Oswego has kicked off the 2025 campaign in grand style winning their own tournament and outscoring their opponents by a 13-0 margin – can the Lakers make a run in the second half? (Photo by Taylor Streiff)
The action is heating up in the New Year and each team in every conference is about to launch the big push for points and results and maybe, a little scoreboard watching too! Lots to play for and not a whole lot of weekends to make moves in conference races and that makes all the games matter everywhere!
My weekly picks finished last week at 10-6-2 (.611) on a super-sized slate to open the 2025 portion of the schedule. Probably reached on a couple of picks not really knowing how each roster was going to come back from the semester break. To date, my season numbers are now 62-32-6 (.650) through my first 100 games which is pretty good overall considering the number of upsets and parity out there in the D-II/III universe of teams – hoping to keep things trending upward so here are this week’s picks for the east:
Thursday, January 9, 2024
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts v. Anna Maria
The AmCats have not been getting the results they want recently and a good start against the Trailblazers is the key to recording a much needed “W” in the MASCAC race. Home team likes to make things tough for visitors and do just that to ease to a victory – AMC, 5-2
Plymouth State v. Rivier
The Panthers should not look past the Raiders nor goaltender Luke Newell who has the capability of stealing a game for his team. Think there is just too much offense for home team to fend off as Redick & Co. pick up the road win – PSU, 4-1
Friday, January 10, 2024
Neumann v. Stevenson
The MAC is all looking up at Wilkes and these two contenders need to make up some ground with a regulation win. Home ice matters here a lot for the Mustangs who find some late magic on the power play to eke out a one-goal win over the Knights – Stevenson, 3-2
Trinity v. Middlebury
The Bantams lost back-to-back games coming out of the break, so you know they are motivated to forge ahead where conference points are at stake. The Panthers may be stinging from their loss in the BLI championship game but being back home helps as the Panthers look to extend their current unbeaten streak at “The Chip.” Score early and hang on gets it done – Middlebury, 3-2
(1) Hobart v. Skidmore
This Statesmen have been a machine so far this season and this game may be their biggest challenge playing on a big sheet away from home. Depth and special teams are key with stellar goaltending just an assumed in a win for the visitors – Hobart, 5-2
Nazareth v. (13) Cortland
The Red Dragons need to get things going on home ice and a quality road win against a very strong Wilkes team is a strong way of building some needed momentum. It won’t be easy but the home team gets some power play help and an ENG to seal the deal – Cortland, 5-3
(2) Geneseo v. Elmira
The Knights are coming off the break on the heels of a great series at home against Utica. That is last year’s news so the best way to get the momentum ramped up is to beat another quality opponent on the road, especially after they won in your barn last season. Motivation applied for a win – Geneseo, 3-2
Oswego v. (3) Utica
The re-tooled Pioneers take the ice for the first time this weekend after the break while the Lakers come in on a high having won their tournament in convincing fashion. This could be one of the most exciting games of the weekend and earns my UPSET PICK for the weekend showing the Lakers could be a factor beyond the SUNYAC race – Oswego, 5-4
Saturday, January 11, 2024
St. Michael’s v. Assumption
This game could be a preview of the playoffs and maybe even the championship game much further down the road but neither team will be thinking about anything more than points and the NE-10 standings. Visitors find help from the back-end and David Ciancio to eke out a big road win – St. Michael’s, 5-4
Plattsburgh Winter Classic
(10) Wilkes v. (15) University of New England
This in-season tournament features a couple of teams that are clear contenders in their leagues and potentially on the national stage in the spring. Game feels like a playoff game and overtime winner for the Nor’easters gets celebrated like a playoff winner – UNE, 3-2
Wentworth v. Plattsburgh
The Cardinals have re-tooled the lineup a little bit with Vlad Pshenichnikov coming over from Utica for the second semester and has already contributed on the score sheet. Added depth helps home team take a close win against the Leopards – Plattsburgh, 3-1
Southern Maine v. Albertus Magnus
The Huskies are never out of a game and teams that don’t battle for the full 60 or 65 minutes are not going to earn the win over them. The Falcons like to play things tight and this game certainly goes that way with the home team taking a one-goal win and needed NEHC points – Albertus Magnus, 4-3
Western New England v. Morrisville
The Mustangs will be less than gracious hosts to the Golden Bears as they start the game hard and fast and make a lead stand up for a nice non-conference win. Home ice makes a difference for the SUNYAC hosts – Morrisville, 4-1
The season really is going to be more exciting now if that is even possible. Should be a very fun 2025 portion of the schedule – “Drop the Puck!”
Michigan State players celebrate a goal last weekend at Wrigley Field (photo: Michigan State Athletics).
By every metric, the Frozen Confines was a huge success for the Big Ten.
The event featured six Big Ten teams plus two WCHA women’s teams from B1G schools and was played in Wrigley Field Jan. 3-4, just days after the NHL’s annual Winter Classic.
The Big Ten Network did a fantastic job with coveriage, from in-game announcing to between-game conversations. All of the staging and camera work was great. And kudos to Wrigley Field for its promotion of the event. Attendance the first day was over 25,000 for each game and attendance for the Saturday women’s game was nearly 25,000.
Michigan forward T.J. Hughes called the atmosphere “unbelievable.”
Wisconsin coach Mike Hastings thanked the Chicago Cubs and said of the event, “It’s just special. It’s really special.”
Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said, “We’re grateful to participate in something that’s this cool.”
Each of those gents was quoted after their teams had come up short in Wrigley Field. That’s how good the weekend was.
All four games were decided by a goal or less. In the opening contest, Ohio State came from behind to beat Michigan 4-3, the game-winning goal scored by Riley Thompson on the power play with 38 seconds left in regulation.
The late Friday game saw Notre Dame and Penn State – two teams with huge name brand recognition who also happen to be the two teams at the bottom of the conference standings – played a game at dizzying pace, exchanging goals throughout with Carter Slaggert’s marker at 11:02 in the third tying it for Notre Dame 3-3, which is how the game ended. Shots in the game were 46-42 in favor of the Irish. Penn State’s Arsenii Sergeev (.938 SV%) and Notre Dame’s Nicholas Kempf (.923 SV%) understood their assignments on the big stage.
Saturday’s early game between Wisconsin and Ohio State featured the country’s top two women’s teams and also ended in a 3-3 tie after Wisconsin’s Kelly Gorbatenko evened the score late in the third period.
In the final game of the weekend, Michigan State beat Wisconsin 4-3 when Daniel Russell pocketed his sixth game-winning goal of the season with little more than a single second remaining in overtime.
Said Michigan State’s Adam Nightingale, “It’s a memory our guys will always have, and I think our fans, too, for all of them that turned out and showed up at the game.”
Nightingale said that the event was “really well run” and that the game against the Badgers could have gone either way. “They’re a tough team to play against, really well coached.”
An argument can be made that the Spartans were the biggest winners of the weekend. Michigan State and Wisconsin were tied for second place in the Big Ten standings going into the weekend. The Spartans beat the Badgers 4-3 in Munn Ice Arena two days prior to their dramatic Wrigley Field victory gave them a sweep.
The No. 1 Spartans are now four points ahead of the unranked Badgers in B1G standings and tied with Minnesota for first place in the conference. Michigan State sits at No. 2 in the PairWise Rankings, where losing to Wisconsin – now sitting at No. 24 – would have been costly.
Nightingale seems pretty comfortable to be coaching a team with a target on its collective back, and the Spartans seem to have a pretty good bead on how to handle the second half. As Michigan State prepares to play last-place Penn State on the road this weekend, Nightingale said that the records of individual teams really don’t matter in the Big Ten come game time.
“The reality is that all the games are tight,” said Nightingale. “For our guys, too, we don’t talk about being ranked [No.] 1, but for their development it’s really critical, because you have to play your best if you want to win a hockey game. It doesn’t mean it’s always going to be perfect.
“I think our guys have done a good job of maintaining a level head about it. We’ve got to make sure we keep doing that, but yeah, we’re going to see everyone’s best. On the flip side, when we play we’ve got to make sure that everyone sees our best, too.”
Michigan State takes a seven-game (6-0-1) unbeaten streak into Hockey Valley this weekend, and two of those wins came in OT. In their final series of the first half, the Spartans took five of six points from Minnesota on the road, tying the Golden Gophers 3-3 and earning the extra shootout point Dec. 13 before winning 5-3 the following night.
The Spartans returned to action in the Great Lakes Invitational, beating Northern Michigan 2-0 Dec. 29 before defeating No. 4 Western Michigan 3-1 the next night.
“I think that really tested our guys,” said Nightingale. “We told them when we left after Minnesota that the expectation is that we’re going to play like we did out in Minnesota.” Nightingale said that the team enjoyed their time off with their families but that players clearly heard the coaching staff’s pre-holiday message. “I was happy about the guys doing that. You could tell when they got back. They were recharged but they were pretty sharp.”
Heading out on the road this weekend, Michigan State will be faced with a choice that any coaching staff would love to have. Starting goaltender Trey Augustine has returned from the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship with the gold medal he won with Team USA, but in his absence, Luca Di Pasquo won four games in seven days, improving to six wins on the year with an impressive 1.32 goals-against average and .945 save percentage. Di Pasquo was named MVP of the Great Lakes tourney.
“We’ll sort all that out,” said Nightingale. “We’ll make a decision on Friday that we think gives us the best chance to win a hockey game.”
The Spartans (17-2-1, 8-1-1 B1G) and Nittany Lions (8-9-1, 1-81 B1G) meet Friday and Saturday in Pegula Ice Arena. Penn State is coming off its first conference win of the season. After tying Notre Dame in Wrigley Field, the Nittany Lions beat the Fighting Irish 3-0 in South Bend Jan. 5.
Michigan State was 3-0-1 against Penn State last season and are unbeaten against the Nittany Lions in their last seven meetings. The last PSU win over MSU was in Pegula Arena Nov. 18, 2022.
“Really tough team to play against in their barn especially,” said Nightingale. “I think they’re a hungry hockey team. They obviously just had a big win on Sunday and they’ll be ready to go.”
UMass has struggled this season, but the Minutemen look to turn it around starting this weekend (photo: UMass Athletics).
I think we can all agree it’s time for a breather, right?
Hockey East just came off a Saturday when it went a perfect 7-0 against nonconference opponents. Four schools scored season highs in goals — Massachusetts and Vermont each put up eight, Connecticut scored seven and Northeastern tied its season high with five goals in a 5-1 win over Quinnipiac.
