Thursday, February 5, 2026

Men’s Notes: Down the Stretch They Come in ECAC Hockey

Three Points Separate Top Four Teams in Race for Cleary Cup

The month of March is fast approaching and conference races are heating up all over college hockey. One of the most compelling league races is in ECAC Hockey, where the top four teams are separated by just three points.

Dartmouth (.733) sits atop the standings with 33 points, just one point ahead of Cornell (.762) and Quinnipiac (.762), both of whom have one game in hand on the Big Green.

Fourth-place Harvard (.667) is also squarely in the Cleary Cup picture with 30 points.

On the surface, Dartmouth faces the most grueling path the rest of the way with five of its seven remaining games coming away from the friendly confines of Thompson Arena, where the Big Green have gone 13-1-1. Dartmouth is 3-5-0 on the road.

Quinnipiac, chasing an astounding sixth consecutive Cleary Cup, faces just three road tilts in its final eight games.

Adding to the intrigue – three of the four teams can currently be found in the top 10 of the NPI ratings: No. 7 Cornell, No. 9 Quinnipiac and No. 10 Dartmouth. Harvard enters the weekend at No. 21.

The road to Lake Placid and the ECAC tournament promises to be a fascinating one, and the remaining four weeks of the regular season will have just as much impact on the national picture.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Scoring Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Another Brick in the Wahl:

St. Thomas senior F Lucas Wahlin (Woodbury, Minn.) extended his point streak to 12 games over the weekend, the longest such streak in NCAA Division I men’s hockey this season.

He’s piled up 11 goals and 18 points during that stretch, while leading the Tommies to an 11-1-0 record.

Wahlin is one of only five active players in the country with at least three 30-point seasons to his name. Michigan’s T.J. Hughes (Sr., Hamilton, Ontario) has done it in each of his four years, while Northeastern’s Dylan Hryckowian (Jr., L’Île-Bizard, Quebec), Arizona State’s Cruz Lucius (Sr., Grant, Minn.), and Quinnipiac’s Jeremy Wilmer (Sr., Rockville Center, N.Y.) have each done it three times.

Bentley’s Black Breaks Out:

In Jake Black’s first 71 collegiate games – including two years at UConn and last season at Bentley – he recorded a total of 22 points.

This season at Bentley, the senior from Pomfret, Conn., has erupted for 26 points in 26 games. That includes a blistering month of January in which he led the entire country with 17 points in 10 contests.

Black tallied his first career hat trick during last Friday’s 5-0 win at Robert Morris, then pushed his career-long point streak to nine games with an assist the following night. Yesterday, he was named Atlantic Hockey Forward of the Month.

Beaver, Damn!:

The crowd of 74,575 that witnessed Michigan State’s 5-4 overtime win over host Penn State last Saturday at Beaver Stadium was the second-largest in college hockey history:

Date	Game	Site	Atten.
12/11/10	Michigan State at Michigan State	Michigan Stadium	113,411
1/31/26	Michigan State at Penn State	Beaver Stadium	74,575
10/6/01	Michigan at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium	74,544
2/6/10	Michigan at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium	55,031
2/17/13	Miami vs. Notre Dame	Soldier Field	52,051
2/17/13	Minnesota vs. Wisconsin	Soldier Field	52,051

Michigan State’s Charlie Stramel (Sr., Rosemount, Minn.) completed a hat trick at 3:08 of overtime to give the Spartans the win, their sixth in a row.

Hedden Toward a Hundred:

Air Force senior D Chris Hedden (Kalamazoo, Mich.) enters this weekend’s Atlantic Hockey series at Niagara on the verge of becoming the country’s only active defenseman with 100 career points:

Career NCAA Points Leaders (Defensemen)
98 – Chris Hedden, Air Force
87 – Eric Pohlkamp, Denver
80 – Boston Buckberger, Denver
79 – Jake Livanavage, North Dakota
78 – Vinny Borgesi, Northeastern

Hedden, a five-time AHA Defenseman of the Week this season, has 24 points and a team-leading 11 goals in 26 games on the year.

Beanpot Breakdown:

Boston College and Boston University have advanced to the Beanpot championship game. BC defeated Harvard 5-1 in the first of two semifinals Monday at TD Garden, while BU slipped past Northeastern in a 2-2 tie that was decided by Cole Hutson’s (So., Chicago, Ill.) shootout winner.

Next Monday’s championship tilt between the Eagles and Terriers will mark the 300th meeting in their historic Battle of Comm Ave rivalry.

