Thursday, February 19, 2026

Men’s Notes: Friars Eyeing Outright Hockey East Crown

Providence Leads Hockey East by Six Points with Five to Play

When one examines Providence’s proud men’s hockey history, the Friars are hardly short on significant accomplishments.

That vitae includes a national championship in 2015, plus four other NCAA Frozen Four berths among the school’s NCAA Tournament appearances.

However, one achievement has long eluded the Friars: an outright Hockey East regular-season title.

Providence has previously shared the conference championship once – when as defending NCAA champions the Friars tied with Boston College for the 2016 league title – but it has never claimed the crown all its own.

That could soon change.

Providence enters this weekend with 42 points in Hockey East play, six better than UConn and eight more than Boston College (although both of those teams do have one game in hand on the Friars). Providence’s remaining schedule includes a trip to Vermont this weekend and a home-and-home with New Hampshire at the end of February, followed by a single home matchup versus UConn to close out the regular season.

The Friars have played their best hockey since the calendar flipped to 2026, going 11-2-0 during that time, including a nine-game winning streak that was halted Friday by Northeastern. Providence bounced right back the following night with a 4-1 win over the Huskies, improving to 14-4-1 in league play.

Despite rostering one of the 10 youngest teams in the country, while also overcoming a long-term injury to stalwart senior G Philip Svedebäck (Stockholm, Sweden), the Friars have put themselves in position to etch a new entry in the program’s record book.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Scoring Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

That’s a Fact, Jack:

Michigan Tech senior D Jack Anderson (St. Louis, Mo.) scored a grand total of four goals over his first three NCAA seasons, which spanned 90 games. He’s topped that number in his last five games alone.

Anderson has lit the lamp in all five of those contests – a five-game unbeaten stretch for the Huskies – to put himself in some select company from the last 20 years:

Longest Goal Streaks by Defensemen (since 2005-06)
Name, School (Year)	Games
Chase Priskie, Quinnipiac (2018-19)	6
Jack Anderson, Michigan Tech (2025-26)	5
Brian Kramer, AIC (2023-24)	5
Luke Hughes, Michigan (2021-22)	5
Jack Johnson, Michigan (2006-07)	5
Spencer Naas, UConn (2014-15)	5
Garrett Raboin, St. Cloud State (2008-09)	5
Joe Stejskal, Dartmouth (2008-09)	5

Anderson, who transferred from Lindenwood prior to this season, has 11 goals and 23 points in 34 games for Michigan Tech. He also leads the Huskies with a plus-17 rating and 52 blocks.

Hats Off to Air Force’s Genest:

Friday was a night to remember for Air Force freshman F Oliver Genest.

The Sanford, Maine, native scored not only his first NCAA goal, but his first three collegiate tallies, accounting for all the Falcons’ offense in a 3-3 overtime tie with Mercyhurst. Genest had come into the night with one assist in his first 15 collegiate games.

Genest was named AHA Rookie of the Week on Tuesday.

All Charged Up:

On back-to-back weekends, Union managed to play in two of the four highest-scoring games in NCAA Division I men’s hockey this season.

On Feb. 7, the Garnet Chargers dropped an 8-7 overtime decision to Clarkson in which the two teams combined for an NCAA season-high 15 goals. Then last Friday, Union handed Colgate a 7-6 loss that was tied for the fourth-highest scoring game of the year:

Most Combined Goals in a Game, 2025-26
Goals	Date	Result
15	Feb. 7	Clarkson 8, Union 7 (ot)
14	Feb. 3	Merrimack 9, Stonehill 5
14	Nov. 14	Bowling Green 9, Ferris State 5
13	Feb. 13	Union 7, Colgate 6
13	Nov. 26	Quinnipiac 7, Holy Cross 6 (ot)
13	Nov. 1	Maine 8, Boston University 5
13	Oct. 17	St. Thomas 11, Air Force 2

Union’s offense is tied for sixth nationally this season, averaging 3.7 goals per game.

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NCAA Milestone Watch:

160 Career Games Played (skaters)
158 – F Rieger Lorenz, Denver

150 Career Games Played (skaters)
149 – F Victor Czerneckianair, Quinnipiac
148 – F Brody Lamb, Minnesota

100 Career Points
96 – F Jay Ahearn, UMass Lowell
97 – F Stiven Sardarian, Michigan Tech
95 – F Christian Fitzgerald, Wisconsin
95 – F Jack Musa, UMass

50 Career Goals
49 – F Joey Muldowney, UConn
48 – F Davis Burnside, Ohio State
48 – F Sam Harris, Denver
48 – F Dylan James, North Dakota
47 – F Jay Ahearn, UMass Lowell
47 – F Brandon Buhr, Union
47 – F Brody Lamb, Minnesota

100 Career Games Played (goalies)
98 – Connor Hasley, Arizona State

50 Career Wins
49 – Michael Hrabal, UMass

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

3,000 Career Saves
2,928 – Simon Latkoczy, Omaha

SID Stuff:

A recent injury to Denver freshman G Quentin Miller has vaulted classmate Johnny Hicks (Kamloops, British Columbia) into the starting role, and Hicks has responded by running his record to a near-perfect 6-0-1.

