23) and assists (28)
BEST DEFENSEMAN
2024-25 Finalists Mac Gadowsky, So., D, Army West Point
Nick Bochen, Gr., D, Bentley
Mack Oliphant, Jr., D, Holy Cross
Our pick: Gadowsky, who is leads the nation in goals by a defenseman (16).
GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR
2024-25 Finalists
Connor Hasley, Jr., G, Bentley Thomas Gale, Sr., G, Holy Cross
Ajeet Gundarah, Fr., G, Sacred Heart
Our pick: Gundarah, who leads the conference in save percentage (.936) and GAA (1.90).
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
2024-25 Finalists
Jack Ivey, Fr., F, Army West Point Trevor Hoskin, Fr., F, Niagara
Ajeet Gundarah, Fr., G, Sacred Heart
Our pick: Hoskin, a Calgary draft pick, who is currently tied with BU’s Cole Hutson for most points by a freshman (27).
COACH OF THE YEAR
2024-25 Finalists
Brian Riley, Army
Andy Jones, Bentley Bill Riga, Holy Cross Our pick: Riley. It’s not a sentimental pick. All three finalists did an amazing job not just for this season, but for the past several years. Jones and Riga took struggling programs and turned them into contenders. But I think the best job this season was by Riley, whose team was under a microscope all season, Riley’s last. Picked to finish tenth, the Black Knights endured a nine-game losing streak in the middle of the season, and then proceeded to go 12-5-2 the rest of the way, earning a bye and then upsetting Niagara in the quarterfinals before giving Holy Cross all it could handle in their semifinal series.
With gratitude
This is my last column of the season, my 26th at USCHO.com and my 19th covering Atlantic Hockey.
This is where I thank the editors, coaches, players and SIDs that have given me their time and attention this season. It’s also where I thank my family for tolerating me during hockey season and continuing to encourage me to continue writing.
This time, I also want to thank a pair of coaches that are moving on — Brian Riley and Eric Lang. I have known both since I started covering the league in 2006, and I am forever grateful for the hours I have spent talking with them, gathering their insights and sometimes just talking about life. I’ve had some health challenges this season and felt comfortable sharing that with them. They were positive and encouraging as always.
Brian is retiring, and I wish him the best in whatever the future holds. Lang will land on his feet at a school that will be very lucky to have him. Eric learned from some of the best: Gary Wright at AIC, and Riley, with whom Lang worked as an assist for four seasons before taking the AIC job.
I hope our paths cross again.
And thank you, dear reader. The season isn’t over yet. I’ll see some of you in St. Louis in a few weeks. Until then, enjoy the hockey to come.
John Prokop played a key role on the Union back end his three seasons with the team (photo: Mary Gettens).
The NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs announced Thursday that the team has signed Union junior defenseman John Prokop to a one-year contract beginning in the 2025-26 season.
He will join the AHL’s Toronto Marlies for the remainder of the 2024-25 season on an amateur tryout.
Prokop posted 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) in 36 games with Union this season. The Wausau, Wis., native skated in 107 career games with Union, posting 85 points (20 goals, 65 assists).
In addition, Prokop was named to the ECAC Hockey all-academic team (2022-23), All-America East second team (2023-24) and ECAC Hockey first team (2023-24).
Michigan State went 3-1-0 during the regular season against Ohio State (photo: Ohio State Athletics).
Raise your hand if you predicted at the start of the 2024-25 season that Ohio State would be playing for the Big Ten tournament championship this weekend.
If your hand’s up, you’re either a diehard Buckeye fan or someone whose familiarity with honesty is questionable.
Picked to finish last in the Big Ten preseason coaches’ poll, Ohio State advances to this week’s conference title game against Michigan State after beating Penn State 4-3 in semifinal action last Saturday.
The difference between where they were picked and where they are now isn’t lost on this Ohio State team or Buckeyes head coach Steve Rohlik.
“To be honest, when you play in the best league in the country, someone’s one and someone’s seven,” said Rohlik. “We never really talked about it as a team, but you know, guys see it … and we said the only thing that matters is what happens and what we believe in that room.
“All the credit to our guys. They just wanted to continue to get better. They just want to be players here and they really believe in our development process.”
In the win against Penn State, the Buckeyes’ best players combined at just the right time. After Matt DiMarsico scored late in the third period to tie the game for the Nittany Lions, Ohio State outshot Penn State 6-1 in overtime, with Gunnarwolfe Fontaine finding the back of the net from Riley Thompson and Davis Burnside – Ohio State’s top three scorers – at 14:31 in OT.
That goal, the 16th of the season for Fontaine, gives the Buckeyes the chance to play for the B1G conference title for the third time. Ohio State remains the only team in the league that has yet to capture that crown.
“One, I’m just proud of the guys that we have an opportunity,” said Rohlik. “Again, every week’s such a grind in our league.”
No one knows that better than Rohlik, whose Buckeyes needed three games to get past sixth-place Wisconsin in the quarterfinal round Mar. 7-9. “I say the toughest weekend of the year is that best two-out-of-three weekend in the Big Ten,” said Rohlik, “and if you can get through that, then all of a sudden, the next game – and what a game it was here.
“Now we’ve got a chance, but we’re playing the best team in the country, the No. 1 team in the country. They don’t have a lot of holes, but you know what? This is playoff hockey. We don’t have to beat them twice. We’ve just got to beat them once.”
Now Ohio State faces off in East Lansing against Michigan State, the top team in the USCHO.com Poll and the No. 2 team in the PairWise Rankings. The Spartans are now regular-season champions for the second consecutive season, and on top of that, Michigan State is the defending Big Ten playoff champ.
“Excited about our guys getting the opportunity to play another game at Munn,” said Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale. “In order to do that, you’ve got to win the regular season, which we did, and you’ve got to win another game, so now we have a chance to play another game in front of our home crowd.”
To earn that right, Michigan State won their semifinal game last weekend against a very determined Notre Dame team. The week prior to that – when the Spartans were enjoying a first-round playoff bye week – the Fighting Irish knocked off Minnesota on the road in three games to advance to the semifinal round.
Given that the Irish finished last in the conference and the Golden Gophers were co-regular season champs, Notre Dame came into Munn Arena and gave the Spartans all they could handle. After a scoreless two periods of play, Isaac Howard scored the only goal of the game on the Michigan State power play 19 seconds into the third period, assisted by Karsen Dorwart and Matt Basgall.
And just as it was for Ohio State against the Nittany Lions, the Spartans needed that their biggest scorers to step up in a very hard-fought game. That win is a lesson that can only help Michigan State in the remainder of the post-season, said Nightingale.
“Obviously, Munn was rocking and we were playing a team that was hot [and] playing some really good hockey, and I think our guys stayed with it,” said Nightingale.
“I think that’s the message to our guys. Playoff hockey’s hard. You can’t expect offense to be easy. We had to work for it. We stayed with it and I don’t think we deviated, and that’s a good reminder for us down the stretch in how we need to play.”
The Spartans enter Saturday’s championship game battle-tested in ways that the Buckeyes are not. In addition to their conference success of these two most recent seasons, Michigan State has won on some big stages. In December, the Spartans captured the Great Lakes Invitational tournament in Van Andel Arena, where the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Griffins of the AHL play, and in February, Michigan State won the annual Duel in the D, beating arch-rival Michigan in front of nearly 20,000 people in Little Caesars Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings.
Even finishing on top of the conference standing demanded the Spartans play their best at crucial time. One week after tying and losing to Penn State at home, Michigan State traveled to South Bend for what were Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson’s final home games, ever. Jackson announced his retirement at the start of the season, and as the last-place team in the conference, the Fighting Irish finished their season after that weekend on the road in the Big Ten playoffs.
The Spartans beat the Irish by a score of 5-2 each night of that series (Feb. 28-Mar. 1), each night in front of more than 5,000 hostile fans.
“To win the regular season this year,” said Nightingale, “we went on the road to Notre Dame and we needed some help, but we needed to win both hockey games and we got the job done.”
Here’s a look at how Ohio State and Michigan State compare, by the overall numbers.
In addition to featuring the last two Big Ten teams standing, this series features a number of Big Ten postseason award winners.
Michigan State’s Isaac Howard is the conference player of the year and goaltender Trey Augustine is goaltender of the year. Howard is also one of the 10 Hobey Baker finalists, while Augustine is one of the four finalists for the Mike Richter Award.
“Both those guys have done a great job,” said Nightingale. “Trey’s obviously had a heck of season for us to win goaltender of the year, and then Ike player of the year, but I think with both those guys it goes back to what they really want – the root of it, why they do everything they do – is they want Michigan State to be great. They want Michigan State to win, and obviously they’re reaping the benefit of that with some individual accolades.”
Michigan State defenseman Matt Basgall was named to the conference first team as well.
No Ohio State players were recognized, but their coach earned coach-of-the-year honors. Rohlik credited everyone else around him for that accomplishment. “I’ve been very blessed to be around some really good coaches, a great support staff and some great players,” said Rohlik, “and they’ve all made me look good.”
As for any Ohio State players overlooked for year-end honors, Rohlik was philosophical about that, too.
“I think our team’s getting recognized because we’re playing in the Big Ten championship,” said Rohlik. “I think that’s the biggest thing I can say, and I think that every guy to a ‘T’ in there would give up any individual award to have a team award, and that’s why we go by team family and belief. That’s what we’re doing right now.”
There is no chance of Nightingale and the Spartans underestimating the Buckeyes, even though Michigan State took three of the four regular-season meetings between the programs, with the Spartans outscoring the Buckeyes 13-6 in those contests.
“I think Rohls does a great job,” said Nightingale. “Their staff does a great job, I think they play team hockey, they’re well coached, they’re organized and anyone can beat anyone in our conference.
“When you have a smaller number of teams in your conference and you look at the pedigree of the teams in our conference, there are no nights off.”
Like the Spartans, the Buckeyes know what they’re up against.
“We understand the animal we’re playing,” said Rohlik. “They’re well coached. Adam’s done an incredible job. But our guys have a belief … and all we have to do is win one game.
“It’s going to be a great atmosphere, playing in the Big Ten championship. What else can you ask for?”
Ohio State (24-12-2) faces off against Michigan State (25-6-4) at 7:30 p.m. at Munn Ice Arena. The game will televised by the Big Ten Network.
USCHO Edge hosts Jim Connelly, Dan Rubin, and Ed Trefzger look at money lines and over/under for the Hockey East, ECAC, and NCHC semifinals, and the championship games in the CCHA, Atlantic Hockey, and Big Ten for March 20-22, 2025.
