By Nate Ewell
Only two sets of teammates nationwide share the distinction of being first-round NHL draft picks. Boston College’s Michael Matheson (Pointe-Claire, Que./Dubuque-USHL/FLA) and Alex Tuch (Baldwinsville, N.Y./U.S. NTDP/MIN) are one pair, but North Dakota’s Jordan and Nick Schmaltz have even more in common, as brothers. The Verona, Wis., natives rank third and tied for fourth on UND in scoring, with older brother Jordan holding a one-point edge on Nick, 26 to 25. Their father, Mike, and two uncles all played football at North Dakota. The brothers, who both played for the Chicago Mission and Green Bay Gamblers prior to UND, will see their paths diverge when their pro careers begin – Jordan is a St. Louis Blues pick, while Nick was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks.
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Magical month for Grzelcyk – February was a remarkable month for Boston University captain Matt Grzelcyk (Charlestown, Mass./U.S. NTDP/BOS), who led the Terriers to their first two championships since 2009 – the Beanpot and the Hockey East regular season title. Individually, Grzelcyk scored 8 goals between Jan. 30 and Feb. 28 after not posting any in the season’s first 23 games. The junior defenseman – who missed the end of last season with a shoulder injury – has the No. 3 Terriers in the hunt for the Hockey East Tournament title and the NCAA championship in the next month. Both of those will be decided in Boston’s TD Garden, where Grzelcyk’s father John works on the “Bull Gang” that preps the arena floor for each event.
Saturday’s game vs. Vermont is on NESN/TSN2
Blackwell’s back – Harvard’s 17 wins are its most since 2007-08, but the Crimson have been challenged throughout by injury troubles. The return of junior Colin Blackwell (North Andover, Mass./St. John’s Prep/SJ) two weeks ago provided some rare good news on the injury front after he had missed nearly two full years due to concussions. Blackwell, who played in the final two games of the regular season, scored three goals last weekend as the Crimson opened the playoffs with a sweep of Brown. Now the talented San Jose draft pick helps lead Harvard to face archrival Yale with an ECAC Hockey semifinal berth on the line. | College Hockey News: A long road back
Gopher senior leaders – As playoff hockey approaches, focus often turns to a team’s seniors – and that might be more true in Minnesota than anywhere else. The Gophers’ six-member senior class has produced 128 points, third nationally behind Mercyhurst and Air Force, and the group has been especially good lately. As Minnesota celebrates Senior Night this weekend against Penn State, captain Kyle Rau (Eden Prairie, Minn./Sioux Falls-USHL/FLA) and the all-senior line of Travis Boyd (Hopkins, Minn./U.S. NTDP/WSH), Sam Warning (Chesterfield, Mo./Cedar Rapids-USHL) and Seth Ambroz (New Prague, Minn./Omaha-USHL/CBJ) – four of the team’s top seven scorers – will look to lead the team to a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament and, perhaps, a conference title. | Star Tribune: Gophers hockey is coming together, just in time
Saturday's game is on FOX Sports North+
RMU’s second half scorer – Robert Morris, which looks to defend its Atlantic Hockey tournament title beginning this weekend against Niagara, has a potent second-half weapon in junior forward Greg Gibson (Burlington, Ont./Amarillo-NAHL). The speedy Gibson recorded 18 points in his last 16 games last season during the Colonials’ second-half surge. He duplicating those efforts this year, with 10 of his 13 goals on the year coming in the last 12 games. Gibson enters the playoffs with a four-game goal-scoring streak, including two in a home-and-home series against this same Niagara team to close out the regular season.
Captain guides Bemidji – Bemidji State will host its first WCHA playoff series since joining the conference in 2010, rebounding from a 3-10-0 start to finish the regular season above .500 at 16-15-5. Senior defenseman Matt Prapavessis (Oakville, Ont./Lincoln-USHL) has been a catalyst, and team’s leading scorer had a goal and an assist in Friday’s win against No. 2 Minnesota State that secured home ice. Prapavessis – who has worn the “C” for two years at Bemidji – has a younger brother, Mike (Oakville, Ont./Toronto Lakeshore-OJHL/DAL), who is a talented freshman at Rensselaer.
NHL Note of the Week
The two NHL teams with the best records since Feb. 1 – the Minnesota Wild (15-3-1) and New York Rangers (14-2-3) – are also the two teams with the most former NCAA players in their regular lineups. The Rangers have had 11 NCAA players dress for at least half of their games, while the Wild have had 10.
Fries at the Bottom of the Bag
The NCAA championship game is one month from today at Boston’s TD Garden … Three NCAA records were set last weekend: Nebraska Omaha’s Austin Ortega (Escondido, Calif./Fargo-USHL) set a single-season record with his 11th game-winning goal, while Notre Dame’s Cal Petersen (Waterloo, Iowa/Waterloo-USHL/BUF) make a record 87 saves in the longest game in NCAA history vs. Massachusetts (5 OT, 151:42) … Miami’s Austin Czarnik (Washington, Mich./Green Bay-USHL), who scored two goals in his first 33 games this season, had three Saturday night against No. 1 North Dakota on Senior Night. Czarnik leads the RedHawks with 36 points … Union head coach Rick Bennett improved to 14-0 in ECAC Hockey tournament games, 21-2 overall in the postseason, with a sweep at Cornell.