Kenny Connors was a standout player up front for three seasons with UMass (photo: Thom Kendall/UMass Athletics),
Massachusetts junior forward Kenny Connors has signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings.
Connors, who forgoes his final season of collegiate eligibility, was originally taken by the Kings in the fourth round (103rd overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft.
“Kenny has been a top-line player for us since the day he stepped on campus,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel in a statement. “After three years of playing a significant role, both offensively and defensively, Kenny has earned a contract with the LA Kings and becomes the fifth forward from this year’s team to sign an NHL contract. Kenny also did an excellent job serving as a leader on this year’s team, was a selfless teammate, and was instrumental in UMass returning to the NCAA tournament again. Kenny is the definition of a power forward and his battle level on the ice always had an impact on the game.”
“I’m so grateful to everyone who made my time at UMass so special,” added Connors. “Thank you to all my teammates for the unforgettable memories we’ve created together that will last a lifetime. To the coaches and staff, thank you for helping me grow as a person, for believing in me, and for teaching me lessons that will extend far beyond the ice. UMass will always hold a special place in my heart and I couldn’t be more proud to be a Minuteman.”
Connors logged 77 points over 109 games on 26 goals and 51 assists over three seasons at UMass and was plus-2 with five power-play goals, one short-handed tally and nine game winners. His nine game-winning goals ranks second all-time for a career in program history.
As a freshman in 2022-23, the Glen Mills, Pa., native was selected to the Hockey East all-rookie team.
This season, Connors put up career highs in goals (10), assists (19) and points (29) over 40 games. He was plus-4 with two power-play goals and four game winners.
Sometimes the choice for these awards comes from detailed and nuanced viewing of the season as a whole and we pick a coach whose team made massive strides. Boston University’s Tara Watchorn and Cornell’s Doug Derraugh both would have been worthy choices this season. They certainly deserve and receive an honorable mention here.
But sometimes the the choice is more obvious.
It might even be boiled down to what may be the indelible and lasting image of this season for years to come. When Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson, appearing relaxed and confident, looked out over this team as they awaited a coach’s challenge review with 18.9 seconds left in the national championship game where his team was down 3-2 and their fate hung in the balance and asked them, “Who wants it?” about the upcoming penaly shot he solidified a choice that his peers had already made when they named him CCM/AHCA Coach of the Year prior to the Frozen Four.
With that one question he displayed the trust and composure that were hallmarks of his team this season. All while make a call and trusting his players in a situation he said he himself wouldn’t have wanted to be in as a player. The play was so crucial Johnson didn’t even watch Kirsten Simms take the penalty shot. But you wouldn’t have known it from his composed and simple question.
In the immediate aftermath of the game, seemed so stunned by his team’s come-from-behind OT win that he was asking everyone he encountered during the on-ice celebration, “Would you have wanted to take that?”
Sophomore goalie Ava McNaughton summed up Johnson’s impact in the championship post-game press conference saying, “He instills confidence within every single one of our players, every single day, every single practice, every single game, since day one of the season. We’re the ones who have to go out and execute it, but his his ability to just have such a driving force on the bench and just have such a presence, yet be so calm is something that I think it’s hard to come by.”
Wisconsin went into the season as a team with a stacked roster full of potential, but seeing that potential to fruition wasn’t a given. The team had to stay focused and disciplined whether they were eking out overitme wins in Duluth or cruising to an 11-1 win over St. Thomas. That they weren’t rattled when they went down in games throughout in the postseason showed their resilence, their composure and their unshakeable belief in each other and the work they’d put in to get to that point.
In the end, they had just one loss and set a new program record for wins in a season. They were scored on first and had to come from behind in each of their NCAA Tournament games and pulled off one of the most spectacular ends to a title game the sport has ever seen.
On a team full of stars, including all three Patty Kazmaier top three finalists, four First Team All-Americans, the national Goalie of the Year and five women playing for Team USA in the World Championships less than a month after the season, Johnson had complete buy-in. No player felt more important than any other and every one of them trusted the others to pick her up if she made a mistake. The result was a group that found a new level of playing free that elevated each individual’s game and created a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts.
Along the way, Johnson led the Badgers to their 10th WCHA Regular Season title, finishing with the most points (77) in school history. Their regular season title was Johnson’s 10th, the most of any head coach in WCHA history. Wisconsin led the nation in goals, assists, power-play and penalty-killing percentage, scoring offense, scoring defense and scoring margin.
This was the team’s 16th Frozen Four Appearance, which is tied with Minnesota for the most of any program. Wisconsin is making their 19th overall NCAA tournament appearance, the second-most in NCAA history.
For his unwavering faith in his team, for his calmness and ability to impart it on his players, for his success, and for, as Casey O’Brien put it in her Patty Kazmaier Award acceptance speech, “assembling this ridiculous roster” and guiding it to a historic and memorable national championship, for all these reasons and more, Wisconsin’s Mark Johnson is the 2025 USCHO Coach of the Year.
Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com wrap up the 2024-25 NCAA women’s hockey season on this episode of the PodKaz.
The All-USCHO teams and individual awards are out, and Nicole explains the process and how this year’s winners were chosen.
Then we take a look back at some big storylines from the season, including Wisconsin winning its eighth NCAA championship, Boston University going from unranked at the start of the season to Hockey East playoff champion, Cornell getting back to the Frozen Four and more.
And we wrap up with a look at some of the entries in the transfer portal, where teams can remake their roster in the offseason.
The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for our mailbag? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].
Twelve different programs are represented on the All-USCHO Women’s Division I teams this year. Congratulations to all the players on their spectacular season
Second Team
F: Abbey Murphy – Minnesota
F: Tessa Janecke – Penn State
F: Joy Dunne – Ohio State
D: Nicole Gosling – Clarkson
D: Emma Peschel – Ohio State
G: Ava McNaughton – Wisconsin
Third Team
F: Jocelyn Amos – Ohio State
F: Elyssa Biederman – Colgate
F: Issy Wunder – Princeton
D: Kendall Cooper – Quinnipiac
D: Casey Borgiel – Colgate
G: Kaley Doyle – Quinnipiac
Denver’s Zeev Buium, Michigan State’s Isaac Howard, and Boston College’s Ryan Leonard are the 2025 Hobey Hat Trick (photo: Hobey Baker Award Foundation).
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation announced the three Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalists for the 2025 award on Thursday.
Named were Denver sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium, Michigan State junior forward Isaac Howard, and Boston College sophomore forward Ryan Leonard.
The Hobey Baker Award honors college hockey’s top player. Criteria for the award include displaying outstanding skills in all phases of the game, strength of character on and off the ice, sportsmanship, and scholastic achievements.
