Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Men’s Notes: Chase is On for NCAA Tourney Berths
All Six Conferences Now in Full Playoff Mode
With the regular season now in the books for all six conferences, the focus completely turns to conference playoff tournaments and the pursuit of NCAA Tournament berths.
Below is a look at where each conference tournament stands heading into the weekend:
Atlantic Hockey
Regular-Season Champion: Holy Cross
Scoring Champion: Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross (26 GP, 19-20—39)
Three of last weekend’s four quarterfinal series went the full three games, with Bentley’s sweep of Canisius being the lone exception … Junior G Connor Hasley (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) logged back-to-back shutouts for Bentley and now leads the nation with 10 … Top-seeded Holy Cross, No. 2 Sacred Heart and No. 5 Army all advanced with Game 3 wins Sunday. The Crusaders will host No. 5 Army in the semifinals, while No. 2 SHU welcomes No. 3 Bentley.
Big Ten
Regular-Season Co-Champions: Michigan State & Minnesota
Scoring Champion: Isaac Howard, Michigan State (24 GP, 16-17—33)
A pair of lower seeds advanced to the Big Ten semifinals, with No. 7 Notre Dame knocking off No. 2 Minnesota in three games, and No. 5 seed Penn State sweeping No. 4 Michigan … No. 3 Ohio State eliminated No. 6 Wisconsin in three games in the other series … Top-seeded Michigan State will host Notre Dame in the single-elimination semifinals, while OSU will host PSU.
CCHA
Regular-Season Champion: Minnesota State
Scoring Champion: Rhett Pitlick, Minnesota State (26 GP, 10-20—30)
Top-seeded Minnesota State (vs. Lake Superior State), No. 3 St. Thomas (vs. Ferris State), and No. 4 Bowling Green (vs. Michigan Tech) all swept their quarterfinal opponents … No. 7 seed Bemidji State knocked off No. 2 Augustana in three games. Junior F Adam Flammang (St. Michael, Minn.) scored the OT series winner for the Beavers in Game 3 … BSU will host MSU in one single-elimination semifinal, while St. Thomas welcomes Bowling Green in the other.
ECAC Hockey
Regular-Season Champion: Quinnipiac (fifth in a row)
Scoring Champion: Ayrton Martino, Clarkson (22 GP, 21-17—38)
The first round did not see any upsets, as Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard, and Brown all won their single-elimination matchups to advance … The best-of-three quarterfinal series will feature No. 1 Quinnipiac vs. No. 8 Brown, No. 2 Clarkson vs. No. 7 Harvard, No. 3 Colgate vs. No. 6 Cornell, and No. 4 Union vs. No. 5 Dartmouth.
Hockey East
Regular-Season Champion: Boston College (second in a row)
Scoring Champion: Ryan Leonard, Boston College (24 GP, 25-12—37)
Boston College nabbed its second straight league title and the No. 1 seed last Friday … The Eagles will await the lowest-advancing seed from Hockey East’s opening-round matchups: No. 6 UMass vs. No. 11 Vermont, No. 7 UMass Lowell vs. No. 10 New Hampshire, No. 8 Merrimack vs. No. 9 Northeastern, and No. 4 UConn vs. No. 5 Providence … Like BC, No. 2 Maine and No. 3 Boston University also earned byes into Saturday’s quarterfinals.
NCHC
Regular-Season Champion: Western Michigan
Scoring Champion: Jack Devine, Denver (24 GP, 11-21—32)
Omaha and Denver secured the last two home-ice spots on the final weekend of the regular season … League champ and No. 1 seed Western Michigan will host No. 8 St. Cloud State in one of four quarterfinal matchups (best-of-three). The others include No. 2 Arizona State vs. No. 7 Minnesota Duluth, No. 3 DU vs. No. 6 Colorado College, and No. 4 UNO vs. No. 5 North Dakota … DU swept its in-state rival last weekend to earn its sixth straight Gold Pan series victory.
Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders
Must Read:
Bemidji Pioneer: Sioux Falls is a hockey city, and Augustana proved it
Boston Globe: No letting up for BC, BU as Hockey East’s regular season wraps up
Duluth News Tribune: Will Francis returns to UMD lineup in win at St. Cloud State
EP Rinkside: New Jersey Devils prospect Mikhail Yegorov dazzling at Boston University
GoErie.com: Mercyhurst University men’s hockey coach Rick Gotkin to retire after 2025-26 season
NHL.com: Calder Tracker: Hutson favorite as NHL’s top rookie
Must Hear:
Bulldog Insider: Carter Loney, Owen Gallatin re-live first day as Bulldogs
CHN Insiders: Playoff time
Inside Atlantic Hockey: Featuring Air Force senior captain Clayton Cosentino
Reporter’s Corner: Featuring Ferris State’s Kaleb Ergang
The CCHA Show: Playoff fever
USCHO Weekend Review: Playoff upsets, next round preview, does a PairWise bubble really exist?
Must Watch:
ECAC Hockey Decision Makers: Featuring Colgate head coach Mike Harder
Zero-Sum Game:
Junior G Connor Hasley (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) is having a season to remember for Bentley.
Hasley posted back-to-back shutouts in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals last weekend against Canisius, lifting the Falcons to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2009. On top of that, the shutouts were the ninth and 10th of the season for Hasley, inching him closer to NCAA history:
| Most Single-Season Shutouts in NCAA History | ||
| Rk. | Player, School (Year) | SHO |
| 1. | Greg Gardner, Niagara (1999-2000) | 12 |
| 2. | Yaniv Perets, Quinnipiac (2022-23) | 11 |
| 3. | Connor Hasley, Bentley (2024-25) | 10 |
| 7 other players tied w/ | 10 | |
Hasley will enter this weekend best-of-three series against Sacred Heart having blanked his opponents in three of his last four outings (and five of his last eight). Earlier this season, he pitched a school-record three straight shutouts in the back half of November.
More than half of Hasley’s wins this season have come via shutout; he’s 18-12-2 in 32 appearances with a 1.98 goals against average and .923 save percentage.
Devine Intervention:
NCAA assists leader Jack Devine (Sr., Glencoe, Ill.) joined an exclusive club in the annals of Denver Pioneer hockey history last weekend. Devine set up the game-winning goal in DU’s 4-3 win over rival Colorado College, the 100th assist of his NCAA career.
According to DU Assistant Director of Communications & Digital Media Ron Knabenbauer, Devine became just the 12th Pioneer with 100 career assists and the first since 1986 when John McMillan and Dwight Mathiasen both reached that plateau.
Devine, who has multi-point efforts in six of his last nine outings, ranks second in the national scoring race with 50 points in 36 games, including a nation’s-best 38 helpers.
Ryan’s World:
Boston College F and NCAA goal-scoring leader Ryan Leonard (So., Amherst, Mass.) enters the Hockey East playoffs just one tally 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 15-game point streak. He’s racked up 16 goals and 26 points during that time.
Benchmark on the Bench:
When Notre Dame opened its Big Ten Quarterfinal Series with a 3-2 win at Minnesota on Friday, it marked the 600th NCAA coaching win for head coach Jeff Jackson (Michigan State ’78).
Jackson, who had announced prior to the season that he would retire following the 2024-25 campaign, became just the ninth NCAA Division I men’s hockey coach to reach that milestone:
| Most Coaching Wins in NCAA DI Men’s Hockey History | ||
| Rk. | Player (Schools as Head Coach) | Wins |
| 1. | Jerry York (Clarkson, Bowling Green, Boston College) | 1,123 |
| 2. | Jack Parker (Boston University) | 897 |
| 3. | Red Berenson (Michigan) | 848 |
| 4. | Ron Mason (Lake Superior State, Bowling Green, Michigan State) | 815 |
| 5. | Rick Comley (Lake Superior State, Northern Michigan, Michigan State) | 783 |
| 6. | Don Lucia (Alaska, Colorado College, Minnesota) | 708 |
| 7. | Len Ceglarski (Clarkson, Boston College) | 672 |
| 8. | Jeff Sauer (Colorado College, Wisconsin) | 655 |
| 9. | Jeff Jackson (Lake Superior State, Notre Dame) | 601 |
| 10. | Dick Umile (New Hampshire) | 596 |
Jackson and the Fighting Irish went on to win last weekend’s series at Minnesota in three games. Now they’re preparing for a semifinal matchup against Jackson’s alma mater, Michigan State, on Saturday.
