Thursday, November 7, 2024

Men’s Notes: Purple Eagles Lighting Red Lamps

Scoring Depth Has Niagara atop AHA Standings

Entering the second weekend of November, three teams in NCAA Division I men’s hockey have scored as many as 35 goals so far this season.

Two of them, Denver (41) and Minnesota (37), are not likely to come as a surprise to most college hockey observers. After all, defending NCAA champion DU returned more goals from last season than another other squad in the country, while the Golden Gopher roster features an NCAA-leading 16 NHL draft picks.

The third team? Atlantic Hockey-leading Niagara, which has found the net 36 times in nine games so far, an average of four per game that’s pacing well ahead of last year’s 2.85 average.

Six Purple Eagles have already tallied at least three goals. Fifteen different players have lit the lamp for Niagara so far, and 10 of those players boast multiple goals.

A look at the AHA leaderboard shows three Purple Eagles ranked among the league’s top four scorers (and four of the top five), including senior F Shane Ott (Centennial, Colo.) and his AHA-leading 14 points.

Freshman Trevor Hoskin (Belleville, Ontario), a fourth-round pick of the Calgary Flames last June, already has 11 points, four more than any other Atlantic Hockey rookie.

Niagara (4-3-2, 3-1-1 AHA), which has already seen overtime in five of nine games, travels to Army West Point this weekend for a two-game set with the Black Knights.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Must Read:

College Hockey News: Team of the Week: Cornell

EP Rinkside: What makes Denver tick?

EP Rinkside: The ECAC is off to its best start in years

MSUSpartans.com: Spartans Full Strength Returns Throughout November

NCHCHockey.com: 10-Year Sun (Devil) Rise: Arizona State’s NCHC Journey Begins Friday

Schenectady Daily Gazette: Union freshman forward Ben Muthersbaugh lets hot start speak for him

USCHO: Veteran leadership leading the way as fifth-year players taking charge at Bentley

USCHO: Providence off to hot start with pair of standouts between the pipes in Svedebäck, Borgiel

USCHO: Golden Gophers booming with confidence heading into Wisconsin series

Must Hear:

ECAC Hockey Decision Makers: Featuring Princeton head coach Ben Syer

Inside Atlantic Hockey: Featuring Holy Cross coach Bill Riga, Canisius F Matteo Giampa

Parting Schotts: Union coach Josh Hauge previews to-game series against Nanooks

Pucks in Deep: Featuring Michigan Tech’s Jack Works, Northern Michigan’s Jakob Peterson

The CCHA Show: Featuring Ferris State captain Travis Shoudy

USCHO Weekend Review: A weekend of big sweeps, fallout of anticipated CHL eligibility decision

Put to Shane:

A College Hockey Inc. stick salute to Cornell men’s hockey communications guru Marshall Haim for this note: after backstopping a Big Red sweep of No. 6/7 North Dakota last weekend, senior G Ian Shane (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) is now 12-3-0 in his last 15 appearances against opponents ranked sixth or higher in the national rankings.

That sample includes a 1.19 goals against average and .957 save percentage over more than 900 minutes of playing time.

Shane leads all active NCAA Division I men’s goaltenders in career GAA (1.71) and shutouts (11), and he ranks third in wins (51).

The Freel Deal:

With six goals in seven games this season, Maine F Thomas Freel (Jr., Aberdeen, Scotland) has already matched the career-high six goals he scored in 37 games last year as a sophomore. Additionally, all six of Freel’s tallies this season have come on the power play, making him the NCAA leader in that category.

The only active NCAA Division I men’s hockey player to hail from Scotland, Freel is coming off a five-point series (three goals, two assists) last weekend against Merrimack.

Tip of the Hat:

Bowling Green F Brody Waters (So., Heidelberg, Ontario) keyed Saturday’s 5-4 CCHA win over Ferris State, registering a hat trick with all three of his goals coming via the power play.

Coincidentally, the only other player in the country to have scored a power-play hat trick this season was also a Brody: Minnesota F Brody Lamb (Jr., Byron, Min.), who accomplished the feat in a 6-2 win over St. Thomas on Oct. 26.

Milestone Watch:

Providence graduate F Nick Poisson (Vancouver, British Columbia) enters the weekend with 99 career points, leaving him on the doorstop of becoming the seventh active NCAA Division I men’s player to reach the 100-point milestone:

Active NCAA Career Scoring Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	Pts
1.	Lukas Sillinger, Arizona State	127
2.	Jack Devine, Denver	122
3.	Carter Wilkie, North Dakota	114
4.	Lynden Breen, Maine	104
	Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Ohio State	104
6.	Ayrton Martino, Clarkson	100

Clarkson senior F Ayrton Martino (Toronto) became the most recent member of that exclusive club when he notched a pair of assists in Saturday’s 3-3 overtime tie with Alaska.

Fit to Print:

“Rather have two good ones than two bad ones.”

— Providence head coach Nate Leaman on his goaltending tandem of Zachary Borgiel (Gr., Fort Gratiot, Mich.) and Philip Svedebäck (Jr., Stockholm, Sweden), who have combined for a .925 save percentage (source: USCHO.com).

NHL Note of the Week:

Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes (Michigan, 2017-19) collected his 300th NHL assist in Tuesday’s win in Anaheim, becoming the fastest Canuck in franchise history to reach that milestone. He also became the third-fastest defenseman in NHL history to record 300 career helpers.

Hughes, the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman, was a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist as a sophomore at Michigan.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Brown (at Colgate) and Princeton (vs. Harvard) will play their regular-season openers on Friday, the final two of the nation’s 64 teams to make their 2024-25 debuts … Arizona State plays its first-ever NCAA Division I conference games this weekend when it opens NCHC play at Colorado College … Eighth-ranked CC is off to a 6-0-0 start for the first time since 2000-01 … Maine F Harrison Scott (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) had an NCAA-leading seven points (three goals, four assists) in two games last week. He’s now tied with Denver’s Aidan Thompson (Jr., Fort Collins, Colo.) for second in the national scoring race with 15 points, one point DU’s Jack Devine (Sr., Glencoe, Ill.) … Defending NCAA champion DU has won 17 consecutive games dating back to last season. The last loss for the Pioneers was a 4-3 setback at rival Colorado College on March 8 … Providence G Zachary Borgiel (Gr., Fort Gratiot, Mich.) stopped 43 shots in Saturday’s 3-0 win over New Hampshire, the most saves in a shutout by a Division I men’s goalie this season … Robert Morris freshman G Croix Kochendorfer (St. Paul, Minn.) earned his first collegiate shutout after stopping a season-high 37 shots in Friday’s 3-0 win over Lindenwood.

Longest Active Point Streaks:

8 games, F Jack Devine (Denver)
- 1-15—16, began Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage
8 games, F Carter King (Denver)
- 7-4—11, began Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage
8 games, F Cole O’Hara (UMass)
- 4-8—12, began Oct. 5 at Bentley
8 games, F Aidan Thompson (Denver)
- 6-9—15, began Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

4 games, F Owen Cole (UMass Lowell)
- 4-3—7, began Oct. 18 vs. Colgate
4 games, F Will Elger (Providence)
- 4-1—5, began Oct. 25 at Vermont
4 games, F Ryan Kirwan (Arizona State)
- 5-0—5, began Oct. 18 at Providence
4 games, F Cam Lund (Northeastern)
- 4-0—4, began Oct. 18 at Denver

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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