Thursday, January 9, 2025

Men’s Notes: Augustana Riding High Behind Workhorse Kotai

Vikings Coming Off Road Sweep at Colorado College

In just its second year of existence, the Augustana University men’s hockey program is already making plenty of noise on the national scene.

The Vikings earned their first-ever wins over a top-10 opponent last weekend, picking up a stunning road sweep at eighth-ranked Colorado College to close out a six-game road stretch. That helped vault Augustana into the top 20 in the PairWise Rankings at number 19.

A central figure – arguably the central figure – in the CC series was Augustana sophomore G Josh Kotai (Abbotsford, British Columbia), who stymied the Tigers with a .961 save percentage over two games.

That Kotai and the Vikings were razor-sharp was nothing new. After all, it’s been that way since just prior to Thanksgiving. Beginning with a 4-1 win over CCHA foe Ferris State on November 23, Augustana has rattled off a 7-1-1 run with the best team save percentage (.950) in the entire country. Kotai started eight of those nine games, holding opponents to two goals or fewer every time out. Freshman Christian Manz (Blaine, Minn.) started the other, earning a 3-2 win at Alaska Anchorage in mid-December.

Augustana is now 12-7-1 (.625) overall – only Minnesota State (.717) owns a better win percentage among CCHA teams – heading into an open week in the schedule. The Vikings will return to the ice January 17-18 against Lindenwood at Midco Arena, the home barn surely a welcome sight for a Vikings squad that played 14 of its first 20 games on the road.

The Vikings will also welcome back head coach Garrett Raboin (St. Cloud State ’10), who recently won a gold medal as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.

College hockey’s newest program is playing like anything but, making for a promising second half of the season for fans in Sioux Falls.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Must Read:

Badger Extra: Wisconsin hockey teams try to leave Wrigley Field with a smile, results aside

Bangor Daily News: UMaine’s series against men’s hockey royalty exceeded expectations

Boston Globe: Hockey East players dominated for Team USA, and other thoughts on the World Juniors

College Hockey News: After 4 years out of the NCAAs, Providence has made move towards top of PWR

College Hockey News: Arizona State keeps the good times rolling

EP Rinkside: How Capitals prospect Cole Hutson is developing into a top-end playmaker

Grand Forks Herald: Jake Livinavage’s brother was Arizona State’s first star hockey player

Grand Forks Herald: The NoDak Sens have arrived for Ottawa

Lansing State Journal: MSU goalie Di Pasquo thrives in limited chances behind one of nation’s best

NHL.com: Calder Tracker: Celebrini favorite at halfway point

St. Cloud Live: SCSU’s Adam Ingra, finds relief in ending scoring drought

The State News: ‘It was a dream’: MSU hockey completes overtime victory in historic outdoor game

USCHO: WMU veteran Rowe putting up solid numbers while being challenged by freshman Slukynsky

USCHO: St. Lawrence looking to lean on Kucenski as second half bringing renewed optimism to Saints

Must Hear:

CHN Insiders: Catching up

Parting Schotts: Hauge looks back at successful Yale-Brown weekend, looks ahead to North Country trip

The CCHA Show: Breaking down the week in CCHA action, plus looking ahead to the home stretch

UND Hockey Podcast: The second half begins

USCHO Weekend Review: Back-to-back gold for USA, B1G outdoors, a few upsets, in-season tourneys

Must Watch:

Decision Makers: Featuring Dartmouth head coach Reid Cashman

The Graeme Roustan Show: Featuring College Hockey Inc. executive director Sean Hogan

Rank and File:

With the calendar having flipped to a new year, increased attention will be given to the all-important PairWise rankings. This weekend’s slate includes several matchups between teams inside the top 25:

#4 Minnesota at #10 Ohio State (Friday, Saturday)
#6 Maine at #8 UMass Lowell (Friday, Saturday)
#11 New Hampshire vs. #15 UConn* (Friday, Saturday)
#16 Arizona State vs. #20 North Dakota (Friday, Saturday)
#22 UMass vs. #23 Northeastern* (Friday, Saturday)

* – indicates home-and-home series

Cool-Aid:

Ohio State D Aiden Hansen–Bukata (Gr., Delta, British Columbia) is on the verge of becoming the first active NCAA Division I defenseman to reach 100 career points.