The three were selected from the list of Top Ten candidates by the 30-member selection committee and an additional round of online fan balloting to determine this year’s Hobey Baker Award recipient.
The winner will be announced Fri., April 11, 2025 during the Frozen Four weekend in St. Louis, Mo.
A one-hour live production will feature the Hobey Baker Award, the Mike Richter Award (top goalie in college hockey), the Hockey Humanitarian Award (college hockey’s finest citizen), and the East and West All-American teams, along with other national awards. The event will be televised live from the Stifel Theatre on the NHL Network and streamed on the Hobey Baker website at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Like innumerable kids, Kendra Fortin grew up with a list of ideas as to what she may want to do for a profession once she was out of school.
What separates the Bemidji State senior defenseman in that regard is how her ultimately chosen career route tied into something that happened to her family when she was growing up.
When Kendra was nine years old, her father, Cory, was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure and was told he would need a kidney transplant to live. It wasn’t until 2021 that he received a transplant from a deceased donor, but thankfully, all’s well now. At the time that Kendra was contacted for this story, her parents were flying to Barbados on vacation, and they did not miss a single BSU home series throughout this season.
And it’s her father’s ordeal that set Kendra on course for a nursing career, most importantly, and also helped make her one of this year’s five finalists for the Hockey Humanitarian Award.
“My train of thought with what I wanted to be started as a hairdresser,” Kendra said. “My mom, my grandmother and my aunt are all hairdressers, and I originally wanted to do that, but then I went on to want to be a teacher, because I like kids, then I wanted to be a dietician.
“I had a lot of patient-nurse interactions, including with my dad’s nurses, and so I declared my nursing major right when I came in here (to Bemidji State). Once things started to unfold, I became a little more curious. I was 13 when I started setting up my dad’s dialysis machine at home, so I definitely had the knowledge of that and it was something very interesting to me, how a machine that beeps really loudly in the middle of the night and could probably wake up our whole house can save someone’s life and keep them from passing away.
“I grew that interest until I was 17, when I started my dad’s campaign to help him find a kidney. Everything just snowballed from there, and now I’m 22 years old, finishing nursing school and I’ll be back in a dialysis clinic (this semester, as part of her pre-graduation placements). It’s pretty incredible how time has changed.”
Kendra originally started a “Kidney for Cory” campaign in her hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and her efforts have carried over into her time in college. As a freshman at BSU, she began planting seeds for organ donor awareness. And over the past three years, she has spearheaded Organ Donor Awareness weekends for both Bemidji State men’s and women’s hockey home games.
Fortin shows what it’s all about when it comes to organ donor awareness.
“It’s been incredible to see how it has gotten bigger every year, where we’ve done something one year and would see how we could do it differently,” Kendra said. “We’ve done interviews and done a lot more with social media, and that’s the best way to get the awareness out there, just putting it out for people to see.
“Within this past year, I had four different people come up to me and say something to the effect of, ‘I wasn’t a donor before this, but I am now,’ and some people just weren’t aware they weren’t donors, then after a game, after a puck drop or after seeing videos, they would make sure they’re donors, and that’s one more chance of saving a life that we wouldn’t have had if we weren’t doing this stuff.
“This past year, I made pamphlets with QR codes for both Canada and the U.S. for how you can sign up to be a donor, and I asked someone who wasn’t a donor at the time how long it took them to sign up, and they said it was under two minutes,” Kendra continued. “Things like that have kept spreading the right way, and hopefully it comes to a point where people don’t have to wait nearly a decade for a life-saving organ.”
Kendra’s work ethic has made admirers out of her college teammates and coaches.
“She does a lot for our hockey program with what she does on the ice, and she’s a nursing major, which is an incredibly challenging thing to be as a Division I student-athlete, and then there’s the work she does in our community, especially around organ donation awareness,” BSU coach Amber Fryklund said. “She has a personal connection to that and has been very passionate about it, and she has really been great about the work to plan all of our events, including her teammates and how her teammates support her in her advocacy. She also does a lot with Bemidji youth hockey and volunteering with our girls hockey program, as well.
“I had a person email me who had some family experience with organ donation with a family member, and she had read about Kendra’s story in terms of her work and her advocacy, and this person was just so grateful for Kendra’s story and how it impacted her, and asked if Kendra had any advice. I had a chance to connect the two of them, and it’s really neat to see that impact she’s having on our community and elsewhere.”
Going forward, Kendra has already accepted a job in the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s labor and delivery department. Her end goal is to become an organ donor coordinator, and Fryklund is pleased to know that Kendra’s awareness work will continue along the way.
Taking part in the ceremonial faceoff has become the norm for Fortin during organ donor awareness weekends on home ice, seen here partaking in a faceoff with the Bemidji State men’s hockey team.
“We’ve had quite a few nursing majors come through our (hockey) program, and it’s extremely challenging,” Fryklund said. “I know she’s inspired by her experiences to become a nurse and help others, and I think what she does with her advocacy goes directly into the passion she has for helping people. The way she manages it all is pretty incredible, and I’m really, really proud of all that she has done on the ice but also in the community and in her organ donation awareness efforts.
“It’s her passion and her dedication, wanting to help others and spread awareness. She truly cares about people and wants to make an impact, whether it’s in her own community or other places. Her desire to make an impact to help others is a really great legacy that she leaves here at Bemidji State, and it’s something that will continue on after she leaves. She wanted to make sure, even though she’s graduating as a student-athlete, she wants to continue her advocacy in her community and beyond.”
In the interest of not just copying and pasting from our Patty Kaz story:
2025 Patty Kazmaier Award winner
WCHA Forward of the Year and Player of the Year
First-team All-American
Led the country with 88 points and 62 assists
Only player in the country to average more than 2.0 points per game (2.15)
Led the WCHA and was second in the country with 538 faceoff wins
Her 88 points tied her for seventh most in NCAA history
Her 62 assists are the third-most ever
Set a new Wisconsin record for points in a season
Set a program record for career points (274)
Set a program record career assists (177)
Broke her own program record for assists in a season with 62
Became the highest point scorer in Badger hockey history – men or women
Beyond the stat line, O’Brien was the leader of her team this season. She was the steady voice that didn’t let her team get carried away as they were undefeated heading into 2025 or finished the regular season with one loss. She wasn’t the loudest voice in the room, but she was the one that commanded everyone’s repect and attention. She helped keep the locker room loose and having fun, but also committed to their goals.