No. 7 Maine beat No. 6 Denver 2-1 before a packed house at Alfond Arena, splitting a weekend series where the defending NCAA champion won by the same score the night prior. And now the Black Bears are set to face another top-10 opponent in No. 8 UMass Lowell this weekend.
Time to call off the dogs, right? This is just too much for Hockey East fans, coaches and players to endure, is it not?
Fat chance of that.
“It’s awesome — we love this,” said Maine senior defenseman David Breazeale. “For myself, I’ve come a long way since my freshman year, and for us to be able to play back-to-back top-10 teams, with us being in the top 10 as well, that’s a dream come true. That’s what college hockey’s all about.”
As of this writing, Hockey East is crowding the top of the PairWise rankings with a whopping five teams among the top 11 (Boston College, Providence, Maine, Lowell and New Hampshire). And how about this for a quirk? UNH is in last place in the league standings.
That’s right — the Wildcats, at 2-3-2 in the league, would be in the NCAA tournament if it began today (which would be a little weird because it’s only January).
And in inter-conference play, Hockey East boasts a 68-26-3 overall record (.716 winning percentage), second only to BIG’s 47-15-4 (.742).
Of course, Hockey East’s dominance of the PairWise is due to a number of factors, not the least of which is the quirkiness of the PairWise itself, and things will certainly even out over the next couple of months, beginning in earnest this weekend as every team but Providence is in action — all against each other.
With only a smattering of non-conference games remaining, it’s about to be all Hockey East all the time. And the time is now for teams to solidify their standing in order to face less pressure during conference tournament season.
“I don’t know if I remember a time when any league has had this many teams (this high in the PairWise),” Massachusetts coach Greg Carvel said. “That’s quite a statement for our league. PairWise, for the first half of the year, is determined by your nonconference schedule. Now it’s going to be determined by what you do in the league. And that’s a positive for us, because we’ve got about 10 games against teams in the top 10 in the country. (The) opportunity’s there for us.”
The league’s supremacy comes as no surprise to fourth-year Maine coach Ben Barr, who has coached in Hockey East for 12 seasons including stints as an assistant at Providence and UMass.
“Whether the rankings show it or not, all these teams are really good,” Barr said. “The PairWise is the PairWise, (but) as you go into the second half of the season, every game is a tossup in Hockey East, regardless of whether you’re the first-place team or the 10th-place team. It doesn’t matter.”
Oh, and in a related note that has nothing to do with the league standings or the PairWise, but is a nod to Hockey East’s dominance and worth mentioning — the association had 10 players on Team USA’s gold medal squad at World Juniors, and 36 of 37 goals the United States scored had a BC or Boston University player registering a point, as reported by Andrew Mahoney of the Boston Globe.
“Hockey East is a really awesome conference to be a part of,” Breazeale said. “We’re playing great teams every night. And that’s what you want. You want to play great teams so that when the championships come around, you’re prepared. You know what you’re up against. We love it. We love the challenge. We look forward to it.”
FloHockey content manager and veteran prospects and NHL analyst Chris Peters joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger to recap USA’s gold at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship and to look at international hockey in general.
Cameron Rowe has compiled solid numbers between the pipes for Western Michigan (photo: Ashley Huss).
Much of fourth-ranked Western Michigan’s success through the first half of the season had to do with a changed operating dynamic between the pipes.
Over the past two seasons, current WMU graduate student Cameron Rowe was the Broncos’ unquestioned starting goaltender. After playing his first two years of college hockey at Wisconsin, he played 38 games for WMU in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns.
After 11 starts so far this season, he remains one of the best goaltenders in the country. Rowe’s .931 save percentage is good for 10th among NCAA Division I goalies who have played at least 33 percent of their teams’ games, and his 1.82 goals-against average is good for ninth.
One of the handful of college netminders rivaling Rowe’s numbers so far this season wears a matching uniform. Freshman goalie Hampton Slukynsky’s 1.84 GAA is 10th in the country, and his save percentage (.941) is third.
Slukynsky and Rowe have made for quite the combo through 18 games, and even since before the first one.
“(Their playing time has) certainly been broken up evenly and they both challenge each other, probably more so than we ever would’ve expected, and we appreciate everything they’ve done to this point,” WMU assistant coach J.J. Crew said. “They’ve been the backbone to our success, and it’s been great.
“It started from Day 1. Cam, recognizing that we were recruiting Hampton and committed him to come in this year, he was the first person to call Hampton and welcome him to our program. That’s something you don’t see every day, and it’s something we appreciated.
“It’s certainly not an easy situation for Cam, knowing he’s been the guy for the last two years and having a really good guy coming in to challenge for that spot, for him to be mature about the situation and pick up the phone and call him and welcome him to our Bronco family, that was awesome by him,” Crew continued. “It’s been a healthy relationship in that they’re rooting for each other, while competing with each other.”
Slukynsky is fresh off helping Team USA win its second consecutive World Junior Championship gold medal, a feat the American program had never accomplished in its history. He and Rowe maintained close contact while the former was off in Ottawa with the U20 national team.
“Hampton has been a sponge,” Crew said. “He’s certainly been asking Cam plenty of questions, and (Rowe) obviously has four years under his belt, so he respects the fact that Cam has been through this conference, through multiple conferences and just has had a ton of college experience.
“Cam has been right there helping him in any way he can, and at the same time, Hampton has helped elevate Cam’s game just by his everyday habits in practice and things he’s accustomed to doing.”
And while it might be hard to get comfortable in such roles, when there’s always the possibility for one goaltender to win out in terms of postseason playing time, Slukynsky and Rowe’s partnership has been a shining example of what WMU’s staff wants from the Bronco players.
“I think Cam knew, whether Hampton was here or not, it was going to be a challenging season to continue earning that spot he has been in the last two years, but I think the message has been clear across the board to any one of our players, regardless of position, is that the guys who work the hardest, and are trying to get better every day and who are good people with good attitudes, will be the guys who end up in the lineup and have success that way,” Crew said.
“I don’t want to say this was a different role for Cam. I think it was business as usual for him, with the notion that we had an ultra-competitive, highly-successful goalie coming from juniors who is a U.S. gold medalist now, and Cam knew that he had to continue to keep working and keep earning his position, just like he has the last two years.
“Having that healthy competition is only beneficial for both of them,” Crew continued. “It has elevated Rowe’s game from last year to this year, having that guy pushing him every day, and equally, Hampton’s been pushed just as much by Cam with how he has performed. I see that continuing, and I know the conversation is pretty fluid among the two of them, and in practice every day, it’s smiles and stick taps, things like that when one’s going into the net and one’s going out. It’s all positive.”
The holiday break is a strange time for college hockey.
Some CCHA teams have played four official games since this column was last published about three weeks ago. Michigan Tech, for example, played in not one but two separate tournaments (the Huskies finished third in both the Great Lakes Invitational and the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup).
Other teams–like Bemidji State, who hosted Minnesota Duluth on New Years’ Eve–played just one official game.
Still others–like Minnesota State–haven’t played any resolution games. (The Mavericks did, however, play two exhibition games in that span.)
The good thing to know, however, is that following this weekend’s slate of CCHA matchups, all nine of the conference’s teams will have officially reached past the halfway point in their league schedules. That means every team aside from Augustana will be at game 14 of their 26. (The Vikings are already there and have played eight of their 16.)
Because we’re essentially at the halfway point now, and because from here on out every CCHA team (aside from Augustana, but we’ll get to that later) is only going to be playing conference series at this point, I thought it would be a good idea to handicap where I think the league is at as the second half of the season kicks off. Because of the league’s points-percentage standings this season, it’s a little more complicated than usual!
But here’s one person’s analysis of where each team is headed as we enter the final three months of the season. The playoffs will be here before we know it!
The odds-on favorite
Minnesota State (14-4-2, 9-1-2 CCHA, 28 pts., 0.778 pts%)
Remaining games: 7 HOME (2 vs. Tech, 1 vs. UST, 2 vs. Augie, 2 vs. BSU); 7 AWAY (2 at NMU, 2 at FSU, 1 at UST, 2 AT LSSU)
Nothing has changed since last month: The Mavericks are currently in the drivers’ seat to win the MacNaughton Cup. The last time they played an official regulation game, they swept Lake Superior State, 3-2 and 6-1 in Mankato. They also played a pair of exhibition games, getting some good workouts in wins over Canadian Manitoba and Division III St. Norbert. They haven’t lost in regulation since early November. It must be said that the Mavericks aren’t an offensive juggernaut, but they’ve been the best defensive team in the country, allowing just 1.5 goals a game thanks to goaltender Alex Tracy and a robust, experienced defensive corps. Their remaining schedule is favorable, too: The travel to Michigan for three series will be tough, but those are all against bottom-half teams. They have the luxury of hosting two of their main contenders (Augustana and Michigan Tech) at home, plus the traditional season-ending series with Bemidji State.
Remaining games: 8 HOME (2 vs. LSSU, 2 vs. Tech; also 2 vs. Lindenwood (NC) and 2 vs. Alaska (NC)); 4 AWAY (2 at BGSU, 2 at MSU)
The only team in the conference with any nonconference games to play, I point those out because the Vikings are in good position for something other than just the MacNaughton Cup: An at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Augustana really turned some heads last weekend with their road sweep of Colorado College, and they’ve played well enough outside of the conference that they are going to be considered a bubble team if they keep on winning. That’s easier said than done, of course, but their schedule is also quite favorable, travel-wise–the Vikings only league Sioux Falls twice more this season. One of those is for a series at Bowling Green–never an easy place to play–before what could be the series that decides the MacNaughton Cup on Feb. 7-8 at Minnesota State in Mankato. The margin for error for both an at-large bid and the MacNaughton is small but doable, but the Vikings are in a great position to at the very least have home ice advantage in the playoffs in their first season as full league members.
Remaining games: 7 HOME (2 vs. LSSU, 1 vs. NMU, 2 vs. BSU, 2 vs. FSU); 7 AWAY (2 at MSU, 1 at NMU, 2 at Augie, 2 at UST)
Michigan Tech ended 2024 with plenty of momentum when scored six times in the third period against Bemidji State to win 9-5. That momentum didn’t quite carry over into the two tournaments they played in (the GLI and the Cactus Cup). The Huskies took third place in both tournaments, falling to a pair of top-ten Pairwise teams in the first round of both competitions (Western Michigan and Massachusetts-Lowell, respectively). However, both of those were one-goal games, and the Huskies are well-positioned for the home stretch of CCHA after seeing three teams from three different conferences in said tournament. Tech’s top line–which features Stiven Sardarian, Isaac Gordon and Logan Morrell–is among the best in the league, with a combined 55 points.