Hansen-Bukata, who is riding a six-game point streak, enters this weekend’s series against Big Ten co-leader Minnesota with 97 career points. He is bidding to join a 100-point club that currently features 10 skaters, all of whom are forwards.

Active NCAA Career Scoring Leaders (Defensemen)
Rk.	Player, School	Pts
1.	Aiden Hansen-Bukata, Ohio State	97
2.	Eamon Powell, Boston College	90
3.	Nick Anderson, UMass Lowell	87
4.	Tim Lovell, Michigan	81
5.	Mike Koster, Minnesota	76

A fifth-year transfer from RIT, Hansen-Bukata has logged 19 points in 20 games this season and leads the Buckeyes with 18 assists.

Bentley Benchmark:

When Bentley skated to a 4-2 win at No. 4 Maine on Dec. 29, it marked the first win in program history against a top-five opponent. Junior G Connor Hasley (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) made a career-high 43 saves for the Falcons.

Despite following that win with a pair of close Atlantic Hockey losses at Niagara last weekend, Bentley is just five points back of league-leader Sacred Heart with four games in hand.

Steamin’ Stiven:

Since the start of December, no player in men’s college hockey has scored more points than Michigan Tech junior F Steven Sardarian (Saint Petersburg, Russia).

The transfer from New Hampshire has racked up 12 assists and 14 points in eight contests during that time, including a five-point outburst Dec. 14 at Bemidji State and three-point efforts against Northern Michigan (Dec. 30) and Holy Cross (Jan. 4).

Sardarian now has nine goals and 26 points – both career highs – in 20 games this season and is tied for fifth in the NCAA scoring race.

Fit to Print:

“That was like a dream. That’s one you’re never ever going to forget. It was amazing, unforgettable.”

— Michigan State F Daniel Russell (Jr., Traverse City, Mich.) after scoring the game-winning goal in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime victory over Wisconsin at Wrigley Field (source: The State News).

NHL Note of the Week:

Former UMass Lowell standout and current Winnipeg Jets G Connor Hellebuyck (2012-14) earned his 300th NHL victory Tuesday night against Nashville, stopping 26 shots in a 3-2 win.

According to NHL.com, Hellebuyck became the fastest U.S.-born netminder in NHL history to reach that milestone, doing so in his 538th career appearance, and the league’s third-fastest overall to do it.

A two-time Vezina Trophy recipient as the NHL’s top goalie, Hellebuyck was the Hockey East Goaltender of the Year as a freshman and the inaugural Mike Richter Award winner as a sophomore.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

A six-game point streak has helped Wisconsin sophomore F Quinn Finley (Suamico, Wis.) overtake the national lead in both points (29) and goals (13) … Northeastern F Jack Williams (Jr., Biddeford, Maine) was plus-5 in the Huskies’ 5-1 win over Quinnipiac on Jan. 4, tying him for the best single-game plus/minus in the country this season … Brown F Max Scott (So., San Jose, Calif.) won 22 faceoffs in a Jan. 4 loss to RPI, tying this year’s single-game NCAA high. Scott won 56.4 percent (22-17) of his draws in that 4-3 defeat … Michigan State’s overtime victory over Wisconsin on Saturday at Wrigley Field was the program’s 1,400th victory. The Spartans became the ninth NCAA Division I men’s hockey program to reach that milestone.

Longest Active NCAA Point Streaks:

12 games, F Brett Chorske (Colgate)
- 9-5—14, began Oct. 25 at RIT
11 games, F Ryan Conmy (New Hampshire)
- 6-8—14, began Nov. 9 vs. LIU
8 games, F Danny Nelson (Notre Dame)
- 5-4—9, began Nov. 15 at Michigan State
8 games, F Max Strand (Vermont)
- 5-5—10, began Nov. 24 at UMass
8 games, F Logan Will (Providence)
- 3-6—9, began Nov. 23 vs. LIU
7 games, F Isaac Howard (Michigan State)

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

5 games, F Isaac Howard (Michigan State)
- 6-3—9, began Dec. 14 at Minnesota
3 games, Eight players tied

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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