Thursday, November 30, 2023

Men’s Notes: Top-Three Clash on Tap for DU, NoDak

AIC’s Wallstrom Keying Yellow Jackets; Youth Served at BC

Two of the hottest teams in college hockey will square off in a top-three matchup this weekend when No. 3 Denver hosts No. 2 North Dakota at Magness Arena, a series that features a combined 23 NHL draft picks between the two rosters.

North Dakota enters the series on a seven-game winning streak that is the longest in the country. Denver, meanwhile, enjoyed a 6-2-0 month of November while averaging more than six goals in those eight contests.

The DU offense is highlighted by junior forwards Massimo Rizzo (Burnaby, British Columbia) and Jack Devine (Glencoe, Ill.), who rank 1-2 in the NCAA scoring race with 25 and 24 points, respectively. Devine has also scored a nation’s best 13 goals in DU’s 14 games.

Rizzo, Devine and the Pioneers will be tested by a Fighting Hawks squad that ranks second in the nation defensively, yielding just 1.93 goals per game behind senior G Ludvig Persson (Hindås, Sweden), who has lost just twice in 14 starts while posting a .924 save percentage.

Most importantly for these two teams? Conference points are at stake. While St. Cloud State leads the NCHC standings with 18 points, both UND (12 points) and DU (nine) have two games in hand on the idle Huskies.

Visit the links below for this week’s complete NCAA Division I men’s hockey schedule.

Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

NCAA Hockey on TSN:

College hockey fans in Canada can watch 24 NCAA hockey games on TSN during the month of December, including 15 men’s matchups. Thirteen of those games will be available for live streaming through TSN+, with two others airing on the network’s national television feeds. Click HERE to see the complete December schedule.

Brick Wall-strom:

AIC freshman G Nils Wallstrom (Skellefteå, Sweden) appeared in all eight November games for the Yellow Jackets and held opponents to two goals or fewer in all eight. Wallstrom is now 7-5-0 through 12 starts this season, posting a 2.12 goals against average and .924 save percentage. His .950 save percentage during conference play leads Atlantic Hockey.

Young Blood:

Boston College, the youngest team in the nation in 2023-24, hasn’t needed much of an acclimation period through the season’s first two months.

The top-ranked Eagles are off to a blistering 11-2-1 start, the team’s top six scorers are underclassmen, and freshman G Jacob Fowler (Melbourne, Fla.) has started all 14 of the Eagles’ games. He’s tied for the national lead in winning percentage (.821), while slotting third nationally in save percentage (.931), fifth in minutes played (849:54) and eighth in GAA (1.98).

He’s supported by one of the most dynamic lines in college hockey, BC’s all-freshman trio of Gabe Perreault (Sherbrooke, Que.), Will Smith (Lexington, Mass.) and Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.), which has combined for 55 points through 14 games. All three were first-round picks in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Grizzled sophomore Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is tied for second in the NCAA with a team-leading 12 goals.

The Eagles will face Hockey East rival Northeastern in a home-and-home series Friday and Saturday.

Fit to Print:

“It’s a tough place for teams to come in and play. We wanted to create an incredible home-ice advantage and atmosphere and make this a hockey school, and we’re well on our way to it. With nights like tonight, we’re getting there.”

— Arizona State head coach Greg Powers after the Sun Devils improved to 10-1-0 at home with a 4-3 OT win over No. 9 Providence on Friday (source: TheSunDevils.com)

NHL Note of the Week:

Entering Thursday night’s games, a former college hockey player led the NHL in goals (Brock Boeser/North Dakota), assists (Cale Makar/UMass), defenseman scoring (Quinn Hughes/Michigan), defenseman goals (Hughes), plus/minus (Makar), game-winning goals (Kyle Connor/Michigan), short-handed goals (Logan O’Connor/Denver), save percentage (Charlie Lindgren/St. Cloud State), and rookie assists (Luke Hughes/Michigan, Logan Cooley/Minnesota).

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

New Hampshire (7-3-1, 4-1-1 Hockey East) is off to its best start in 11 years … Denver G Freddie Halyk (Fr., Cochrane, Alberta) registered back-to-back shutouts in last weekend’s sweep of Yale … Bemidji State’s Kyle Looft (Gr., Mankato, Minn.) played in his 151st career game Saturday, the most-ever by a BSU defenseman … Omaha analyst Terry Leahy was honored Friday in recognition of his 1,000th UNO game in the broadcast booth … Robert Morris G Chad Veltri (Gr., Fox Chapel, Pa.) moved into Atlantic Hockey’s top 10 for career saves on Friday night … The next point for Minnesota graduate F Bryce Brodzinski (Blaine, Minn.) will be the 100th of his career. Brodzinski, who leads all active NCAA Division I men’s players with 54 career goals, would become the sixth active skater to reach the 100-point milestone.

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 92% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players earn their degree!