Princeton Sweeps No. 12 Ohio State

Princeton played the part of rude host over Thanksgiving weekend, sweeping 12th ranked Ohio State this weekend with a pair of 3-1 victories at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink. It was the first time the Tigers had ever defeated the Buckeyes, after dropping the first six NCAA men's hockey meetings all-time dating back to 1971.

On Friday night, Jake Manfre scored two goals for the Tigers, who also received 29 saves in net from Arthur Smith. On Saturday afternoon, Princeton got goals from three different skaters, including a shorthanded marker by Brendan Gorman, as all the scoring occurred in the third period. Smith made 37 stops and was just under seven minutes away from a shutout before Joe Dunlap scored his second of two goals on the weekend for OSU.

Both schools will return to conference play next weekend. Princeton (3-4-1 overall) will host Union and Rensselaer in ECAC Hockey action, while OSU will entertain Penn State (9-4-1) for a pair of Big Ten contests.

Happy Hockey Thanksgiving 2024

 

Sun Devils Sweep No. 1 Denver

Defending NCAA champion Denver's 21-game winning streak dating back to last season is history. The Pioneers were swept by visiting Arizona State in a pair of conference games at Magness Arena this weekend, by 3-2 and 5-2 decisions.

In Friday's meeting, ASU got two goals from Artem Shlaine, including the game-winner with 45 seconds remaining in regulation, and 30 saves from Luke Pavicich in topping DU for the first time since Nov. 10, 2023 in Tempe, Ariz. In Saturday's rematch, Shlaine scored two more goals and a second straight game-winner, while Pavicich made 26 saves for the Sun Devils, who are in their first season in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference after nine seasons as an NCAA Division I independent. 

ASU (6-7-1 overall, 3-30 NCHC) returns to action this weekend at home against Minnesota-Duluth, while DU (12-2-0, 2-2-0) will visit Western Michigan, all in NCHC play.

UND, MSU to Meet in 2026 HHOF Game

The 2026 U.S Hockey Hall of Fame Game will take place on Halloween that year in Texas. The University of North Dakota and Michigan State University will meet at the H-E-B Center in Austin, home of the AHL's Texas Stars. 

UND leads the all-time series with MSU, 64-37-3, dating back to the first meeting on Feb. 10, 1950. UND blanked the Spartans, 6-0, on Oct. 13, 2007 in the Hall of Fame Game that year in Grand Forks, N.D. The two schools last met on Nov. 26, 2016, a 2-2 tie in Grand Forks. UND also defeated MSU, 5-3, in the 1987 NCAA championship game in Detroit. The Fighting Hawks upended Penn State, 6-4, in the 2021 Hall of Fame Game in Nashville, in their last appearance to date in that contest. 

Next year's Hall of Fame game will occur in Nov. 2025 at Ball Arena in Denver, between the University of Denver and the University of Minnesota.

BC Edges Providence, 3-2, in OT

Ryan Leonard took a penalty in the third period that negated what would have been a Boston College power play, then scored the tying goal late in regulation and the game-winner in overtime to lift third-ranked BC to a 3-2 victory at No. 10 Providence last night.

After Gabe Perreault had put BC ahead in the first minute of play, the host Friars responded with second-period goals less than three minutes apart by Clint Levens and Ryan O'Reilly to put Providence ahead, 2-1. That lead stood up until Leonard tapped home a pass from the far wing with less than four minutes remaining in regulation to tie the contest, before he backhanded home a loose puck in front just over four minutes into OT to end it.

Jan Korec stopped 24 shots for the visiting Eagles (8-2-0 overall, 3-1-0 Hockey East) in making his first start of the 2024-25 NCAA season, while Philip Svedebäck made 36 stops for the Friars (7-3-2, 5-2-2). Leonard and Perreault tallied three points apiece for BC, while James Hagens set up two goals for the Eagles. The two Hockey East rivals will close out the season series on Jan. 17 at BC.

Bruins Dismiss Montgomery as Head Coach

Jim Montgomery (Maine) has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the Boston Bruins. The Montreal native was in his third season at the helm of the Bruins, who are currently 8-9-3 through their first 20 games of the 2024-25 NHL campaign and in fourth place in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division, where they sit outside a playoff spot. Succeeding Montgomery as interim head coach is assistant Joe Sacco (Boston University), who previously oversaw the Colorado Avalanche from 2009-2013.

Montgomery joined Boston for the 2022-23 season and led it to a league-best 65-12-5 record, setting NHL records for most wins and points (132) by a team in a single season while personally earning the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year. He then guided the Bruins to a 47-20-15 mark in 2023-24, although both of those seasons ended with a first-round loss to Florida in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

As an All-America forward, Montgomery led the University of Maine to its first-ever NCAA hockey title as a senior forward in 1993, earning him NCAA championship MVP accolades. He did likewise 24 years later with the University of Denver, as head coach of the Pioneers when he guided them to the national championship in Chicago in 2017. He left a year later to coach the NHL's Dallas Stars, with whom he compiled a 60-43-10 ledger in 113 regular-season outings before being dismissed by the club almost midway through the 2019-2020 season for "unprofessional conduct."

