Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Men’s Notes: 2025 NCAA Tournament Storylines

16-Team Battle Gets Underway for Trip to Frozen Four

The 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Tournament gets underway this week at four regional sites, where each regional winner will advance to the NCAA Frozen Four at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

The entire NCAA Tournament can be seen in the United States on the ESPN network of channels, with every game also streamed live on ESPN+. Canadian viewers can stream every game on TSN+.

NCAA Tournament Media Kit (.pdf)
NCAA Tournament Pronunciation Guide (.pdf)
NCAA Tournament Bracket

Read College Hockey Inc.’s tournament media kit (above) for complete tournament information, including statistics, trends, historical data, and more.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Must Read:

Bangor Daily News: UMaine hockey is starting to transport fans back to the Shawn Walsh era

College Hockey News: The legend continues

College Hockey News: Maine climbs the mountain

College Hockey News: Minnesota State back on top

College Hockey News: Howard shows off Hobey bona fides in championship thriller

College Hockey News: Bump in the night

Cornell Daily Sun: The difference one year can make

Daily Faceoff: Top 10 NHL prospects to watch the 2025 NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament

Denver Post: DU star Matt Davis has thighs on NCAA championship prize

EP Rinkside: NCAA championship Saturday recap: Bentley, Cornell, DU, WMU win conference titles

ESPN: Hutson brothers, Leonard, Fink among top prospects playing in the NCAA hockey tournament

ESPN: NCAA hockey roundtable: teams, players to watch, plus Frozen Four picks

FloHockey: Bentley hockey wins first AHA title, clinches first NCAA berth

Kalamazoo Gazette: WMU hockey enters NCAA Tournament brimming with confidence

NHL.com: Buium, Leonard among those to watch at NCAA Tournament

Schenectady Daily Gazette: Memories of covering Union hockey at Messa Rink

Must Hear:

CHN Insiders: NCAA Tournament time; conversation with ESPN’s John Buccigross

College Hockey Today: NCAA Tournament Preview

Inside BU Hockey: Featuring Jay Pandolfo, Ryan Greene and Mike Eruzione

The Pipeline Show: Featuring Arizona State freshman forward Cullen Potter

USCHO Weekend Review: Looking at NCAA regional matchups, Hobey 10

A Bounty of Banners:

Ten of the 16 schools in this year’s NCAA Tournament have combined to win 35 national titles. Defending NCAA champion Denver captured its 10th crown last year – more than any school in the nation – and is gunning for its third title in the last four years.

Most NCAA championships
Denver – 10
Michigan – 9
North Dakota – 8
Wisconsin – 6
Boston College, Boston University, Minnesota – 5

Bentley, UConn, Minnesota State, Ohio State, Penn State and Western Michigan are all seeking their first men’s hockey NCAA championships. Bentley and UConn are competing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

Quinnipiac, the 2023 NCAA champion, has made each of the last six national tournaments, the longest active streak in the country.

Awards Watch:

This year’s tournament field will feature seven of the 10 finalists for the 2025 Hobey Baker Memorial Award: Denver D Zeev Buium (So., San Diego, Calif.), Denver D Jack Devine (Sr., Glencoe, Ill.), Penn State F Aiden Fink (So., Calgary, Alberta), Michigan State F Isaac Howard (Jr., Hudson, Wis.), Boston College F Ryan Leonard (So., Amherst, Mass.), Minnesota F Jimmy Snuggerud (Jr., Chaska, Minn.), and Minnesota State G Alex Tracy (Jr., Chicago, Ill).

Additionally, all four Mike Richter Award finalists have qualified for the tourney: Michigan State’s Trey Augustine (So., South Lyon, Mich.), Maine’s Albin Boija (So., Sundsvall, Sweden), Boston College’s Jacob Fowler (So., Melbourne, Fla.), and Minnesota State’s Alex Tracy (Jr., Chicago, Ill).

The recipients of both awards will be announced April 11 at the Frozen Four in St. Louis.

The Kids Are Alright:

A total of 115 NHL draft picks are on 2025 NCAA Tournament rosters, including 13 first-round selections:

NHL Draft picks by regional
Manchester – 36 (5 first-rounders)
Fargo – 35 (4 first-rounders)
Toledo – 32 (4 first-rounder)
Allentown – 12

Boston College freshman F James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y.) is draft eligible and is widely projected as a top-10 pick in 2025. He has 10 goals and 35 points in his first 35 collegiate games.

