Thursday, March 20, 2025

Men’s Notes: Conference Tourneys, NCAA Berths at Stake

Finalists for Hobey Baker, Mike Richter Awards Unveiled

It’s one of the best weekends on the NCAA Division I men’s hockey schedule.

All six conferences will crown their playoff champions while teams make their final push for a berth – or higher seeding – in the NCAA Tournament.

Below is an update on each conference tournament:

Atlantic Hockey
Regular-Season Champion: Holy Cross
Top-seeded Holy Cross will host No. 3 seed Bentley in the AHA championship game Saturday … Holy Cross took two of the three regular-season matchups … Holy Cross is chasing its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006, which was also the last time these two teams faced in the conference title game … Bentley is looking for the first NCAA berth in school history.

AHA Postseason homepage

Big Ten
Regular-Season Co-Champions: Michigan State & Minnesota
Top-seeded Michigan State hosts No. 3 seed Ohio State in Saturday’s Big Ten championship … The Spartans are the defending Big Ten playoff champs while the Buckeyes are chasing their first Big Ten tournament championship … MSU won three of the four regular-season meetings between the two teams … Both teams enter Saturday’s tilt having won three straight games.

Big Ten Tournament homepage

CCHA
Regular-Season Champion: Minnesota State
Top-seeded Minnesota State hosts No. 3 seed St. Thomas for the CCHA Mason Cup Finals on Friday … Because St. Thomas is not eligible for the NCAA Tournament until next season, MSU secured the league’s auto-bid with last Saturday’s 4-0 win over Bemidji State in the CCHA semifinals … The Tommies are playing for the first conference playoff title in program history … The Mavericks are trying to claim their third Mason Cup in the last four years.

CCHA Mason Cup Playoffs homepage

ECAC Hockey
Regular-Season Champion: Quinnipiac (fifth in a row)
It’s down to four teams in the ECAC, where No. 1 seed Quinnipiac faces No. 6 Cornell, and No. 2 Clarkson meets No. 5 Dartmouth at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid on Friday … The winners of those semifinal matchups will square off Saturday in the tournament championship … Cornell is the league’s defending playoff champion.

ECAC Hockey Championship homepage

Hockey East
Regular-Season Champion: Boston College (second in a row)
Boston’s TD Garden will host this weekend’s action, with No. 2 seed Maine facing No. 9 Northeastern, and No. 3 Boston University meeting No. 4 UConn in Thursday’s semifinals … The winners advance to Saturday’s title game at TD Garden … Northeastern advanced by knocking off top-ranked and Hockey East regular-season champ Boston College in the quarterfinals … The Eagles were the defending Hockey East Tournament champions.

Hockey East Tournament homepage

NCHC
Regular-Season Champion: Western Michigan
Top-seeded Western Michigan faces No. 5 seed North Dakota – which swept Omaha on the road in the quarterfinals – in one of two semifinal matchups Friday at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul … The other semifinal pits No. 2 Arizona State against No. 3 and defending NCHC Frozen Faceoff champ Denver … It is ASU’s first-time competing in a conference tournament … The winners face Saturday at Xcel Energy Center, the final NCHC game played in the venue for the conference goes to a home-site playoff format next season.

NCHC Frozen Faceoff homepage

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

NCAA Selection Show:

The entire 16-team field for the 2025 NCAA Tournament will be unveiled Sunday, March 23 on ESPNU and ESPN+. Canadian viewers can watch it live on TSN+.

The NCAA Selection Show begins at 3 p.m. Eastern.

Hobey Hopefuls:

On Wednesday afternoon, the 10 finalists for this year’s Hobey Baker Memorial Award were unveiled.

This year’s group includes: Denver D Zeev Buium (So., San Diego, Calif.), Denver D Jack Devine (Sr., Glencoe, Ill.), Penn State F Aiden Fink (So., Calgary, Alberta), Army D Mac Gadowsky (So., Fairbanks, Alaska), Michigan State F Isaac Howard (Jr., Hudson, Wis.), Boston College F Ryan Leonard (So., Amherst, Mass.), Clarkson F Ayrton Martino (Sr., Toronto, Ontario), Holy Cross F Liam McLinskey (Sr., Pearl River, N.Y.), Minnesota F Jimmy Snuggerud (Jr., Chaska, Minn.), and Minnesota State G Alex Tracy (Jr., Chicago, Ill).

Devine and McLinskey are both repeat finalists.

The recipient will be named at the Frozen Four in St. Louis on April 11.