When linemate Kirsten Simms was set to take the penalty shot with 18.9 seconds left in the national championship game that would tie it and keep her team’s hopes alive, it was O’Brien that pulled her into a private conversation that Simms said was crucial to keeping calm, confident and feeling like she could perform in that moment.
“She really just hyped me up in that moment. She’s someone I’ve always looked up to, so it really meant a lot,” said Simms.
After O’Brien won the Kazmaier, Simms said, “I wouldn’t be half of where I am without her… It has been super incredible to play with such a talented player like her, and I’ve gotten to not only play beside her, but learn from her and grow from it. She just an incredible leader and just incredible player overall.”
O’Brien stands out for her consistent pursuit of improvement in every part of her game. She has filled a different role for the Badgers in each of her seasons and takes pride in that adaptability and in being the type of player that makes those around her better.
It has made her into the type of player that can make impact on every inch of the ice. She’s massively well-rounded and while opposing teams might be able to keep some of her skills in check, they find it difficult to shut her down for the entire length of a game. She makes opponents have to worry about her and in doing so, she opens up time and space for her teammates.
She’s as likely to be fighting for a puck along the defensive boards or stepping in front of a shot as she is to be racing through the neutral zone. She’s the kind of 200-foot players coaches dream of, setting an example for all her teammates that will have lasting impacts on future Badger rosters.
In a program with a rich history of outstanding forwards, O’Brien stands out as one of the very best.
For all these reasons and more, Casey O’Brien is the 2025 USCHO Player of the Year
One of the most prolific players internationally at the U18 level, Minnesota Duluth freshman Caitlin Kraemer entered the NCAA having set high standards for herself. She had a tournament-high ten goals in back-to-back U18 World Champinships and owns the all-time scoring record for Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team with 37 goals and 53 points in 32 games.
While other rookies came in more hyped, Kraemer set about making a name for herself in the very first weekend of play, scoring two goals and adding an assist in just the second game of the season as she helped lead the Bulldogs to a weekend sweep of Ohio State.
She would go on to lead all freshman nationally with 18 goals, including two short-handed tallies and four game-winning markers. She was third on the Bulldogs in scoring overall and for her efforts was named WCHA Rookie the Year and Hockey Coaches Association Julie Chu Rookie of the Year.
On a team built on solid defense, Kraemer brings needed offense. A strong skater who’s difficult to get off balance, she is at her best through open ice, using her speed and strength to hold off defenders as she angles towards the net. She has great instincts, particularly towards the net and is equally lethal with a soft wrister or more powerful snipe. She excels on the power play where she uses the extra room on the ice to find lanes and get the puck to the net.
Kraemer is big and physical and uses her size to win puck battles and claim space on the ice. At times, she had difficulty staying on the right side of aggressive, but more experience will bring better awareness. Tamping down on the grit and drive she has would change who she is as a player. She just has to fine tune it a bit to stay out of the box.
Even at just 18 years old, Kraemer shows a massive hockey IQ and ability to read the game. She sees the ice well and anticipates plays, as shown in her shorthanded goals and breakaway tallies. She’s self-aware about her strengths and weaknesses and puts in the work to grow her game and improve. This feels like just the beginning for Kraemer, who seems to have a massive ceiling as well as the work ethic and drive to achieve it.
“Caitlin is not only a standout player but also a student of the game, constantly pushing herself to learn and grow. Her speed, power, skill, and deep understanding of the game set her apart as one of the best in NCAA hockey,” said UMD head coach Laura Schuler after Kraemer won HCA Rookie of the Year.
The Bulldogs have been on the edge of breaking through not just to the top of their conference, but nationally and Kraemer looks poised to lead them there.
In recognition of an outstanding season, Caitlin Kraemer is this year’s USCHO Rookie of the Year.
Jackson Hallum helped Michigan to the 2023 Big Ten tournament title (photo: Michigan Photography).
The NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights have signed Michigan junior forward Jackson Hallum to a two-year, entry-level contract.
A third-round selection (91st overall) of the Golden Knights in the 2020 NHL Draft, Hallum played in all 36 games for the Wolverines this season, finishing with 17 points on eight goals and nine assists. He scored two overtime game winners, at Boston University on Nov. 2 and against Ohio State on Jan. 5. His OT winner at BU capped off a hat trick for the Eagan, Minn., native.
During his three seasons in Ann Arbor, Hallum scored 17 goals and 25 assists for 42 points in 84 games. He helped the Wolverines to Frozen Four appearances in 2023 and 2024 and won a Big Ten tournament championship in 2023.
Aydar Suniev scores in the Fargo Regional last weekend as UMass upset Minnesota (photo: Massachusetts Athletics).
The NHL’s Calgary Flames announced today that they have signed Massachusetts sophomore forward Aydar Suniev to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Suniev was the Flames third-round pick (80th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft. was the Flames third-round pick (80th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft.
A native of Kazan, Russia, Suniev played 35 games for the Minutemen in 2024-25, posting career-bests in goals (20), assists (18) and points (38), finishing second on the team in scoring.
“Aydar Suniev had two exceptional seasons here at UMass and has earned his contract from the Calgary Flames,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel in a statement. “Aydar arrived on campus as a highly touted offensive player and during his time with our program he has become a high-level competitor with a well-balanced game on the ice. Aydar’s commitment to improving his game in every respect and becoming a selfless teammate were significant. Aydar scored a lot of big goals for us, and we will miss the explosiveness he brought to our team and the values he brought to our culture. We are all excited to see him become an NHL player.”
Suniev helped his club upset No. 3-ranked Minnesota in the Fargo Regional last weekend, scoring a pair of goals including the overtime winner in a 5-4 victory.
Cole O’Hara had a breakout season offensively in 2024-25 for UMass (photo: Massachusetts Athletics).
Massachusetts junior forward Cole O’Hara has signed a two-year, entry-level NHL contract with the Nashville Predators.
The Richmond, Hill, Ont., native will report to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals on an amateur tryout for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
O’Hara, who forgoes his final season of collegiate eligibility, was originally selected by Nashville in the fourth round (114th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft.
“Cole had a breakout season on the ice, so it is great to see him being rewarded with an NHL contract,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel in a statement. “Cole’s play on the ice has grown from year-to-year due to his dedication and discipline as an athlete. His time at UMass has allowed his game to really flourish and it couldn’t have happened to a better young man. Cole will be greatly missed as he played such an instrumental role in our success this year. We add Cole to an impressive list of forwards from this year’s team who are leaving school early having earned contracts from their NHL parent clubs. I want to thank Cole personally for his commitment to our program and his role in furthering our reputation as a top developmental program. I love it when great young men get what they deserve.”