The Finer Points:

Ten of the nation’s top 12 scoring leaders will be on display in the national tournament:

2024-25 NCAA Scoring Leaders
56 – F Jack Devine (Sr.), Denver
54 – F Liam McLinskey (Sr.), Holy Cross
52 – F Aiden Fink (So.), Penn State
51 – F Aidan Thompson (Jr.), Denver
51 – F Ayrton Martino (Sr.), Clarkson
51 – F Cole O’Hara (Jr.), UMass
51 – F Isaac Howard (Jr.), Michigan State
49 – F Jimmy Snuggerud (Jr.), Minnesota
47 – F Quinn Hutson (Jr.), Boston University
47 – F Ryan Leonard (So.), Boston College
47 – F Gabe Perreault (So.), Boston College
46 – F Alex Bump (So.), Western Michigan

The tourney also features the nation’s top three goal-scorers in Leonard (29), UConn F Joey Muldowney (27), and Howard (26).

Net Gains:

Bentley junior G Connor Hasley (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) enters the tournament one shutout away from tying the NCAA Division I men’s hockey single-season shutout record:

Most Single-Season Shutouts in NCAA History
Rk.	Player, School (Year)	SHO
1.	Greg Gardner, Niagara (1999-2000)	12
2.	Connor Hasley, Bentley (2024-25)	11
	Yaniv Perets, Quinnipiac (2022-23)	11
4.	7 other players tied w/	10

Hasley pitched a shutout in three of Bentley’s five Atlantic Hockey playoff games. The Falcons are making the first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.

First Impressions:

A trio of head coaches are making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament: UConn’s Mike Cavanaugh (Bowdoin ’90), Bentley’s Andy Jones (Amherst College ’00), and Minnesota State’s Luke Strand (Wisconsin-Eau Claire ’97).

Those three have led their programs to a combined 23-win improvement over last season. Jones (+7) and Strand (+9) are in their second season behind the bench, while Cavanaugh is in his 12th year.

Home is Where the Hockey Is:

Three players in the national tournament are two victories away from a St. Louis homecoming for the NCAA Frozen Four.

Cornell sophomore F Tyler Catalano and Michigan State freshman F Shane Vansaghi both hail from St. Louis, while Ohio State senior F Caden Brown is from nearby Chesterfield, located about 25 miles west of downtown St. Louis.

Additional Notes by Region:

Allentown Regional (Friday & Sunday, PPL Arena)
Quinnipiac F Jack Ricketts (Gr., Oakville, Ontario) has 66 career goals, tops among all players in the NCAA Tournament … The Bobcats own the nation’s best power play (29.9%) and lead the NCAA in faceoff success (55.4%) … UConn’s Joey Muldowney (So., Lake View, N.Y.) has an NCAA-leading 22 goals since the calendar flipped to 2025 … The Huskies have nine SHG this season, tied with St. Thomas for the most in the NCAA … Aiden Fink’s (So., Calgary, Alberta) 52 points are a Penn State single-season record. His 23 goals are tied for the most in school history … Maine is one victory away from the program’s first 25-win season since 2005-06 … Maine assistant coach and former Black Bears G Alfie Michaud (Maine ’99) was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1999 NCAA Tournament.

Fargo Regional (Thursday & Saturday, SCHEELS Arena)
Western Michigan averages a nation’s-best 4.1 goals per game, while Minnesota State is giving up an NCAA-low 1.5 goals per game … Three of the nation’s top nine goal-scoring teams are in this region: WMU ranks second nationally with 154 goals, while Minnesota (150) and UMass (172) rank third and ninth, respectively … Minnesota’s sophomores are the highest-scoring class in this year’s tournament, having racked up 205 points … MSU is tied with Bentley as the oldest team in the tournament with an average age of 23.1-years old … UMass boasts players from seven different countries, more than any other team in the tournament … WMU is the least-penalized team in the country, averaging just 5.8 PIM per game.

Manchester Regional (Friday & Sunday, SNHU Arena)
If Boston College and Denver both win their first-round game on Friday, the regional final would be a rematch of last year’s NCAA championship game, which Denver won 2-0 in Saint Paul … The Eagles are the youngest team in the tournament with an average age of 21.2-years old. DU (21.5) is tied with BU as the second-youngest … BC F Ryan Leonard’s (So., Amherst, Mass.) 16-game point streak is the nation’s longest this season … DU senior F Jack Devine (Glencoe, Ill.) leads all active NCAA Division I players with 162 career points … DU D Zeev Buium (So., San Diego, Calif.) averages 26:26 minutes per game, more than any player in the tournament … Bentley boasts the highest-scoring senior class (160 points) in the entire tournament … Bentley D Nick Bochen’s (Gr., North Vancouver, British Columbia) 24 career goals are more than any other rearguard in the tournament … Providence is 54.7-percent on faceoffs this season, second-best in the country behind only Quinnipiac (55.4).