UConn +105 vs. BU -135; over/under 6.5
Northeastern +220 vs. Maine -298; o/u 4.5
Cornell +124 vs. Quinnipiac -160; o/u 5.5
Dartmouth +110 vs. Clarkson -140; o/u 5.5
Denver -175 vs. Arizona State +135; o/u 6.5
North Dakota +154 vs. Western Michigan -200; o/u 6.5
St. Thomas +180 @ Minnesota State -230; o/u 4.5
Bentley +135 @ Holy Cross -175; o/u 4.5
Ohio State +180 @ Michigan State -125; o/u 5.5
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
Cameron Whitehead made 30 saves in goal as Northeastern upset Boston College last weekend in the Hockey East quarterfinals (photo: Jim Pierce).
One could look at the Hockey East semifinals and assume there’s little at stake.
Only Northeastern, the No. 9 seed, is fighting for its survival beyond this weekend — the Huskies need to win the Lamoriello Trophy for a bid to the NCAA tournament. The other three schools — Connecticut, Boston University and Maine — are already in, based on their position in the PairWise.
But look again. UConn, with only two players who were on the team the last time it made it to Boston, would love to take some conference-championship vibes into what will be the program’s first NCAA tourney berth. Maine, having last year broken a 12-year semifinal drought, is itching to make it back to the final for the first time since 2012. And BU is looking to become the first Terrier team since 2009 to lift the Lamoriello Trophy and the Beanpot in the same year, and the first since Northeastern in 2019.
The 2022 tournament marked the last time UConn made it this far. That year Mike Cavanaugh’s club, as the No. 4 seed, beat top seed Northeastern 4-1 in the semifinals before dropping an OT thriller, 2-1, to No. 2 Massachusetts. Only forward Hudson Schandor and defenseman John Spetz remain from that team.
“We’ve got a group in there that’s really looking forward to competing,” UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh said. “We know we have a great challenge in front of us. (There’s) not a lot of holes in the Terriers, so we’re going to have to play extremely well.”
TD Garden will be the venue on Thursday night starting with No. 4 UConn vs. No. 3 BU at 4 p.m., followed by Northeastern vs. No. 2 Maine in the second game of the semifinal doubleheader. The championship game is set for Friday night at 7:30 p.m. All three games will be on NESN-plus.
BU last skated on the Garden ice just five weeks prior, beating rival Boston College, then ranked No. 1 in the USCHO men’s D-I poll, 4-1 in the Beanpot final.
“I think it certainly helps that our group has experience playing in that building,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said. “It certainly can’t hurt you, that’s for sure. But I think once the game gets going, I don’t know how much it matters after that.”
After a breaking a dozen-year streak of zero appearances in either the Hockey East semifinals or the NCAA tournament, Maine was one-and-done in each in 2024. To go deeper in this year’s league tournament — and get a possible playoff rematch vs. BU, which eliminated the Black Bears in the 2024 semifinals — senior forward Harrison Scott said it will be important for his team to stay mentally focused.
“It’s just going to come down to the little things, the little details,” said Scott. “And it’s about managing the game in our head. We can’t get too worried about the external pressure, the noise. It’s fun, but it comes down to being locked in — being focused on what you need to do to win.”
Northeastern comes into this year’s Hockey East semifinals as the clear underdog/Cinderella story. With an 14-19-3 overall record and 9-14-3 conference mark, Northeastern pulled off a 3-1 win over conference regular-season champion (and defending tournament champ) BC in the quarterfinals.
The win was not an aberration to Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe, who noted his team has given up 10 empty-net goals this season, indicating it has played in a number of close games. The team has played in nine games decided by one goal, and one statistical analysis indicates it has endured the fourth-toughest schedule in the country.
“This time of year, that’s the goal — to try to flip those one-goal games,” Keefe said. “This group has some confidence right now. It’s not going to be easy (against Maine). It wasn’t easy (against BC), it wasn’t easy against Merrimack (in the preliminary round). We’re going to have to go into the Garden, stick to our plan, and win a close game.”
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation has announced the top 10 candidates for the 2025 award honoring college hockey’s top player.
Alphabetically, they are Zeev Buium, Denver; Jack Devine, Denver; Aiden Fink, Penn State; Mac Gadowsky, Army West Point; Isaac Howard, Michigan State; Ryan Leonard, Boston College; Ayrton Martino, Clarkson; Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross; Jimmy Snuggerud, Minnesota; and Alex Tracy, Minnesota State.
The 10 finalists were selected by voting from all 64 Division I college hockey head coaches and online fan balloting. This year’s Hobey Baker winner will be chosen from this group by the 30-member selection committee as well as an additional round of fan balloting running from March 19–30 on the Hobey Baker website. Criteria for the award are displaying outstanding skills in all phases of the game, strength of character on and off the ice, sportsmanship, and scholastic achievements.
The Hobey Hat Trick (three finalists) will be announced on April 3, and the Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced on April 11, during the Frozen Four weekend in St Louis. The announcement will be televised live from the Stifel Theatre on the NHL Network and streamed on the Hobey Baker website at 6 p.m. ET.
Following, in alphabetical order, is a look at each finalist.
Zeev Buium – Denver – Sophomore, Defense, San Diego, CA
A highly gifted skater with tremendous play making capabilities, Zeev Buium (Boo-yum) has proved to be one of the premier defensemen in college hockey. Tied with fellow Hobey nominee Mac Gadowsky for first in the nation in points by a D-man, the two are also tied for 14th overall in national scoring. Buium excels at initiating offense and is tied for second in assists amongst all players nationally. For the second straight year he has garnered First Team all-conference honors and is a finalist for NCHC Player of the Year and Offensive Defenseman of the Year.
· Has 10 goals, 32 assists for 42 points in 36 games – secured points in 27 of 36 games played
· Has won two straight gold medals for Team USA at the World Junior Championships
· Draft of Minnesota (1st round, 2024) – Communications major
Jack Devine – Denver – Senior, Forward, Glencoe, IL
Back-to-back 50-point seasons by Jack Devine may very well lead to back-to-back national titles for the Pioneers. Devine heads into this weekend’s NCHC championship tournament as the nation’s leader in points and assists. Consistency is his trademark as he opened the season with points in 16 of his first 17 games and continued on a torrid pace throughout the campaign collecting points in all but seven games.
Claiming the NCHC Scoring Title, he was named First Team all-conference for the second straight year and is a finalist for Forward of the Year. Devine is a repeat Hobey Baker top ten finalist from last year.
· Has 13 goals, 41 assists for 54 points in 39 games – has had 16 multiple point games
· Average of 1.38 points per game is third best in the nation
· Florida draft (7th round, 2022) – Business Finance major
Aiden Fink – Penn State – Sophomore, Forward, Calgary, Alberta
A standout sophomore season has seen Aiden Fink become a prominent figure amongst the nation’s leading scorers. He currently sits second in the nation in scoring while topping all skaters with a 1.41 points per game average. A gifted goal scorer and playmaker, Fink was a unanimous selection as First Team all-conference in the Big Ten and was a finalist for the circuit’s Player of the Year.
· Has 23 goals, 29 assists for 52 points in 37 games – has produced 15 multiple point games
· His 8 power play goals are tied for 8th in the nation – is 6th in the nation in goals and assists
· Draft pick of Nashville (7th round, 2023) – is a Recreation, Park and Tourism Management major
Mac Gadowsky – Army West Point – Sophomore, Defense, State College, PA
Even though Army’s season ended last weekend, Mac Gadowsky left an indelible mark on Atlantic Hockey. He finished second overall in AHA scoring and is tied for the national lead in points by a defenseman. The circuit rewarded him as First Team all-conference, Defenseman of the Year, the AHA Sportsmanship Award and twice was named Defenseman of the Month.
· Finished with 16 goals, 26 assists for 42 points in 38 games – added 4 power play goals
· His father Guy is the men’s head hockey coach at Penn State
· Is a Cyber Science major – had only three minor penalties all season
Isaac Howard – Michigan State – Junior, Forward, Hudson, WI
The Spartans have been at or near the top of the national rankings all season with key contributions from their prolific scorer Isaac Howard. Presently tied for eighth in the nation in points, his 24 goals are tied for third in the country. He became the Big Ten conference Scoring Champion, First Team all-conference and the league’s Player of the Year. Howard’s past accomplishments for Team USA include multiple medals in U-18 and World Junior Championship competitions.
· Has 24 goals, 23 assists for 47 points in 35 games – is 5th in the nation in shots on goal
· Tampa Bay draft (1st round, 2022) – had 13 multiple point games
· Played his freshman season at Minnesota Duluth – Communications major
Ryan Leonard – Boston College – Sophomore, Forward, Amherst, MA
A relentless competitor and clutch performer, Ryan Leonard has been a driving force in elevating the Eagles to the nation’s number one ranking. His elite scoring prowess ties him for eighth in the nation in scoring, but he leads the country with 29 goals and nine game-winners. A high-volume shooter, Leonard is second in the nation in shots averaging 5.2 per game. Leonard has garnered several Hockey East awards including Scoring Champion, First Team all-conference and Player of the Year.
· Has 29 goals, 18 assists for 47 points in 35 games – currently riding a 16-game point streak
· Communications major – his +29 is third in the nation – Washington draft (1st round, 2023)
· Won gold medal as Team USA captain at 2025 World Junior Championships
Well known as an excellent playmaker, Ayrton Martino (Air-ton) ramped up his goal production this season bagging 24 tallies to almost equal what he had produced in his first three seasons combined (25 goals). That vaulted Martino to the top as the ECAC Scoring Champion while collecting First Team all-conference honors and being a finalist for the Player of the Year. Currently tied for third in the nation in goals, Martino is also second in the nation in game winning goals with eight.
· Has 24 goals, 25 assists for 49 points in 37 games – has points in 11 of his last 12 games
· Is tied for fifth in the nation in scoring and his 1.32 points per game average is eighth
Liam McLinskey – Holy Cross – Senior, Forward, Pearl River, NY
Another repeat top ten Hobey finalist, Liam McLinskey, continues to thrive in producing offense. Helping the Crusaders to the AHA playoff title game, McLinskey currently is third in the nation in scoring, tied for sixth in goals and his nine power play tallies are tied for third best in the country. McLinskey has rounded out his game as an effective penalty killer, helping Holy Cross to tie Boston College as the nation’s best at killing penalties. For the second straight year, McLinskey is the AHA Scoring Champion, Player of the Year and First Team all-conference while also gaining Forward of the Year distinction.