“I’m very grateful for my time at UMass,” added O’Hara. “It was the best three years of my life and I’m definitely going to miss all the great people within the program, especially my teammates. UMass offered everything I could’ve asked for and helped develop my game so much. All the values that we preach here have helped me grow so much as a person and something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. I couldn’t thank the program enough.”
O’Hara finishes his UMass career with 86 points over 109 career games on 33 goals and 53 assists, seven power-play goals, one short-handed tally, four game winners and a plus-minus rating of plus-20.
He enjoyed a breakout year for the Minutemen in 2024-25 nearly tripling his previous career high in points, tying James Marcou for the Division I program single-season record with 51 in 40 games this season, fourth all-time.
The first team Hockey East all-star totaled 22 goals and 29 assists and was plus-21 with seven power-play markers, one short-handed goal and four game winners. His assists total tied for seventh in the UMass record book and ranked tied for 10th nationally, while he ranks 10th in in goals for a single-season in program history, 13th nationally in goals this season. He also earned a spot on the New England all-star team.
Ryan Chesley is the second player in Minnesota history to wear No. 71 after Donald Bodin (1949-50) (photo: Bjorn Franke).
The AHL’s Hershey Bears have signed Minnesota junior defenseman Ryan Chesley to an amateur tryout agreement for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Chesley served as one of the captains of the Golden Gophers this past year, scoring a career-best 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 40 games, ranking third on the club in scoring among defenders. He blocked 73 shots, was a personal-best plus-17, was named to the all-Big Ten honorable mention team, and helped Minnesota to a bid in the NCAA tournament.
The Mahtomedi, Minn., native earned all-Big Ten second team honors in 2023-24, scoring eight points (two goals, six assists) in 39 games.
In his freshman season in 2022-23, he helped the Gophers to a Big Ten regular-season title and a runner-up finish at the Frozen Four.
In his NCAA career, Chesley scored 38 points (12 goals, 26 assists) and was plus-34 in 115 games, helping the Gophers to two Big Ten regular-season titles and three NCAA tournament appearances. He blocked 202 shots over his three years at Minnesota.
Chesley represented the USA twice at the IIHF World Junior Championships, winning bronze in 2023 and gold in 2024. He served as an alternate captain in the 2024 tournament, scoring four points (goal, three assists).
Chesley was selected by the Capitals in the second round (37th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft.
BC’s Keri Clougherty makes volunteering in the Boston area a priority (photo provided by Keri Clougherty).
The thread through nearly everything Boston College senior Keri Clougherty does is relationships.
The youngest of three and an incredibly outgoing, generous and gregarious person, Clougherty always seems to be in the center of a group of people. She draws them in with her warmth and ability to meet everyone she meets where they are. She’s empathetic and a great listener and making human impact drives her.
All of that means that when it came time for the Lynn, MA native to decide where to go to college, the answer was basically in her backyard. As one of just two Jesuit colleges that also offers women’s hockey, Boston College was the right fit for Clougherty, for whom service is as integral a part of her life as athletics and academics. She embodies several of the key Jesuit principles, but maybe none so much as the value of being a woman “with and for others.”
Her coach, Katie Crowley, said Clougherty is the epitome of that tenet and a spectacular example to the younger players on the hockey team day in and day out.
Clougherty has interned at The Campus School at Boston College, a day school that “provides specialized education for students requiring extensive support needs, including complex medical needs for students aged 3 to 22.” Working there, she said, really opened her eyes to the wider world and helped her find her passion. Clougherty loves the personal interactions of her service and is really interested in the human impact of the work she does, which led her to a major in applied psychology and human development.
“I’m looking forward to working with special needs students and in special education in the future. I’m not sure exactly what it would be, but I think I’ve definitely found a passion for that. I’m really looking forward to figuring that out soon,” she said. “I’m a relationship-oriented person. I just want to do something that has an impact on people, and they have an impact on me.”
Two other Jesuit values are “cura personalis” or “care for the individual person” and the idea of developing the whole person. Clougherty may never have thought of herself or her work in those explicit terms before Boston College, but she continues to embody her Jesuit education every day.
CLOUGHERTY
“Keri does such a great job embodying the whole premise of our school, of our team, of our program and what we wanted it to be,” said Crowley.
There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish everything Clougherty has on her plate, but coach Katie Crowley said she’s never been worried about whether Clougherty has taken on too much. Crowley said Clougherty is a great communicator and that if Clougherty wasn’t busy with these projects, she’d be doing something else.
“This is who she is. You can’t, you can’t change that. From my perspective, she doesn’t put a lot of pressure on herself for all of this. She loves it. It’s not a chore for her. It makes a difference in her life, too. For her, it’s not about her, it’s doing it for others and for the smiles on those people’s faces,” said Crowley.
Importantly, said Clougherty, none of her volunteering or service ever feels like work. It fulfills her and makes her happy and often she feels like she’s gotten back so much more love and energy than she’s ever put out. The youngest of three, Clougherty is outgoing and she is energized by being around other people. It fills her social battery, she said, and helps her grow.
“It really grounds me as a person and gives me something extra to even play for. I think this is an opportunity for me to learn so much more about myself but also see the position that I’m in and how people respect us as athletes and as people, and how much we mean to others, and how much that can really impact your life and also so many other people’s lives. It’s easy to make my service a priority,” said Clougherty.
Beyond helping her find a career path, Clougherty’s different volunteer opportunities have helped her communication skills and confidence. One might she might be on a knee to get at the level of a student she’s working with and the next she might be talking with Boston College administrators and donors as the President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
As president, Clougherty is the main contact for all student-athletes for support, advice and more. She joined SAAC as a sophomore, led the group’s marketing as a junior and was elected by her peers to lead the group her senior year. In addition to running meetings and serving as a sounding board and tough points for her fellow student-athletes, she has also organized a Pen Pal mentorship program, volunteered at the food pantry, and worked alongside Best Buddies and Newton Athletes Unlimited, a local organization that supports over 300 children and adults with disabilities.
“They’re so excited to see us on Thursdays. I think it just really makes you take a step back from thinking, ‘We lost that game, or I had a really bad shift. They give you something to think about. There’s more outside of winning or losing a game. Win or lose, they’re in your corner. You can really ground yourself, have a foundation, and just when things go really good or really bad, there are still people in your corner cheering for you. You can just learn so much about yourself and about the communities that are around you,” said Clougherty.
That group is particularly tied to the women’s hockey program. Each Thursday, Keri organizes a group of teammates to skate with Newton Athletes Unlimited. Additionally, several of that groups’ participants attend BC women’s hockey games. Clougherty said they are the best cheerleaders and also serve as a constant reminder to not get be in her own head.