Toledo Regional (Thursday & Saturday, Huntington Center)
After scuffling through the regular season with an uncharacteristic .891 save percentage, Cornell senior G Ian Shane (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) went 5-0 in the ECAC Tournament with a 0.96 GAA and .957 save percentage … Cornell’s Mike Schafer (Cornell ’86) is coaching in his 15th NCAA Tournament, the most among coaches in this year’s field … BU has received 124 points from freshmen this season, the top-scoring rookie class in the tournament … Michigan State averages an NCAA-leading 38.2 shots on goal per game … Ohio State D Aiden Hansen-Bukata (Gr., Delta, British Columbia) is four assists away from 100 for his collegiate career … The Buckeyes have won 10 more games than they did last season, the biggest improvement among the 16-team field.

Notebook Quotebook:

“I still never forget the day I got the call to come back to coach my alma mater. It was probably one of the highlights of my life. I’m just really grateful for the sport of hockey, what it’s given to myself, my family here.”

— Cornell head coach Mike Schafer (Cornell ‘86), who will coach in his 15th NCAA Tournament before retiring following the season (source: Cornell Daily Sun).

NHL Note of the Week:

Seventeen players who competed in last year’s NCAA Tournament have already played in the NHL, including five from Michigan and two each from Boston College, Quinnipiac and Boston University.

Those two BU players – D Lane Hutson and F Macklin Celebrini – entered Wednesday’s action ranked 1-2 in the NHL’s rookie scoring race. Hutson has 54 points for Montreal, while Celebrini has 52 for San Jose. Another of last year’s NCAA Tournament participants, Boston College F Will Smith, ranks fourth in the rookie scoring race with 36 points for San Jose.

NHL Note of the Week II:

Tampa Bay Lightning D Ryan McDonagh (Wisconsin, 2007-10) played in his 999th career NHL game Tuesday and could reach the 1,000 milestone as early as Thursday against Utah. He would become the seventh active NCAA alumni to have played in 1,000 or more NHL games.

McDonagh was a team captain and All-WCHA performer at Wisconsin, where he played with future NHLers like Derek Stepan, Kyle Turris, Craig Smith, Brendan Smith and Jake Gardiner.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Last weekend’s conference tournament Most Outstanding Players included Bentley G Connor Hasley (Atlantic Hockey), Michigan State F Isaac Howard (Big Ten), Minnesota State D Evan Murr (CCHA, named first star of championship game), Cornell G Ian Shane (ECAC), Maine G Albin Boija (Hockey East) and Western Michigan F Alex Bump (NCHC) … UConn’s Jake Richard (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) tied a Hokey East Tournament single-game record with his four assists in the Huskies’ 5-2 semifinal win over Boston University … Saturday’s NCHC Frozen Faceoff victory over Denver was the 100th career win behind the Western Michigan bench for head coach Pat Ferschweiler (WMU ’93).

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

6 games, Cornell (began March 1 at RPI)
6 games, Western Michigan (began March 7 at Miami)
5 games, Bentley (began March 7 vs. Canisius)
5 games, Minnesota State (began March 1 vs. Bemidji State)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

16 games, F Ryan Leonard (Boston College)
- 16-11—27, began Jan. 17 vs. Providence
9 games, F Andon Cerbone (Quinnipiac)
- 6-4—10, began Feb. 14 at Union
9 games, F Tim Washe (Western Michigan)
- 7-8—15, began Feb. 22 at Arizona State
8 games, F Luigi Benincasa (Minnesota State)
- 2-9—11, began Feb. 21 at Lake Superior State

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

4 games, F Alex Bump (Western Michigan)
- 6-2—8, began March 14 vs. St. Cloud State
4 games, F Matthew Wood (Minnesota)
- 5-0—5, began March 1 at Penn State

Longest Active Goalie Winning Streaks:

7 games, Luca DiPasquo (Michigan State)
- Began Oct. 26 at Canisius
6 games, Hampton Slukynsky (Western Michigan)
- Began March 7 at Miami
5 games, Connor Hasley (Bentley)
- Began March 7 vs. Canisius
5 games, Ian Shane (Cornell)
- Began March 8 vs. Yale

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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