Thursday, January 15, 2026

Men’s Notes: Weekend Matchups Could Impact NPI Picture

McKenna, Verhoeff top NHL Central Scouting Rankings

Tantalizing matchups are nothing new to college hockey, a sport that features tradition-heavy rivalries, heated conference races, and a recent history of unparalleled parity.

However, the sheer number of matchups this weekend that carry potential national implications should make for a get-your-popcorn-ready couple of days.

Thursday’s Big Ten clash between Wisconsin and Michigan State will be the first of at least 10 head-to-head matchups this weekend where both teams are ranked inside the top 20 of the NPI, the system utilized for selecting and seeding teams for the NCAA Tournament:

#3 Wisconsin vs. #6 Michigan State (THU/FRI)
#2 North Dakota vs. #11 Denver (FRI/SAT)
#4 Minnesota Duluth vs. #19 St. Cloud State (FRI/SAT)
#9 Cornell vs. #15 Princeton (FRI)
#9 Cornell vs. #10 Quinnipiac (SAT)
#13 Providence vs. #16 Boston College (FRI/SAT)

Thursday’s Wisconsin-Michigan State game can be seen live on Big Ten Network, while Friday’s Providence-Boston College tilt will be shown on ESPNU and TSN2. The remaining games can all be streamed live. Click HERE for viewing information.

With Friday’s potential for chaos, we would advise college hockey fans to take a fresh look at those NPI rankings come Saturday.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Scoring Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

NHL Central Scouting Rankings:

Penn State F Gavin McKenna (Fr., Whitehorse, Yukon) and North Dakota D Keaton Verhoeff (Fr., Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta) were ranked 1-2 among North American skaters the NHL Central Scouting’s Mid-Season Rankings released earlier this week.

McKenna and Verhoeff were among the four current or committed college hockey players ranked among the top eight North American skaters. Sixteen of the top 30 in that same category were college-affiliated or college-bound.

In all, 114 current or committed college hockey players were listed in the Mid-Season Rankings, nine of whom are currently in the NCAA.

Jack-ed Up:

After veteran G Philip Svedebäck (Stockholm, Sweden) suffered an injury Jan. 3 against Alaska, Providence turned to little-used freshman Jack Parsons (Ithaca, N.Y.), and he came through with flying colors.

Parsons stopped 46 of 47 shots (.979) on the weekend to lift the Friars to a Hockey East sweep of then-No. 12/14 Maine. Parsons turned aside 26 shots in Friday’s 6-1 victory, then he followed up with 20 saves and his first NCAA shutout Saturday in a 3-0 victory.

It was Providence’s first shutout of the Black Bears since Oct. 5, 2019.

Gross Margin:

St. Cloud State junior C Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) entered the week with 319 faceoff wins in 22 games this year, 42 more wins than any other player in the country (Colorado College’s Klavs Veinbergs).

Gross has won 62.8 percent of his draws this year, which ranks second nationally among players with more than 100 total attempts:

2025-26 Faceoff Pct. Leaders
65.5 – Jonathan Castagna, Cornell
62.8 – Tyson Gross, St. Cloud State
61.2 – Victor Czerneckianair, Quinnipiac
61.0 – Jack Stockfish, Holy Cross
61.0 – Klavs Veinbergs, Colorado College

More than just a faceoff specialist, Gross also leads the Huskies in scoring (28 points) and has found the scoresheet in 19 of his 22 games.

NCAA Milestone Watch:

150 Career Games Played
148 – Rieger Lorenz, Denver

100 Career Points
98 – F Owen McLaughlin, Boston University
96 – F Davis Burnside, Ohio State
95 – D Chris Hedden, Air Force

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

50 Career Goals
49 – F Lucas Wahlin, St. Thomas
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)
99 – Kyle Chauvette, New Hampshire
98 – Alex Tracy, Minnesota State

SID Corner:

Vermont skated to a conference sweep of No. 16 Northeastern last weekend with 3-2 and 5-3 wins over the Huskies at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

According to Vermont Assistant Athletic Director for Broadcasting and Communications Nich Hall, it marked the Catamounts’ first sweep of a nationally ranked Hockey East opponent since Feb. 2020, which also happened to come against Northeastern.