Clougherty led the hockey team to over 782 hours of community service last year and is on pace to exceed that impact this season. She said they often have more BC players than they need on Thursdays in Newton because everyone enjoys going so much. It’s a break from the stress of being a student-athlete and so fulfilling, she said.
Clougherty has made an impact on and off the ice during her time at Boston College (photo provided by Keri Clougherty).
“One of my favorite things is that a lot of the service that I do is with my teammates. You really get to see your teammates in a different way. It’s just really awesome to see, and it’s such a culture builder, too. I think our team culture here is great, and I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s great is because we have those community things that we do, and we have that service aspect, because it shows that we’re playing for something bigger than ourselves. It’s just really awesome to see when our whole team gets involved,” she said.
Crowley said Clougherty’s energy has a huge influence on the team and it’s clear that Clougherty is as affected by the people she works with as they are by her. She loves that Clougherty follows through with her actions and commitments and is constantly involved. She’s not just talking about ideas; she’s facilitating them and is involved all along the way. That’s a massive lesson the younger members have learned from her, Crowley said.
Clougherty would be doing all this work whether she was a student-athlete or not and whether anyone noticed or paid any attention, said Crowley. Service is inherent to who Clougherty is and she wouldn’t be the same person or player without it.
“Service is important to me because it really built the foundation for me as a person, as a hockey player, and also as a teammate, as a friend, as a sister, and I think it’s just really grounds me and helps me take step back from the rink sometimes, and also gives me that extra push when I need it on the ice,” said Clougherty.
“The service that I’ve done is just always on my mind, because it’s just such a pillar in my life, and I think it’s just really awesome to see what a connection can do for you. I think we take something with us from each person we meet. I’ve really learned the power of a smile and the impact it can have.”
Dans Locmelis spent two seasons skating for UMass (photo: Massachusetts Athletics).
The NHL’s Boston Bruins announced today that the team has signed Massachusetts sophomore forward Dans Locmelis to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Locmelis will report to the AHL’s Providence Bruins on an amateur tryout.
Locmelis appeared in 40 games with the Minutemen during the 2024-25 season, recording eight goals and 25 assists for 33 points. He ranked second on the team in assists and fourth in points.
Over 70 career games with UMass, Locmelis tallied 15 goals and 32 assists for 47 points.
Locmelis represented Latvia at the World Junior Championships in 2022, 2023 and 2024, registering six goals and four assists for 10 points throughout 16 games in the three tournaments. He also appeared in the 2023 and 2024 IIHF World Championships for Team Latvia, winning bronze in the 2023 tournament.
In Sept. 2024, Locmelis played for Latvia at the Olympic Games qualifying tournament where he helped the team secure a spot in the 2026 Olympic Games, notching one goal and one assist in three games.
The Jelgava, Latvia, native was originally selected by Boston in the fourth round (119th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft.
Trevor Connelly (16) celebrates a goal after scoring for Providence last December (photo: Providence Athletics).
Providence freshman forward Trevor Connelly (
has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
Connelly was a first-round selection (19th overall) of Vegas in the 2024 NHL Draft.
In 23 games as a Friar in 2024-25, the Tustin, Calif., native registered 13 points on four goals and nine assists. He recorded a career-high five points in a 6-5 win at Northeastern on Nov. 9, tallying the game-winning goal in overtime.
He also earned a gold medal with the U.S. at the 2025 World Junior Championship where he totaled four points on a goal and three assists over seven games in the tournament.
Callum Tung played the 2024-25 season at UConn (photo: Ian Bethune).
The NHL’s New York Rangers announced today that the team has agreed to terms with Connecticut freshman goaltender Callum Tung on a three-year, entry-level contract.
Tung will report to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack on an amateur tryout for the remainder of this season.
The Port Moody, B.C., native posted a 10-4-1 record, 2.01 goals-against average, and .933 save percentage in 15 games with the Huskies this season, leading them to their first-ever NCAA tournament.
Tung finished his lone season at UConn with the sixth-best save percentage among collegiate goaltenders, 12th-best goals-against average, and tied for the 13th-best win percentage (.700). His save percentage ranked second among Hockey East goaltenders and his goals-against average ranked third.
In addition, Tung allowed two or fewer goals in 11 of his 15 appearances this season.
Sarah Thompson’s Sticks Together initiative brings hockey to those that maybe can’t afford to play (photo provided by Sarah Thompson).
After committing to Syracuse early in her high school career, Sarah Thompson thought she’d close out her hockey career with the Orange.
But she has always been adaptable and when the opportunity came to use her last year of eligibility playing at St. Lawrence, Thompson couldn’t pass it up.
After graduating from Syracuse with a degree in sport management and a minor in sport analytics, Thompson transferred to St. Lawrence, where she’s working on a master of arts degree in leadership.
Not only did the move offer her the opportunity at a secondary a degree and the chance to play in the NCAA tournament, but the Saints’ staff has fully embraced Thompson’s volunteer work through the non-profit she started called Sticks Together and plans are in the works to roll the mission of introducing ice hockey to children in disadvantaged areas opportunities into a planned team trip to a St. Lawrence satellite campus in Kenya.
“St. Lawrence has been absolutely incredible. I have nothing but phenomenal things to say about the people here. My coaches have reached out and asked how they can help and really embrace the idea of Sticks Together. I honestly couldn’t ask for more. The support from my teammates has been incredible, said Thompson.
This is Thompson’s third nomination for the Hockey Humanitarian Award and second time being named a top five finalist. Down time during the pandemic and conversations around name, image and likeness led her to create Sticks Together to provide children in disadvantaged areas opportunities to learn and grow through the sport of ice hockey.
Sports have been such an important part of Thompson’s life from a very young age that when she looked to give back to her community, service through sport seemed an obvious avenue to follow.
Growing up in Canada, Thompson said she was introduced to all kinds of sports in school, and she felt like whatever sports she was passionate about, she was encouraged to pursue. She felt like she had no limitations.
“Sports have given me everything. They’re the reason I started Sticks Together, the reason I was able to go to school on a scholarship and to meet all these incredible people. They’re really the reason I have had all the opportunities that I’ve had. I think that’s why I felt really inspired to start Sticks Together,” said Thompson. “Growing up, I learned so much from hockey, particularly how to work with the team, how to build relationships with other people, work ethic. That’s what we try to teach the kids – the power of building confidence through sport and making friends and being coachable, and how to achieve something when you work really, really hard.
“Those are kind of all the lessons that we feel we teach when we’re there.”