· Has 23 goals, 28 assists for 51 points in 39 games – has 9 power play goals
· Economics major – active in a variety of community service and school initiatives
· Had a brief two-game stint as a freshman at Quinnipiac
Jimmy Snuggerud – Minnesota – Junior, Forward, Chaska, MN
An accomplished goal scorer with a deadly shot, Jimmy Snuggerud brought a more balanced approach to his game this past season as a terrific playmaker. During January, he bagged 11 goals and 6 assists in 9 games and was named National Player of the Month. Snuggerud became just the third Gopher to record 20 or more goals in each of his first three seasons. The Big Ten named him First Team all-conference and he was one of three finalists for the circuit’s Player of the Year.
· Has 22 goals, 27 assists for 49 points in 39 games – has had 16 multiple point games
· Nationally is fifth in points, tied eighth in goals and tenth in assists – average 4 shots per game
· Business and Marketing Education major – St. Louis draft (1st round, 2022)
Alex Tracy – Minnesota State – Junior, Goalie, Chicago, IL
Could another Maverick goalie win the Hobey like Dryden McKay did in 2022? The final line of defense for the Mavs has elevated his squad to the CCHA title game and a berth in the national tournament. Tracy will take a nine-game unbeaten streak into the CCHA championship game. A positionally sound and very consistent goalie, Tracy has soared to the top of the nation in both goals against average and save percentage. He is a semi-finalist for the Mike Richter Award as the nation’s top goalie and has already been named CCHA Goalie of the Year, Player of the Year and First Team all-conference.
· Current record is 25-8-3, goals against average 1.41, saves percentage .946, has 5 shutouts
· CCHA and National Goalie of the Month for both November and February
· Finance major with 3.94 GPA – very active in a variety of off-ice community activities
Hobey Notes
Candidates by conference: Big Ten – 3, NCHC – 2, AHA – 2, Hockey East – 1, CCHA – 1, ECAC – 1
By position: Forwards – 7, Defense – 2, Goalie – 1
By class: Senior – 3, Junior – 3, Sophomore – 4
By nationality: U.S. – 8 (Ill. – 2; 1 each NY, Mass., Penn., Wis., Cal., Minn.); Canada – 2 (Alb., Ont.)
Repeat Candidates: Jack Devine (’24), Liam McLinskey (’24)
Four schools have a finalist for the second straight year: Boston College, Denver, Holy Cross, Minnesota State
Seven of the ten finalists have been NHL draft picks with four selected in the first round (Buium, Howard, Leonard, Snuggerud)
The Hobey Baker website also has the top 10 video and in-depth bios. The Hobey Baker top 10 video is available in a high-definition format at www.hobeybaker.com/media
The 2025 Hobey Baker Award winner will be honored along with this year’s Hobey Baker Legend of College Hockey, Dick Umile, at the annual banquet and golf outing to be held in August in Lake Elmo, Minn.
BC’s Ryan Leonard has been an offensive catalyst this season for BC (photo: Meg Kelly).
Hockey East announced Wednesday that Boston College sophomore forward Ryan Leonard has been awarded the honor of 2024-25 Hockey East player of the year.
Alongside Leonard, Boston University freshman defenseman Cole Hutson was named rookie of the year, UConn head coach Mike Cavanaugh was voted coach of the year by his peers, and UMass Lowell’s Owen Cole has been honored as the 2024-25 academic champion.
All the awards except the academic champion were selected by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Leonard becomes the 15th Eagle to be named Hockey East player of the year and the first Boston College skater since Johnny Gaudreau was so honored two years in row from 2012-14. He paced Hockey East in a number of categories in league play, including goals (25), points (37), points per game (1.54), shots (116), game-winning goals (8), and plus-minus (+25). He is just the second skater to reach the 25-goal mark in league play since 2000-01 when Brian Gionta hit the milestone and Cutter Gauthier did so last season. He leads the nation in overall goals with 29 and is one strike away from becoming the first college hockey player with back-to-back 30-goal season since BC’s Cam Atkinson in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
The Amherst, Mass., native is first in the country with nine game-winning goals and sits eighth nationally with 47 points. His 181 shots on net are second in the nation and his plus-29 rating is third. He was twice named Hockey East player of the month (November, January) and national player of the month in November and collected four Hockey East player of the week accolades.
Hutson is the third consecutive Terrier to be named rookie of the year following Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson and is the 13th overall player from Boston University to claim top freshman honors, the most all-time. Hutson scored more points (29) than any other first-year skater in Hockey East play while his 21 assists were tops in the league. Among his classmates in 24 league contests, Hutson was third in shots on net (68), tied for second in power-play goals (3) and game-winning goals (2), and was third in blocks (23). No rookie in the country has more points than Hutson’s 39 overall points and 27 assists while his 96 shots on net sit 12th in the NCAA among all freshmen skaters. His four game-winning goals are also second-most of any rookie in the country.
Cavanaugh, the only UConn head coach in its Hockey East era, is the first Husky bench boss to win the Bob Kullen Award. He guided his squad to a fourth-place finish in Hockey East standings, tying the highest-ever finish for UConn after being picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll. The Huskies posted a 12-8-4 record in league play while scoring the third-most goals (76) of any Hockey East program through the 24-game season and the best power-play percentage in the league (28.4%). The Huskies also led the nation in shorthanded goals, scoring nine times while at a manpower disadvantage.
The academic champion award was created in 2024 honoring outstanding accomplishments from one men’s and one women’s player, both on the ice and in the classroom.
In 2024, Hockey East and Night Shift Brewing partnered to highlight both the academic and athletic success of student-athletes across the league. As a result, Cole will receive scholarship funds that include a portion of the proceeds of Hockey East Ale, the first-ever collaboration between the conference and a brewery for its own branded beverage.
“Hockey East is proud to honor Owen Cole as the 2024-25 Hockey East academic champion after a distinguished four years at UMass Lowell on the ice and in the classroom,” said Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf in a statement. “We are happy to provide Owen with means to continue his education when he is ready thanks to our partners at Night Shift Brewing and look forward to honoring him at our championship.”
Cole, who served as captain of the River Hawks this season, has set a career high with 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists through 35 games.
Off the ice, Cole has maintained a 3.76 GPA while majoring in Exercise & Fitness Management, a course load that requires both lab and clinical hours in addition to UMass Lowell’s standard academic coursework. Throughout the 2024-25 season, Cole would lead his River Hawks in practice before commuting to Wilmington, Mass., for clinical rotations. He is scheduled to graduate this spring Magna Cum Laude.
Cole is also a visible presence on the UMass Lowell campus and throughout the community. The senior forward is active with the River Hawk’s Team Impact teammate, Owen, and founded a 5K charity race to raise awareness for the program and the work Team Impact does. He also participates in the UMass Lowell Pen Pal Program which pairs student-athletes with local elementary school children throughout the year.
From left, Trey Augustine, Albin Boija, Jacob Fowler and Alex Tracy (photos: Michigan State Athletics/Maine Athletics/Boston College Athletics/Minnesota State Athletics).
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced the final four candidates for this year’s Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men’s NCAA Division I hockey since 2014.
A watch list of 32 was reduced to 10 semifinalists and now, with playoffs underway, the final four have been chosen: Michigan State sophomore Trey Augustine, Maine sophomore Albin Boija, Boston College sophomore Jacob Fowler, and Minnesota State junior Alex Tracy.
The 2024 winner was Wisconsin’s Kyle McClellan.
Mike Richter enjoyed a phenomenal playing career, highlighted by 14 seasons with the New York Rangers, leading them to the Stanley Cup in 1994, their first in 54 years. A member of the Hall of Fame, Richter was outstanding on a number of USA Hockey teams, most notably the 1988 Olympic Team, the 1991 Canada Cup Team and as the MVP of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Richter also played at Wisconsin and earned a degree from Yale.
Trey Augustine, Michigan State
(SO – South Lyon, MI)
Augustine has put Michigan State into Saturday night’s Big Ten championship game against Ohio State with outstanding numbers across the board: 2.02, .927, 18-6-4 and three shutouts for the Spartans. He was named the Big Ten goaltender of the year on Tuesday. MSU is No. 2 in the Pairwise Rankings.
Albin Boija, Maine
(SO – Sundsvall, Sweden)
The resurgence in Maine hockey rides on the shoulders of Boija. The Black Bears take on Northeastern in the Hockey East semifinals on Thursday. Boija boasts a 1.75 GAA (fourth in the nation) and a save percentage of .930. His record is 21-7-6 with four shutouts, leading Maine to No. 3 in the nation Pairwise Rankings.
Jacob Fowler, Boston College
(SO – Melbourne, FL)
The only repeat finalist of the group, Fowler has picked up where he left off last year when he led the Eagles to the NCAA championship game. His 2024-25 stats: 1.64 (2nd in NCAA), .940 (3rd), 24-6-2 with an NCAA-best seven shutouts. BC is No. 1 in the Pairwise Rankings.
Alex Tracy, Minnesota State
(JR – Chicago, IL)
Tracy has led MNSU to the CCHA regular-season title and hopes to add a tournament crown when the Mavericks host St. Thomas in the CCHA final on Friday night. Tracy leads the nation in GAA (1.41) and save percentage (.946). He is 25-8-3, his 25 wins second best in the NCAA.
The winner of this year’s Mike Richter Award will be announced on April 11 during the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Louis.
Arizona State’s Charlie Schoen celebrates a goal in last weekend’s Sun Devils’ sweep over Minnesota Duluth (photo: Arizona State Athletics).
It’s tough to predict how much further Arizona State’s first season as a conference member can go.
The Sun Devils are 15th in the PairWise Rankings and will need to keep helping themselves as the NCHC playoffs progress.
But regardless of which side of the NCAA tournament bubble the Sun Devils land on, they already know what this season has meant for their program.
At 21-13-2, Arizona State has recovered well from a 1-4-1 start and has navigated admirably an injury-riddled season. Doing so as a first-year member of arguably the country’s strongest college hockey conference is no small feat. More than that, it has set the Sun Devils up for continued success and has informed coach Greg Powers’s recruiting process going forward.
“We knew it would enhance our student-athlete experience in every way,” Powers said during a NCHC media call Tuesday, when asked about ASU’s inaugural season as a league member. “In just the competitive nature of being in a league and developing rivalries and playing a team more than one weekend on the season, it’s unbelievable. To have standings to update and teams to chase or stay ahead of or whatever it is, it’s something we’d never experienced, but we experienced it this year.
