Thursday, December 12, 2024

Men’s Notes: Ranked 1-2, Gophers and Spartans Ready to Rumble

Big Ten Battle Highlights Final Weekend Before Holiday Break

While several NCAA Division I men’s hockey teams have begun their holiday breaks, this weekend will be anything but for Minnesota and Michigan State.

Ranked 1 and 2, respectively, in this week’s national polls, the Golden Gophers will host the Spartans in a marquee Big Ten showdown at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Minnesota (15-2-1, 8-0-0) has yet to lose in conference play; Michigan State (12-2-0, 5-1-0) has lost only one conference game.

Conference rivalry aside, it’s also a remarkably compelling matchup on paper. Both teams sit within the top four of the PairWise rankings, and both rank in the top five nationally in scoring offense, scoring defense and shots on goal per game.

The Gophers are fresh off a pair of shutout victories over Michigan last weekend, with Nathan Airey (So., Cochrane, Alberta) and Liam Souliere (Gr., Brampton, Ontario) each providing a clean sheet. Airey’s shutout was the first of his NCAA career, and he helped the Gophers notch back-to-back shutouts of the Wolverines for the first time since 1943.

In front of the goaltenders, eight players have already scored five-plus goals, including Sam Rinzel (So., Chanhassen, Minn.), the nation’s top-scoring defenseman.

Michigan State, meanwhile, is coming off a conference split at Wisconsin, bouncing back from Friday’s 4-0 loss – its first Big Ten defeat of the season – with a 3-2 overtime victory Saturday. Wisconsin native Isaac Howard (Jr., Hudson, Wis.) scored the winner in that one, his team-leading 17th point of the year, and is already just one goal shy of matching the career-best eight he scored a year ago.

You won’t find any Spartans in the top 20 national scoring leaders, but you will find a deep, balanced roster that receives contributions from everywhere. In fact, 19 of the 22 skaters who’ve suited up for at least one game this year have found the scoresheet.

And of course, between the pipes resides sophomore standout Trey Augustine (South Lyon, Mich.), who has started 12 of the team’s 14 games, winning 10 of them, while logging a 1.83 goals against average and .934 save percentage.

Friday’s game can be seen on the Big Ten Network. Saturday’s rematch will be streamed live on B1G+.

The two other top 20 matchups this weekend reside in the NCHC, where No. 4 Denver takes on No. 11 Colorado College in a home-and-home series, and No. 9 St. Cloud State visits No. 18 North Dakota.

Rankings according to USA Hockey/The Rink Live national poll (Dec. 9)

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Must Read:

Boston Globe: Banged up Boston College shows off its versatility in Monday’s win over UMass Lowell

College Hockey News: Wood fully clicking again in new home

College Hockey News: Team of the Week: Minnesota

Duluth News Tribune: Plante, Kleber look to take next step at World Juniors

Duluth News Tribune: Wellens travel journal: Where does Arizona State rank among NCHC road trips?

EP Rinkside: Halfway through the college season, James Hagens is building momentum

EP Rinkside: Dartmouth off to hot start as NCAA’s biggest surprise

Grand Forks Herald: Get to know UND junior forward Dylan James

St. Cloud Live: SCSU’s Gavin Enright brings a new mental approach into his 5th season of college hockey

USCHO: Colgate players ‘understand the gravity of the moment,’ looking to continue recent surge

USCHO: After back-to-back shutouts over Michigan, Minnesota finding goalie rotation key to success

USCHO: Healthy UMass Lowell squad, ‘a totally new team,’ turns in monster first half of 2024-25 season

Must Hear:

Bulldog Insider: The ‘insiders’ break down first half of 2024-25

CHN Insiders: Featuring broadcaster and former Golden Gopher Pat Micheletti

College Hockey Today: Talking conference leaders, advanced stats, NCHC rookie snipers, and more

Hockey on Campus: Featuring Providence coach Nate Leaman, BU sophomore F Shane Lachance

Parting Schotts: Union coach Hauge reviews Princeton-Quinnipiac weekend, previews Vermont games

The CCHA Show: Featuring Minnesota State captain Josh Groll

UND Hockey Podcast: A sweep in Oxford

USCHO Weekend Review: No. 1 Michigan State splits, Minnesota sweeps, proper roster sizes

Must Watch:

ECAC Hockey: Decision Makers: Featuring Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold

Polls Apart:

As college hockey heads toward its unofficial midway point of the season, it’s interesting to look at the conference standings.