Thompson has excelled on the ice with St. Lawrence for her final season of NCAA hockey (photo: C A Hill Photo).
Thompson has traveled to Muizenberg, South Africa, Buenos Aires, Argentina and most recently, Tigman Village, Philippines, bringing along donations of recycled hockey equipment with the goal of teaching the game she loves.
St. Lawrence coach Chris Wells thinks that flexibility and the replicability of what Thompson has created is an underrated but important part of Sticks Together. Her passion and commitment to making an impact, no matter how big or small, has impressed Wells and rubbed off on her teammates, several of whom were part of the group that went to Tigman Village.
“I had no idea how much she was doing. She never talks about it, and she is looking for absolutely no fanfare whatsoever. She’s very motivated. She knows what she likes, she knows where her values are, and she puts her energies where her values are. It truly is remarkable what she’s been able to do,” said Wells.
Part of what makes Sticks Together successful is that Thompson is really flexible on what it is and what it can do. Her first two trips were just her and one other person. Some of the places she has visited, the local children play hockey an hour or two a day and then she spends her time doing other things with them.
“Sticks Together doesn’t have to be anything concrete. We go and we bring the equipment, From there, it’s whatever the kids are attracted to. If they want to play hockey, we play hockey. And if they want to play something else, we’re there to learn from them, as well. We create these opportunities for kids to learn and grow through the sport of hockey,” said Thompson.
The children in Tigman really connected with hockey. Thompson said she’s received messages from the teachers they worked with that the children are still playing hockey.
“In the Philippines, they just completely fell in love with the game, so we played hockey every day. There was a group of six of us women’s hockey players that went this time and it made a difference in our impact with the kids. We could break the kids into small groups, pass the ball around, teach them how to hold their stick and give them more attention, focus on more details than I could have done alone or with one other person,” she said.
The heartfelt connection to Tigman has meant that Thompson and Sticks Together continue to send donations to the village. A recent flood on Palauan, the island Tigman is located on, made streets impassable. Thompson was able to quickly fundraise more than $1000 to purchase food care packages for the area.
“It just kind of transcends Sticks Together as more than just teaching hockey. We are connecting with communities that we can help elevate around the world. One of the important things is that growing the game is one of the smaller goals of Sticks Together. It’s more about giving kids opportunities to learn and fall in love with something. The connections that you’re able to build and the community that you can help empower is the most important piece of it,” she said.
There’s no denying that Thompson puts smiles on faces everywhere she goes (photo provided by Sarah Thompson).
Thompson is set to graduate in a few months, which has left her without concrete plans on what comes next. She was initially hoping to plan her own trip this summer, but the St. Lawrence women’s hockey group traveling to Kenya seemed like the perfect next opportunity to combine her passions. She said the St. Lawrence staff has been wonderful in helping make connections and incorporate Sticks Together as part of the trip. The tentative plan is two days at a school with the full Saints hockey team volunteering and teaching hockey to the students.
“Coach Wells really wanted to make sure that if we were going to put the name Sticks Together on it, that it fit with what I represent. As soon as I brought up the idea of collaborating on our trip to Kenya, he and the staff were excited about it and wanted to talk more and figure out the details,” Thompson said.
Beyond that trip, Thompson said her hope after graduation is to work in women’s hockey. She’s retiring from playing the game but would love to work as an agent or client manager representing female athletes – particularly those who have causes they’re passionate about and who are active in community outreach, but don’t have the time or the resources to do as much as they’d like.
“I think what I’ve learned most from sport is the importance of balance and having so many different sources of happiness in your life,” said Thompson.
“That’s the powerful thing about sports – it’s able to transcend boundaries and bring people together.”
Read more about Sticks Together and make a donation for future trips at stickstogether.org. Follow along with photos and videos of Sticks Together trips in action at instagram.com/stickstogether_/.
Western Michigan downed UMass to get to the Frozen Four and will be the top-seeded team in St. Louis (photo: Tim Brule).
Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
PAULA: Well, Dan, here we are for the last TMQ of the season, and the logical place to begin is with the regional action we just witnessed. Congratulations to Boston University, Denver, Penn State and Western Michigan for playing their way into the Frozen Four.
There is so much we can talk about here in terms of who won, who lost and why, but I want to start with the winners. Both Denver and Boston University are making repeat appearances, with the Pioneers defending their championship in their fourth consecutive trip to Frozen Four and the Terriers seeking their first national title since 2009 in their third straight Frozen Four appearance. The ability to maintain that kind of excellence is extraordinary.
We know that repeat Frozen Four appearances – whether consecutive or recent – teaches players and even coaches in programs what it takes to get the chance to reach the FF. This year, both Penn State and Western Michigan are making their first Frozen Four appearances, and it is for certain that each program will benefit from going no matter the outcome of the games.
Both the Broncos and the Nittany Lions have stories that are new to national audiences. For Western Michigan, this is the fourth straight year of participation in the NCAA tourney and the Broncos won their first-ever NCHC title. The Broncos are the only team in the field that finished first in their conference and won their conference playoff championship.
Penn State’s story is kind of nuts. The Nittany Lions finished fifth in the Big Ten and clawed their way into an at-large bid by plowing through B1G competition in the second half. Penn State didn’t win a Big Ten game until Jan. 3, and after that, they were nearly unstoppable – 15 of their 22 overall wins coming in the second half of the season, including playoff hockey.
What are your thoughts on this field? What are your thoughts on how they got here?
DAN: The word “parity” is way overused in college hockey these days, but this past weekend proved that point about the conversation about bracket makeup and construction. We spent four days extolling the clean and even construction of a field selected by mathematical algorithm and placed into the four-team regional by the Selection Committee because the field was more cleanly aligned than previous years. More than ever, we all knew about the possibility of a pared-down tournament where no No. 1 seed had an easy path to St. Louis, and we especially knew about the matchup pitfalls facing each one of the 16 teams that qualified. I know I spent the four days prior to Thursday talking about how I knew no No, 1 seeds were safe, at least.
One week later, we’re sitting here talking about a Frozen Four with exactly one No. 1 seed advancing out of its regional. Two of the top seeds lost in regionals where they had a geographical advantage, and one lost in the first round. We watched Cornell come within an overtime goal of sending Mike Schafer to a Frozen Four for his final coaching game, and Bentley dragged Boston College through 58 minutes of 1-1 hockey before the Eagles escaped to play on Sunday. Once they got there, they ran into Denver, a team that I constantly viewed as a flawed team. I remember watching some of those weekends and wondering if Denver even belonged in the field outside of its perceived conference strength, and I just kept saying that the defending national champion wasn’t playing the same game as last year – not that it’s fair to compare a team to its previous roster that won a national championship. I saw Boston College as this megalith – admittedly from talking to players and folks through my work – but like the Death Star, that one little exhaust hole made certain types of games fatal. Along came Denver and blammo – the Pios used the Force to fire right into that pipe.
