Thursday, January 22, 2026

Men’s Notes: Goaltending Understudies Step into Spotlight

Freshmen Peck, Parsons Shine in Early Career Tests

Few things can test a hockey team’s mettle – especially in the latter stages of a season – like injuries. The most glaring vulnerability is often an injury to a team’s starting goaltender. In Ann Arbor and Providence, two teams with NCAA Frozen Four aspirations recently lost their No. 1 goalies to injury but have yet to miss a beat.

Michigan freshman sensation Jack Ivankovic (Mississauga, Ontario) was injured in a Jan. 10 win over Notre Dame and is out indefinitely. He was the nation’s winningest netminder when he went down.

Classmate Stephen Peck (Fr., New York, N.Y.) came off the bench in that game to make his first NCAA appearance and allowed three goals on 18 shots in just under two periods of action. One week later, Peck received his first two collegiate starting assignments and aced the test, stopping 43 of 46 shots (.935) to lift the top-ranked Wolverines to a road sweep of Minnesota.

On Tuesday, Peck was named Big Ten Goaltender of the Week.

At Providence, the Friars are the top team in Hockey East (by winning percentage) and sit No. 12 in the NPI rankings. But they lost stalwart veteran Philip Svedebäck (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden) midway through a Jan. 3 loss to Alaska, forcing seldom-used freshman Jack Parsons (Ithaca, N.Y.) into action.

Parsons, who had only two NCAA outings to his name prior to that relief appearance, stopped four of six shots in relief of Svedebäck. Since then, Parsons has backstopped Providence to back-to-back Hockey East sweeps of nationally ranked Maine and Boston College, logging a 1.74 goals against average and .941 save percentage in those four starts. The Friars’ sweep of BC was their first since 2002.

With Svedebäck out for the foreseeable future, the Providence net now belongs to Parsons.

Losing a starting goalie in January can be a panic point for a hockey team, but Peck and Parsons have already quieted those fears for two of the nation’s best.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Scoring Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Award Season:

Candidates were recently unveiled for three of college hockey’s most prestigious individual awards:

Yesterday, fan voting began for the 2026 Hobey Baker Memorial Award.
On Tuesday, the 12 nominees were announced for the 2026 Hockey Humanitarian Award.
Last Wednesday, the HCA released its “Watch List” for the 2026 Mike Richter Award.

The winners of all three awards will be announced at the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in Las Vegas.

Meaty Matchups:

Much like last week, the upcoming weekend slate in college hockey features a robust batch of matchups involving teams in the top 20 of the current NPI:

#4 Minnesota Duluth vs. #5 Western Michigan (FRI/SAT)
#6 Penn State at #7 Wisconsin (FRI/SAT)
#10 Denver vs. #17 St. Cloud State (FRI/SAT)
#8 Dartmouth at #11 Cornell (FRI)
#11 Cornell vs. #20 Harvard (SAT)
#12 Providence vs. #16 Boston University (FRI/SAT)

Click HERE for all men’s college hockey viewing information.

Fit to be Kotai-ed:

After a runner-up finish with the United States Collegiate Selects team at the Spengler Cup, Augustana G Josh Kotai (Jr., Abbotsford, British Columbia) returned to college hockey with a vengeance.

In his first three games back from Switzerland, Kotai rattled off three consecutive shutouts in conference wins over Northern Michigan (x2) and Ferris State. According to Director of Communications Nick Rappuhn, Kotai became the first NCAA Division I men’s goalie since Dryden McKay in 2020 to string together three straight shutouts.

Additionally, Kotai’s shutout streak of 192 minutes, 40 seconds is the longest-ever in the current iteration of the CCHA. That streak ended in Saturday’s series finale against FSU, but he still emerged victorious in a 4-3 overtime victory.

In 23 games this season, Kotai is 14-6-3 with a 1.99 goals against average and a .934 save percentage. He is tied with Northeastern’s Lawton Zacher (Jr., Buffalo, N.Y.) with an NCAA-leading four shutouts.

**More Like Hat DiMarsico:**

Penn State junior F Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) registered his third hat trick of the season in Friday’s 4-1 win over Notre Dame. He previously enjoyed three-goal outings Oct. 17 against LIU and in the Oct. 3 season opener at Arizona State.

Sacred Heart’s Felix Trudeau (Sr., Terrebonne, Quebec) and Dartmouth’s Hayden Stavroff (So., Columbus, Ohio) – with two each – are the only other players with multiple hat tricks this season.

Dan Sturges:

College Hockey Inc. extends our sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Michigan State Director of Hockey Operations and former Spartan Dan Sturges, who passed away unexpectedly Monday morning. Our thoughts are with the entire MSU hockey family and all who knew and loved Dan.