Bowling Green (10-7-2, 6-4-2 CCHA, 23 pts, 0.639 pts%)
Remaining games: 8 HOME (2 vs. BSU, 2 vs. Augie, 2 vs. UST, 2 vs. LSSU); 6 AWAY (2 at FSU, 2 at NMU, 2 at BSU)
I wouldn’t have had Bowling Green on the Dark Horse candidates list last month. But all of a sudden, the Falcons are riding a five-game winning streak–that included two sweeps, which means two consecutive Diamond Cutters. It’s enough to vault them back into contention for home ice. They’re tied with Michigan Tech on points percentage. They don’t have to play the Huskies again. They also are all done with Minnesota State for the regular season, too. The only team BG has to play who is currently ahead of them in the standings is Augustana.
Searching for home ice
Lake Superior State (8-11-1, 6-6-0 CCHA, 19 pts, 0.528 pts%)
Remaining games: 6 HOME (2 vs. UST, 2 vs. NMU, 2 vs. MSU); 8 AWAY (2 at Tech, 2 at Augie, 2 at FSU, 2 at BGSU)
At the beginning of the month, the Lakers were fighting Minnesota State for first place in the standings. But since then they’ve lost five of six, including sweeps at the hands of Minnesota State and Bowling Green. There’s still plenty of time for the Lakers to right the ship, though. Their special teams (a 22.4% power play and an 84.1% penalty kill) are among the best in the conference, and their scoring offense (54 goals in 20 games) has been solid. They just need to figure out how to put some more wins together in conference play. They’ve notched sweeps against Northern Michigan and St. Thomas, and have a series against both of those teams in the season’s second half. Last season, LSSU was a dangerous team down the stretch and this edition of the Lakers look to be no different.
Bemidji State (8-9-3, 5-5-2 CCHA, 18 pts, 0.500 pts%)
Remaining games: 6 HOME (2 vs. NMU, 2 vs. FSU, 2 vs. BGSU); 8 AWAY (2 at BGSU, 2 at UST, 2 at Tech, 2 at MSU)
Last season, the defending MacNaughton Cup champs were in first place at the holiday break. They wound up going 9-3-2 in the second half of the season to win the league title. This time around, the Beavers are looking up at the top of the league ladder. The MacNaughton is a longer shot, but home ice in the playoffs is still doable. The Beavers, like the Lakers, simply need more consistency. They’re 8-9-3 overall and 5-5-2 in league play but have yet to sweep any team outright this season. This despite some great single-game results against Minnesota, North Dakota and Minnesota State. The Beavers have six home games remaining but all are series against favorable opponents; if they can get a sweep or two at home and at least earn positive points in two of their four road series they could be staying in Bemidji for the playoffs.
Fighting for a good seed
Ferris State (6-12-2, 5-7-0 CCHA, 15 pts, 0.417 pts%)
Remaining games: 8 HOME (2 vs. BGSU, 2 vs. MSU, 2 vs. LSSU, 2 vs. NMU); 6 AWAY (2 at UST, 2 at BSU, 2 at Tech)
Ferris State finished last in the conference a season ago, with just 19 points. They’re already just four points away from surpassing that total this season. Because of the way things are playing out this season, it seems unlikely that the Bulldogs will finish in last place again this season, but it’s hard to say if they’re going to be able to pick up enough points to compete for home ice. Certainly they’re going to need to pick up a few more wins at home–they’ve only won twice in Big Rapids.
St. Thomas (6-10-4, 3-6-3 CCHA, 12 pts, 0.333 pts%)
Remaining games: 7 HOME (2 vs. FSU, 2 vs. BSU, 1 vs. MSU, 2 vs. Tech); 7 AWAY (2 at LSSU, 1 at MSU, 2 at BGSU, 2 at MSU)
After their second-place finish last season, many had the Tommies finishing at or around first place this season. It’s been something of a struggle for them in the first half, however. It isn’t due to lack of offense–Liam Malmquist is second in the conference in scoring with 23 points, while Cooper Gay’s nine goals is tied for the CCHA lead. The Tommies had home ice in the playoffs last season; getting there this year might be tough but they do play all three of the teams ahead of them head-to-head in their first three series of 2025.
Remaining games: 7 HOME (2 vs. MSU, 1 vs. Tech, 2 vs. BGSU, 2 vs. UST); 7 AWAY (2 at BSU, 1 at MSU, 2 at LSSU, 2 at FSU)
It’s been rough going for Northern Michigan in Dave Shyiak’s first season behind the bench. Due to the nature of their roster–just two players who had any experience returned to Marquette at the start of this season–the Wildcats have had plenty of issues finding anything approaching consistency. This is especially true on offense, which has seen NMU score just 25 goals in 20 games. They’ve been shut out six times. Goaltender Ryan Ouelette and the NMU defense has done an admirable job attempting to keep the puck out of the net and keeping them in a few games, but for the most part there’s not been much for Wildcat fans to cheer for this year. So far the only points they’ve managed were a shootout win against Minnesota State in November. Unless the Wildcats figure out a way to get a lot of points quickly in the first few series, they’re going to find themselves in the cellar of the CCHA standings and will be on the outside looking into the playoffs this year.
Mason Kucenski has been solid between the pipes over the first half of the 2024-25 season for St. Lawrence (photo: C A Hill Photo).
The college hockey season doesn’t typically shift into overdrive until the calendar shifts into the new year.
The “first half,” loaded to the gills with its high-profile nonconference matchups, holiday tournaments and pleasant surprises, doesn’t truly yield its heat until league play and trophy season crests over the horizon. Early-season rivalries aside, coaches and players are acutely aware how seasons can be lost in the first half, but championships are won after New Year’s Day.
Slumbering giants from the first half of the year aren’t immune to thunderous awakenings after they return from Christmas break, and in the outer reaches of New York’s North Country, there are plenty of reasons to believe in St. Lawrence’s opportunity for a second half run. Mired in last place at the end of the first half, a four-point weekend against Dartmouth and Harvard sprung the Saints from a doldrums that not even this past weekend’s 8-1 loss to Vermont can overshadow as the real season – the real run to Lake Placid – begins in earnest.
“We had a really good start,” said Saints coach Brent Brekke. “And we were scoring goals. During part of that stretch, we played Ferris State and went 6-for-8 on the power play, which obviously if you can go 6-for-8 on the power play, that’s a rarity but it leaves you feeling like there’s a sign of great things to come. After that, though, we went dormant on the power play, and after those first six games, when we’re all of a sudden not scoring, [guys] started to squeeze the stick and look for the extra pass, which got us away from the things that we needed to do to have success. Sitting down and watching a lot of the video, we needed to simplify things and be confident that we could make those kinds of plays when, at times, less was more.”
Plenty of reasons exist for anyone choosing to believe in St. Lawrence’s second half run. One of last year’s best defensive teams in the league, the Saints have actually cut and sliced their goals against average by a half-goal per game in their first six ECAC games. At an overall level, SLU is still one of the middle-tier teams in the league, and removing the eight goals allowed against the Catamounts lowers the number by nearly a quarter-goal against the team’s overall average on the 2024-25 season.
Further considering that game’s outlier status, the Saints align closer to the nation’s 25 best defenses and are pushed closer to Wisconsin, Cornell and Quinnipiac, which entered the second half in first place after its own early-season struggles.
Problems existed on the offensive side for a team that barely nudged its way north of one goal per game in its league games through its first six games, but the get-right weekend against Dartmouth and Harvard enabled the Saints to push goals across the Big Green’s goal mouth after losing one-goal leads on two separate occasions.
“Our penalty kill has been great all year,” Brekke said. “[Assistant coach] Tommy Hill runs our penalty kill and does a phenomenal job at it, and that’s always been, for us, strengthening. Combine that with Mason Kucenski in goal, where he’s been dynamite for us and so sound, and we feel that good to play in a tight game, even if we haven’t been producing the offense. We feel that we can give ourselves a good position if we hold a team to two goals or under three goals because we’ll start putting some pucks in the net.
“It’s not going to be a one-line change for us. It’s going to take four lines. We’re going to need our power play to click, but defensively, knowing that we can minimize an opponent’s quality opportunities in front of Mason, who is a stalwart, that’s the confidence that we know we can use to give [the defense] its support.”
It won’t hurt that every single team has to visit the North Country over the next two months. Even with a 5-12-1 overall record, St. Lawrence is defending home ice to the tune of four wins, and last year’s team went 10-5-2 at Appleton Arena during a season in which it went 3-13-4 away from its home building. There hasn’t been a sub-.500 year at home since the COVID-19 pandemic ended, and the Saints haven’t played poorly as a home team since the building reopened from its renovation in 2019-20.
And like last year, St. Lawrence has a built-in advantage in the winter months where the Saints don’t travel on consecutive weekends, a fact underscored by their 4-1-1 ECAC record on home Saturdays last season. One of those wins was against travel partner Clarkson, but the loss to Princeton still went to overtime and followed a Friday night overtime win over Quinnipiac, which was ranked No. 5 in the nation at the time.
“We want it to be a tough building to play in,” Brekke said. “It’s a sense of pride for us that it doesn’t matter who we play. Things happen fast here. It’s a great old rink, and it has a couple of interesting [facets]. It’s a little bit darker, and when you come here, if there’s bad weather, when you step into a darker building, it all [combines] against a team playing an aggressive style and physical style. This is a challenging trip [for teams], and we want it to stay challenging. But at the same time, it’s on us to make it a tough place to play. We have to make it so [players] just want this game to be over, that they don’t want to be here.
“We have to go after them like a tidal wave, where we’re relentless with and without the puck.”
St. Lawrence returns to the ice for its home series with Rensselaer and Union this weekend with both games scheduled for 7 p.m. before the Saints head east to play Brown and Yale on Jan. 17-18. A home-and-home with Clarkson follows on Jan. 24-25 with Friday night in Canton before turning the clock to Potsdam for a Saturday night matchup.
The Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off returns to Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee with Wisconsin, Boston College, Western Michigan, and Lake Superior State comprising the fifth annual event Dec. 28-29, 2025.
The semifinal play will take place on Sunday, Dec. 28 with the championship game and third-place game on Monday, Dec. 29.
Matchups and times will be announced at a later date.