Notebook Quotebook:
“They make me so proud. They came to a university that didn’t have a rink or a hockey program – or a coach that had ever coached as a head coach before. They were so intentional. Their commitment to the university, the foundation they’ve laid – you’re so proud of them. They’re such competitors.”
— Augustana head coach Garrett Raboin (St. Cloud State ‘10) on his senior class following a season-ending overtime loss to Bemidji State in the CCHA Quarterfinals (source: Sioux Falls Live).
NHL Note of the Week:
Former Michigan State D Artyom Levshunov made his NHL debut Monday with the Chicago Blackhawks, becoming the 17th player from the 2024 NCAA Tournament to have already reached the NHL.
Levshunov, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, was a second-team All-America selection in 2023-24, his lone collegiate season. He was also named Big Ten Rookie of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:
Aiden Fink’s (So., Calgary, Alberta) NCAA-leading 51 points are a new Penn State single-season record. Alex Limoges (2017-21) previously held the record with 50 points in 2018-19 … Sacha Boisvert’s (Trois-Rivières, Quebec) six-game goal streak for North Dakota is the nation’s longest by a freshman this season … Sacred Heart’s 4-1 victory over Air Force in Game 3 of their AHA Quarterfinal series Sunday was the 21st win of the season for the Crusaders, tying the program record … Ohio State F Patrick Guzzo (Marysville, Mich.) played in his 168th collegiate game Sunday against Wisconsin, a new school record for the Buckeyes … Niagara G Pierce Charleson (Gr., Aurora, Ontario) made 64 saves in Friday’s 3-2 double-overtime loss to Army in Game 1 of the AHA Quarterfinals, the second-highest total in league history. Army’s 67 shots on goal in that game were the most by any team in the country this season … Minnesota F Matthew Wood (Jr., Lethbridge, Alberta) collected his 100th career point in Sunday’s loss to Penn State. Wood has five goals in his last four games … Boston University has reached the 20-win plateau for the third time in as many seasons under head coach Jay Pandolfo (BU ’96).
Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:
- 7 games, St. Thomas (began Feb. 8 at Bowling Green)
- 4 games, Dartmouth (began Feb. 22 vs. Union)
- 3 games, Bowling Green (began March 1 vs. Lake Superior State)
- 3 games, UConn (began Feb. 28 vs. Northeastern)
- 3 games, Minnesota State (began March 1 vs. Bemidji State)
Longest Active Point Streaks:
- 15 games, F Ryan Leonard (Boston College)
- 16-10—26, began Jan. 17 vs. Providence
- 10 games, F Ryan Johnson (Alaska Anchorage)
- 2-10—12, began Jan. 11 at Niagara
- 10 games, F Jake Richard (UConn)
- 9-9—18, began Jan. 31 at Providence
- 9 games, F Ayrton Martino (Clarkson)
- 8-12—20, began Feb. 1 vs. Cornell
- 9 games, F Joey Muldowney (UConn)
Longest Active Goal Streaks:
- 6 games, F Sacha Boisvert (North Dakota)
- 7-1—8, began Feb. 21 vs. Minnesota Duluth
- 5 games, F Jake Richard (UConn)
- 7-2—9, began Feb. 21 vs. Maine
- 4 games, D Cole Hutson (Boston University)
- 4-5—9, began Feb. 22 at Northeastern
- 4 games, F Matthew Wood (Minnesota)
- 5-0—5, began March 1 at Penn State
Conference Websites
Atlantic Hockey | Big Ten | CCHA | ECAC Hockey | Hockey East | NCHC
College Hockey Inc. Resources:
- College Hockey Inc. Media Kit
- NHL Draft Picks Playing NCAA Hockey
- NHL Matchup Tool
- NCAA Alums in the NHL This Season
- Former Collegians in NHL Front Offices
- College Alumni with 1,000 NHL Games
- College Alumni with 1,000 NHL Points
Did you know? 93% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players earn their degree!