NCAA Milestone Watch:

100 Career Points
99 – F Owen McLaughlin, Boston University
98 – F Dylan Hryckowian, Northeastern
97 – D Chris Hedden, Air Force
96 – F Davis Burnside, Ohio State

100 Career Assists
98 – T.J. Hughes, Michigan

50 Career Goals
46 – F Sam Harris, Denver

50 Career Wins
48 – Simon Latkoczy, Omaha

10 Career Shutouts
9 – Trey Augustine, Michigan State
9 – Albin Boija, Maine
8 – Kyle Chauvette, New Hampshire

100 Career Games Played (Goalies)
98 – Simon Latkoczy, Omaha

SID Corner:

Bowling Green did not get whistled for a penalty in Friday’s 4-1 win over Lake Superior State. According to the team’s official X account, it was just the second penalty-free game in program history by the Falcons and their first since Nov. 24, 1978.

Notebook Quotebook:

“It does look like both of them are really enjoying State College and Penn State, and that’s important to us. We love seeing that. This is one of the premier college towns in the world, so I’m glad to see they’re enjoying it.”

— Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky (Colorado College ‘89) on freshman F Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) and freshman D Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta) (source: The Daily Collegian).

NHL Note of the Week:

Anaheim F Alex Killorn (Harvard, 2008-12) played in his 1,000th NHL game Wednesday night in Colorado, becoming the seventh active NCAA alumni – and 76th all-time – to reach that milestone.

Killorn was a four-year standout for the Crimson and a first-team All-American as a senior.

Columbus F Charlie Coyle (Boston University, 2010-11) can join Killorn in the exclusive 1,000-games club as early as tonight when the Blue Jackets host Dallas.

Coyle was the Hockey East Rookie of the Year in his lone collegiate season with the Terriers.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Denver senior F Rieger Lorenz (Calgary, Alberta) played in his 150th career game Saturday at North Dakota, tops among active NCAA Division I men’s players … St. Thomas F Lucas Wahlin (Woodbury, Minn.) scored his 50th collegiate goal in Friday’s win over Bemidji State, joining Michigan’s T.J. Hughes (Sr., Hamilton, Ontario) and Ferris State’s Josh Zary (Sr., Nanaimo, British Columbia) as the nation’s only active players to reach that milestone … Air Force’s 5-2 win at Holy Cross on Saturday was the Falcons’ first road win over the Crusaders since 2016 … Robert Morris sophomore G Lucas Massie (Claremont, Calif.) made 22 saves and earned his first career shutout in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Army … After an injury-riddled 0-17-1 start to the season, Mercyhurst has won three of its last four games. Lakers freshman G Charles–Edward Gravel (Lévis, Quebec) owns a 1.86 GAA and .946 save percentage in seven outings since Thanksgiving.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

8 games, St. Thomas (began Dec. 6 vs. Lake Superior State)
7 games, Western Michigan (began Dec. 6 vs. Minnesota Duluth)
6 games, Augustana (began Jan. 2 vs. Colorado College)
6 games, Quinnipiac (began Jan. 2 vs. Harvard)
5 games, Michigan Tech (began Jan. 3 vs. Alaska Anchorage)
5 games, Penn State (began Jan. 4 vs RIT)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

8 games, F Joey Muldowney (UConn)
- 5-7—12, began Nov. 22 vs. New Hampshire
8 games, F Lucas Wahlin (St. Thomas)
- 9-4—13, began Dec. 6 vs. Lake Superior State
7 games, D Michael Bevilacqua (Lindenwood)
- 2-6—8, began Dec. 14 at Maine
7 games, F T.J. Hughes (Michigan)
- 2-8—10, began Nov. 29 at Harvard
6 games, F Donovan Frias (Yale)
- 1-11—12, began Jan. 2 vs. St. Cloud State
6 games, F Olivier Houde (Lindenwood)
- 4-5—9, began Jan. 2 vs. Canisius
6 games, F Dylan Hryckowian (Northeastern)
- 4-6—10, began Dec. 13 vs. Boston University
6 games, F Nathan Pilling (St. Thomas)
- 3-3—6, began Dec. 13 at Northern Michigan
6 games, F Zaccharya Wisdom (Western Michigan)
- 4-2—6, began Dec. 28 vs. Boston College

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

4 games, F Matt DiMarsico (Penn State)
- 6-0—0, began Jan. 9 vs. Minnesota
4 games, F Michael Mesic (Bentley)
- 4-3—7, began Jan. 9 at Air Force
4 games, F Lucas Wahlin (St. Thomas)
- 4-3—7, began Jan. 3 vs. Ferris State

Conference Websites

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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