Tickets will be on sale at a later date as well.
Wisconsin won the inaugural event in 2021, advanced to the title game of the 2022 tournament, and won again in 2023 and 2024.
Lake Superior State returns for its second Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off after competing in the 2022 event.
In the 2024 Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off, Wisconsin edged out UConn, winning 4-3 to capture after shutting out Ferris State 8-0 in the semifinal matchup.
Michigan freshman Christian Humphreys takes a faceoff against St. Cloud State early in the 2024-25 season (photo: Michigan Photography).
The OHL’s Kitchener Rangers announced Tuesday the signing of forward Christian Humphreys to an OHL scholarship and development agreement.
Humphreys, a Pittsburgh native, had played the first half of the 2024-25 season at Michigan, registering one assist in 10 games with the Wolverines.
“We are excited to add Christian to our team,” said Kitchener GM Mike McKenzie in a statement. “He is a very skilled and offensive player that should thrive in the OHL. We look forward to welcoming him to Kitchener and seeing him on the ice at The Aud.”
Humphreys was an 11th round draft selection (212th overall) by the Rangers in the 2022 OHL draft and was also selected in the 7th round (215th overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Colorado Avalanche.
Big Ten officials Pat Richardson, Barry Pochmara, Colin Kronforst and John “JP” Waleski worked the first of four college games at Wrigley Field (photo: Ryan Kuttler/Big Ten Conference).
CHICAGO — Like thousands have before, Barry Pochmara walked down the tunnel from the umpires’ room at Wrigley Field, climbed up the visiting dugout steps and saw his jersey number in white numbers atop the antique scoreboard in center field.
It’s not something that a hockey referee gets to experience often.
“That was phenomenal to have our numbers up there on a probably 100-year-old scoreboard,” Pochmara said. “You get excited for all that kind of stuff and it makes you really not take for granted working these games.”
Players and coaches get amped for outdoor games that bring back memories of skating on frozen ponds. It was no different for the officials who worked at the Big Ten’s Frozen Confines series of games.
“Everybody wants to be part of these outdoor games,” referee Colin Kronforst said. “They typically involve rivalries, which makes it an even bigger event. It’s just as fun for us as it is for them.”
Pochmara and Kronforst worked the first of four college games at Wrigley, Friday’s 4-3 Ohio State victory against Michigan, along with linesmen John “JP” Waleski and Pat Richardson. Afterward, they beamed about what they saw, what they felt and what they heard.
The goose bumps that Waleski described weren’t even because the temperature was 24 at opening faceoff and a wind from left field to right field knocked the wind chill into the single digits at times.
“It’s not like looking up into the crowd at a regular game,” Waleski said. “You look up, A, it’s Wrigley. And it’s dark, and you can tell there’s a ton of people up there and you just hear the noise.
“It’s a feeling that I don’t really know how to describe. NHL guys say it’s like being a kid on the pond again, and it definitely has that feel. It takes you back to this is a game, this is fun.”
The officials wore balaclavas under their helmets to try to keep their heads warm but they left their hands uncovered.
By the game’s end, Pochmara said his toes were getting cold.
“You don’t fully warm up in between” periods, he said. “So every time you went back out, I was a little bit colder.”
Pochmara and Kronforst each said they had officiated four outdoor games before Friday. Pochmara did two at the Great Lakes Invitational when it was Detroit’s Comerica Park in 2013 and one earlier that year at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
Kronforst and Pochmara also worked a 2015 game between Michigan and Michigan State at Soldier Field.
“This was a bigger event,” Pochmara said. “To me, a much more prestigious venue. Because the NHL put this one on, the other four were not NHL-ran as far as the ice surface and the boards and the lights and everything else. This was, by far, the most well-operated machine out of my five that I’ve done.”
Kronforst was a referee for the 2019 game at Notre Dame Stadium between the Fighting Irish and Michigan, which also followed an NHL Winter Classic.
“The branding there wasn’t even close to what this was,” Kronforst said. “The perception from TV, the perception from the officials, the perception from the coaches and the players, it was a much bigger event, in my opinion.”
The officials called eight penalties Friday and had three reviews, none of which led to a change in the original call.
Kronforst said there was a welcome relationship between the quality of ice deteriorating and him getting fatigued as the game went on. The game got more deliberate as the energy level decreased.
“Sometimes it’s a more violent game because it’s not very well organized and it’s throw it at the net and see what happens type of hockey, which is fun too,” Kronforst said.
Adding weather to hockey creates new challenges.
“It’s a different mindset for the players and the officials when you have the elements that we did,” Pochmara said. “It’s not super crisp. It’s not super fast. Nobody’s dangling for a backhand one-timer.”
There weren’t those kind of memories from Wrigley Field but there were a lot of other positive takeaways for the officials.
Team USA celebrates its OT win Sunday night over Finland to win back-to-back World Junior Championship gold medals (photo: USA Hockey).
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: A hearty and happy 2025 to all of you and specifically welcome back to my cohort in crime, Paula Weston, as we get started here on the second half of the season. For what it’s worth, I wasn’t sure how to start this week, but I figured it was easy enough to do it with three easy letters.
U! S! A!
USA! USA! USA! USA!
The United States indeed won gold at the World Junior Championship this weekend, and for the second straight year, we were treated to a bunch of college kids performing their now customary red, white and blue celebration with gold medals wrapped around their necks. I’ve spoken with coaches and players in the past, and few things top the emotion surrounding a championship for your country. Heaven knows we have some issues – lest we set off a giant stick of dynamite to this column – so maybe a little bit of pride can go a long way here.
More specifically, the gold medal established continued dominance for an NCAA-led team. Now that we’re through the tournament, was there anything that stuck out to you, and does this open or shut the door to the conversation that college hockey is superior in the new era?
Paula: Oh, Dan, I’m so glad you started with Team USA’s performance in the tournament because it was fun to watch from start to finish. Sunday’s gold medal game was surprising in a few ways, not the least of which was how dominant the USA was from midway through the second period until the end of OT. When the Finns went up 3-1 early in the second, it was as though a switch had flipped on the American bench.
Team USA outshot Finland 40-24 in the game, including a 6-2 differential in overtime. If it hadn’t been for the brilliant play of Finnish goaltender Petteri Rimpinen, that game may not have gone to OT.
You ask about the superiority of college hockey (as opposed to major junior, I’m assuming) and I’m not sure how to answer that question. I do know that in the decades that I’ve been with USCHO, NCAA hockey has worked collectively and diligently to improve player development, and we’ve seen that come to fruition in this tournament.
There were the same number of NCAA players (22) on the 2024 and 2025 gold-medal rosters, but the proportion of players from individual leagues changed significantly from last year to this. Nearly half of this year’s team was from Hockey East, with Boston College placing six players on the roster – and what impressive players they were, with team captain Ryan Leonard (5-5-10) tied for top points in the tourney, Gabe Perreault (3-7-10) being everywhere when necessary, and Teddy Stiga’s first goal of the tourney winning the gold medal game in OT. Then there’s Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson, with his three goals and eight assists to lead all skaters in scoring.
That Team USA, with a roster of collegians, becomes one of five programs in the history of the tournament to win back-to-back gold medals certainly makes an argument that we are seeing an elevation in collegiate play and perhaps an NCAA dominance among this specific age group on the world stage. Only Canada, Czechia (as the Czech Republic), the Soviet Union and Russia had captured consecutive gold medals in the tournament prior to this year.
And the NCAA participation isn’t limited to Team USA. Last year, 44 collegians or future collegians played for nine total tournament teams. This year, there were 37 NCAA players and commitments across eight rosters. UMass goaltender Michael Hrabal had an outstanding tournament (.918 SV%, 2.45 GAA) and won a bronze medal with Team Czechia Sunday.
So much credit goes to the way that NCAA coaches are developing talent now, and not the least of that credit goes to Team USA’s coaching staff of David Carle (Denver), Brett Larson (St. Cloud), Steve Miller (Minnesota) and Garrett Raboin (Augustana), the same foursome behind the 2024 bench. Carle and Larson head programs known for developing talent, Raboin has done very impressive things in his short tenure with Augustana and Steve Miller is Bob Motzko’s righthand man in Minnesota.
I am a huge fan of the way talent is being developed now in NCAA hockey and – as you and I have discussed before – I’m eager to see if and how that changes with new rules regarding major junior player eligibility. I’m also really excited for what these consecutive medals for the USA program may mean to strengthen the NCAA’s recruiting power.
Does all of this establish NCAA superiority on the world stage? Maybe. Does it establish that everything happening in USA amateur hockey – including the NCAA – is headed in the right direction to establish a dominant hockey culture? Absolutely.
Dan: To me, all of this leads back to the ongoing conversation surrounding name, image and likeness. As we’re all aware, NIL isn’t going anywhere, but the most pertinent influence in hockey is more on what happens with the Canadian major junior players and their potential decision to matriculate south to play college hockey. Team Canada faced a number of issues in this tournament surrounding its composition, but I often wonder what would happen if the national team opted to send its best Canadian players south of its border to compete with the older NCAA roster.
It’s a nonlineal argument, of course, and it’s impossible to determine if age-eligible Canadian players in college hockey are simply better or the “best” available players. Last year’s Canadian team had two NCAA players in Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Wood and an NHL prospect in Matthew Poitras (and since he was in Boston, that automatically qualifies him for best player on the team. I’m not here for the negativity about the Bruins’ record). But the fact that Michigan’s Michael Hage, a first-round pick by Montreal, was passed over for this year’s team despite having 20-plus points in 17 games in the Big Ten pointed towards a desire to feature CHL players on the home roster in the home country…along with a few other factors that contributed to the team’s early exit.
That type of thinking might’ve worked on the international stage during the earlier years of the tournament, but the last two years indicated the strength of the college game while Team Canada is regressing. If I’m a CHL player, the combination of NIL opportunities along with the removal of the barrier to playing college hockey represents an existential crisis for the junior leagues that once competed next to college hockey.
Last point, and this is really where I’m heading with this – if we’re able to think about how to truly impact some nationalistic and jingoistic hockey for a second, what would a possible NCAA showcase of international players look like? The Four Nations tournament in the NHL really piqued my interest in something like this, but I’d be interested in putting Team USA in a tournament featuring 530 Canadian college hockey players and the 165 internationals. Even removing the 58 Swedes into their own country, a United States, a Canada, a Sweden and a “rest of the world” would sure look fun, wouldn’t it?