And then there’s Maine, which lost to Penn State. I’m sure folks will immediately point to the sublimated home ice advantage or disadvantage associated with playing at a host site, but let’s just call it what it is – Penn State is just plain good.
For the first time, I found myself unable to find any one clear-cut reason why teams lost, which I guess boiled down to this statement: this tournament was loaded with good teams, and good teams lost to better teams on that day. Maybe Maine would’ve beaten Penn State in Alfond, and maybe Michigan State wouldn’t have lost to Cornell in East Lansing. But ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas. In the current condition, Penn State, on that day, was better, and so was Cornell.
Also, for what it’s worth, Cornell is the same distance from Allentown as Penn State. Aside from it being in Pennsylvania, where Penn State is huge, that’s always something that made me smile.
Of course, there’s also Western Michigan, the lowest-seeded No. 1 seed and the last one standing.
I’ll eventually come back to the site selection because that’s a larger issue, but let’s start breaking down the four teams that are heading to St. Louis… what sticks out about how they each play the game, and are we headed for an equally chaotic Frozen Four?
PAULA: I’m not sure what you mean by “chaos” when you ask about its possibilty in the Frozen Four. At this point, every team that’s going deserves to be there. Each of those teams played its way through a very tough field, no matter where they played. Teams advanced because they’re good. Period. The end.
And so if you’re asking whether there is a possibility of an upset in St. Louis, that would depend also on the definition of the word “upset.” The top-seeded team in this field, Western Michigan, has the exact same amount of Frozen Four experience as the lowest seed, Penn State.
The difference, for me, comes down to experience. Every bookie in the country should have Denver as the odds-on favorite to win with Boston University losing to the Pioneers in the championship game.
That’s what should happen. Will it? Will the Pioneers get past the Broncos and the Terriers down the Nittany Lions? The cliches about one-and-done hockey apply, but only in moderation. That experience of having been there will mean a lot. The Pioneers know what it takes to win. The Terriers know how it feels to be eliminated. Neither the Broncos nor Nittany Lions know either of those things.
But both Western Michigan and Penn State know that everyone is counting them out, and that is huge, additional motivation.
How each team advanced to the Frozen Four matters, too. Denver didn’t just beat Boston College. Denver beat a BC team that was flying from the start. The Eagles outshot the Pioneers 11-5 in the first period of that regional final and 15-2 in the third period, and Denver outscored BC in both of those stanzas. Matt Davis was outstanding in that game, making allowing one goals with 35 saves against a team that scored more than three per contest on average.
In their 8-3 win over Ohio State, Boston University scored five third-period goals against a team that has dominated third periods for most of the season. In their 3-2 OT win over Cornell, the Terriers had to outlast a team that was playing its best hockey of the year and doing everything it could to extend the season for its beloved retiring coach. That may have been the best game of the entire tournament so far, for what it’s worth.
In their first game, the Broncos found a way to get past Minnesota State in double overtime by never taking their feet (hooves?) off the gas, outshooting the Mavericks in every period of that contest. In their win over Massachusetts, the Broncos used their power play – sixth in the country – to come from behind.
As for the Nittany Lions, there was never any doubt in their game against Maine – not from the five-minute mark in the first period, anyway. At 4:08 in the first period of that game, Maine’s Bodie Nobes took advantage of a rare mistake by Penn State’s Arsenii Sergeev, catching the netminder out of position for the first goal of the game. But when JJ Wiebusch answered less than a minute later, the Nittany Lions settled in, played their game and advanced. In their 3-2 win over Connecticut, the Nittany Lions looked outmatched in stretches but Sergeev was amazing and when the opportunity presented itself late in OT, Matt DiMarsico scored a pretty, clean, well-executed goal from Charlie Cerrato. The Nittany Lions didn’t just outlast the Huskies in the game – in spite of being uncharacteristically outshot 28-13 in the third period and OT – they out-waited them, too.
To circle back to your question about chaos, I don’t know what will happen in the semifinals in St. Louis, but I do know that each team has its own gifts. My head says that experience will out. My heart is hoping for a little chaos.
DAN: I’m just looking forwrad to seeing which teams develop the next phase of a championship pedigree.
I’ve retold this story a few times, but I remember watching an old playoff VHS tape – that’s how we used to watch movies and YouTube clips in the old days for you whippersnappers – from the NHL that featured a story about the Islanders in the 1980s. They’d beaten the Edmonton Oilers for the last of their four straight Stanley Cup wins, and Wayne Gretzky talked about how he walked by the locker room in the aftermath of his loss. What he saw wasn’t a team going crazy under champagne bottles, though he mentioned how the Islanders were still celebrating. What he instead witnessed was a team so beaten up that they were almost exhausted by getting to that point. At that moment, he realized what it would take to win a championship.
To me, that’s what BU’s been going through. The Terriers really took their lumps over the course of the year, and last year’s loss in the national semifinal rang through my ears when they beat Cornell in overtime. They just looked like a team more destined and more driven to win that game – and that’s not a knock against Cornell. Now seeing how Mikhail Yegorov plays against Penn State, I’m curious if Penn State understands what it’s going to take to win this level, even if they’ve been playing great. Again, not a knock. We’ll find out.
On the other side, we’ll get to see that from Western Michigan against Denver in a rematch from their NCHC championship game.
Of course, the debate about which team has an advantage is the primary conversation, but I’m hopeful that these four teams will drive some good attendance and solid games in St. Louis. The Regionals were largely great, but I still felt like the bulk of social media hunted for a good reason to bash neutral sites. Pictures from the early game in Manchester didn’t do the crowd justice after people arrived throughout the first period, and I thought the regional did a good job – not great, but good – at housing the four teams. As for the seeding and the whole host conversation, we could have that conversation until we’re all out of breath.
For what it’s worth, over 7,000 people attended Manchester’s first round. About 7,000 attended Toledo. 7,300 went to Allentown, and Fargo’s 5,000-seat arena was a near-sellout. Numbers naturally went down for the Regional finals, but I think this year was just fine on neutral site regionals, even in Allentown, where I know Penn State was a mitigating factor.
The ice surface, on the other hand, is a different story. What I don’t think people understand is how every ice surface in the Frozen Four is, for lack of a better term, temporary. Every rink – even the permanent surfaces – are thawed and removed to paint NCAA logos, so there are going to be air bubbles and pockets of bad ice on rinks that aren’t constantly resurfaced and practiced throughout the year. I’m not sure if there’s a solution there.