According to DU Assistant Athletics Director for Communications Ron Knabenbauer, Hicks is the first Pioneer netminder to go unbeaten in his first seven career decisions since current NHLer Magnus Chrona started 7-0-1 in 2019-20.

Hicks has started the last six games for DU after having made just five relief appearances over the Pioneers’ first 27 contests.

Notebook Quotebook:

“As I’ve said all these years I’ve been here, I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I love this place, and I’ve always put my all into it and worked as hard as I possibly could because of how much pride I have in that jersey and how much respect I have for the guys that have come before and worn that jersey.”

— Brown head coach Brendan Whittet (Brown ’94) after coaching his final game at the helm of his alma mater, a 4-3 victory over No. 12 Dartmouth (source: BrownBears.com).

Assistant coach Jason Smith (Salem State ’98) will officially take over as interim head coach on Friday.

NHL Note of the Week:

After playing in zero NHL games prior to the 2025-26 season, Carolina breakout star Brandon Bussi (Western Michigan, 2019-22) is suddenly the proud new owner of a three-year contract extension that was announced on Monday.

Bussi had spent his first three full professional seasons in the AHL after signing with Boston as an undrafted free agent out of WMU in 2022. But he burst onto the NHL scene with the Hurricanes this season, going 23-3-1 in 27 games. He ranks second in the NHL with a 2.16 goals against average.

Bussi went 46-25-5 in 77 collegiate games at WMU, including a career-best 26 wins in 2021-22.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

The current 12-game point streak for Quinnipiac F Ethan Wyttenbach (Roslyn, N.Y.) is the longest by an ECAC Hockey freshman since Jacob Pritchard (St. Lawrence, 2015-18; UMass, 2018-19) reached the scoresheet in 13 straight games for St. Lawrence in 2015-16 … Cornell clinched its sixth Ivy League title in the last eight seasons following Brown’s win over Dartmouth on Saturday … The semifinalists for the 2026 Mike Richter Award were announced last Friday … Boston University senior F Owen McLaughlin (Spring City, Pa.) collected his 100th NCAA point with an assist in Friday’s loss at New Hampshire … Penn State freshman D Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta) scored his ninth and 10th goals of the season in Friday’s 4-4 tie at Michigan, a new single-season school record for defensemen … Providence’s next win will be the 300th behind the Friars’ bench for head coach Nate Leaman (Cortland ’97).

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

4 games, Quinnipiac (began Feb. 6 vs. Brown)
3 games, Denver (began Feb. 7 vs. Colorado College)
3 games, North Dakota (began Feb. 7 at Minnesota Duluth)
3 games, Western Michigan (began Feb. 7 at Miami)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

12 games, F EthanWyttenbach (Quinnipiac)
- 10-14—24, began Jan. 9 vs. Union
11 games, F JustinGill (Merrimack)
- 8-8—16, began Dec. 13 vs. LIU
9 games, F BrodyLamb (Minnesota)
- 5-6—11, began Jan. 18 vs. Michigan
7 games, F BrodieZiemer (Minnesota)
- 6-3—9, began Jan. 24 at Michigan State
6 games, 9 players tied

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

6 games, F Justin Gill (Merrimack)
- 6-3—9, began Jan. 23 vs. Northeastern
5 games, D Jack Anderson (Michigan Tech)
- 6-4—10, began Jan. 31 at St. Thomas
5 games, F Rieger Lorenz (Denver)
- 5-2—7, began Jan. 31 vs. Minnesota Duluth
5 games, F Michael Mesic (Bentley)
- 6-3—9, began Jan. 9 at Air Force
5 games, F Ethan Wyttenbach (Quinnipiac)
- 7-6—13, began Jan. 31 at Clarkson

Longest Active Goalie Winning Streaks:

6 games, Carson Musser (St. Thomas)
- Began Dec. 6 vs. Lake Superior State
6 games, Stephen Peck (Michigan)
- Began Jan. 10 vs. Notre Dame
6 games, Nicholas Bevilacqua (Bentley)
- Began Dec. 6 vs. Niagara
4 games, Gibson Homer (North Dakota)
- Began Dec. 13 vs. Omaha

Conference Websites

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

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