Paula: Oh, please don’t get me started on Team Sweden. In the early going, I thought they were the team to beat – and I love their aggressive, elegant style of play. I wasn’t rooting against Czechia in the bronze medal game, but I may have been pulling for Sweden a little.
But I think what we just witnessed in the World Juniors is what you propose, Dan, except that “the rest of the world” – like Czechia and Latvia, especially – had something to say about participating for their individual countries.
I get your point about the talent pool and numbers, though. I also wonder if we’re just longing for the old pre-pro Olympic days in this discussion (even though I concede that you are too young to remember those days, really).
I take your points, too, about the NIL, Canadian major juniors and the direction in which Team Canada seems determined to go. After such an incredibly disappointing finish in this year’s tournament, I wonder if Hockey Canada may reconsider excluding NCAA players. This year’s exclusion of young Canadian talent among the NCAA ranks – especially Hage’s exclusion – seems to have been done to make a point about the quality of major junior vs. NCAA talent.
And I have to hand it to Hockey Canada: point made.
Given the sexual misconduct and other scandals impacting Hockey Canada in recent years and that body’s entrenchment about addressing any and all of it, I have to wonder Canadian amateur hockey doesn’t have quite a little bit of work to do to regain the dominance it once had on the world stage.
Okay, I’m going to shift here because in addition to the World Juniors, there was some really excellent college hockey played, especially the three games at Wrigley Field, where six Big Ten and two WCHA women’s teams were able to take advantage of the outdoor ice set up for the NHL’s Winter Classic.
The Frozen Confines, as it was called, was an enormous success by every measure. As a product, it was perfectly packaged. The Big Ten Network’s coverage was outstanding, from play-by-play and commentary, to booth work – kudos to Rick Pizzo and Paul Caponigri for a weekend of great hockey talk – to camera work for the event.
The weather was semi-cooperative – very cold, which presents its own issues, but the ice was good – and several teams embraced playing in a baseball stadium, with the Ohio State men and Penn State especially playing up that angle. The OSU’s women’s team walked into the stadium wearing Johnny Gaudreau jerseys, a touching tribute to someone who mattered so much to Columbus.
But the games, Dan, were fantastic. In the opening game, Ohio State scored with 38 seconds remaining in regulation to beat Michigan 4-3. In the second game, Penn State and Notre Dame played ping-pong, back-and-forth hockey that resulted in a 3-3 tie.
The second day, the Ohio State and Wisconsin women – Big Ten schools who play in the WCHA because there is no B1G women’s hockey – skated to a 3-3 tie, and Michigan State beat Wisconsin 4-3 in the final game of the weekend.
Each game was competitive. Each team came to play. Three of the B1G teams – No. 1 Michigan State, No. 9 Michigan and No. 11 Ohio State – showed that they are among the best teams in men’s hockey, and literally the two best teams in women’s hockey put on a fantastic show.
The Frozen Confines couldn’t have been a bigger success. Over 25,000 fans attended Friday and nearly 7,000 Saturday. I don’t know what the Big Ten Network’s viewership numbers were, but anyone who happened upon the televised games was treated to great hockey by schools with name recognition – good for the Big Ten, good for the WCHA, good for NCAA hockey.
The performance of one player, in particular, is something that should be noted. While Trey Augustine was winning a gold medal in Team USA’s net, Luca Di Pasquo was earning four consecutive wins in the Michigan State net. Di Pasquo was the MVP of the Great Lakes Invitational tournament (Dec. 29-30) as the Spartans downed Northern Michigan and No. 4 Western Michigan to earn that tourney title, and in Michigan State’s sweep of Wisconsin last weekend, Di Pasquo made 61 saves.
So we learned last weekend through two televised events that the No. 1 team in men’s hockey has a frighteningly good goaltending duo.
As excited as I am for the implications of Team USA’s gold medal, watching Big Ten hockey perform so well on such a big stage last weekend was really gratifying.
Dan: Oh, the Frozen Confines… how you stuck it in my ear. Jimmy, Ed and I all but said that outdoor games jumped the shark when it came to discussing the outdoor hockey games in Chicago, and then the numbers told me that nobody really cared about the on-ice product if Wrigley Field could do that. I’m still where I stand on being ambivalent towards outdoor games, but the fans proved that what I said about, “hey if I can go, sure, I’ll enjoy it.” They turned out in droves.
I’ll take it a step further and point out that Dec. 29 was a bad day for Hockey East. It wasn’t really tournament-based, but Yale’s 7-5 win over Boston University scored a major win for Keith Allain’s group after it had been swept by Long Island during its two final games around Thanksgiving. Up at Maine, meanwhile, the No. 4-ranked Black Bears took a loss from Bentley that ranked as my Falcons’ best-ever win over a ranked opponent and one of the biggest individual regular-season wins for Atlantic Hockey America. It certainly echoed Sacred Heart’s win over No. 1 UMass from the start of the 2013-2014 season, but it showed how a hot goalie can win a game – it certainly wasn’t the first time Connor Hasley did it, and it’s not the first time I’ve mentioned him in these parts (Bentley affiliation aside, his numbers didn’t lie in those wins).
The loss dropped Maine to No. 7 in the PairWise Rankings at the time, but the split with Denver this past weekend turned that one individual defeat into a footnote after a fantastic weekend of hockey. The dueling 2-1 wins for either side handed us phenomenal hockey on either end, and I personally blurred my eyes to imagine both teams advancing to play one another in St. Louis.
(Also quick aside — I noted this on last week’s USCHO Edge podcast, but can we pump the brakes on Denver “losing” to UNLV in an exhibition game? It was an exhibition game shootout. By nature, it didn’t count and Denver probably skated its entire lineup. Sure, it’s great to give UNLV flowers because we want to pump club hockey and maybe, just maybe, gain a foothold on one of these teams coming into Division I, but I’m throwing cold water on this game playing out as some massive upset. The 1992 Dream Team lost to the college select team, too.)
I suppose this is a good point to pivot into the next portion of the schedule and what’s upcoming because the second half gained traction. We’re approaching trophy season and the arrival of the Beanpot for both the men and women in New England. Teams around the pairwise bubble are floating into some key matchups. North Dakota, for example, is heading to Arizona State this weekend and Augustana gained some eyeballs by beating Colorado College. CC is now heading to Omaha in need of some bounce-back mojo after last sweeping a weekend in early November.
Paula: Before turning to things upcoming, I want to chime in with my ambivalence toward outdoor games. What really helped in Chicago, imo, was that the Winter Classic had just been played on the same sheet days before, and the college hockey games were played during the unofficial last weekend of the holiday season.
I didn’t watch the Winter Classic, so I don’t know if the NHL promoted the Frozen Confines, but I know that Wrigley Field did its best to promote the event.
So there’s that.
Down the stretch, I’m looking forward to the photo finish that’s coming in the Big Ten, and it’s something I’ve been looking forward to for a long, long time. We discuss the nature of parity in this space sometimes, and I’m quick to point out that the term doesn’t necessarily mean that everybody’s equally good.
This season, however, Big Ten hockey has two teams at the top of the standings that are legitimate national contenders, and several others that can push for season titles. With their sweep of Wisconsin, the Spartans placed themselves in a two-way tie with for first with Minnesota, and Ohio State’s split with Michigan has the Buckeyes four out of first place. Each of those teams has played an equal number of games and has four games in hand on Wisconsin, the team tied with OSU.
Outside of the Big Ten, Hockey East is playing stunning hockey, especially in conference. The four-way tie for second place has UMass Lowell, Boston College, Providence and Boston University each one point behind first-place Maine. I can’t imagine a better way to begin the second half in that conference.
And speaking of the PairWise and Hockey East, it’s impossible to Connecticut right behind that second-place pack, with wins over BC and Lowell and sitting currently at No. 15 in the PWR.
That bubble is home to several good teams. Along with Connecticut, Arizona State, Quinnipiac and Augustana are hovering there, and the teams at No. 12 through No. 14 – Michigan, Boston University, Minnesota State – are by no means safe.
This weekend, Minnesota State can’t afford to lose to Northern Michigan, one of two teams that still hasn’t earned a conference win this season. The only CCHA team currently in PWR consideration, the Mavericks can’t afford to lose, period – and their series in early February against Augustana now looks a lot more interesting.
Bubble teams in the Big Ten, Hockey East, and the NCHC have scheduling advantages that teams in Atlantic Hockey, the CCHA and the ECAC don’t have, that strength of schedule. It’s quite possible that the bottom three seeds in this year’s NCAA tournament will be in only because they won those conference playoff championships.
And that will make every conference playoff tournament that much more interesting this season.
Michigan State players and staff pose together after the Spartans downed Wisconsin 4-3 in overtime at Wrigley Field last Saturday night (photo: Michigan State Athletics).
Michigan State is again the top-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll, garnering 43 first-place votes this week.
Boston College stays No. 2 with six first-place votes, while Minnesota remains No. 3 with the final first-place vote. Western Michigan and Providence stay fourth and fifth, respectively.
Denver is still No. 6, Maine remains seventh, UMass Lowell is up two to No. 8, Michigan holds steady at No. 9, and St. Cloud State moves up one to No. 10 in this week’s rankings.
Colorado College falls out of the top 10 this week, dropping from No. 8 to No. 13. Previously unranked New Hampshire enters the poll this week at No. 17.
In addition to the top 20 teams, 15 others received votes this week.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger review games of the weekend and news of the week.
They celebrate Team USA’s thrilling back-to-back gold medal win at the World Juniors, highlighted by Teddy Stiga’s overtime goal. The discussion includes admiration for David Carle’s coaching achievements and an analysis of the dominance and future potential of the U.S. team. The trio also covers significant college hockey events including conference upsets, standout performances in holiday tournaments, and dramatic outdoor games at Wrigley Field. They delve into the standings, team dynamics, and potential NCAA tournament entries, offering insights and predictions for the rest of the season.
Times are approximate:
00:15 Introduction and hosts
00:26 World Junior Championship recap
00:51 Team USA’s key players and moments
02:45 David Carle’s coaching legacy
03:37 USA Hockey’s Development Success
04:53 Boston College and Boston University contributions
06:06 Finland’s performance and turning points
08:00 Broadcast team and analysts
08:55 Modern defensemen in hockey
12:34 Goalies and the bronze medal game
16:42 College hockey upsets and highlights
18:45 Quinnipiac’s struggles and ECAC overview
22:20 Hockey East teams on the rise
22:57 Dartmouth and Merrimack: A tale of two teams
23:23 The challenge of maintaining success
24:58 Denver vs. Maine: A defensive battle
28:12 Outdoor hockey at Wrigley Field
34:16 In-Season tournament champions
38:05 Arizona State’s impressive run
41:31 UMass Lowell’s comeback season
43:53 Wrapping up
Teammates surround goaltender Will Nepveu to celebrate their 4-1 win over Middlebury and Boston Landing Invitational Championship. Nepveu earned MVP honors stopping 76 of 80 shots in two games for the Vikings (Photo by Tim Costello/USCHO)
Happy New Year College Hockey Fans!!