PAULA: But in the end, didn’t each team in a given game play on the same ice? Yes, ice surface can be problematic, but the surfaces didn’t decide outcomes of games.
The solution, Dan, is to score more goals.
At this point in the season, I get tired of hearing about alleged (or even real) home ice advantages, officiating, and all of the other factors that folks claim impacted the loss of their favorite team.
In the end, teams that outplay their opponents win. It doesn’t matter if that outplaying is all game long or limited to a finite situation. The team that finds a way to win is the team that deserves to win.
Like you, I hope the Frozen Four is well attended in St. Louis. I am not sure what it’s like now, but in the years previous to COVID, there were scores of college hockey fans that attended the FF every year regardless of field or venue. I saw some evidence of that in Tampa in 2023, the last time I was able to cover the event. I hope that still holds true.
I do want to pivot away from the Frozen Four and wrap up my last segment here mentioning a few other things.
First, I want one last shout out to three legendary college hockey coaches who are retiring: Bob Daniels, Jeff Jackson, Brian Riley and Mike Schafer. Among them, the three represent 109 years of head coaching experience at the Division I level and have 1,911 wins, collectively. Each has helped to shape the game as we know it today.
Second, I want to go on record as saying that I think Denver’s Zeev Buium will win this year’s Hobey Baker award and my prediction for the Hobey Hat Trick are Buium, Penn State’s Aiden Fink and Michigan State’s Isaac Howard. Also, I think Alex Tracy will win the Richter Award.
(Fear not, fans of other candidates. I’m neither a Hobey voter this year nor very good at predicting much of anything.)
And last, I can’t put a cap on this season without mentioning the sheer number of players who have entered the transfer portal. By my count late on Monday night, there were 174.
I’m not surprised by any of the players who have signed professional contracts early (not surprised yet, that is), but some of the players entering the portal have surprised me. Topping that list is forward Sacha Boisvert, the first-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks who just completed his first season with North Dakota. Also interesting: there are a dozen (I think) players from Northern Michigan who have entered the portal. That many players from one team is a whole other column right there.
As we pack up TMQ for the season, Dan, what final thoughts do you have?
DAN: I suppose that it’s probably best to end the year on a high note because none of the complaining about ice conditions or transfer portals or NIL deals or anything related to on-ice or off-ice debates changes the 50,000-foot viewpoint of a sport. I’m prone to romanticizing sports a bit in my life, but I wholly believe in their ability to help escape from the dangers or downfalls associated with day-to-day activities.
I don’t mean anything hyperbolic about world events, either. I literally view college hockey with an escapist mentality after I sign out of work, and my conversations with people within the game take to the happy place in life (cue Happy Gilmore’s grandma hitting the slot machine with regularity). It’s still cool to get that feeling and transformation whenever I walk into an arena, and this year, especially, gave it to me because I knew I was likely seeing a hard-fought game between two teams. Even the coaches and players seemed to be in a much more fulfilled place within the sport.
I hope that’s something we can all hold in the aftermath of crowning a national champion. The offseason is going to bring us so much change – Mike Schafer, Brian Riley, Jeff Jackson and Bob Daniels, for starters – and we’re going to see new coaches and players in new spots. Some guys are heading right into the thick of Stanley Cup playoff races.
Whatever happens, I just hope we can all come back in October and share the joy of a new season. New high fives. New banners. New personnel. Same laundry. And the same people all coming back to the same arenas to share a beer (legally, of course), a hot dog or an order of nachos, and the best game on Earth.
And, with any luck, you and I can come back and do this all over again, as well.
Boston College’s Gabe Perreault looks for the shot while being defended by UMass Lowell’s Matt Crasa in a 6-1 win BC win on Feb. 2, 2024 (photo: Brody Hannon).
The NHL’s New York Rangers announced today that the team has agreed to terms with Boston College sophomore forward Gabe Perreault on a three-year, entry-level contract.
He will report to New York.
Perreault recorded 16 goals and 32 assists for 48 points in 37 games for Boston College this season. He ranked tied for fourth among NCAA skaters in assists, eighth in points per-game (1.30) and tied for 11th in points.
The Sherbrooke, Que., native was named a Hockey East first team all-star and named a nominee for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to NCAA’s top men’s hockey player.
In two seasons with the Eagles, Perreault collected 108 points (35 goals, 73 assists) in 73 games. Among all NCAA skaters over the last two seasons, Perreault ranked tied for second in assists and third in points. In his freshman season of 2023-24, he skated in 36 games, posting 19 goals and 41 assists for 60 points along with a plus-24 rating. He finished second among NCAA skaters in assists and tied for fourth in points.
For his efforts in 2023-24, Perreault was named an AHCA Second Team All-American, Hockey East second team all-star and a New England all-star.
Internationally, Perreault won gold medals at the 2024 and 2025 World Junior Championships with the United States.
Perreault was originally selected by the Rangers in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Damien Carfagna spent two seasons on the Buckeyes’ blue line (photo: Ohio State Athletics).
The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers have signed Ohio State junior defenseman Damien Carfagna to a two-year, entry-level contract beginning with the 2025-26 season.
Carfagna played in 72 games with OSU, recording nine goals with 25 assists. His seven goals over 38 games in 2024-25 were a team-high among Buckeyes defensemen, while his 21 assists and 28 points ranked second.
A native of Wood-Ridge, N.J., Carfagna began his NCAA career at New Hampshire in 2022-23, making 35 appearances as a freshman and tallying six goals with 10 assists.
Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com wrap up the 2024-25 NCAA women’s hockey season on this episode of the PodKaz.
Twelve different programs are represented on the All-USCHO Women’s Division I teams this year. Congratulations to all the players on their spectacular season
The Hobey Baker Award honors college hockey’s top player. Criteria for the award include displaying outstanding skills in all phases of the game, strength of character on and off the ice, sportsmanship, and scholastic achievements.
Beyond the stat line, O’Brien was the leader of her team this season. She was the steady voice that didn’t let her team get carried away as they were undefeated heading into 2025 or finished the regular season with one loss. She wasn’t the loudest voice in the room, but she was the one that commanded everyone’s repect and attention. She helped keep the locker room loose and having fun, but also committed to their goals.
One of the most prolific players internationally at the U18 level, Minnesota Duluth freshman Caitlin Kraemer entered the NCAA having set high standards for herself. She had a tournament-high ten goals in back-to-back U18 World Champinships and owns the all-time scoring record for Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team with 37 goals and 53 points in 32 games.
