Thursday, March 6, 2025

Men’s Notes: Tourney Time for Four of Six Conferences

Hockey East, NCHC Wrap Regular Season This Weekend

The playoffs have arrived for four of the six conferences in NCAA Division I men’s hockey.

While both Hockey East and the NCHC will be wrapping up their respective regular-season schedules this weekend, conference playoff tournaments will be underway in Atlantic Hockey, the Big Ten, the CCHA, and ECAC Hockey.

Atlantic Hockey began its tourney last weekend with a trio of first-round, single-elimination games. The Big Ten, CCHA and ECAC Hockey will all get things started this weekend.

Here’s an at-a-glance breakdown of each of those four tournaments:

Atlantic Hockey
Regular-Season Champion: Holy Cross
Scoring Champion: Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross (26 GP, 19-20—39)
AIC, Air Force and Canisius all advanced to the quarterfinals with opening-round victories on home ice last weekend … This weekend’s best-of-three quarterfinal series feature top-seeded Holy Cross host #8 AIC, #2 Sacred Heart hosting #7 Air Force, #3 Bentley hosting #6 Canisius, and #4 Niagara hosting #5 Army … Each series winner advances to the semifinals (best-of-three series) March 14-16 … The AHA championship game is scheduled for March 22.

AHA Postseason homepage

Big Ten
Regular-Season Co-Champions: Michigan State & Minnesota
Scoring Champion: Isaac Howard, Michigan State (24 GP, 16-17—33)
The Spartans and Golden Gophers each clinched a share of the Big Ten title last Saturday on the final day of the regular season. For Michigan State, which secured the top seed and a bye, it’s a second consecutive league crown … This weekend’s best-of-three quarterfinal series pit #2 seed Minnesota against #7 Notre Dame, #3 Ohio State versus #6 Wisconsin, and #4 Michigan against #5 Penn State … The winners advance to the single-elimination semifinals March 15 with a chance to move on to the league’s championship game on March 22.

Big Ten Tournament homepage

CCHA
Regular-Season Champion: Minnesota State
Scoring Champion: Rhett Pitlick, Minnesota State (26 GP, 10-20—30)
The chase for the CCHA’s Mason Cup begins this weekend with a quartet of best-of-three quarterfinal series … #1 seed Minnesota State hosts #8 Lake Superior State, #2 Augustana hosts #7 Bemidji State, #3 St. Thomas hosts #6 Ferris State, and #4 Bowling Green hosts #5 Michigan Tech … The single-elimination semifinal round takes place March 15 … The CCHA title game is set for March 21.

CCHA Mason Cup Playoffs homepage

ECAC Hockey
Regular-Season Champion: Quinnipiac (fifth in a row)
Scoring Champion: Ayrton Martino, Clarkson (22 GP, 21-17—38)
Quinnipiac earned its fifth straight Cleary Cup, the league’s No. 1 seed, and one of four byes (Clarkson, Colgate, Union) into the quarterfinals … They await the winners of this weekend’s first round single-elimination matchups: #9 Princeton at #8 Brown, #10 RPI at #7 Harvard, #11 Yale at #6 Cornell, and #12 St. Lawrence at #5 Dartmouth … The best-of-three quarterfinal series will take place March 14-16, following by the single-elimination semifinals (March 21) and the championship game (March 22).

ECAC Hockey Championship homepage

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

And Then There Were Two:

The final conference race left to be decided is in Hockey East, where defending league champion Boston College enters the final weekend of the regular season leading second-place Maine by four points.

The Black Bears, however, have one game in hand on the Eagles and will close out with a two-game series at UMass. Boston College will play its regular-season finale Saturday against visiting Merrimack.

There’s a Fersch Time for Everything:

Western Michigan made program history last weekend, securing its first-ever Penrose Cup as NCHC champion with Friday’s 6-4 win over North Dakota. The Broncos picked up a point the following night in a 4-3 overtime loss to UND, securing the Penrose Cup outright and the league’s No. 1 seed.

