Thursday, January 30, 2025

Men’s Notes: Niagara’s Hoskin Pacing Nation’s Freshmen

Calgary Flames Draft Pick Riding 7-Game Point Streak

Men’s Notes: Niagara’s Hoskins Pacing Nation’s Freshmen — Hoskin leads NCAA freshmen in points per game (Photo: Niagara Athletics).

There are plenty of freshmen who entered college hockey in 2024-25 with perhaps more fanfare, but Niagara rookie forward Trevor Hoskin has been as productive as any first-year player in the country.

A Belleville, Ontario, native, Hoskin native leads his Purple Eagles in scoring with 29 points in 26 games, making him one of only four freshmen in the nation averaging better than a point per game. The others are Michigan’s Michael Hage (1.09), Boston College’s James Hagens (1.09) and Wisconsin’s Gavin Morrisey (1.08).

Hoskin has found a new gear in recent weeks, exploding for nine points over his last three outings – all Niagara victories – while putting together a seven-game point streak, his second of the season.

Last weekend, the Calgary Flames fourth-rounder had three points each night in an Atlantic Hockey road sweep of RIT, vaulting him to the top of the national rookie scoring race:

NCAA Freshman Scoring Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	Pts
1.	Trevor Hoskin, Niagara	29
2.	Gavin Morrisey, Wisconsin	28
3.	Michael Hage, Michigan	25
	James Hagens, Boston College	25
5.	Ben Muthersbaugh, Union	22

Thanks in part to Hoskin’s scoring exploits, Niagara is right in the middle of the Atlantic Hockey championship race, trailing league-leading Sacred Heart by just three points with a game in hand.

Hoskin and the Purple Eagles, who are chasing the school’s first AHA regular-season title since 2012-13, will host SHU this weekend at Dwyer Arena.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Must Read:

College Hockey News: UConn’s Connecticut Ice success a postseason ‘dress rehearsal’

College Hockey News: Michigan State’s Russell not afraid to get his hands dirty, on and off the ice

College Hockey News: Team of the Week: Omaha

College Hockey News: Bob Daniels’ retirement ends incredible career in Big Rapids

Daily Faceoff: Top 10 NHL prospects standing out in the NCAA

FloHockey: Minnesota State is back on top in the CCHA

Grand Forks Herald: What to know about the NCHC as the stretch run arrives

USCHO: Improving Harvard squad aiming for more ways to ‘close out games on our toes’

USCHO: Augustana being led between pipes by Kotai, who says ‘emphasis and intensity’ winning games

USCHO: Arizona State taking lessons from each game even though Sun Devils ‘know we’re really good’

Must Hear:

College Hockey Today: Here come the Huskies

Inside Atlantic Hockey: Featuring Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin, F Steven Agriogianis

Parting Schotts: Hauge reviews Mayor’s Cup win, looks ahead to Yale, Brown

Reporter’s Corner: Featuring Northern Michigan sophomore D Tynan Ewart

The CCHA Show: Breaking down the action from the week that was, plus looking ahead

The Pipeline Show: USCHO’s Jimmy Connelly gives some history and tees up the Beanpot Tournament

USCHO Weekend Review: Boston College, Michigan State open up room at the top, other notables

Stingy CCHA Stoppers:

The week begins with a pair of CCHA netminders, Augustana’s Josh Kotai (So., Abbotsford British Columbia) and Bowling Green’s Christian Stoever (Sr., Northville, Mich.), sitting 1-2 in the national save percentage rankings and both are taking aim at rarified NCAA air:

Single-Season NCAA Save Percentage Leaders
Rk.	Player, School (Year)	SV%
1.	Jimmy Howard, Maine (2003-04)	.956
2.	Devon Levi, Northeastern (2021-22)	.952
3.	Connor Hellebuyck, UMass Lowell (2012-13)	.952
4.	Josh Kotai, Augustana (2024-25)	.950
	Ryan Miller, Michigan State (2000-01)	.950
6.	Christian Stoever, Bowling Green (2024-25)	.948
7.	Joel Laing, RPI (1999-2000)	.947
	David McKee, Cornell (2004-05)	.947
	Dov Grumet-Morris, Harvard (2003-04)	.947
10.	Hampton Slukynsky, Western Mich. (2024-25)	.947