NCAA Milestone Watch:

100 Career Points
99 – F Owen McLaughlin, Boston University
98 – D Chris Hedden, Air Force
98 – F Mason Marcellus, Quinnipiac
96 – F Jay Ahearn, UMass Lowell

50 Career Goals
47 – Brandon Buhr, Union
47 – F Sam Harris, Denver
47 – Joey Muldowney, UConn
46 – Davis Burnside, Ohio State
46 – F Dylan James, North Dakota

60 Career Wins
59 – Alex Tracy, Minnesota State

50 Career Wins
48 – Michael Hrabal, UMass

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

SID Stuff:

According to BU Associate Director of Athletic Communications Kevin Edelson, BU’s Lane Hutson (Boston University, 2022-24) and Cole Hutson (So., Chicago, Ill.) are the only two college hockey defensemen since 2005-06 to have 20-plus goals and 50-plus assists in their first 65 NCAA games.

The Hutson brothers are also among the fastest defensemen to reach 50 career assists during that time:

Fewest Games to Reach 50 Career Assists (Defensemen)
Name, School (Years)	GP
Zeev Buium, Denver (2023-25)	55
Lane Hutson, Boston Univ. (2022-24)	57
Adam Fox, Harvard (2016-19)	57
Cade Mason, LIU (2022-25)	58
Reid Cashman, Quinnipiac (2003-07)	59
Seamus Casey, Michigan (2022-24)	62
Quinn Hughes, Michigan (2017-19)	64
Cole Hutson, Boston Univ. (2024-pres.)	65

Notebook Quotebook:

“That was the coolest environment I will ever play in my life, no matter if I make the NHL or not. That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, ever witnessed, and I just couldn’t be prouder to be a Penn Stater and get that opportunity.”

— Penn State captain Dane Dowiak (Jr., Wexford, Pa.) following Saturday’s outdoor game against Michigan State in front of 74,575 fans at PSU’s Beaver Stadium (source: NHL.com).

NHL Note of the Week:

Six of the NHL’s top nine players in average ice time are former college hockey defensemen.

Minnesota’s Quinn Hughes (Michigan, 2017-19) and Columbus’ Zach Werenski (Michigan, 2014-16) currently rank 1-2 in the NHL, averaging 27:52 and 26:22 per game, respectively.

The top nine also includes: Colorado’s Cale Makar (UMass, 2017-19), Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson (North Dakota, 2020-22), Minnesota’s Brock Faber (Minnesota, 2020-23), and Boston College’s Mike Matheson (Boston College, 2012-15).

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Michigan State is encouraging members of the hockey community to place a hockey stick outside of their front doors on Friday in honor of Dan Sturges and in support of his loved ones … Alaska has six regular-season games remaining, all of them against rival Alaska Anchorage … Michigan’s T.J. Hughes (Sr., Hamilton, Ontario) scored his 60th career goal and 100th career assist last weekend, making him the only active player in the country to have reached either milestone … Ohio State’s Davis Burnside (Sr., La Grange, Ill.), Boston College’s Andre Gasseau (Sr., Garden Grove, Calif.), and Northeastern’s Dylan Hryckowian (Jr., L’Île-Bizard, Quebec) all reached the 100 career-point plateau last weekend … Miami’s sweep at St. Cloud State was the first NCHC road sweep for the RedHawks in five years … Penn State won 52 faceoffs in Friday’s 6-3 loss to Michigan State, tying Colorado College (Nov. 15 vs. Denver) for the NCAA season high. The Nittany Lions won 65 percent of their 80 total draws in the game …

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

7 games, UMass (began Jan. 10 at Boston University)
7 games, Providence (began Jan. 9 vs. Maine)
6 games, Michigan (began, Jan. 9 vs. Notre Dame)
6 games, Michigan State (began, Jan. 9 at Ohio State)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

12 games, F Lucas Wahlin (St. Thomas)
- 11-7—18, began Dec. 6 vs. Lake Superior State
10 games, F Joey Muldowney (UConn)
- 7-7—14, began Nov. 22 vs. New Hampshire
10 games, F Nathan Pilling (St. Thomas)
- 7-6—13, began Dec. 13 at Northern Michigan
9 games, F Jake Black (Bentley)
- 9-8—17, began Jan. 3 at Holy Cross
9 games, F Justin Gill (Merrimack)
- 6-8—14, began Dec. 13 vs. LIU
9 games, F Isaac Gordon (Michigan Tech)
- 3-7—10, began Jan. 3 vs. Alaska Anchorage
9 games, F T.J. Hughes (Michigan)
- 4-10—14, began Nov. 29 at Harvard
8 games, F Tyson Dyck (Wisconsin)
- 3-5—8, began Jan. 9 vs. Alaska Anchorage
8 games, F Ethan Wyttenbach (Quinnipiac)
- 4-10—14, began Jan. 9 vs. Union
7 games, D Michael Bevilacqua (Lindenwood)
- 2-6—8, began Dec. 14 at Maine
7 games, F Andre Gasseau (Boston College)
- 4-6—10, began Oct. 24 vs. Denver

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

5 games, F Michael Mesic (Bentley)
- 6-3—9, began Jan. 9 at Air Force
4 games, F Justin Gill (Merrimack)
- 4-3—7, began Jan. 23 vs. Northeastern
3 games, 6 players tied

Conference Websites

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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