WMU is head for its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in as many seasons under head coach Pat Ferschweiler (WMU ’93). He’s guided the Broncos to 24 wins this season, a number currently topped only by BC’s 25.

Ryan’s World:

Boston College F and NCAA goal-scoring leader Ryan Leonard (So., Amherst, Mass.) enters Saturday’s game just tallies away from his second 30-goal campaign in as many seasons. He would become the first NCAA Division I men’s player with multiple 30-goal seasons since Cam Atkinson did it for BC in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

The only other players to do it in the 2000s were Colorado College’s Brett Sterling, who scored 30-plus goals in both 2004-05 and 2005-06, and BC’s Brian Gionta, who did it in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Leonard is currently riding a nation’s-best 14-game point streak.

Fit to Print:

“I could not be more proud of our seniors for ending on such a high note, and of our program as a whole. From stepping into a three-win season in year one to reaching the 20-win plateau, this is something truly special.”

— LIU head coach Brett Riley (Hobart ‘14) after his Sharks secured the first 20-win season in program history with a 2-0 home win over Alaska (source: LIU Athletics).

NHL Note of the Week:

Entering Thursday night’s slate, three highest-scoring defensemen in the NHL are all NCAA alumni: Colorado’s Cale Makar (UMass, 2017-19), Columbus’ Zach Werenski (Michigan, 2014-16), and Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes (Michigan, 2017-19).

Makar tops all rearguards with 68 points, while Werenski and Hughes have 66 and 60, respectively. No other NHL defenseman has more than 50 points.

A college hockey alum has won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman in three of the last four seasons: Hughes won it last year, Makar captured it in 2021-22, and the Rangers’ Adam Fox (Harvard, 2016-19) win it in 2020-21.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson (Michigan State ’78) enters the weekend sitting on 599 career NCAA coaching victories … Dartmouth won its first Ivy League title since 2006-07 and its first outright since 1979-80 … Quinnipiac’s five straight outright conference championships are one shy of Minnesota State’s record six straight from 2018-23. The Mavericks won the first four of those in the WCHA followed by two straight in the CCHA … Air Force’s 4-3 win over Robert Morris in double overtime during last Saturday’s AHA first-round matchup was the second-longest game in AFA history. Freshman F Anthony Yu (Baldwin Park, Calif.) scored the winner at 13:30 of the second OT period … RMU freshman G Croix Kochendorfer (St. Paul, Minn.) made a career-high 50 saves for the Colonials in that game … LIU closed its season with a home sweep of Alaska last weekend, giving the Sharks (20-12-2) their first 20-win season in program history … Penn State head coach Guy Gadowksy (Colorado College ’89) won his 400th career game in Friday’s 4-3 overtime victory against Minnesota, the 12th active bench boss to reach that milestone.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

5 games, St. Thomas (began Feb. 8 at Bowling Green)
3 games, Dartmouth (began Feb. 22 vs. Union)
3 games, Providence (began Feb. 22 vs. UMass Lowell)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

14 games, F Ryan Leonard (Boston College)
- 15-9—24, began Jan. 17 vs. Providence
12 games, F Cole O’Hara (UMass)
- 11-9—20, began Jan. 18 vs. Merrimack
10 games, F Ryan Johnson (Alaska Anchorage)
- 2-10—12, began Jan. 11 at Niagara
9 games, F Ayrton Martino (Clarkson)
- 8-12—20, began Feb. 1 vs. Cornell
9 games, F Jake Richard (UConn)
- 7-9—16, began Jan. 31 at Providence
9 games, F Aidan Thompson (Denver)

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

5 games, F Justin Janicke (Notre Dame)
- 5-3—8, began Feb. 15 at Penn State
5 games, F Lucas Wahlin (St. Thomas)
- 6-3—9, began Feb. 8 at Bowling Green
4 games, F Sacha Boisvert (North Dakota)
- 5-0—5, began Feb. 21 vs. Minnesota Duluth
4 games, F Andre Gasseau (Boston College)
- 6-3—9, began Feb. 15 at UMass
4 games, F Jake Richard (UConn)
- 5-2—7, began Feb. 21 vs. Maine

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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