Montgomery, 55, also coached Dubuque to two Junior A titles in the United States Hockey League before signing on at Denver, after previously serving four seasons as an assistant coach at Rensselaer. He played in 122 NHL games between 1993 and 2003 with St. Louis, Montreal, Philadelphia, San Jose and Dallas, after recording 301 points over four seasons at UMaine, where his No. 19 jersey has been retired.

ADDENDUM: Montgomery wasn't out of work long. He was hired on Nov. 24 as head coach of the St. Louis Blues, who parted ways with Drew Bannister after a little more than one season at the helm.

BC Goalie Fowler Suspended One Game

Boston College sophomore goaltender Jacob Fowler has been suspended by Hockey East for one game after earning a roughing penalty and a game misconduct in 5-4 loss at UConn on Friday. He will sit out tomorrow night's conference contest against Providence, and be eligible to return on Nov. 22 against Northeastern.

Fowler, 20, from Melbourne, Fla. stopped 25 of 28 shots against in just under 25 minutes of action at UConn. He is 7-1-0 so far this season with a 1.55 goals-against average and three shutouts in nine games, and 39-7-1 with a 2.04 GAA and six shutouts in 48 career NCAA appearances to date with the Eagles. He was selected in the third round of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens.

BC (7-2-0 overall, 2-1-0 HEA) dropped from second to third in this week's USCHO.com national poll, behind Denver and Michigan State.

AIC to Return to Division II Next Year

According to multiple online sources, American International College will be leaving the NCAA Division I men's hockey ranks at the end of the 2024-25 season to return to the Division II level, due to budgetary constraints. All other AIC athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division II level, although there is no women's varsity hockey team.

AIC has spent the past 27 years at the Division I level. It has posted six straight winning seasons, which included four Atlantic Hockey regular-season championships, three Atlantic Hockey playoff titles, and three NCAA tournament berths, all achieved under head coach and alumnus Eric Lang. In 2019, the Yellowjackets advanced to the NCAA West Regional Final after upsetting top-ranked St. Cloud State in the regional semifinals.

AIC moved to the Division I level in 1998-99 as part of the then-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), which became Atlantic Hockey in 2003-04. The program was established in 1948-49 at the Division II level, and moved to the MassMutual Center as its home ice in 2016-17 from the Olympia Ice Center.

AIC is currently 2-6-1 overall and 2-2 in the conference, which is now known as Atlantic Hockey America.

Big Green Remains Perfect at Princeton

Dartmouth College continued its winning ways with a 5-1 rout of host Princeton University on Saturday night at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink. The Big Green (4-0-0 overall, 3-0-0 ECAC Hockey) remains one of two unbeaten and untied NCAA Division I men's teams in the nation, along with defending national champion and top-ranked Denver.

No less than 10 Dartmouth players recorded at least one point in Saturday's win, with Sean Chisholm scoring two goals, including a power-play marker, with both tallies set up by Nikita Nikora. Emmett Croteau finished with 16 saves in net before losing his shutout bid with less than five minutes to go on a goal by Princeton's Ian Devlin, while Arthur Smith made 21 saves for the Tigers (0-2-0, 0-2-0). The two Ivy League rivals will meet again on Feb. 1 in Hanover, N.H. to close out their 2024-25 season series.

CHL Players Now Eligible for NCAA Hockey

Players from the major junior hockey leagues that are largely based in Canada are now permitted to play NCAA Division I men's ice hockey. 

The NCAA Division I council voted yesterday to make players from the Canadian Hockey League (made up of the Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League, and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League) eligible to skate for NCAA Division I schools. beginning on Aug.1, 2025. In the past, CHL players, with some exceptions, had been banned from playing at the top level of American college hockey, as they were considered to be professionals.

CHL players must also not have signed or agreed to professional contracts before enrolling at a Division I school, among other stipulations. They are also still not eligible to take part in NCAA Division III hockey, which also does not provide scholarships. 

More information can be found here.

NCAA Sweeps Abound in Early November

It was a weekend of two-step sweeps involving top teams in NCAA Division I men's college hockey (national rankings from last week, per USCHO.com) ...

- No. 1 Denver swept Yale (5-1, 6-0)

- No. 2 Boston College swept at No. 6 St. Cloud State (4-1, 2-1)

- No. 4 Minnesota swept No. 18 Penn State (3-1, 1-0)

- No. 7 Maine swept Merrimack (5-0, 6-0)

- No. 8 Colorado College swept Air Force (3-2, 6-1)

- No. 9 Cornell swept No. 6 North Dakota (4-1, 5-3)

- No. 11 Michigan swept No. 5 Boston University (5-1, 5-4/OT)

- No. 12 Providence swept New Hampshire (6-3, 3-0)

- No. 15 Ohio State swept Lake Superior (9-3, 6-2)

The home team won in each of those series, except for BC and CC.