“Usually, other than the year we made the (NCAA) tournament (in 2019) and the year we were going to but it got canceled (in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic), we’ve been done right now and watched the games on TV. Last year, I was at the Frozen Faceoff (the NCHC’s semifinal and championship rounds) and went up and watched it in person, and we watched all these conference tournaments where teams play on big stages, and I felt, a lot of times, that we were good enough to be there but just didn’t have the opportunity because we were an independent. Being in a league has changed the trajectory of our program in a really positive way.”
And it has helped draw top-tier talent to the Sonoran desert. Graduate student Artem Shlaine is one such player, having posted 16 goals and 37 points thus far in his fifth collegiate season, following stints at Connecticut and then Northern Michigan.
“The biggest sales pitch for me, knowing I’ve been in the portal twice already, it’s not about the bright and shiny new arena, or the other bonus stuff,” Shlaine said of what brought him to Tempe and ASU, which was picked in the 2024-25 NCHC preseason media poll to finish eighth in the nine-team league.
“For me, it’s about the coaches, the coaching staff, the staff and the players in the locker room. Looking at the roster, right away you could see the potential of that team and that we were going to be really good, and I don’t know how other people didn’t see it, and they missed it and it’s on them, but I think we’re proving people wrong. That’s what drives and motivates us: We’re proving our followers right and proving the people who didn’t believe in us wrong.
“Overall, when I just started talking to the coaches, (it was) that belief in me as a player that they would give me an opportunity, and I think they were honest and kind of gave me an opportunity and I think I ran with it, and I’m really happy with how this season has gone, but we’re not done yet and we’re going (to St. Paul, Minn.) to win this thing.”
That’s a feeling shared around the home dressing room inside Mullett Arena, ahead of ASU’s trip this week to the Twin Cities. The second-seeded Sun Devils will play Friday’s second NCHC semifinal game, facing defending national champion Denver.
No matter how this weekend and a potential NCAA tournament run will treat the Sun Devils, Powers believes his program will only move now from strength to strength.
“Kids want to compete for championships, and if we were not in the NCHC, in this specific league especially, the kid you just talked to, he wouldn’t be here,” Powers said of Shlaine, among ASU’s several gets from previous NCAA stops. “Ryan Kirwan wanted to play in the NCHC, so did Cruz Lucius and Bennett Schimek and Luke Pavicich and Noah Beck. It has changed the trajectory of our program on many levels.”
TTFN, kind of
This week marks my last conference column of my 18th season at USCHO.com. If my career in journalism (which began here) was a person, it could vote. Madness.
Thank you to all of my colleagues for all their amazing work this season. This also goes for Matt Mackinder, our managing editor who makes keeping everything here humming along look easy.
I won’t be attending the NCHC Frozen Faceoff or the Frozen Four (can we please have one of them renamed?), but I’ll still have a few more USCHO.com bylines this season. I have two Hockey Humanitarian Award finalist feature stories on the way, plus previews on NCHC teams playing for however long they make a run in the NCAA tournament.
Minnesota State went 2-1-1 this season against St. Thomas (photo: Tony Pasquesi),
The unique nature of this season’s CCHA Mason Cup playoffs are not lost on Luke Strand.
The Minnesota State boss finds himself in a somewhat strange position for a college hockey head coach: Being out of an at-large position in the Pairwise rankings but still knowing with 100% certainty that his team is still going to make the tournament.
Normally a team who is No. 15 in the rankings like the Mavericks would be a bubble team until they won their conference tournament. But here we are, two days before the top-seeded Mavericks take on third-seeded St. Thomas in the Mason Cup final in Mankato, and they can relax.
Just a bit.
That’s because St. Thomas is ineligible for the NCAA tournament this season, a consequence of their moving up from Division III to Division I at the start of the 2021-22 season. Teams normally must wait five years to become tournament-eligible after moving divisions. The Tommies have petitioned for the NCAA to grant them an exception, and it does look like they will be eligible early.
But that won’t be until next season.
So for now, the Tommies and the Mavericks will skate for the Mason Cup on Friday night with just one thing on the line instead of two. But that one thing on the line is a big one–the Mason Cup. The Mavericks have won two of them but missed out on taking home the trophy last season. They lost in the semifinals to eventual champions Michigan Tech.
This season, the Mavericks (26-8-3 CCHA) have been the class of the CCHA. They lifted the MacNaughton Cup as regular season champions and were able to clinch the conference title a week early. Strand likens the situation this weekend to that one a few weeks ago–his team will still be prepared even though it’s not a win-or-go-home situation like it might normally be.
“It’s kind of been our guys’ MO to be mature and present and really focus on the moment where they’re at,” Strand said during his weekly news conference when asked how his team prepares for this unique situation. “You turn back the page a few weeks back the MacNaughton time and we still had to close out with Bemidji at the end of the season at home. I really liked our guys’ response to that. Even though nothing was necessarily on the line, their ability to go out and play and be passionate about what we do, and playing for the logo, playing for the community and playing for the opportunity to be a champion. These guys come here every day to win so I have faith that our guys will be in that mode.”
The Mavericks will have to get through the Tommies (19-13-5) to hoist the cup. St. Thomas comes into the game as one of the hottest teams in college hockey. They’re 15-3-1 since January and managed to earn the No. 2 seed in the conference. Their wins against Ferris State in the Mason Cup quarterfinals and against Bowling Green in the semifinals last week were their first ever playoff wins at a Division I level. A Mason Cup win would be their first conference title at this level, too. The Tommies won 34 regular-season titles and 12 tournament titles in the MIAC.
“Anytime you can be in a championship game, you know you’ve done something right throughout the year, so we’re excited about that,” St. Thomas head coach Rico Blasi said in his weekly presser. “We know how good Mankato and the year that they’ve had. It’ll be a big-time challenge, and we know we’ll have to bring our best.”
Blasi, who won the 2011 Mason Cup as head coach at Miami, took over at St. Thomas when they made the jump to Division I. The fact that the Tommies are having the chance to play in their first-ever conference title game at this level is a big deal for him.
“Everybody thinks this happens because you get something going late in the season, but this is a work in progress. This has been a process for our program when we started, gosh, almost four years ago when Dr. Esten (St. Thomas University president Phil Esten) made the call to bring me in as the head coach,” Blasi said. “All the work and the sacrifices and the guys that have come through… there were a lot of long nights that first year and the second year.
“So this is a process that we’ve been going through. Our culture has been growing and maturing as we have evolved here. I’m proud of the guys that started with us four years ago and proud of this team and love this team that we have currently in the locker room. So for us, nothing changes whether it’s our leadership group or the way we prepare during the week, we stay focused and keep reminding the guys of who we are and our identity, and here we are: we’re playing in a championship game.”
They’ll do it against the Mavericks, a team with whom they’ve developed a budding instate rivalry that has started to get more competitive as the Tommies have increased their scholarships and Blasi has had enough time to see his entire recruiting classes come through the university. In the past two years the games have been very even, with MSU holding a slight 4-3-1 edge. The Tommies will have a few more chances to get the better of the Mavericks–on Friday night and at least four times next season–while still members of the CCHA before they depart for the NCHC in 2026-27.
Strand called the Tommies a “dangerous” team, especially up front with the top line of Cooper Gay, Lucas Wahlin and Liam Malmquist. Combined, they have scored 55 goals and are the CCHA’s top goal scorers. Malmquist and Wahlin had 44 and 40 points, respectively, finishing 1-2 in total league points. MSU’s Rhett Pitlick was third with 38.
“If you don’t keep them in check, the score is going to get inflated, because they can score. That top group of Gay and Wahlin and Malmquist have been great, those are a lot of five-on-five goals they’ve scored along the way, so you better be mindful of their ‘D’ jumping the play, too,” Strand said. “Rico does a really good job with their team. They’re going to be plenty prepared. My guess it’s a tight game. That’s how it’s been for two years here against one another. But if there’s a crack in the door, they can score so we want to make sure we’re on guard.”
As for the Mavericks, their situation is odd but it’s not unlike a team that’s already qualified for the tournament as an at-large team. Strand said the coaching staff has had an extra week to look at some potential NCAA opponents, but they still really want to win this trophy. Which is to say: Don’t expect many of the MSU regulars to be resting.
“I think if I asked our guys not to play, they wouldn’t be welcome to the idea,” Strand said. “And you know what, we’re still showing signs where we need to grow in some areas, and I think pressure moments are good for guys to go through. And the trophy’s on the line. That’s a coveted prize. The Mason Cup has got a rich history. It’s hard to handle and hard to get and we want to make sure we’re still moving forward with things.”
Mason Marcellus has been an offensive leader for Quinnipiac (photo: Rob Rasmussen/P8Photos.com).
The ECAC Hockey championship weekend returned to Lake Placid in 2014 after spending three years at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
The ancestral home of the post-breakup league was loaded with history when the banners returned to the rafters atop Herb Brooks Arena, but the years since the conference’s return equaled the memories of the bygone era before Internet streaming and cell phone video.
The return to the site of the Miracle on Ice’s 1980 Olympic gold medal coincided with the league’s overall parity. There hasn’t been a repeat champion since Union completed a threepeat between 2012-2014, but even the first two titles from that run were spent on the majestic Jersey shoreline.
That stands to reasonably change this year if Cornell can win from its sixth-seeded first round standings finish, but the quirks and peculiarity of an outlier year within ECAC come to a head when the Big Red are joined in the Adirondacks by Quinnipiac, Clarkson and Dartmouth.
Some observations, and then on with the end-of-the-year business:
Quarterfinal Consequences
-The Clarkson-Harvard series became the first quarterfinal series to go the distance since the third-seeded Crimson defeated No. 6 RPI and No. 5 Colgate upended No. 4 Cornell in 2022.
-The two individual overtimes matched this year’s quarterfinal with last year, though both overtimes during last year’s second round occurred during St. Lawrence’s Game 1 win over Colgate. The 3-2 double-OT win then preceded a second 3-2 win.
-The four one-goal games were the most since the 2022 playoff included six different one-goal games in its second round. That wild year also featured five overtime games, two of which went to double overtime.
-There hasn’t been a repeat matchup in the semifinals since Colgate avenged its 2022 loss by beating Quinnipiac in the 2023 semifinals. This year continues that trend.
-There has never been a repeat of all four semifinalists since the league expanded its playoff to four rounds and best-of-three quarterfinal.
