Thursday, October 3, 2024

Men’s Notes: Top Preseason Storylines

Puck Drops This Weekend in NCAA DI Hockey

October has arrived and it is finally time to drop the puck.

The 2024-25 NCAA Division I men’s hockey season gets underway in earnest this weekend, beginning with six regular-season games Friday and a full slate of action Saturday and Sunday.

Sixty-four teams begin the year with one ultimate goal: reaching the 2025 NCAA Frozen Four at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

Below are some of the top storylines to watch this season.

CHI Preseason Media Kit (.pdf) | National Polls

Poll Position:

Defending NCAA champion Denver, winner of two of the last three national championships, was ranked No. 1 in both the USCHO and USA Hockey/The Rink Live preseason polls. Last year’s national runner-up, Boston College, was ranked No. 2 in both polls. Preseason ECAC Hockey favorite Cornell was the only other school to receive first-place votes in either poll.

The Pioneers return more offense than any other team in the nation:

Most Returning Goals
Denver – 129
Michigan State – 102
Cornell – 101
Boston College – 98
Bentley – 87

Most Returning Points
Denver – 328
Boston College – 303
Michigan State – 278
Cornell – 266
New Hampshire – 252

Swan Songs:

A trio of legendary college head coaches announced during the summer that the 2024-25 season would be their final year behind the benches of their respective programs.

In mid-June, Cornell coach Mike Schafer announced his plans to retire following the upcoming season. A 1986 graduate of Cornell, Schafer has guided his alma mater to 542 wins across 29 seasons, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament on 14 occasions. Longtime Clarkson head coach Casey Jones, Schafer’s collegiate teammate, was named associate head coach will take the reins of the Big Red following the 2024-25 campaign.
Less than two weeks later, Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson also announced his impending retirement. Jackson, who leads all active NCAA Division I men’s hockey coaches with 589 career wins, will hand over the program to associate head coach Brock Sheahan after the season. Jackson has guided the Fighting Irish for 19 seasons following a six-year run at Lake Superior State, where he led the Lakers to NCAA titles in 1992 and 1994.
Then in August, Army coach Brian Riley announced he would step down following his 21st season in West Point, thus bringing to an end a legendary era for the Riley family and Army hockey. Brian took over the reins from his brother Rob, who coached Army from 1986-2004. Prior to that, their father Jack had helmed the program since 1951. When associate head coach Zach McKelvie takes over in 2025-26, it will officially mark the end of 75 consecutive years of the Riley family leading Army hockey.

Meet the New Boss:

At the other end of the coaching spectrum, seven men’s programs welcome new head coaches in 2024-25: Bowling Green (Dennis Williams), Clarkson (JF Houle), Lindenwood (Bill Muckalt), Miami (Anthony Noreen), Northern Michigan (Dave Shyiak), Princeton (Ben Syer) and Stonehill (David Berard).

All but Shyiak and Berard are first-time Division I head coaches. Shyiak led Alaska Anchorage from 2005-13 after a decade as an assistant at NMU, while Berard was the head coach at Holy Cross from 2014-21.

Century Club:

Four players enter the season with 100-plus career points, although they could soon be joined by several other skaters:

Career Scoring Leaders (active)
130 points – Lukas Sillinger, Arizona State
101 points – Carter Wilkie, North Dakota
106 points – Jack Devine, Denver
102 points – Lynden Breen, Maine
97 points – Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Ohio State
94 points – Ayrton Martino, Clarkson
93 points – Nick Poisson, Providence
87 points – Jack Ricketts, Quinnipiac
84 points – Four players tied

Behind the Benches:

After nine seasons competing as an NCAA Division I independent, Arizona State joins the NCHC as a full conference member in 2024-25. The Sun Devils are coming off a program-best 24-win season, their third 20-win campaign since 2018-19.

Key returnees include fifth-year F Lukas Sillinger (Regina, Saskatchewan), who leads all active Division I men’s players with 130 career points, and junior G Gibson Homer (Grand Rapids, Mich.), whose .931 save percentage last season tops all returning Division I goaltenders.

Feeling a Draft:

College hockey rosters will feature 232 NHL draft picks in 2024-25 with 40 different schools rostering at least one NHL draft pick this season.

Most Draft Picks Playing NCAA Hockey
16 – Minnesota
13 – Boston University, Denver, North Dakota
12 – Boston College, Harvard
11 – Providence
10 – Minnesota Duluth

College hockey player development has resulted in record numbers of NCAA alumni playing in the NHL in recent years, including 326 in 2023-24. Additionally, 15 of the NHL’s 32 current general managers played college hockey, as did 13 of the league’s 32 head coaches.

Young Terrier Pups:

Boston University freshman D Sascha Boumedienne (Stockholm, Sweden), who won’t turn 18 until January 17, is the youngest player in NCAA Division I men’s hockey in 2024-25.

It marks the second straight season BU has rostered the nation’s youngest player after last year’s eventual Hobey Baker Award winner, Macklin Celebrini, spent his entire freshman year as a 17-year-old. Celebrini was later chosen No. 1 overall by San Jose in the 2025 NHL Draft.

For more storylines, click HERE for the 2024-25 College Hockey Inc. Preseason Media Kit.

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