By Nate Ewell

Denver enters this weekend’s meeting of the last two national champions at Minnesota Duluth at No. 7 nationally despite losing five players from last season to NHL contracts. An impressive freshman group has bolstered the Pioneers, as has a spike in production from leading scorer Liam Finlay (Kelowna, B.C./Vernon-BCHL). A junior, Finlay has a career-high 26 points after finishing ninth and eighth on the team in scoring in his first two seasons. At 5-foot-7, 154 pounds, the smallest Pioneer regular has come up big with 12 goals on the year. | Friday’s game is on CBSSN

Must Read/See/Hear Material

Sportsnet: Princeton’s Neil Doef
New Haven Register: Priskie taking care of unfinished business
The Rink Live: Schuldt is living in the moment with SCSU
Cronkite Sports: ASU hockey beginning to cash in during program-best season
Niagara Gazette: Mills brothers bring built-in chemistry to Niagara
The Gazette: Formerly pass-first, Bradley chipping in goals for CC
The Rink Live: Bold move makes Gophers’ power play among best in country
The Athletic: The next Karlsson? The next Hobey winner? Makar might be both
FloHockey: Makar stands out this season
Wisconsin State Journal: Physical game picks up for Emberson
Podcast: Drafting the Undrafted Free Agents

Five More Storylines No One Should be Without

Loggins a hit for NMU – Northern Michigan senior Troy Loggins (Huntington Beach, Calif./Sioux Falls-USHL) has goals in five of the last seven games and helped elevate the Wildcats to a tie for second in the WCHA standings. Loggins, who was one of the nation’s most improved players last season, has 73 points since the start of 2017-18 – tied with Minnesota State’s Marc Michaelis (Mannheim, Germany/Green Bay-USHL) for the most in the WCHA. Loggins was also at his best in the second half last year, posting 31 points in the last 23 games of the year. | Both weekend games are on FloHockey

Most Points, Last Two Seasons
89 – Taro Hirose, Michigan State
84 – Ryan Kuffner, Princeton
83 – Max Veronneau, Princeton
81 – Dylan McLaughlin, Canisius
78 – Odeen Tufto, Quinnipiac
76 – Mason Jobst, Ohio State
73 – Troy Loggins, Northern Michigan
73 – Marc Michaelis, Minnesota State

Dmowski gives Lowell experience, goals – UMass Lowell is surging at 9-0-1 in its last 10 after the No. 10 River Hawks were 8-8-1 on New Year’s Day. Ryan Dmowski (East Lyme, Conn./Des Moines-USHL) leads a group of only five seniors on a team that features 12 freshmen, tied for the most in the nation. Dmowski shares the team lead with 11 goals on the year, including seven in the last eight games – and four of those have been game-winners. The River Hawks face No. 13 Providence in a home-and-home series this weekend. | Saturday’s game is on NBC Sports Boston and streaming on TSN

Largest freshman classes:
12 – Connecticut, UMass Lowell, Niagara, Quinnipiac
11 – Denver, Robert Morris
10 – Alaska, Michigan, Michigan Tech, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence

Youth powers Notre Dame – Notre Dame enters a home series with Wisconsin after a win Tuesday in which two players scored their first goals for the Irish: sophomore Pierce Crawford (Park Ridge, Ill./Youngstown-USHL) and freshman Jake Pivonka (Naperville, Ill./U.S. NTDP/NYI). Another freshman, Michael Graham (Eden Prairie, Minn./Muskegon-USHL), added a goal to what has been a tremendous second half. Graham has eight goals in his last seven games and is averaging a point per game since Dec. 1, fifth among the nation’s freshmen in scoring in that time. | Both games are on NBCSN and streaming on TSN

Most Points, Freshmen, Since Dec. 1
19 – Joel Farabee, Boston University (PHI)
18 – Ludwig Stenlund, Niagara
17 – Cooper Zech, Ferris State
16 – Angus Crookshank, New Hampshire (OTT)
14 – Michael Graham, Notre Dame
14 – Austin Magera, Sacred Heart
14 – Dennis Cesana, Michigan State

Rookie goalies key in ECAC Hockey – Colgate and Rensselaer are jockeying for ECAC Hockey playoff position, currently tied for ninth in the standings, with both boasting an impressive freshman between the pipes. Mitch Benson (Windsor, Ont./Brooks-AJHL) has started 25 games for Colgate, the most of any rookie nationally, while RPI’s Owen Savory (Cambridge, Ont./St. Catharines-GOJHL) leads all rookies with a .933 save percentage despite not making his first start until Nov. 23. The two will face off next weekend, Feb. 23, at Colgate.

Holy Cross on a roll – Holy Cross is enjoying a 3-1-1 run entering a home series with Robert Morris, with 11 different Crusaders finding the back of the net in those five games. Seniors Michael Laffin (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./Jersey Hitmen-USPHL), Peter Crinella (East Longmeadow, Mass./Cathedral HS) and Spencer Trapp (White City, Sask./Notre Dame-SJHL) have led the balanced attack in that time. Laffin has points in six of Holy Cross’s seven wins on the year, including three game-winning goals.

NHL Note of the Week

Chris Kunitz is scheduled to become the sixth NCAA alumnus to reach the 1,000-career game milestone in the NHL this season on Thursday and the first former Ferris State Bulldog to reach that mark. Ferris State will become the 25th school to produce a 1,000-game NHLer. | NCAA Alumni with 1,000 NHL Games | NHL Matchup Tool

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

Five players have been named finalists for the 2019 Hockey Humanitarian Award … Bemidji State is yet to allow a power-play goal in 2019 (10 GP, 34 opportunities) … Seven Division I men’s games went to overtime Friday night; the most OTs in one night this season was eight and happened twice, on consecutive days (Nov. 30 and Dec. 1) … Arizona State plays its final home series of the year this weekend, against Atlantic Hockey-leading American International.