Preseason Polls in, Regular Season Starts Saturday

The 2019-20 preseason polls for each of the six men's NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences have all been released. The following are the six schools chosen to finish first overall in their respective leagues at the conclusion of the regular season:

Atlantic Hockey: American International
Big Ten: Penn State
ECAC Hockey: Cornell
Hockey East: Boston College
NCHC: Minnesota-Duluth
WCHA: Minnesota State

American International, Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota State all won their respective conference regular-season titles last season, with Cornell finishing as ECAC Hockey's runner-up. All four also advanced to the 2019 NCAA Tournament, with Minnesota-Duluth ultimately winning its second straight national championship. The UMD Bulldogs were also voted first overall in today's USA Hockey/NCAA Division I Preseason Poll.

The 2019-20 NCAA campaign gets underway this Saturday with Maine visiting Providence in Hockey East action, along with eight non-conference NCAA tilts, and 11 exhibition contests pitting NCAA schools against Canadian universities. Northern Michigan also faces off with the U.S. Under-18 Team.

BC Women Blank Merrimack in Opener

The 2019-20 NCAA ice hockey season got underway on Friday night as Boston College blanked host Merrimack, 2-0, in Hockey East women's play.

Savannah Norcross tallied the game-winning goal for the Eagles, who are ranked eighth in the nation. Caroline DiFiore added an empty-net insurance goal, the first goal of her college career, and Maddy McArthur made 25 saves for the visitors to earn the shutout.

The Warriors and Eagles meet again on Saturday at Merrimack's Lawler Rink at 2 p.m. ET to close out the two-game series.

In non-conference NCAA women's action on Friday, defending NCAA champion and No. 1 Wisconsin won, 3-0, at Lindenwood, while No. 3 Clarkson edged host Syracuse, 4-3. Minnesota State won, 4-0, at Rensselaer, and Penn State skated to a 3-3 tie at Holy Cross. No. 2 Minnesota blanked visiting Colgate, 2-0, and No. 9 Ohio State bested visiting St. Lawrence, 4-1.

18 Years Later

In your prayers and recollections today, please remember Mark Bavis (Boston University '93), who was lost on United No. 175 on 9/11 on his way to training camp as a scout for the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. He was 31 years old.

#MarkBavis #United175 #NineEleven

U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame to Add Three Former Collegians

Former collegiate standouts Brian Gionta (Boston College), Tim Thomas (Vermont) and Krissy Wendell (Minnesota) will all be inducted to the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame later this year.

Gionta, 40, who is still BC's all-time leading goal scorer with 123 goals and nine hat tricks from 1997 to 2001, led the Eagles to four consecutive NCAA Frozen Fours, and also captained BC to the national title his senior season. He played 16 years in the NHL with New Jersey, Montreal, Buffalo and Boston, and won a Stanley Cup with New Jersey in 2003 before setting a still-standing Devils’ single-season record by scoring 48 goals during the 2005-06 campaign. The Rochester, N.Y. native tallied 291 goals and 304 assists for 595 points in 1,026 career NHL regular-season games, and also skated for Team USA in two Olympic Winter Games (2006, 2018), while captaining the American squad in his second Olympic go-around.

Thomas won the 2011 Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the NHL playoffs that spring as he backstopped Boston to its first Stanley Cup in four decades, and also received the Vezina Trophy that season as the league’s top goaltender. A native of Flint, Mich., he compiled a 214-145-19 record to go with a 2.52 goals-against average, a .920 save percentage, and 31 shutouts in 426 career NHL regular-season appearances with Boston, Florida and Dallas. A two-time All-America netminder at Vermont, Thomas, 45, helped the Catamounts to the 1996 NCAA Frozen Four as a junior while recording 81 career victories over four years at UVM. He also gained a bronze medal at the 1996 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games with the United States.

Wendell, 37, played three seasons at Minnesota, where she posted 106-131—237 points in 101 career contests with the Golden Gophers. She tallied 104 points in her third and final NCAA campaign, and also helped Minnesota to the 2003-04 national title. She earned five silver medals and one gold medal at the Women’s World Championships, and also claimed silver and bronze medals, respectively, with the U.S. in two Olympic Winter Games (2002, 2006).