Kotai and Stoever met head-to-head last weekend in a pair of conference games and combined to stop 135 of 138 shots (.978 save percentage) in the series. Kotai and the Vikings took Friday’s game 1-0 and the two teams battled to a 1-1 overtime tie Saturday.

Century Note:

Holy Cross F Liam McLinskey (Sr., Pearl River, N.Y.) and Ohio State D Aiden Hansen-Bukata (Gr., Delta, British Columbia) both enter the week on the doorstep of the 100-career point milestone.

McLinskey sits on 99 career points, while Hansen-Bukata has 98 and would become the nation’s first active defenseman to reach the 100-point plateau.

From Zero to Sixty:

In less than three full NCAA seasons, Minnesota junior F Jimmy Snuggerud (Chaska, Minn.) became the first active Division I men’s player to reach 60 career goals when he scored twice last Saturday at Michigan State:

Most Career Goals, Active NCAA Players
Rk	Player, School	G
1.	Jimmy Snuggerud, Minnesota	60
2.	Jack Ricketts, Quinnipiac	57
3.	Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross	55
4.	Ryan Kirwan, Arizona State	50
	Ryan Leonard, Boston College	50

The 23rd overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft by St. Louis, Snuggerud tallied 21 goals in each of his first two collegiate seasons. He already has 18 in 28 games this season, including in each of his last five.

Fit to Print:

“I was always a big proponent of youth hockey on the west side of the state (of Michigan), and I’d love to see it continue to grow. So, if me and Ferris State hockey had anything to do with the growth of the sport, that really was important to me.”

— Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels (Michigan State ‘82), who recently announced he will retire following the 2024-25 college hockey season (source: College Hockey News).

NHL Note of the Week:

St. Louis D Ryan Suter (Wisconsin, 2003-04) is closing in on becoming the third NCAA alumni in history play in 1,500 NHL games:

Most NHL Games Played by NCAA Alumni
Rk	Player, Alma Mater	NHL GP
1.	Chris Chelios, Wisconsin	1,651
2.	Matt Cullen, St. Cloud State	1,516
3.	Ryan Suter, Wisconsin	1,495
4.	Rod Brind’Amour, Michigan State	1,484
5.	Scott Mellanby, Wisconsin	1,431

Suter, who leads all active NHL players in career games played, is next scheduled to play Friday at Colorado.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

The next win for Boston College sophomore G Jacob Fowler (Melbourne, Fla.) will be the 50th of his collegiate career. Fowler is 49-9-2 in 61 career appearances with the Eagles … Michigan State became the first team this season to 20 wins when it defeated Minnesota on Friday … Penn State freshman D Cade Christenson (Edmonton, Alberta) blocked nine shots in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win against Ohio State, tied for the most in an NCAA game this season … A Pegula Arena record crowd of 6,604 witnessed that PSU victory over OSU … Michigan Tech freshman G Ryan Manzella (Eagan, Minn.) has three shutouts in his first six starts since joining the Huskies prior to the semester. All three of his shutouts have come on Saturdays.

Longest Active NCAA Point Streaks:

9 games, F T.J. Hughes (Michigan)
- 6-9—15, began Dec. 14 vs. Wisconsin
8 games, D Mac Gadowsky (Army)
- 7-9—16, began Jan. 3 vs. Merrimack
7 games, 4 players tied

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

5 games, F T.J. Hughes (Michigan)
- 5-3—8, began Jan. 11 at Notre Dame
5 games, F Jimmy Snuggerud (Minnesota)
- 7-2—9, began Jan. 11 at Ohio State
4 games, 3 players tied

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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