Richter Race:

The finalists for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goaltender in NCAA Division I men’s hockey, were also announced Wednesday.

They included 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).

Augustine and Fowler were both top-10 finalists last season, with Fowler advancing to the final three.

The winner will be announced Friday, April 11, at the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Louis.

Tommie Knockers:

No team in the country owns a longer active winning streak than St. Thomas, which enters Saturday’s CCHA championship game having won its last eight games. In fact, the Tommies are a blistering 15-3-1 since the calendar flipped to 2025.

St. Thomas, which last lost Feb. 7 at Bowling Green, will face top-seeded Minnesota State in search of the program’s first Mason Cup as CCHA playoff champion. The Tommies advanced to Saturday’s title game with a quarterfinal series sweep of Ferris State, followed by a semifinal elimination win over Bowling Green.

Because the program is in its third year reclassifying to the NCAA Division I level, St. Thomas is not eligible to participate in the NCAA Tournament until next season. Because of that, MSU already secured the CCHA’s auto-bid with last Saturday’s semifinal win over Bemidji State.

Zero-Sum Game:

Bentley junior G Connor Hasley (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) logged another shutout – his 11th of the season – in Friday’s 5-2 win over Sacred Heart in game one of their AHA Semifinal series.

Hasley, who owns a .980 save percentage through four AHA playoff starts, is now just one shutout away from tying the NCAA single-season 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 and the Falcons will travel to top-seeded Holy Cross for Saturday’s conference championship game. A win would give the Falcons their first AHA title and first-ever NCAA Tournament berth

Notebook Quotebook:

“The thing about the ECAC that’s awesome is the history, and the buildings tell a story. This building has a story to be told.”

— Dartmouth head coach Red Cashman (Quinnipiac ‘07) on Saturday following the final game ever played at Union’s Messa Rink, which opened in 1975 (source: News10 ABC Albany).

NHL Note of the Week:

New York Islanders captain Anders Lee (Notre Dame, 2010-13) enters Thursday’s game against Montreal needing just one point to reach 500 for his NHL career.

Now in his 13th NHL season, all with the Islanders, Lee has produced a team-leading 25 goals and 46 points in 67 games. It’s his fourth straight 20-goal campaign and ninth overall.

Lee captained the Fighting Irish as a junior and was named a second-team All-American that season.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Michigan State junior F Isaac Howard (Hudson, Wis.) scored the lone goal in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Notre Dame in the Big Ten Semifinals, the 100th point of Howard’s collegiate career … Colorado College D Brady Cleveland’s (So., Wausau Wis.)first career NCAA goal was the game-winner in the Tigers’ 3-1 victory over Denver on Friday in Game 1 of their NCHC Quarterfinal series … Omaha held North Dakota without a shot on goal in the third period of Friday’s NCHC Quarterfinal series opener but UND managed to edge the Mavericks 3-2 … Army D Mac Gadowsky’s (So., Fairbanks, Alaska) 42 points this season were the most by a Black Knight in the program’s Atlantic Hockey era. Gadowsky was named AHA Best Defenseman earlier this week … According to St. Cloud State Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Andrew Melroe, Austin Burnevik (Fr., Ham Lake, Minn.) is the first freshman in SCSU history to lead the Huskies in both points and goals. Burnevik registered 13 goals and 28 points in 35 games this season … Union’s loss to Dartmouth on Saturday in the ECAC Quarterfinals was the final game ever played at Messa Rink, which opened in 1975. The Garnet Chargers will open the brand-new Mohawk Harbor Arena next season.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

8 games, St. Thomas (began Feb. 8 at Bowling Green)
6 games, Dartmouth (began Feb. 22 vs. Union)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

16 games, F Ryan Leonard (Boston College)
- 16-11—27, began Jan. 17 vs. Providence
11 games, F Jake Richard (UConn)
- 9-12—21, began Jan. 31 at Providence
10 games, F Ryan Johnson (Alaska Anchorage)
- 2-10—12, began Jan. 11 at Niagara
10 games, F Joey Muldowney (UConn)
- 12-7—19, began Feb. 1 vs. Providence
8 games, F Andon Cerbone (Quinnipiac)
- 5-4—9, began Feb. 14 at Union
8 games, F Lucas Wahlin (St. Thomas)

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

4 games, F Ryan Kirwan (Arizona State)
- 5-2—7, began Feb. 28 at Omaha
4 games, F Matthew Wood (Minnesota)
- 5-0—5, began March 1 at Penn State

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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