Thursday, October 10, 2024

Men’s Notes: Opening Weekend Sign of Things to Come?

Close Battles, OT Road Wins Highlight First Week

If the first weekend of the regular season was any indication, college hockey fans are in for another memorable ride in 2024-25.

More than half of the 27 games on last week’s slate – 16 of them, to be precise – were decided by two goals or fewer. Ten of those contests needed to be settled in overtime, beginning with Michigan State’s 2-1 road victory at Lake Superior State.

Interestingly, visiting teams went 5-3-2 in overtime for the week. Besides the Spartans, Bemidji State (at Minnesota Duluth), Bowling Green (at Mercyhurst), Penn State (at Alaska) and Stonehill (at Merrimack) also earned road wins in the extra session.

NCAA Division I men’s hockey is enjoying an era of unprecedented parity, with 35 of the nation’s current 64 Division I programs having reached the NCAA Tournament over the last five years. Judging by last weekend’s results, that unpredictability isn’t going away anytime soon.

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Must Read:

Bangor Daily News: UMaine hockey team displays depth in impressive debut

Boston Globe: For BU men’s hockey, freshman orientation comes quickly in win over Holy Cross

College Hockey News: This Week in College Hockey: CHL Decision Looms Large

College Hockey News: Mar-quis moment

Denver Post: Zeev Buium and DU Pioneers want back-to-back championships

Duluth News Tribune: Gallatin quietly breaking out for Bulldogs on blue line

EP Rinkside: Michael Hage, Isaac Howard shine on NCAA opening weekend

Grand Forks Herald: UND alum Morton leans on experience in Grand Forks to build Augustana hockey

New England Hockey Journal: How a new wave of freshmen is electrifying the Battle of Comm. Ave

St. Cloud Live: SCSU center Ryan Rosborough’s patience, hard work doesn’t go unnoticed

USCHO: Ohio State full of optimism as ’24-25 season arrives

USCHO: Air Force loses opener to Arizona State, rebounds with ‘magical’ game to split with Sun Devils

Must Hear:

Bulldog Insider: Plante brothers are teammates, roommates again

CHN Insiders: A New Season

College Hockey Today: May You Live in Interesting Times

Inside Atlantic Hockey: AHA Commissioner Michelle Morgan

Parting Schotts: Union coach Hauge reviews opening weekend, previews Stonehill, BU games

The CCHA Show: Featuring BGSU head coach Dennis Williams, Ferris State D Trevor Taulien

The Pipeline Show: Talking Big Ten with Todd Milewski, Hockey East with Jimmy Connelly

UND Hockey Podcast: What’s next with the CHL and UND hockey?

USCHO Spotlight: ASU’s Powers talks Sun Devils, CHL eligibility, roster sizes, series with Michigan

USCHO Weekend Review: Talking CHL eligibility, roster sizes, first weekend

Breaking the Ice:

Las Vegas will be the site of the 2024 Ice Breaker Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Orleans Arena.

Minnesota is the host institution in a tourney field at also includes Air Force, UMass and Omaha. Friday’s matchups feature the Golden Gophers against the Falcons, and the Minutemen clashing with the Mavericks.

Saturday’s matchups will be determined by the outcome of Friday’s games.

The Ice Breaker Tournament, which began in 1997, traditionally marks the unofficial beginning of the NCAA Division I men’s hockey season. The event brings together four teams, typically from different conferences, and is administered by College Hockey Inc. on behalf of the Hockey Commissioners Association.

Minnesota is the host school for the fourth time in Ice Breaker history. Click HERE for more information and previous Ice Breaker champions.

Early Returns:

It was a successful opening weekend for first-year head coaches making their respective debuts.

Of the seven new bench bosses in 2024-25, four of them coached in their opening regular-season games last weekend. That quartet went a combined 4-2-2 (.625). Three of them won on opening night: Bowling Green’s Dennis Williams (at Mercyhurst), Clarkson’s J.F. Houle (vs. Canisius), and Stonehill’s David Berard (at Merrimack).

Meanwhile, Anthony Noreen’s Miami squad skated to the first of its two overtime ties, battling host Ferris State to a pair of deadlocks.

Two other first-year head coaches will debut Friday – Lindenwood’s Bill Muckalt (at Wisconsin) and Northern Michigan’s Dave Shyiak (at Colorado College). Princeton plays its first game under Ben Syer on Nov. 8 versus Harvard.

Fit to Print:

“That was magical. This was one of the most remarkable examples of perseverance that I have ever seen. They pounded us last night and then tonight we get down 2-0 in the first five minutes, but our boys stuck with it. That might be the greatest bounce back win in Air Force hockey history. I’m so proud of the boys for sticking with it when things looked really dark. This was special. Anyone that was in the rink tonight will never forget this one.”

— Air Force head coach Frank Serratore on Saturday’s 4-3 win over No. 20 Arizona State, one night after the Falcons had dropped an 8-1 decision to the Sun Devils (source: GoAirForceFalcons.com).

NHL Note of the Week:

When the NHL unveiled its opening-night rosters Tuesday, there were 240 former college hockey players dotting the league’s 32 rosters. That was up from last season, when there were 234 NCAA alumni on NHL Opening Night rosters.

Forty-four of the current 64 NCAA Division I men’s programs had at least one former player on an NHL roster. To keep track of all NCAA connections with NHL franchises, visit the College Hockey Inc. NHL Matchup Tool.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

AIC’s non-conference tilt at Ohio State on Friday will be the 2,000th varsity game in Yellow Jackets history … Ohio State graduate forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine (East Greenwich, R.I.) enters this weekend’s series against AIC just three points away from 100 for his NCAA career. The Northeastern transfer is looking to become the fifth active NCAA Division I men’s skater to reach that milestone … Denver opened its NCAA title defense with a 6-2 win Saturday at Alaska Anchorage, with four of the six Pioneer goals coming on the power play.

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 93% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players earn their degree!