In five of the six conferences, the standings are topped solely by teams that were not predicted to finish first in their respective preseason polls. In the sixth, Atlantic Hockey, preseason favorite Sacred Heart shares first place with Bentley, which was tabbed to finish fifth:

Conference Leader (Preseason)
Atlantic Hockey – Bentley (5th) & Sacred Heart (1st)
Big Ten – Minnesota (2nd)
CCHA – Minnesota State (4th)
ECAC Hockey – Colgate (5th)
Hockey East – Maine (4th)
NCHC – Western Michigan (6th)

College Hockey Goes to Washington:

Penn State and Army West Point will face off Thursday at Capital One Arena, home of the NHL’s Washington Capitals. The game is in the nightcap in the first-ever Capital Hockey Classic, a college hockey doubleheader that also includes a matchup between Army and Navy’s club hockey teams.

The tilt between Penn State and Army will mark the third NCAA Division I men’s hockey game played at an NHL venue this season. Minnesota and St. Thomas met at Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center on Oct. 26, while Quinnipiac and Cornell squared off at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Nov. 30.

Power Surge:

Since the start of November, St. Thomas owns the nation’s best power play at 35.9 percent, converting on 14 of 39 opportunities with the man advantage during that stretch. That narrowly edges out Denver (35.5) and LIU (35.0).

Five other teams are also clicking at 30 percent or better since Nov. 1: Maine (33.3), Colgate (30.8), Canisius (30.0), Lake Superior State (30.0), and UMass (30.0).

BC PK A-OK:

Boston College nearly made it through the entire first half of the season without allowing a single power-play goal.

After a 5-for-5 showing by its penalty-killing units in Friday’s 3-3 overtime tie at UMass Lowell, the Eagles were an incredible 38-for-38 on the season. That streak finally came to an end in Monday’s rematch with the River Hawks, when freshman Mirko Buttazzoni (Langley, British Columbia) found the net on UMass Lowell’s second power play of the game.

Now 38 for 39 (97.6%) on the year, BC goes into its holiday break leading the NCAA in penalty killing. St. Lawrence ranks second at 92.0 percent.

Fit to Print:

“Kind of the way I look at hockey is, one-timers are an amazing thing.”

— Minnesota State F Rhett Pitlick (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) after his overtime one-timer gave the Mavericks a 3-2 win over CCHA foe Bowling Green on Saturday (source: MSUMavericks.com).

NHL Note of the Week:

Former Boston University captain Kevin Shattenkirk (2007-10) announced his retirement Tuesday after a 14-year NHL career.

The 14th overall pick by Colorado in 2007, Shattenkirk spent three years with the Terriers and was an All-America defenseman on BU’s NCAA championship team in 2008-09. The following season, he was tabbed as team captain as a junior.

Shattenkirk went on to play in 952 regular-season NHL games (plus 91 playoff contests) with Colorado, St. Louis, Washington, the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, and Boston. He represented the Blues in the 2014-15 NHL All-Star Game and won the Stanley Cup in 2019-20 with the Lightning.

Shattenkirk also represented the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

BC has won 18 straight home games dating back to last season, tying the school record set over the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons … Colgate senior F Brett Chorske (Edina, Minn.) owns the longest active point streak in the country at 12 consecutive games. He hasn’t been held off the scoresheet since Oct. 19 and has notched at least one point in 15 of his 18 games this year … Aidan Thompson’s (Jr., Fort Collins, Colo.) season-opening 14-game point streak was snapped in Denver’s 3-2 loss at Western Michigan last Friday … Minnesota State junior D Campbell Cichosz (Albert Lea, Minn.) blocked nine shots in the Mavericks’ OT win at Bowling Green Saturday, tying LIU’s Valtteri Piironen (Nov. 23) for the most in an NCAA Division I men’s game this season. Cichosz also scored his first goal of the season in that 3-2 victory … Minnesota sophomore G Nathan Airey (Cochrane, Alberta) locked down his first NCAA shutout in the Golden Gophers’ 6-0 win over Michigan on Friday. Airey improved to 9-0-1 on the season with a 1.99 goals against average and .918 save percentage … Wisconsin G Tommy Scarfone (Sr., L’Île-Bizard, Que.) made his 100th career start Friday and came through with a 26-save shutout against top-ranked Michigan State, his first shutout as a Badger.

Longest Active NCAA Point Streaks:

12 games, F Brett Chorske (Colgate)
- 9-5—14, began Oct. 25 at RIT
9 games, D CJ Foley (Dartmouth)
- 3-10—13, began Nov. 3 vs. Stonehill
8 games, F Tyler Fukakusa (RIT)
- 4-8—12, began Nov. 16 vs. Army
8 games, F Connor Milburn (Lake Superior State)

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

3 games, F Mirko Buttazzoni (UMass Lowell)
- 4-1—5, began Nov. 30 vs. Clarkson
3 games, F Cameron Garvey (Robert Morris)
- 3-1—4, began Nov. 30 vs. AIC
3 games, F Cam Lund (Northeastern)
- 3-4—7, began Dec. 1 vs. Bentley
3 games, F Josh Nadeau (Maine)
- 3-2—5, began Dec. 1 at RPI

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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