The Lerchies, Pt. 2
Our picks for ECAC’s All-Rookie and Third Team all stars were posted last week, so let’s continue our journey through conference honors by naming our top two teams and individual awards for the 2024-2025 season:
Second Team (players are listed alphabetically by school)
F: Dalton Bancroft, Cornell
F: Mason Marcellus, Quinnipiac
F: Brandon Buhr, Union
D: Tristan Sarsland, Clarkson
D: Tommy Bergslund, Colgate
G: Kyle Chauvette, Union
Player of the Year: Ayrton Martino, Clarkson Rookie of the Year: Michael Meumeier, Colgate Coach of the Year: JF Houle, Clarkson
Now onto the final four with a special look at how each team wins – or doesn’t win – in Lake Placid.
Championship Weekend
Semifinals, held March 21 at Lake Placid’s Herb Brooks Arena (single elimination):
No. 6 Cornell vs. No. 1 Quinnipiac, 4 p.m.
No. 5 Dartmouth vs. No. 2 Clarkson, 7 p.m.
Championship, held March 22 at Lake Placid’s Herb Brooks Arena (single elimination):
Lowest Remaining Seed vs. Best Remaining Seed, 5 p.m.
Previewing the Semifinalists
No. 1 Quinnipiac How We Got Here: The regular season champions swept Brown by barely breaking a sweat in either game. Taking a 3-0 lead through the first 47 minutes of the first game led directly into a 4-0 blowout on Saturday, but only two of the eight goals scored occurred on empty nets. Both Victor Czerneckianair and Tyler Borgula scored twice, and Matej Marinov stopped 54 shots, including 34 in the second game.
Last Appearance/Championship: Quinnipiac’s well-documented struggles haven’t produced a Whitelaw Cup since 2016, but the Bobcats are returning to Lake Placid for a fourth consecutive year. Including the 2021 COVID year that ended with St. Lawrence’s trip to Connecticut, they haven’t missed a semifinal since 2019
Why They Win: This year’s postseason points to one of Rand Pecknold’s core tenets regarding controlling the controllables. The entire conversation about the Pairwise Rankings and the team’s inability to win a conference championship dies with a Whitelaw Cup, but this year’s field points more towards the Bobcats than ever before. Nearly every remaining team’s flaw plays into some positive advantage from Quinnipiac’s game: Cornell is within a quarter-goal allowed of the Bobcat defense but scores over a half-goal less per game. Dartmouth scores in bunches but holds a decided disadvantage on special teams, where its 19 percent power play would face one of the best penalty killing units in the country. Clarkson can match Quinnipiac’s numbers but trends towards a top-heavy stat sheet.
Why They Don’t Win: Quinnipiac lost twice to Clarkson, went 1-1-1 against Cornell, and split with Dartmouth after needing overtime to win, 5-4, in New Hampshire. Facing the Big Red in the semifinals was a preseason championship prediction – and might not even get the Bobcats to the championship round.
No. 2 Clarkson How We Got Here:The Golden Knights eliminated Harvard in three games after the Crimson won Game Two in overtime to force things to Sunday. In Game One, Ryan Bottrill’s goal with less than a minute remaining capped a two-goal, come-from-behind rally, and Ayrton Martino, the league’s scoring champion, sent the third game to overtime with a goal halfway through the third before Luka Sukovic eliminated Harvard.
Last Appearance/Championship: Clarkson returns to Lake Placid for the first time since 2022, but the Golden Knights look considerably different from the program that won the 2019 championship over Cornell. For starters, the two coaches from that game – Casey Jones and Mike Schafer – are both on the Big Red’s bench, and current Clarkson head coach JF Houle was in the American Hockey League with the Bakersfield Condors at the time. Still, the second place team in 2020 appears ready to reclaim a mantle established by the five-time champions of the Whitelaw Cup era.
Why They Win: Clarkson’s the lone team capable of matching Quinnipiac on a stat-by-stat basis, and the 23-11-3 Golden Knights didn’t lose to any of the remaining three teams during the regular season. There’s also that pesky 8-5 record in one-goal games that tends to become incredibly important as the playoffs get deeper. Going to one-goal games and two overtime matchups against Harvard is an iron-sharpens-iron situation, and the Quinnipiac/Cornell matchup means Clarkson avoids one team if it advances past the Big Green.
Why They Don’t Win: It’s hard to find a reason why Clarkson won’t at least move to the championship game, but the three-game weekend against Harvard provided extra pressure on the team’s legs. The Golden Knights also pounded the Crimson for 41 shots in the third game but still needed to score a third period goal to force overtime. In each of the previous two games, shot numbers trickled under 30 with around half of the shots blocked by the Harvard defense. Dartmouth
No. 5 Dartmouth
How We Got Here: St. Lawrence bowed out of a single game trip to Thompson Arena before the Big Green closed Messa Rink with a two-game sweep over Union. Two of the three playoff games were largely non-competitive after Dartmouth beat the Saints, 6-2, and eliminated the Garnet Chargers with a 7-2 victory, but the first game in the Capital District was a one-goal, 3-2 win.
Last Appearance/Championship: Last year snapped Dartmouth’s eight-year streak of missing the semifinal round, but the semifinal loss to Cornell prevented the Big Green from making their first championship game since the three-division days of 1980. Of the teams remaining in ECAC, Dartmouth is one of two – the other being Brown – that has never won the league championship, though Vermont hadn’t won the championship before its defection to Hockey East.
Why They Win: Ya gotta believe.
Plenty of folks expected Cornell, Clarkson and Quinnipiac to advance to the ECAC semifinal, but those same folks expected Union or Colgate to qualify over a Dartmouth team that rarely made appearances in the league semifinal. Last year’s team found a way to advance by simply “not losing,” but this year’s team looked decidedly vincible when it lost six-of-eight games and dropped out of the league’s top four spots. The lone wins included, ironically, a win over Cornell after dropping a game to Colgate, but the year ended with get-right games against Brown and Yale. It would appear that those games, plus the three combined wins over Union – including last week’s quarterfinal – straightened things out. Of all the teams remaining, 3.38 goals scored per game and 2.20 goals allowed that puts the Big Green near the top of tilted numbers. Luke Haymes and Sean Chisholm averaged in the conference’s top 10 in goals per game numbers, and nobody averaged more assist per game than Nikita Nikora.
Why They Don’t Win: The Big Green are the only remaining team with a power play under 20 percent, so taking advantage in playoff situations is an absolute must, and while the defense is one of the best in the league, the goaltending numbers don’t readily match save percentages – either current or historical – with others. None of that is a knock against Emmett Croteau, who ranked second in goals against average, or Roan Clarke, but they held two of the five lowest per-game averages in saves.
No. 6 Cornell How We Got Here: Cornell beat Yale at home, 5-1, in the ECAC Opening Round before sweeping travel partner Colgate, 4-1 and 3-0, on the road.
Last Appearance/Championship: Last year’s defending champion returns to Lake Placid with the Whitelaw Cup still nestled in its grasp. This is the Big Red’s seventh appearance at Herb Brooks Arena since the tournament relocated, and the 13-time champions are bidding for their 25th championship game appearance. Six of those championships occurred after the postseason championship trophy was named after former commissioner Robert Whitelaw, and this year gives them an opportunity to become the fifth team – and second Cornell team – to repeat as postseason champions since RPI’s consecutive titles occurred around the schism with Hockey East.
Why They Win: The Big Red’s 16-10-6 record includes an 8-3-1 stretch that started after losing consecutive games to Dartmouth and St. Lawrence. Three of their four shutouts occurred in the last month, and one iced Colgate in the second game of the ECAC quarterfinal series. Since heading to Brown and Yale for a six-point weekend, a 35-6 scoring advantage in wins produced five goals per game and a .857 goals against average in wins.
Why They Don’t Win: None of those wins were against teams in the top six of the league until the playoff trip to Colgate, and the performances against teams either in the semifinal or the top four ended without an outright win: Dartmouth (6-1), Clarkson (3-3, shootout win), Union (4-1), Clarkson (3-1), Union (4-1)
The Last Word
As always, a special thank you to everyone who read our pages during the year, and an even more specific thank you to the coaches, players, communications folks and off-ice support staff who tolerated the incessant emails over the course of the season. I appreciate the time and energy that pushes this machine forward, and you’re all a part of the momentum.
I’ll once again miss the Frozen Four this year for family reasons – I didn’t want to travel home on Sunday when it’s my daughter’s fourth birthday – but I wanted to sincerely mention my family’s overall sacrifice during this season. Anyone with kids understands the difficulty associated with walking out of the house while your child stands in the window, at least.
Since this is predominantly my goodbye, I’ll offer a sincere thank you to everyone that made this year possible. This is a great community, our community, and I’m proud to associate with it. I hope this year, as always, is a reprieve from the world and the stress of living in it. Hug your children and share those moments with your loved ones. Take some time for yourself, and I hope we reconvene in the fall when the new season starts.
As for me, it’s onto an offseason and a world where I’m back to being Mrs. Rubin’s Mr. Rubin.
Enjoy your offseason and enjoy good health and great times.
With love and respect,
Your Friendly Neighborhood ECAC Writer
Aku Koskenvuo spent three seasons in the blue paint for Harvard (photo: Harvard Athletics).
The NHL’s Vancouver Canucks have announced that the club has agreed to terms with Harvard junior goaltender Aku Koskenvuo on a two-year, entry-level contract.
This past season with the Crimson, Koskenvuo posted a record of 8-9-1 with a 2.81 goals-against average, a .902 save percentage, and one shutout in 20 games. His eight wins set a new career high.
Appearing in 39 career games with Harvard, Koskenvuo registered a record of 14-16-5 with three shutouts.
A native of Espoo, Finland, Koskenvuo has represented his country on multiple occasions, including the 2021 Under-18 World Championship, where he was named one of Finland’s top three players, as well as the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship.
Koskenvuo was originally selected by the Canucks in the fifth round (137th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft.
Noah Laba was a top player the last few seasons for Colorado College (photo: Casey B. Gibson).
Colorado College junior forward Noah Laba has agreed to terms on a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s New York Rangers beginning with the 2025-26 season.
Laba will report to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack on an amateur tryout for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Laba tied for the CC team lead with 10 goals, tied for second with 26 points and finished fourth in the NCHC with a 57.3 faceoff winning percentage this season. He paced the Tigers with 20 goals and 37 points as a sophomore in 2023-24.
A second-team All-American and NCHC defensive forward of the year following the 2023-24 season, Laba collected 85 points (41 goals, 44 assists) in 100 career games with the Tigers.
Laba assumed a leadership role on the team this season, serving as an alternate captain, and is a three-time distinguished scholar-athlete by the NCHC and member of the league’s all-academic team.