Notebook Quotebook:

“In the summer, we had our three trophies in the locker room – the Penrose, the Frozen Faceoff, and national championship. We start the year, they’re still in there, and maybe three weeks before the regular season starts, our captains came in and said, ‘Hey coach, is it okay if we take those trophies out of here? This team didn’t win it, last year’s team did.’”

— Western Michigan head coach Pat Ferschweieler (WMU ‘93) on his team’s 2025-26 mindset as the defending national champions (source: College Hockey News).

NHL Note of the Week:

Several college hockey alumni are closing in on significant NHL career milestones:

Columbus F Charlie Coyle (Boston University, 2010-11) and Anaheim F Alex Killorn (Harvard, 2008-12) are each four games away from 1,000. They would become the seventh and eighth active NCAA alumni to reach that plateau.
Winnipeg F Jonathan Toews (North Dakota, 2005-07) sits on 899 career points, which leads all active college hockey alumni.
The next goal for New York Islanders captain Anders Lee (Notre Dame, 2010-13) will be the 300th of his career, fifth-most in the Islanders’ storied history.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

The Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) unveiled its watch list on Wednesday for the 2026 Mike Richter Award … Charles-Edward Gravel’s (Fr., Lévis, Quebec) 39-save effort Friday not only gave him his first NCAA shutout, but also secured the Lakers their first win of the season, a 3-0 victory over Army West Point … Penn State F Aiden Fink (Jr., Calgary, Alberta) and Michigan State F Daniel Russell (Sr., Traverse City, Mich.) both reached the 100-career point mark last weekend, making them the sixth and seventh active Division I men’s players in that exclusive club … After a 10-0-0 start to his collegiate career, North Dakota freshman Jan Špunar (Fr., Olomouc, Czechia) suffered his first loss Friday in a 3-2 defeat at Colorado College. He bounced right back the following night with a 5-2 win over the Tigers … Michigan State scored three times in 23 seconds during the first period of Friday’s 6-2 win at Ohio State … With a 37-save effort in Friday’s 1-0 win over Miami, Samuel Urban (Fr., Dolne Kockovce, Slovakia) joined Cole Brady (2021) as the only freshmen in ASU history to register a shutout.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

7 games, Western Michigan (began Dec. 6 vs. Minnesota Duluth)
6 games, Clarkson (began Dec. 5 vs. Cornell)
6 games, St. Thomas (began Dec. 6 vs. Lake Superior State)
5 games, Cornell (began Dec. 6 at St. Lawrence)
5 games, Merrimack (began Dec. 12 vs. Yale)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

7 games, F David Jacobs (Princeton)
- 4-8—12, began Dec. 5 at Union
6 games, F Jonathan Castagna (Cornell)
- 5-6—11, began Dec. 5 at Clarkson
6 games, F Joey Muldowney (UConn)
- 3-5—8, began Nov. 22 vs. New Hampshire
6 games, F Liam Valente (Western Michigan)
- 3-5—8, began (Dec. 28 vs. Boston College
6 games, F Owen VanSteensel (Clarkson)
- 2-7—9, began Dec. 5 vs. Cornell
6 games, F Zaccharya Wisdom (Western Michigan)
- 4-2—6, began Dec. 28 vs. Boston College
6 games, F Lucas Wahlin (St. Thomas)
- 7-3—10, began Dec. 6 vs. Lake Superior State

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

5 games, F Dean Letourneau (Boston College)
- 6-2—8, began Nov. 28 vs. Notre Dame
4 games, F Max Plante (Minnesota Duluth)
- 5-3—8, began Dec. 12 vs. Arizona State
3 games, 5 players tied

Conference Websites

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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