The second half is officially underway and although not every team was in action around the New Year, there were a handful of tournaments that saw Hamilton, Oswego and Salem State winning from the east (Brian Lester will surely have the updates on Wisconsin-Superior and MSOE tournament wins) while other ranked teams including Curry and Hobart kicked off 2025 in grand style with decisive wins. For the teams just getting back to the ice, this weekend highlighted the need to be ready to go from puck-drop if your squad is looking for a positive outcome. The sprint to conference titles is underway and here is the recap for action in the east:
CNE
Curry took a pair of wins in the New Year starting with a decisive 5-2 win over a ranked Trinity squad on Thursday. The Colonels started fast scoring three goals in the first period and extended the lead to 4-0 in the second period. Karim Gayfullin led the way with two goals while Shane Soderwall was solid in goal stopping 23 of 25 shots in the non-conference win. On Saturday, the 5-2 result was repeated with a win over Anna Maria. Killian Rowlee scored the games opening goal and assisted on two others while Gage Dill added a goal and assist to help the Colonels to another decisive victory against a quality opponent.
Endicott returned to action with a road game against Amherst and special teams helped the Gulls to a comfortable 6-1 win over the Mammoth on Saturday. Two power play goals in the second period helped break open a one-goal game as the Gulls added to more tallies in the third period for the decisive win. Andrew Kurapov and Ryan Willett paced the offense with a goal and two assists apiece while Atticus Kelly stopped 31 of 32 shots to earn the win in net.
Suffolk participated in the Tampa College Hockey Invitational and opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over Albertus Magnus. CJ Hapward continued his exceptional goaltending for the Rams stopping all 34 shots he saw from the Falcons making Scott McManus’ first period goal stand up as the game-winner on Friday. In the championship game MSOE turned the tables on the Rams taking the title with a 3-0 win. Hapward again was outstanding stopping 24 of 26 shots in the loss.
MAC
Wilkes opened the second half with a conference game against Misericordia on Friday. The Colonels took advantage on the power play where they netted four goals in a 5-4 win over their league foe. Nick Swain scored a pair of goals for Wilkes who also saw Cole Jungwirth and Patrick Roglinski add three points apiece in the contest.
After dropping their opening round game at the Oswego State Classic to the host team 8-0, the Knights rebounded with a 5-2 win over Lebanon Valley in the consolation game on Saturday. Zack Smith scored a hat trick and PJ Demitrio added two goals to account for all the scoring the Knights would need to earn their first win in 2025.
Joey Arnold led the way for Alvernia with two goals and two assists in a 6-1 win over LVC in the opening round of the Oswego State Classic. The Golden Wolves scored twice in each period to earn their way to the championship game against Oswego.
MASCAC
Salem State won the Boston Landing Invitational tournament over the weekend with wins over Nichols and Middlebury to take the title. On Saturday, the Vikings rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to tie the score at 3-3. James Tatro’s goal pulled the Vikings within one before Zach Dill tied the game with just 26 remaining in regulation. Luke Harvie provided the game-winner just over two minutes into the extra session to send Salem State to the title game. On Sunday, the Vikings took a 2-0 lead over the Panthers on goals by Tatro and Ryan Barrett. Dante Palumbo cut the lead in half for Middlebury who kept pressuring the Viking goal and netminder Will Nepveu who was solid in goal. Late in the third period, Salem State produced a power play goal and a shorthanded tally just 40 seconds apart for a comfortable 4-1 margin and tournament win that extended their win streak to four games. Nepveu made 40 saves in the win and earned MVP honors having picked up both wins in the tournament for the Vikings while stopping 76 of 80 shots in the tournament.
Plymouth State lost their opening round contest of the Northfield Savings Bank Tournament hosted by Norwich to a red-hot Hamilton squad by a 4-0 score. The Panthers rebounded nicely with a blowout win over Williams in the consolation game where Will Redick scored a hat trick to lead PSU to a comfortable 8-2 win over the Ephs.
Rivier split a pair of games to start the second half of the season. On Friday, Carter Poulin scored a goal and added an assist as the Raiders downed Franklin Pierce, 3-1. Luke Newell stopped 27 of 28 shots to pickup the win in goal. On Saturday, the Raiders fell to New England College 5-1 as Paul Waldhauser scored two goals and added an assist and Jesper Tarkiainen chipped in with a goal and two assists to lead the Pilgrims offense.
NE-10
St. Michael’s skated to a pair of overtime ties in a two-game series with Potsdam over the weekend with the games ending in 1-1 and 3-3 scores and each team taking a shootout win in the final result. On Friday, goals came at a premium as David Ciancio scored first for the Purple Knights only to see Ryan Mahlmeister finally solve Cole Manahan late in the third period for the 1-1 tie. Manahan stopped 40 of 41 shots in the game. On Saturday, it was Ciancio who found the back of the net midway through the third period and tied the game at 3-3 with neither team able to find a winner in overtime.
After getting blown out by D-I opponent LIU by a score of 10-1 (LIU defeated St. Anselm 14-1 on Saturday) on Friday, Assumption returned to face MCLA on Sunday and skated away with a 7-2 win. Daniel Lemanski (2G – 2A – 4 Pts) and Ronny Paragallo (1G – 3A – 4 Pts) each produced a four-point game to pace the Greyhounds to a big non-conference win.
NEHC
Southern Maine faced in-state rival Bowdoin on Saturday in a thrilling hockey game that saw a spirited Huskies comeback in the third period and game-winner in overtime. The Polar Bears had built early leads and were up 5-3 with just over eleven minutes remaining in regulation time. Marcus Torgner and Kayde Kinaschuk scored to tie the score at 5-5 and send the game to overtime where Kadin Ilott
Babson hosted Trinity on Saturday and skated away with a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Bantams. Brendan Kennedy for the Beavers and Ty Broad for the Bantams exchanged goals in the opening period before Sean Senier scored what proved to be the game-winner for Babson in the second period. Goaltender Nate Mueller stopped 32 of 33 shots including 13 in the third period to preserve the one-goal win for the home team.
Skidmore earned a split of games on a trip west with a win over St. John’s and a loss to St. Olaf’s. Jack Strauss netted the game-winner against the Johnnies in the third period for a 2-1 win backstopped by Tommy Aitken’s 19 saves. On Saturday, St. Olaf’s took advantage of a three-goal second period on the way to a 6-3 win over the Thoroughbreds.
After downing Massachusetts-Dartmouth by a score of 5-2 in the opening round of the Codfish Bowl tournament, the Beacons dropped the championship game to Wisconsin-Superior by the same score on Saturday. Jazz Krivstov scored a hat trick in the opening round win, but the Beacon offense couldn’t recover from a 5-0 deficit the Yellowjackets built over the first two periods of play in the championship game.
Salve Regina skated to a 2-2 tie with Wesleyan on Friday before finding their offensive game in a 9-0 win over Framingham State on Saturday. Quinn Tavares scored a hat trick and added an assist while teammate Arvega Hovsepyan added a goal and four assists in the lopsided win over the Rams. Goaltender Selby Warren earned the shutout making 21 saves for the Seahawks.
NESCAC
Hamilton kicked off the second half with an impressive tournament win at the Northfield Savings Bank Tournament hosted by Norwich. In their opening round game, the Continentals took advantage of two goals from Ryan Sordillo and 20 saves from netminder Charlie Archer to record an impressive 4-0 win over the Panthers. In the championship game against Norwich, Sordillo scored the final goal in a 4-1 win over the Cadets. Jackson Krock scored a goal and added an assist to pace the offense while Archer was again very sharp in goal stopping 16 of 17 shots in the win.
Conn College scored two goals in the third period to break a 2-2 tie with Johnson & Wales on the way to a 4-3 win over the Wildcats on Saturday. Rocco Testa-Basi scored on the power play in the third period before John Russo scored an empty-net goal which proved to be the game-winner for the Camels. Kayden Fennell’s goal with less than two seconds remaining on the clock provided the final margin in a very exciting hockey game that saw Conn College score twice on ten power play chances for the game.
Colby played St. Anselm to open the second half of play and skated to an early 2-0 lead in the opening period. The Hawks answered wit two goals of their own in the middle frame and the Mules responded with three unanswered markers in the third period for a 5-2 win. Tyler Crist scored two goals while Connor Gallagher added three assists in the Colby win.
SUNYAC
Oswego returned to the ice with a flourish as the Lakers outscored two opponents by a 13-0 margin in winning the Oswego State Classic tournament. Jesse Horacek produced a hat trick in the opening round win over Neumann where Lakers scored a season-high eight goals in the shutout win. Brandon Milberg earned the shutout making fifteen saves. Against Alvernia in the championship game, Milberg was again perfect while stopping all 29 Golden Wolves shots. Brandon Cohen paced the offense with a pair of goals as the Lakers skated off with the title and a 5-0 win. Milberg’s back-to-back shutout efforts earned him the tournament MVP honors.
Plattsburgh returned to the ice and captured a win at home over Keene State on Friday and a road tie with Wesleyan on Saturday. Aaron Catron scored twice for the Cardinals against the Owls while goaltender Jacob Hearne stopped all 26 shots he faced in a 3-0 Cardinals win. On Saturday, Luk Jirousek’s power play goal gave the Cardinals a one-goal lead in the third period, but Wesleyan’s Patrick Morrissey scored in the final two minutes of regulation to help the home Cardinals to the 2-2 tie. Plattsburgh took the shootout as Hearne stopped both Wesleyan attempts having made 34 saves during the game.
Buffalo state continued their winning ways in the New Year with wins over Post and Arcadia over the weekend. On Friday, all the scoring took place in the third period with the Bengals grabbing the first four goals against the Eagles in a 4-1 win. Jason Kwestel scored twice for Buffalo State as the visitors scored four times in the opening eight minutes of the final period. On Saturday, the Bengals started fast with four first period goals and cruised to a 6-3 win over Arcadia on the road. Kwestel added another goal on the weekend while Vadim Kiriakov chipped in with a goal and an assist.