A Northville, Mich., native, Laba was selected by the Rangers in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft.
Holy Cross’ Liam McLinskey has been a key player this season for the Crusaders (photo: Thomas Wolf Photography).
Atlantic Hockey America has announced its individual award winners for the 2024-25 season.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD
FORWARD OF THE YEAR AWARD
AHA SCORING CHAMPION
Liam McLinskey, Sr., F, Holy Cross
Holy Cross senior Liam McLinskey is the dual winner of the Forward of the Year Award and the Player of the Year Award. McLinskey led Atlantic Hockey with 43 points on 20 goals and 23 assists during the regular season, and after collecting eight points through five postseason games, skates into Saturday’s championship game with 51 points on 23 goals and 28 assists. The senior forward orchestrated a seven-game goal streak from Nov. 7 – Nov. 30 and totaled 13 multi-point games in the regular season. McLinskey collected five points on two goals and three assists on Feb. 14 vs. Mercyhurst. McLinskey also took home the AHA Scoring Championship this season as the conference’s points leader in AHA contests during the regular season. The Pearl River, N.Y. native tallied 39 points on 19 goals and 20 assists in 26 league games. His rating of +20 in conference play also led all skaters in the league. McLinskey is the first AHA skater to earn back-to-back Player of the Year honors and conference scoring titles in league history.
BEST DEFENSEMAN AWARD
Mac Gadowsky, So., D, Army West Point
Army sophomore Mac Gadowsky is this year’s selection for the Best Defenseman Award. During the regular season, Gadowsky potted 12 goals and dished out 23 assists for 35 points. He was among the highest-scoring defensemen in the country, and led Atlantic Hockey blueliners in goals (11), assists (22), and points (33) in AHA play. His 33 points in league play not only led AHA defensemen, but ranked second among all skaters. For good measure, Gadowsky added four goals and three assists for seven points in five AHA postseason games. From Jan. 3 – Feb. 8, Gadowsky orchestrated an 11-game point streak that saw him tally 21 points (7g, 14a) in that stretch. His 16 goals on the season currently leads all defensemen in the country, while his 42 points are tied for the national lead among blueliners.
GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR
AHA GOALTENDING CHAMPION
Thomas Gale, Sr., G, Holy Cross
Holy Cross goaltender Thomas Gale takes home the Goaltender of the Year Award for 2024-25. Playing in all 26 league games, Gale led the AHA in save percentage (.940), goals-against average (1.71), and wins (19), while ranking second in minutes between the pipes (1547:14). The senior netminder also posted two shutouts in AHA play. Gale enters Saturday’s title game with 24 wins on the season, which is currently tied for third in the nation and is a Holy Cross single season record. His .930 save percentage on the season currently ranks ninth nationally. Gale is also the AHA Goaltending Champion for 2024-25, as his .940 save percentage during conference play in the regular season was tops in Atlantic Hockey. On Feb. 13, Gale was named a semifinalist for the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) Mike Richter Award for 2025, which is given annually to the top goalie in men’s NCAA Division I hockey.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Trevor Hoskin, Fr., F, Niagara
Niagara forward Trevor Hoskin is the AHA Rookie of the Year. Hoskin was among the nation’s top-scoring freshmen in 2024-25, and his 39 points on the season are currently tied for the national lead among rookies. In AHA play during the regular season, Hoskin led all rookies and ranked seventh among all skaters in the league with 29 points. In addition, his 20 assists in league play led all rookies and ranked fourth among all skaters. The Belleville, Ont. native orchestrated two seven-game point streaks on the season, with the first ranging from Oct. 12 – Nov. 1, and the second lasting from Jan. 4 – Jan. 25. He was named AHA Rookie of the Week on Jan. 27, and was named AHA Rookie of the Month for September/October and January. Hoskin is the second Purple Eagle to earn AHA Rookie of the Year honors, following Ludwig Stenlund in 2018-19.
CO-BEST DEFENSIVE FORWARDS
Austin Schwartz, Sr., F, Air Force
Ethan Leyh, Gr., F, Bentley
Air Force’s Austin Schwartz and Bentley’s Ethan Leyh are Co-Best Defensive Forwards for 2024-25. Schwartz is the only player to win or share Best Defensive Forward honors in back-to-back years in AHA history. The senior ranked as one of the top shot-blocking forwards in the country, and his 62 blocks on the season was tops among AHA forwards. He blocked 42 shots in 26 league games, and 10 of his 12 goals on the season came against AHA competition. On the season, his four game-winning goals were tied for second among all skaters in the conference. Leyh ended the regular season as Bentley’s leading scorer with 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 points. In conference play, Leyh averaged 1.2 points per game with 30 points in 25 AHA games, with his 30 points ranking fifth in the league. Leyh was also strong in the face-off circle, as he won 301-of-524 face-offs (57.4 win percentage) in AHA play. The graduate student has added five points (3g, 2a) in four postseason games, and enters Saturday’s title game with 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points on the season.
AHA INDIVIDUAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Mac Gadowsky, So., D, Army West Point
Army’s Mac Gadowsky is the sixth Black Knight to win the AHA Individual Sportsmanship Award. Playing in all 38 games for Army, Gadowksy was whistled for just three total penalties equating to six minutes on the season, despite seeing significant ice time for Brian Riley’s squad. He was whistled for just two penalties for four minutes while posting a rating of +14 in 26 league games in the regular season.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Bill Riga, Holy Cross
Holy Cross’ Bill Riga is the AHA Coach of the Year for 2024-25. Riga has led the Crusaders to a historic season that saw them claim the AHA regular season title for the third time in school history (2004, 2006), and has Holy Cross poised to play for the AHA postseason title on Saturday. The Crusaders were propelled to the top of the AHA regular season standings by reeling off 16 straight conference wins (including OT/SO) from Nov. 22 – Feb. 14, which set an Atlantic Hockey record. Riga’s squad collected 12 regulation wins, three overtime wins, and one shootout victory during the historic streak, and ended the season with a 19-5-2 record in league play. On March 3, Holy Cross entered both the USCHO and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls at No. 20. It was the first appearance for the Crusaders in the national polls since 2012. Holy Cross enters Saturday’s championship game ranked No. 19 in the latest USCHO Poll that was released on March 17.
AHA TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Niagara Purple Eagles
Head coach Jason Lammers and the Purple Eagles ended the 2024-25 regular season with the fewest penalty minutes in the AHA during league play. Niagara took 89 penalties equating to 192 minutes in 26 AHA regular season contests (7:23 per game). Overall, Niagara’s 7.5 penalty minutes per game on the season led Atlantic Hockey and ranked tied for seventh nationally. This is Niagara’s second AHA Team Sportsmanship Award, with the first coming in 2018-19.
Dick Umile takes in the action at UNH’s Frozen Fenway practice on Jan. 13, 2017 (USCHO.com file photo).
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation has announced its 2025 Legend of College Hockey recipient as Dick Umile from New Hampshire.
Umile guided the Wildcats for 28 seasons at his alma mater from 1990 to 2018, accumulating 596 career wins to rank tenth all-time in career Division I victories. He is one of only eight head coaches to claim 500 wins at one school.
During his illustrious career, Umile molded UNH into one of the top programs in Division I college hockey. He was behind the bench for four Frozen Four appearances, 18 NCAA national tournament appearances, eight Hockey East regular-season championships and two Hockey East playoff titles. His squads recorded 20 or more wins in 20 of his 28 seasons.
Umile coached 31 All-Americans and 12 Hobey Baker top ten finalists, including 1999 Hobey winner Jason Krog. Many of his alumni went on to successful NHL careers including brothers Trevor and James van Riemsdyk, Darren Haydar, Ty Conklin, Bobby Butler and many more.
Among his many accolades, Umile was named coach of the year 11 times, including all-New England honors four times and Hockey East coach of the year six times. He was also tabbed the Spencer Penrose Award winner as national coach of the year for the 1998-99 season.
A native of Melrose, Mass., Umile began his coaching career in the prep ranks in Massachusetts for 10 years before getting an opportunity to join Providence as an assistant coach in 1985. He remained there for three seasons, took on a similar role at UNH for two seasons before being named head coach for the 1990-91 campaign. Umile played three seasons for the Wildcats from 1969 to 1972, accounting for 144 points in 87 games.
Umile will be honored along with this year’s Hobey Baker Award winner at the annual Hobey Baker Award banquet and golf outing this summer in St. Paul, Minn. Banquet and golf information will be available soon by visiting hobeybaker.com.
Key Hobey Baker announcement dates for 2025 include:
Top Ten list of candidates: March 19
Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists: April 3
Hobey Baker Award announcement: April 11
The 2025 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on Friday, April 11, 2025 during the Frozen Four in St. Louis. The award ceremony will be broadcast nationally on NHL Network and streamed live at hobeybaker.com.
MIchigan State goalie Trey Augustine is a Mike Richter Award semifinalist this season (photo: Michigan State Athletics).
The Big Ten announced the 2024-25 hockey postseason awards on Tuesday.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Isaac Howard, Jr., F, Michigan State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Sam Rinzel, So., D, Minnesota
GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR
Trey Augustine, So., G, Michigan State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Michael Hage, Fr., F, Michigan
COACH OF THE YEAR
Steve Rohlik, Ohio State
SCORING CHAMPION
Isaac Howard, Jr., F, Michigan State (33 points)
ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
F — Isaac Howard, Jr., Michigan State
F — Jimmy Snuggerud, Jr., Minnesota
F — Aiden Fink, So., Penn State +
D — Matt Basgall, Jr., Michigan State
D — Sam Rinzel, So., Minnesota
G — Trey Augustine, So., Michigan State
ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
F — T.J. Hughes, Jr., Michigan
F — Quinn Finley, So., Wisconsin
F — Cole Knuble, So., Notre Dame
D — Ethan Edwards, Sr., Michigan
D — Simon Mack, Sr., Penn State
G — Arsenii Sergeev, Jr., Penn State
ALL-BIG TEN HONORABLE MENTION
F — Karsen Dorwart, Jr., Michigan State
F — Connor Kurth, Jr., Minnesota
F — Matthew Wood, Jr., Minnesota
F — Davis Burnside, Jr., Ohio State
F — Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Gr., Ohio State
F — Riley Thompson, So., Ohio State
F — Reese Laubach, So., Penn State
F — Ryland Mosley, Gr., Wisconsin
D — Jacob Truscott, Gr., Michigan
D — Ryan Chesley, Jr., Minnesota
D — Damien Carfagna, Jr., Ohio State
G — Liam Souliere, Gr., Minnesota
G — Logan Terness, Sr., Ohio State
BIG TEN ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
F — Michael Hage, Fr., Michigan
F — Charlie Cerrato, Fr., Penn State
F — Gavin Morrissey, Fr., Wisconsin
D — Cade Christenson, Fr., Penn State +
D — Logan Hensler, Fr., Wisconsin +
G — Cameron Korpi, Fr., Michigan
BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS
Jacob Truscott, Gr., D, Michigan
Matt Basgall, Jr., D, Michigan State
Aaron Huglen, Sr., F, Minnesota
Tyler Carpenter, Sr., F, Notre Dame
Patrick Guzzo, Gr., F, Ohio State
Carson Dyck, Sr., F, Penn State
Anthony Kehrer, Gr., D, Wisconsin
+ unanimous selections
This year’s honors included individual awards, all-Big Ten teams, the all-freshman team and sportsmanship awards. Voting was conducted by conference head coaches and a media panel.
