Thursday, October 16, 2025

Men’s Notes: Top-Five Tilt on Tap This Weekend

No. 1 Boston University Hosts No. 4 Michigan State

The 2025-26 college hockey season is already off to a roaring start and another juicy slate this week offers five different series featuring nationally-ranked teams going head-to-head. That includes a top-five showdown between No. 1 Boston University and No. 4 Michigan State.

The Terriers and Spartans boast a combined 34 NHL Draft picks, as well as a trio of returning All-Americans: BU D and reigning national rookie of the year Cole Hutson (So., North Barrington, Ill.), MSU G Trey Augustine (Jr., South Lyon, Mich.) and MSU D Matt Basgall (Sr., Lake Forest, Ill.).

Friday’s clash can be seen nationally on ESPN2 (TSN5 in Canada). Saturday’s rematch will be streamed live on ESPN+. The latter is Jack Parker Hall of Fame night at BU’s Agganis Arena.

Other matchups this week involving nationally-ranked teams include:

#7 Maine at #10 Quinnipiac (Friday/Saturday)
#8 North Dakota vs. #13/14 Minnesota (Friday/Saturday)
#12 UConn vs. #15/16 Ohio State (Friday/Saturday)
#17 Wisconsin vs. #19/20 Minnesota State (Friday/Saturday)

Visit the ‘Weekly Schedule’ link below to view the entire schedule for this week.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Scoring Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Must Read:

Bemidji Pioneer: Oliver Peer’s first impressions and Beavers’ struggles with Huskies

Big Rapids Pioneer: Ferris hockey upsets defending national champions

Boston Globe: UNH stuns No. 2 Michigan State, and other highlights from the weekend

College Hockey News: Team of the Week: Michigan

College Hockey Inc.: USCS reveals “First Five” of Spengler Cup roster

College Hockey News: Independent teams united, pumped, despite many challenges

College Hockey News: Veteran leaders, 17 newcomers aim to continue Minnesota State’s standard

Grand Forks Herald: North Dakota-Minnesota rivalry has changed, but still nothing beats it

NHL.com: Snuggerud adapting quickly to life in the NHL with Blues

Must Hear:

Bulldog Insider: Arnott & Shaugabay strike Lightning

CHN Insiders: Featuring Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato

College Hockey Today: College hockey chaos

Parting Schotts: Union coach Hauge looks back at Mercyhurst series, looks ahead to Niagara series

UND Hockey Podcast: It’s North Dakota-Minnesota week

Upon Further Review: Impact of early games; momentum at Maine, Miami; adapting to change

USCHO Weekend Review: Early upsets point to unpredictability while Michigan, Maine impress

Fifty is Nifty:

A pair of senior forwards are closing in on becoming the first active NCAA Division I men’s hockey players to reach 50 career goals.

Michigan’s T.J. Hughes (Hamilton, Ontario) enters this weekend’s series against Robert Morris with 48 career goals – tops among all active players – while Ferris State’s Josh Zary (Nanaimo, British Columbia) has 47 career tallies. Zary and the Bulldogs have a pair of exhibition games on the docket this weekend and return to NCAA play next week at Michigan Tech.

Having a Good Claf:

Air Force G Carter Clafton (Jr., Grand Rapids, Minn.) appeared in just four games over his first two collegiate seasons as a backup to the since-graduated Guy Blessing.

With that vacant starting job seemingly up for grabs in 2025-26, Clafton stepped forward in a big way against a pair of in-state rivals last weekend.

Clafton stopped an Air Force-record (conference era) 58 shots in the Falcons’ season opener, a 1-1 overtime tie with fifth-ranked Denver, then followed that effort with a 25-save showing the next night in a 4-2 loss to Colorado College.

You Always Remember Your First:

As a player (1988-92) and assistant coach (2006-25) at the University of North Dakota, Dane Jackson contributed to more than 500 victories – 553, to be exact – for its storied hockey program.