UCHC
Manhattanville opened the second half hosting the nation’s #1 team in Hobart and true to form the Statesmen skated away with a 3-0 win over the Valiants on Saturday. One goal in each period backstopped by perfect goaltending from Damon Beaver was the Statesmen formula for the shutout win. Beaver made 22 saves to earn the shutout while Chris Duclair, Austin Mourar, and Khalil Fontana provided all the offense Hobart would need.
Three Biscuits
Will Redick – Plymouth State – scored a hat trick and added an assist for a four-point game in the Panthers’ 8-2 win over Williams in the consolation game of the Northfield Savings Bank Tournament at Norwich.
Kadin Ilott – Southern Maine – after assisting on the game-tying goal in the third period, Ilott netted the game winning goal in overtime to cap off a Huskies rally from a two-goal deficit earning a 6-5 win over Bowdoin.
Jesse Horacek – Oswego – recorded a hat trick in pacing the Lakers to an 8-0 opening round win over Neumann in the Oswego State Classic on Friday.
The second half also will see some roster changes for several teams looking to get better and deeper for strong runs to conference titles and national championship bids. Already we are aware of forward Colin Patterson moving from Massachusetts-Dartmouth to Utica; forward Tio D’Addario moving from Plattsburgh to Utica; Vlad Pshenichnikov to Plattsburgh and others to be announced as teams ready for action this week.
Virtually everyone will be back on the ice playing meaningful games this week with several key mid-week games of note to pay attention to. Lots of conference action heating up the rest of the way as the majority on non-conference and tournament action will be completed over the next couple of weeks. It should be a very exciting second half of the season with lots of reasons to be scoreboard watching for your won team and everybody else.
Samuel Sjolund helped Western Michigan to a weekend home sweep over Alaska Anchorage (photo: Ashley Huss).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. B1G serves up a trio of thrillers at Wrigley Field
Piggybacking off the NHL’s annual Winter Classic, B1G took its game to Wrigley Field over the weekend and treated fans to three down-to-the-wire games — one decided by a single goal scored in the final minute, an overtime tie and an overtime win.
Ohio State and Michigan got the “Frozen Confines” event started with a bang on Friday night, as the Buckeyes earned a 4-3 win on Gunnarwolfe Fontaine’s power-play goal with 38 seconds remaining in the contest.
Despite bitter cold, plenty of fans stuck around to watch Notre Dame and Penn State skate to a 3-3 tie, with the Fighting Irish winning the shootout after a marathon eight rounds.
On Saturday, the Wrigley fun continued when Michigan State nipped Wisconsin in an OT thriller. Daniel Russell scored his second goal of the game with 1.4 seconds to go in overtime to lead Michigan State to a 4-3 win over Wisconsin. The win was the 1,400th in program history, dating back to its 1922 founding. No. 1 Michigan State is now unbeaten in its last seven games (6-0-1).
“It was like a dream,” said Russell. “One you’re never, ever going to forget. That was amazing. Unforgettable. I just knew there wasn’t much time left, so I was going to try to get to the net any way I could.”
2. Hockey East makes it a Saturday sweep
It was a perfect 7-0 Saturday night for Hockey East.
Four schools scored season highs in goals — UMass and Vermont each put up an eight spot (the Minutemen beat Robert Morris 8-0, the Catamounts were 8-1 winners over St. Lawrence, Connecticut was a 7-3 winner over Harvard and Northeastern tied its season high with five goals in a 5-1 win over Quinnipiac.
“It’s definitely a good step in the right direction,” Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe told WRBB radio after beating Quinnipiac. “We talked about that it’s a new year, the 2025 version of the Huskies. And we just want to continue to build on it.”
Hockey East woke up Sunday morning with five teams in the top 10 of the Pairwise (Boston College, Providence, Maine, UMass Lowell and New Hampshire). Thanks to Eric Gallanty of NESN for those stats.
3. Augustana sweeps Colorado College on the road
Augustana has only been a Division I program for two seasons, yet it proved it belongs with the sport’s blue-blood programs — at least for one weekend — with a sweep at No. 8 Colorado College. Game scores were 5-1 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. It was the highest ranked opponent Augustana defeated since the program’s inception in 2023.
Tyler and Hayden Hennen became the first brothers in program history to record goals on the same night in Saturday’s win.
4. Western Michigan sweeps, Ferschweiler extended as coach through 2030
Western Michigan capped off a sweep of Alaska Anchorage with a 5-2 victory on Saturday night to improve to 13-4-1 overall on the season.
WMU got two goals each from Owen Michaels and Liam Valente, while Iiro Hakkarainen added a goal of his own. Tim Washe won 16 of 17 faceoffs and Cameron Rowe made 12 saves in net.
The school also announced over the weekend that coach Pat Ferschweiler agreed to a contract extension through 2030. Ferschweiler took over before the 2021-22 season, turning the program into a national contender. He has won 81 games during his tenure, including 46 in NCHC play. The Broncos have made the NCAA tournament every season since.
5. Minnesota shares the wealth in sweep of Mercyhurst
Let it be said that Minnesota knows how to evenly distribute the scoring load.
The Gophers were the only B1G team not to participate in the Wrigley Field festival over the weekend, but they made the most of their time with a 6-2, 5-2 sweep of visiting Mercyhurst. Six different Gophers scored on Friday night, while five different players lit the lamp on Saturday. Ryan Chesley netted the eventual game winner Saturday as part of a career-best three-point game, while Nick Michel scored his first goal with Minnesota.
“It was a good weekend for us,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said. “A lot of guys stepped up and got us through the weekend. Nick Michael getting the goal and seeing the success for him after playing a few games here already — he’s got a great heart, he’s got talent, and all our guys accept everything that’s been thrown at them.”
6. Maine and Denver split at Alfond
In the only matchup of the weekend featuring two clubs among the USCHO.com Division I men’s poll’s top 10, Denver and Maine split a pair at Alfond Arena before a packed house each night. The series was tight as can be, as the teams traded 2-1 victories, with No. 6 Denver getting the win Friday and Maine returning the favor on Saturday.
“That was one of those games, after (Friday) night, it could’ve gone one way or the other,” Maine coach Ben Barr told the Portland Press Herald on Saturday. “And it went the right way as far as the reaction and response to it. Every player, I thought, you could put him on the ice and you were fine with it. That’s what we have to be. And now we have to build on it.”
7. College hockey heats up southwest at pair of holiday tournaments
Wrigley Field wasn’t the only place hosting neutral-site fun over the weekend. Two schools got to hoist trophies at holiday tournaments at locales that, even though the games were held indoors, were much warmer than the Frozen Confines.
In Palm Desert, Calif., UMass Lowell was a 3-2 winner over Omaha to take the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup. In Tempe, Ariz., host No. 19 Arizona State was a 4-0 winner over No. 16 Cornell to win the Desert Hockey Classic for the second consecutive season.
“It’s great, two years in a row. It’s always great to win a trophy, especially in front of our fans,” Arizona State coach Greg Powers said. “To do it against such a good team and a good program is awesome. I’m happy for our players. They’re doing a great job. They’re playing selflessly for each other and that’s why we’re playing really well right now.”
8. UNH continues hot streak
Don’t look now, but New Hampshire is unbeaten in its last seven games. The Wildcats’ streak continued with two wins over Princeton at Hobey Baker Rink (3-0, 4-3). UNH wrapped up non-conference play with an 8-1-1 record, including a 4-1-1 mark against the ECAC.
Ryan Conmy scored in Saturday’s 4-3 win, extending his point streak to 11 games with his 10th goal of the season.
9. Sacred Heart, Air Force split
The battle for the top spot in Atlantic Hockey America remains tight with Sacred Heart on top at 10-6-2 and 35 points, and Bentley right behind at 9-4-1 and 30 points.
Sacred Heart split a pair of 3-0 decisions over the weekend vs. Air Force, winning Friday but losing Saturday. Bentley lost ground when it was swept at Niagara, 3-2 in overtime Friday and 4-2 on Saturday.
Bentley took two games of a home-and-home series between the two teams in November, but there won’t be a rematch until Feb. 22 — the last day of the regular season — in Fairfield, Conn.
10. College stars light up World Juniors
Michigan State’s Trey Augustine made 26 saves to become the all-time winningest American goaltender in World Junior Championship history as the U.S. National Junior Team earned a 4-1 victory over Czechia in the semifinals of this year’s tournament in Ottawa Saturday night.
Team USA got goals from Boston College’s Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard (who’s also the USA captain), Boston University’s Cole Eiserman, and Oliver Moore of Minnesota.
The U.S. team faced Finland in the gold medal game Sunday night, winning 4-3 in overtime on a Teddy Stiga (Boston College) goal.
“I’m proud of our guys,” said United States coach David Carle, who regularly coaches Denver. “We played an excellent Czech team and it was a very difficult game. We continue to grow as a group.”
The United States celebrates its second straight gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship (photo: USA Hockey).
Teddy Stiga (Boston College) scored 8:04 into three-on-three overtime as the U.S. National Junior Team erased a two-goal deficit and earned a 4-3 victory over Finland in the gold-medal game of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship Sunday night at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ont.
It marked the first time in history that the U.S. has won back-to-back World Junior gold medals.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our group,” said David Carle (Denver), head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team, in a statement. “They grew as a team, played for each other and ultimately accomplished something that has never been done by helping our nation win back-to-back gold medals in the World Juniors.”
Finland’s Jesse Kiiskinen opened the scoring with a power-play goal from the slot at 7:13.
James Hagens (Boston College) found an equalizer for Team USA at 12:04, as he battled in front of the net to bang home a rebound chance following a shot from Team USA captain Ryan Leonard (Boston College).
Tuomas Uronen responded 59 seconds later with a goal from the top of the right circle to give Finland a 2-1 lead.
U.S. netminder Trey Augustine (Michigan State) made 11 saves in the opening stanza, including a stellar blocker save on a broken play in front just 1:12 into the contest.
Emil Pieniniemi extended Finland’s lead to 3-1 on a wrister from the right circle at 4:52 of the middle period.
Brandon Svoboda (Boston University) fired a shot from the point that deflected off a Finnish defender and found the back of the net with 2:22 remaining. Max Plante (Minnesota Duluth) and Cole Hutson (Boston University) assisted on the tally.
Hutson tied the contest with 28.7 seconds left in the second frame as he gathered a pass from Leonard and fired a shot from the slot that beat Finnish netminder Petteri Rimpinen on the glove side.