ECAC Hockey has announced Clarkson’s Ethan Langenegger as the recipient of the Ken Dryden Goaltender of the Year for the 2024-25 season.
The additional finalists for this award were Kyle Chauvette (Union) and Lawton Zacher (Brown).
Langenegger joined the Golden Knights this year as a graduate student transfer and played a critical role in Clarkson ending the season ranked nationally. The Kamloops, B.C., native appeared in 20 contests posting a 13-6-1 record. The netminder totaled 450 saves with a .913 save percentage (third in ECAC) and ended the season with a 2.23 GAA (fourth in ECAC).
Over the course of the season, Langenegger earned two goaltender of the week honors and was goaltender of the month for November. In addition to the ECAC accolades, Langenegger was also selected as a 2025 Hobey Baker Award nominee.
All statistics correspond to the final regular-season statistics in ECAC Hockey play only.
Trevor Connelly (16) celebrates a goal after scoring for Providence last December (photo: Providence Athletics).
Welcome to Week 10 of Bracketology.
Each week from now until Selection Sunday coming up in five days on March 23, I will outline the current 16 teams in the men’s NCAA Division I tournament and attempt to seed a bracket based on the current field.
This past weekend’s playoff games across all six leagues provided plenty of excitement, some mild upsets, and most important to this conversation really made the PairWise bubble come into clearer form.
We now have 11 schools who have clinched at-large bids in the tournament. They are: Boston College, Michigan State, Maine, Minnesota, Western Michigan, Boston University, Connecticut, Providence, Ohio State, Denver and Massachusetts.
We can add to that list Minnesota State. The Mavericks will face St. Thomas in the CCHA championship game on Friday night, but the Tommies are still ineligible for the NCAA tournament while they wait out the final season of reclassification from Division III to Division I. Thus, regardless of the winner on Friday, Minnesota State earns the conference’s autobid.
Adding those together you have 12 spots spoken for. The AHA and ECAC Hockey champions will take up two additional spots. Thus, there are two bids still remaining.
Right now, three teams can earn that bid at-large: Quinnipiac, Penn State and Michigan. There are six teams that can alter the cutline by a team winning its conference tournament from outside the top 16. They are: Arizona State, North Dakota, Northeastern, Clarkson, Cornell and Dartmouth. Quinnipiac is the only team on that list that can qualify through either an automatic qualifier or an at-large bid, and no coincidence, the Bobcats have the best chance of the bubble teams to make the field of 16.
The order of bubble eliminations seems to be Michigan, Penn State and Quinnipiac. Thus, if from that list of six teams above, one team wins their conference championship, Michigan will be out. If two teams from that list win, Michigan and Penn State are out. And if three teams win (NCHC, Hockey East, ECAC), the trio of Michigan, Penn State and Quinnipiac will all be eliminated.
That’s a lot to unpack. But for now, let’s take the 16 teams and develop a bracket based on the current PairWise.
1. Boston College
2. Michigan State*
3. Maine*
4. Minnesota
5. Western Michigan*
6. Boston University
7. Connecticut
8. Providence
9. Ohio State
10. Denver
11. Massachusetts
12. Quinnipiac*
13. Penn State
14. Michigan
15. Minnesota State*
16. Holy Cross*
* Automatic qualifier (right now, highest remaining seed in each tournament)
With the field of 16 in place, we can now seed the four regions using basic bracket integrity (1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, etc.).
1. Boston College
8. Providence
9. Ohio State
16. Holy Cross
2. Michigan State
7. Connecticut
10. Denver
15. Minnesota State
3. Maine
6. Boston University
11. Massachusetts
14. Michigan
4. Minnesota
5. Western Michigan
12. Quinnipiac
13. Penn 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. This week, we have a bit of a mess.
Let’s begin with 13 Penn State and 14 Michigan, which are both four seeds. They cannot play either 2 Michigan State or 4 Minnesota. Thus, Boston College, the tournament’s top seed, would be forced in this scenario to play either Michigan or Penn State. We also have issues in the matchup between 6 Boston University and 11 Massachusetts. This one is a little easier to solve by simply switching 12 Quinnipiac and 11 UMass.
So knowing we have to realign the 1 vs. 4 matchup in each bracket, I think that’s the best place to start. It would be ideal to have Boston College, the overall No. 1 seed, to play the lower ranked of those two Big Ten teams, Michigan. Maine would then face Penn State, while Michigan State would face the lowest remaining seed, Holy Cross.
Let’s see what that has done to the bracket.
1. Boston College
8. Providence
9. Ohio State
14. Michigan
2. Michigan State
7. Connecticut
10. Denver
16. Holy Cross
3. Maine
6. Boston University
12. Quinnipiac
13. Penn State
4. Minnesota
5. Western Michigan
11. Massachusetts
15. Minnesota State
This isn’t ideal given that Boston College has been the clear cut number one team in the PairWise for more than two months and locked up the number one overall seed this weekend despite losing to Northeastern. Such a heavy number one seed should not be running into a team from the Big Ten when there are lower-ranked teams in the field. But to avoid the Big Ten matchups in the first round, there is no other solution right now.
With all of those changes, we now need to assign regions to each four-team bracket. Penn State as the host team in Allentown plays in that region. When we place Penn State and its four-team bracket in Allentown, we still have the other three top seeds in each region (Boston College, Michigan State and Minnesota) all playing in regions closest to campus.
To accomplish that, we place Boston College to Manchester, Michigan State to Toledo and Minnesota to Fargo.
Manchester Region
1. Boston College
8. Providence
9. Ohio State
14. Michigan
Toledo Region
2. Michigan State
7. Connecticut
10. Denver
16. Holy Cross
Allentown Region
3. Maine
6. Boston University
12. Quinnipiac
13. Penn State
Fargo Region
4. Minnesota
5. Western Michigan
11. Massachusetts
15. Minnesota State
Are there any other changes to make? How about switching Ohio State and Denver to have the Buckeyes playing in their home state? I like this.
Otherwise, attendance seems decent across the board. Manchester needs Boston College and Providence to drive things. Toledo will now have Michigan State and Ohio State to help fill the building, which has a capacity just over 8,000. Allentown will be sold out thanks to Penn State. And Fargo, with both Minnesota and Minnesota State, should be near capacity.
So that’s my final bracket for this week:
Manchester Region
1. Boston College
8. Providence
10. Denver
14. Michigan
Toledo Region
2. Michigan State
7. Connecticut
9. Ohio State
16. Holy Cross
Allentown Region
3. Maine
6. Boston University
12. Quinnipiac
13. Penn State
Fargo Region
4. Minnesota
5. Western Michigan
11. Massachusetts
15. Minnesota State
Last in: Michigan, Penn State First out: Arizona State, North Dakota
One other note: I was tempted to go with an alternate version of the bracket that switched Holy Cross and Minnesota State. The reasoning isn’t important, but that would have set up a first-round game between Minnesota and Holy Cross in North Dakota, the sound of which might make Gopher fans cringe.
Keep an eye out for Bracketology Extra, each night throughout the conference semis and finals with updates based on each evening’s results. And of course, look out for Bracketology Final late on Saturday evening as I put forth my final bracket for the NCAA tournament.
Arizona State swept Minnesota Duluth over the weekend in the NCHC playoffs (photo: Arizona State 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: Well, Paula, we’ve finally made it to the last weekend of the postseason!
For all of the projecting and preseason banter, the excitement surrounding the weekly grind or first weekend of the regular season, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – that tops watching teams hoist a trophy. I’d argue that the conference tournament is even better than the national tournament because of the familiarity between the teams…a thought that I think you first pitched to me earlier this year.
I want to roll back a bit about what I’ve seen in the eastern leagues because the biggest news of the weekend came from Hockey East and Northeastern’s upset over Boston College. The Eagles are still the No. 1 team in the Pairwise Rankings and won’t land anywhere outside of Manchester, but losing to the Huskies added the type of drama associated with single-elimination games. That the best team in the country doesn’t make TD Garden’s semifinal or championship is exactly what the playoffs are all about, and there’s A LOT to unpack about how that happened.
Joining Northeastern are three teams each angling to end some droughts. Maine, for example, hasn’t won a Hockey East championship since Ben Murphy’s triple-overtime goal in 2004, and UMass, the most recent champion, last won it in 2022 to win consecutive championships. Northeastern won the regular-season championship that year but failed to advance to the Garden, keeping the Huskies shortened drought at 2019.
The Minutemen might still have damp grounds from that electric run during the early part of the decade, but my dark horse – Connecticut – is still alive. The 2000 MAAC champions might hang their first Hockey East banner in Boston, which would be sweet revenge for Nutmeggers who harbor a little bit of revenge in their hearts for its ACC neighbor market to the northeast.
Before I get rolling too deep, let’s shift it westward because Hockey East isn’t the only upset-addled league. After a hot streak took the No. 30 Penn State team to No. 12, the Nittany Lions lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. They’re back to the bubble, now, and I can’t get over how quickly fortunes changed after they plowed through the conference’s second half.
Paula: Penn State’s extraordinary second half is evidence of two things: first is what can happen when all the pieces come together at the right time for a team, and second is how winning builds confidence.
You know, I almost always come back to something that Minnesota coach Bob Motzko has said when I’m looking for perspective, and early in the season he said that while teams can learn from losing, they can also learn from winning. That’s what Penn State did in the second half.