Last weekend, he added two more as its head coach.

UND opened its season with a non-conference sweep of St. Thomas, making Jackson’s debut at the helm of his alma mater a victorious one.

“I’ll remember that one for a long time,” Jackson told the Grand Forks Herald. “It was fun to see the ‘Ralph’ packed and to get a good ‘W’ in the first one. It feels good.”

Jackson wasn’t the only first-year coach to nab a milestone win last weekend. Lindenwood’s Keith Fisher (St. Cloud State) and Army’s Zach McKelvie (Army ’09) both did the same on Friday, and LIU’s Brendan Riley (Mercyhurst ’20) followed suit Saturday.

Sun Devils Break the Ice:

Arizona State picked up its first two wins of the season last weekend when it captured the annual Ice Breaker Tournament on its home ice of Mullett Arena.

The Sun Devils defeated Notre Dame (5-3) and Alaska (5-2) to become the fourth straight NCHC program to win the annual Ice Breaker, following Omaha (2024), North Dakota (2023), and Denver (2022).

ASU F Cruz Lucius (Sr., Grant, Minn.) was named tournament MVP after notching a hat trick and nine shots on goal in the title game. He was joined on the all-tourney team by ASU G Connor Hasley (Sr., North Tonawanda, N.Y.), Alaska D Nathan Rickey (So., New Lenox, Ill.), Quinnipiac D Graham Sward (Fr., Langley, British Columbia), ASU F Ben Kevan (Fr., Fairfield, Calif.), and Quinnipiac F Mason Marcellus (Jr., Greely, Ontario).

Notebook Quotebook:

“Get ready for a year unlike any we have ever seen in the history of college hockey This is going to be a special year. The real beneficiaries are going to be the fans of college hockey. They’re going to be watching the best college hockey ever played, collectively, from top to bottom.”

— Air Force head coach Frank Serratore (Bemidji State ‘82) on the talent level in NCAA Division I men’s hockey (source: Grand Forks Herald).

NHL Note of the Week:

Former Western Michigan standout G Brandon Bussi (2019-22) made his NHL debut for Carolina on Tuesday and stopped 16 shots in a 5-1 win over San Jose.

Bussi, who won 46 games in three seasons at WMU, is the third college hockey alumni to make his NHL debut in the past week, joining Edmonton’s Isaac Howard (Michigan State, 2023-25; Minnesota Duluth, 202-23) and the New York Rangers’ Noah Laba (Colorado College, 2022-25).

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Ferris State G Hobie Hedquist (Jr., Heron Lake, Minn.) made a career-high 48 saves in the Bulldogs’ 3-2 win over then-top-ranked Western Michigan last Thursday. The performance earned the North Dakota transfer CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors … Lake Superior State F John Herrington (Jr., Hudson’s Hope, British Columbia) has scored one short-handed goal in each of the Lakers’ first two series, making him the nation’s only player with multiple ‘shorties’ so far this season. He had one SHG in 73 career games coming into the year … Freshman F Ilia Morozov (Moskva, Russia), the youngest player in NCAA Division I men’s hockey, had back-to-back three-point games in Miami’s sweep of RPI and was plus-5 for the weekend. Morozov, who just turned 17 in early August, has helped the RedHawks to their first 4-0 start since opening 8-0-0 in 2007-08 … Minnesota Luke Mittelstadt (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) blocked an NCAA season-high eight shots in Friday’s 2-2 overtime tie with Boston College.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

4 games, Miami (began Oct. 3 vs. Ferris State)
4 games, Michigan (began Oct. 3 vs. Mercyhurst)
3 games, UMass (began Oct. 4 vs. Northern Michigan)
3 games, Niagara (began Oct. 4 vs. St. Lawrence)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

5 games, F Grant Porter (Canisius)
- 3-3—6, began Oct. 3 vs. Clarkson
4 games, 9 players tied

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

3 games, 8 players tied

Conference Websites

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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