The U.S. outshot Finland 15-4 in the second period.
A scoreless third period led to overtime, as Augustine and Rimpinen combined for 16 saves in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Stiga secured gold for the U.S. with his first goal of the tournament at 8:04 of the overtime frame, as he cashed in through the five-hole on a breakaway opportunity set up by a stretch pass from Zeev Buium (Denver).
Augustine finished with 21 saves to pick up his 12th career win in the World Juniors, tops all-time among American netminders.
NOTES: Stiga was named U.S. Player of the Game … Leonard, who finished the tournament with 10 points (5g, 5a) was named tournament MVP … Leonard, Hutson and Gabe Perreault (Boston College) were named to the Media All-Star Team … Leonard earned the Directorate Award as the Best Forward in the Tournament …. Team USA outshot Finland 40-24 … The U.S. did not have a power-play opportunity in the contest, while Finland went 1 for 1 … Team USA won its seventh gold medal in the IIHF World Junior Championship, with the previous six coming in 2024, 2021, 2017, 2013, 2010 and 2004.
Clockwise from top left: Mackenzie Alexander, Abbey Murphy, Bryn Saarela, Reese Keating, Eve Gascon (photos: Princeton Athletics, Minnesota Athletics, Syracuse Athletics, Rensselaer Athletics, Minnesota Duluth Athletics).
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its women’s honorees for the month of December.
Co-players of the month are Minnesota senior Abbey Murphy and Syracuse graduate forward Bryn Saarela, rookie of the month is Princeton forward Mackenzie Alexander, and co-goaltenders of the month are Minnesota Duluth sophomore Ève Gascon and Rensselaer sophomore Reese Keating.
Murphy averaged four PPG with a line of 3-5-8 in a two-game sweep of St. Thomas. She went 2-3-5 in a 5-0 win and 1-2-3 in the 6-2 follow-up.
Saarela had seven points (5-2-7) in a two-game sweep of Robert Morris including a hat trick in the opener. She was plus-5 for the series.
Alexander repeats as national ROM with a 1-3-4 month for the Tigers. Set up GTG in OT win v. Quinnipiac. Leads the nation in scoring.
Gascon went 1-0-1 against No. 8 St. Cloud State with numbers of .961 and 0.96.
Keating took wins over Yale, Brown and Assumption. Her numbers: .962 and 1.01, 3-0-0.
Clockwise from top left: Tanner Klimpke, Kristoffer Eberly, Max Strand, Logan Morrell (photos: Robert Morris Athletics, Ohio State Athletics, Vermont Athletics, Michigan Tech Athletics).
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its men’s honorees for the month of December.
Robert Morris sophomore forward Tanner Klimpke is the player of the month, co-rookies of the month are Michigan Tech forward Logan Morrell and Vermont’s Max Strand, and Ohio State sophomore Kristoffer Eberly is the goaltender of the month.
Klimpke averaged 2.25 PPG with 4-5-9 in four games, all on the road for the Colonials.
Morrell led all rookies in the nation with six goals, tied for most points with seven (6-1-7) as the Huskies went 3-2-1.
Strand tied top rookies in the nation with seven points (4-3-7), registering a point in each of the Cats’ six games. UVM went 4-2-0.
Eberly enjoyed two weekend sweeps (vs. Notre Dame and Penn State) while putting up 0.99 and .953 numbers with one shutout.
No. 19 Arizona State (10-7-1)
01/03/2025 – Robert Morris 3 at No. 19 Arizona State 7 (Desert Hockey Classic, Tempe, Ariz.)
01/04/2025 – No. 16 Cornell 0 at No. 19 Arizona State 4 (Desert Hockey Classic, Tempe, Ariz.)
UW-Stevens Point held off St. Norbert in a top 15 battle over the weekend. (Photo provided by UW-Stevens Point Athletics)
Nothing like ringing in the new year with a matchup featuring nationally ranked teams.
That’s what hockey fans were treated to on Saturday as No. 15 UW-Stevens Point knocked off second-ranked St. Norbert by a 4-1 score at home.
The Pointers (7-4-1) avenged a 6-2 loss to the Green Knights (12-3) and stayed unbeaten at home with a 5-0-1 record.
Alex Proctor stopped 34 shots, including 14 in the third, while Hunter Garvey made 23 saves for St. Norbert, which has dropped its last three.
Nico Chmelski and Fletcher Anderson each scored a goal and tallied an assist for the Pointers, who flipped the script from the Nov. 12 meeting against the Green Knights.
The win by Stevens Point is its first over a team ranked in the USCHO.com poll.
Codfish Bow Champs!
UW-Superior is the first west region team to ever play in the Codfish Bowl, the oldest tournament in D-III hockey, and the Yellowjackets made that inaugural appearance a worthwhile one, claiming the tourney crown.
The Yellowjackets won the tournament with a 5-2 win over UMass Boston on Saturday after beating Fitchburg State 2-0 on Friday.
Superior (10-3-1) saw five different players score goals as they dominated the game and stretched their winning streak to six games. Kobe Grant was stellar in goal, stopping 35 shots for his third win of the year.
Logan Nickerson was the MVP of the tournament and has scored in three consecutive games. Matt Francois scored a goal in Saturday’s win as well, and with three goals in all this season, he has matched last season’s goal total.
It’s also worth noting Superior’s win streak is its longest since 2009 when it won seven in a row.
Stout shines in showdown
It’s been more than a decade since UW-Stout has beaten a team ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation.
That wait ended Friday as the Blue Devils knocked off No. 2 St. Norbert 6-2. Interestingly enough the last time Stout won over a team ranked at least that high was in 2013 when it beat St. Norbert, which was No. 1 at the time.
Stout (6-6-1) scored five goals in the first two periods as it took control early and never looked back.
Jacob Halverson scored twice to pave the way in the upset win while Hayden Stocks dished out three assists. Nicholas Stevens added a goal and assist
Falcons still soaring
It’s a new year but nothing has changed for the Concordia Falcons, who have won six in a row after sweeping Hamline. That streak is tied for the longest in program history.
They ended the weekend series with a 5-1 win on Saturday behind two goals from Riley Klugerman and a pair of assists out of Levi Carter. Gabe Rosek racked up 22 saves.
Concordia, now 9-6 on the year, won the opener 4-3 thanks to 29 saves by Rosek. The win streak by Concordia is its longest since the 2013-14 campaign.
The Falcons already have more wins than they did all of last season and their win total is the highest since the 2020-21 season. They have scored four or more goals in five of their last six wins.
Gusties earn sweep
Gustavus wrapped up a series sweep of Dubuque on Friday with a 4-2 win. The Gusties won the opener by a 6-2 score on Thursday.
Down by two goals, Gustavus scored the final four goals of the game, including three in the last five minutes of action as it won its second consecutive game.
Wilmer Svensson tallied the game winner with 3:25 to play and Colin Androlewicz made 11 saves while earning the win in goal. Landon Johnson tallied two assists.
Brock Weimer and Justin Kingery scored for the Spartans. Owen Hardy had two assists for Dubuque, which is still searching for its first win. The Spartans are 0-12-2.
Gustavus stays on a roll, winning eight of its last 10 and improving to 8-5.
Cobbers end winless streak
Concordia salvaged a split against Marian on Saturday, winning the finale 6-0 on senior night. More importantly, the Cobbers snapped a seven-game winless streak.
Dane Couture recorded his first career shutout, making 15 saves,
Six different players scored goals. Hunter Bjorge, Mason Plante and Zak Kennett all tallied a goal and assist for the Cobbers, who improved to 5-7-1.
The Sabres won the opener 4-3 in overtime thanks to a clutch goal by Brandon Moddie. The freshman scored just over two minutes into the extra session.
Marian won despite the fact that Concordia held a 46-29 advantage in shots. The Sabres (5-6) also improved to 3-2 in OT games. Cole Carlson led the attack for Marian, scoring twice and dishing out an assist for his first multi-goal game of the year. Tyler Fromolz made 43 saves.
Foresters bounce back
One night after getting beat 4-3 by St. Olaf, Lake Forest got back on track Saturday with a 4-1 win over Saint John’s on the road.
The Foresters scored the final four goals of the game on their way to their first win of 2025. Connor Schahill finished with a goal and an assist while Kohl Reddy made 36 saves for Lake Forest, which improved to 5-6-1. Reddy stopped the last 24 shots he faced.
Justin Ross finished the scoring with an empty-net goal and now has six goals on the year.
Auggies earn impressive road win
While it hasn’t been an easy year, Augsburg started 2025 with a boost of confidence, knocking off No. 14 UW-River Falls 3-2 in overtime on Friday.
Connor Schneider scored the game winner with 26.8 seconds left in OT as the Auggies snapped a six-game losing streak.
It wasn’t easy, though, as Augsburg had to overcome a 2-0 deficit. Dylan Schneider and Luke Mountain both scored to tie the game in the third and force OT.
Carsen Stokes stopped 36 shots for the Auggies, who improved to 4-8 and picked up their first win over a ranked team this season.
Home sweet home for the Oles
St. Olaf is still perfect at home after beating Skidmore 6-3 on Saturday. The Oles are 4-0 at home this year and have won their last four games overall.
Pavel Karasek rose to the occasion as he scored twice, marking the first multi-goal game of his collegiate career. Joey Kennelley dished out two assists and Matthew Malin is 5-2 after stopping 22 shots.
The Oles are 6-4-1 overall this season and have scored four or more goals in three of their last four wins.
St. Olaf opened 2025 with a 4-3 win over Lake Forest on Friday, with Matthew Pointer and Connor Kalthoff scoring in the third to put the game away. It was the first meeting between the Oles and Foresters since 2019.
Cardinals keep streak intact
Saint Mary’s pushed its unbeaten streak to six games with a 3-2 win over Lawrence on Saturday.
Nathan Solis tallied the game winner and racked up two goals in all while Colin Tushie came through with the goal that tied the game at 2-2 in the third.
The Cardinals are 6-3-1 on the year and have won four of their six home games.
River Falls wins WIAC battle
UW-River Falls won for the second time this season against UW-Stout, beating the Blue Devils 4-3 Saturday. The Falcons are 2-1 against the Blue Devils this year.
River Falls improved to 8-5 overall and 4-3 in the WIAC. All three of their wins over the Blue Devils have been by one goal.
Alex Atwill scored twice for the Falcons while Brennan Boynton tied a season high for saves with 33 and won his eighth game of the year.