Things began to look up for Penn State when goaltender Arsenii Sergeev returned to action Jan. 3, when the Nittany Lions tied Notre Dame in the Frozen Confines game. Then Penn State won its first Big Ten game of the season against the Fighting Irish two nights later in South Bend. Counting last weekend’s semifinal loss to Ohio State, the Nittany Lions lost just four games in the second half, a run coupled with the strength of the Big Ten that put them in NCAA tournament contention.
It’s a great story, but it shouldn’t overshadow what Ohio State has accomplished this season. The Buckeyes have had some bumps along the way, but they are one of nine teams with 24 or more wins this season, which takes the kind of tenacity and confidence that Ohio State showed in that overtime win against Penn State.
I love Penn State’s story this year, but Ohio State is still standing. The Buckeyes are the only team in the Big Ten that hasn’t captured a playoff championship, and doing so against the defending champs in East Lansing is a daunting task. In fact, Ohio State has two conference titles to its credit. Two. Ever. They won the inaugural CCHA conference championship in 1972 and won again in 2004.
You mention one and done, Dan. The difference between Notre Dame – the last-place team in the Big Ten – and Michigan State in semifinal play last weekend was one goal. Anything can happen.
And, yes, that’s what makes this time of year so exciting. Conference championships are the best thing about college hockey, and that is the proverbial hill upon which I will die.
Switching gears to the NCAA tourney and the PairWise, both Penn State and Michigan sit on that very uncomfortable PWR bubble at 13th and 14th respectively, so each is pulling for favorites this weekend.
I love upsets, though. I’m sure I’m not alone.
Based on what we saw in semifinals last week, do you see upsets that may burst some bubbles – PairWise or otherwise – this weekend?
Dan: The only team that’s likely still fighting the tide is Quinnipiac, which moved to No. 12 with its two-game sweep over Brown. Most scenarios have the Bobcats finishing on the inside of the bubble, but a semifinal loss to Cornell would still hurt bad enough to drop them under the project cut line, which sits anywhere from No. 13 to No. 14.
Penn State obviously stands to gain the most from a Quinnipiac loss because the Nittany Lions won’t lose by not playing, but dropping Quinnipiac as low as No. 14 would open the door for an elimination scenario if the wrong team wins one of the other leagues. That said, it would still take an entirely direct scenario – a good chunk of which still exists – and a large number of those scenarios are buried with a win over Cornell. None of those situations, though, include a second bid for ECAC.
Aside from all of that, Michigan’s loss in the first round of the Big Ten postseason is becoming increasingly more disastrous.
Of this weekend’s games, I know I’m going to be fixated on one in particular – back to that in a bit – but I’ll keep a side-eye on the Minnesota State-St. Thomas game. Jim Connelly took the Tommies as his dark horse in the CCHA tournament, and playing Minnesota State looks a bit like their national championship game because the draconian rules governing the reclassification process will prevent them from advancing to the NCAA tournament. I’m not saying Minnesota State won’t have something to play for (there I go with a double negative again), but the Mavericks are in the tournament with a loss.
Let’s play a hypothetical and let the Tommies win. How would you have extrapolated their chances into the NCAA Tournament since they unquestionably would’ve been the No. 16 seed? Are we missing a chance to watch the underdog make some noise?
Paula: To be honest, the CCHA is somewhat of a mystery to me this season. That no one in that conference has been strong enough to crack the PWR for most of this season is baffling. I know you and I have talked quite a bit about strength of schedule and how that impacts both the CCHA and Atlantic Hockey, but seeing programs like Bowling Green, Lake Superior, Michigan Tech, and Northern Michigan make absolutely no national noise this season has been as baffling as it is disheartening.
Even Minnesota State’s excellent season hasn’t been enough to place them firmly in the PairWise rankings. They had early wins over Michigan and North Dakota and an early sweep of Omaha. They have 18 conference wins and now 26 overall wins.
And yet the Mavericks sit at No. 16 in the PWR. It’s wild.
The Tommies topped the preseason CCHA poll, but that speculation was fairly divided. St. Thomas earned three first-place votes as did Bemidji State, with Michigan Tech getting two and Minnesota State picking up one. I’m not sure I would have had the Tommies contending for the title, but I’m not sure I would have had the Mavericks there, either. But it’s not like I wouldn’t have, either. Like I said, the CCHA makes no sense to me this season.
Another conference that has confused me is the ECAC. You mentioned Quinnipiac – another team that had to work hard to play its way into NCAA tournament territory – but I’d like to know how Quinnipiac is the only ECAC team among the PWR top 15.
Part of what’s happening with the CCHA can be explained by the fallout of the creation of the Big Ten, but ECAC? What happened?
Dan: I wish I had a magic wand to explain what happened to the league that I’m covering on a more regular basis for these pages.
I’m going to fire up a Delorean and hit the accelerator pedal to 88 mph with the intention of going back to 2023. Harry Styles had just won the Grammy for album of the year while Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” claimed Record of the Year honors (remember when literally everyone was doing a TikTok dance to that? Or is that just my….wife…yeah…definitely my wife…)
ECAC had four bids to the 2023 national tournament. Quinnipiac was about to win the national championship as the No. 2 seed with the best record in the country ahead of the tournament, and Cornell was a four seed capable of beating Denver in the first round. Colgate won the conference championship in a stroke of goodwill to Don Vaughan. Things were awesome.
Then things fell apart. Quinnipiac’s success is sustainable as a national powerhouse, but the rest of the league sagged. The bottom four consistently weighted the Pairwise values against ECAC, and Quinnipiac finally took its “downturn,” which really meant it didn’t have 30 wins to anchor a top seed in the tournament.
Why things fell apart is a combination of factors that are being addressed in smaller doses. The transfer portal era really ravaged a couple of teams, and I think the post-COVID struggles finally caught up to Harvard. Cornell wasn’t healthy this year. Dartmouth got better, but the bottom of the conference just weren’t good enough to prevent things from falling. Combined with the overall power of Hockey East, that was a tough ask.
I’m cautiously optimistic about the league’s ability to return to form over the next few years. Ted Donato is a master recruiter at Harvard, and Union is opening up a new building to replace Messa Rink. Cornell will transition to Casey Jones, who was an outstanding coach at Clarkson, and JF Houle’s continued transition should keep Clarkson in the conversation. Combined with Quinnipiac, those have been the biggest surges within the league lately (don’t forget that there was a time when Union was the No. 1 seed). I don’t know if four or five seeds are in the works, but the league should jump back to the two-bid or three-bid conversation sooner rather than later.
Of course, it’s dependent on the power leagues giving up some of their ground, and Hockey East isn’t going to be doing that any time soon. Neither is the NCHC, which looks downright scary. Western Michigan built something special, and it looks like North Dakota is on the run towards a tournament berth. Arizona State is a great addition. CC is right in there. St. Cloud, Duluth, hoo boy that’s a good league, isn’t it?
Paula: Honestly, I think Western Michigan has been the under-the-radar team all season – not within the NCHC, obviously, but to the rest of the college hockey world hyper-focused on Hockey East and the Big Ten.
In fairness to everyone talking about B1G and HEA all season, those two conferences have been deeper than deep and likely in ways that aren’t sustainable for many years. We know how things cycle in college hockey, especially because of how small the field is for the entirety of Division I men’s play, and you just mentioned how recently ECAC hockey was measurably better.
Compared to a few years ago, the NCHC isn’t nearly as dominant as it was overall, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t see the conference produce a national champion this year.
Boston College and Michigan State each have .771 overall win percentages. Western Michigan’s is an insane .792, and the Broncos have the nation’s current top offense (4.06), sixth-best defense (2.06), eighth-best power play (25.5%) and fourth-best penalty kill (87.1%). That quadruple threat – being among the top 10 nationally in all four of those categories – is matched by only one other team currently among the 16 teams in the PairWise, Quinnipiac.
With the possibility of playing either Hampton Slukynsky or Cameron Rowe in net – both of whom were named to all-NCHC teams this week – and a slew of players that can find the net, the Broncos are going to be one of the hardest teams to beat in the NCAA tournament. Given Boston College’s loss this past weekend, I’m surprised that Western Michigan garnered only five first-place votes in this week’s poll.
The NCHC tournament this weekend is the hottest ticket in men’s college hockey. Western Michigan and Denver are already in the NCAA tourney, so they can afford to be dialed in on the immediate prize of the conference championship. Denver plays Arizona State, and at No. 15 in the PWR, the Sun Devils define what it means to be a bubble team at this time of year.
But Western Michigan will face the neediest team in the field, North Dakota, who currently sits at No. 17 in the PWR. To get the chance to play for a conference title, the Fighting Hawks swept Omaha in quarterfinal play after splitting with the Mavericks the final weekend of regular-season play. In mid-February, the Fighting Hawks split a series with Denver and two weeks ago split with Western, and this was after the Pioneers and Broncos each swept North Dakota earlier in the season.
Yes, Dan, the NCHC is a good conference. A very good conference. They’re not as deep this season as the Big Ten and Hockey East are, but it’s easy to imagine two NCHC teams in St. Louis next month – even if the conference advances only two teams to the NCAA tournament.
The one-and-done format from here on out makes everything so much more exciting, and there really is nothing like a conference championship. It seems like a million years ago now, but soon after I began covering the CCHA – some time back in the late 1990s – Bob Daniels told me that the first goal his team set every year was the league title. Now that Daniels has coached his last game at Ferris State, I wish I still had the direct quote. It came in a week late in the season, when coaches of other CCHA teams were pressing me about their chances to make the national tournament. They wanted scenarios, possibilities, probabilities. All of this was before the PairWise was a public thing, when there was still some mystery about it all.
Having picked up on what other coaches were thinking, I asked Daniels about looking past conference play to national play. He was so earnest when he explained why a conference title was a thing never to be devalued at a time when so many people were focusing on bigger crowns.
At another point, Daniels reminded me of something that has never not been true: it’s really hard to end another team’s season. When surviving to play another game is the only option, teams play with a ferocity that they may not have had mere games and weeks before.
Two weeks ago, when Notre Dame took Minnesota out of the Big Ten playoffs by taking that best-of-three series on the road, I am ashamed that I was as surprised as I was. The Fighting Irish were playing for more than mere survival. They wanted to give Jeff Jackson a remarkable sendoff, and they came really close to doing just that against Michigan State last weekend.
Here’s to conference championship weekend. Like everyone, I’m looking forward to seeing who emerges to play another game – and when champions are crowned, I’ll spare a thought for the guys at the other end, especially the ones who will have donned that uniform for the last time, ever.
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation has announced the top 10 candidates for the 2025 award honoring college hockey’s top player.
