DU's Benning Lifts Charlotte in OT

Mike Benning (Denver) scored from the left point in overtime on Sunday to lift the Charlotte Checkers to a 3-2 win over the visiting Abbotsford Canucks in Game Two of the 2025 Calder Cup Final. The AHL's championship series is now tied at one game apiece. John Leonard (Massachusetts) and Wilmer Skoog (Boston University) scored Charlotte's other goals.

Benning, 23, from St. Albert, Alberta, was a member of DU's 2022 NCAA championship team, and tallied 31 goals and 52 assists for 83 points in three seasons on defense with the Pioneers. He has spent the last two seasons with Charlotte, his first two campaigns as a pro, and has notched 4-4—8 points in 13 AHL playoff games so far this spring.

The next three games of this year's best-of-seven final are slated for the Abbotsford Centre in British Columbia, starting Tuesday night.

BC's Leonard Named Hobey Baker Finalist

The accolades keep rolling in for Boston College men's hockey for its completed 2024-25 season.

Ryan Leonard, who recently signed with the Washington Capitals and made his NHL debut on Tuesday after two seasons at BC, is a Hobey Baker Award hat trick finalist long with Denver sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium and Michigan State junior forward Isaac Howard. The winner will be announced on April 11 at the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Louis.

Leonard, a sophomore forward, led all NCAA Division I men's hockey players with 30 goals this season, and finished his college career with 61 goals and 109 points. He also won this season's Walter Brown Award as the top American-born men's player in Division I hockey, the 25th BC player ever to do so. 

Also from the Heights, forward Gabe Perreault signed with the New York Rangers and made his NHL debut on Wednesday, while goaltender Jacob Fowler just signed with the Montreal Canadiens. Both were sophomores and 2023 NHL draft choices. Perreault tallied 35 goals and 108 points in two years with BC, while Fowler fashioned a 57-13-3 career record with a 1.90 goals-against average and seven shutouts while with the Eagles. Along with Leonard, they led BC to last year's national title game, and a Hockey East regular-season title this year. 

NCAA Undergraduates Jumping to NHL

A number of NCAA hockey underclassmen, with their team's 2024-25 seasons having recently coming to an end, have signed professional contracts with NHL organizations. Some of the more notable recent signings, as listed by player's last name:

Player, Class, Position (School)           NHL Team

Damien Carfagna, Jr., D, (Ohio State) #    Edmonton

Trevor Connelly, Fr., F (Providence)       Vegas

Karsen Dorwart, Jr., F (Michigan State) #  Philadelphia

Connor Kurth, Jr., F (Minnesota)           Tampa Bay

Joey Larson, Jr., F (Michigan State) #     NY Islanders

Ryan Leonard, So., F (Boston College) *    Washington

Dans Locmelis, So., F (Massachusetts)      Boston

Gabe Perreault, So., F (Boston College)    NY Rangers

Chase Pietila, So., D (Michigan Tech) #    Pittsburgh

Isak Posch, So., G (St. Cloud State) #     Colorado

Jimmy Snuggerud, Jr., F (Minnesota) *      St. Louis

Trey Taylor, Jr., F (Clarkson) #           Dallas

Callum Tung, Fr., G (Connecticut) #        NY Rangers

Matthew Wood, Jr. F (Minnesota)            Nashville

More signings can be found here. 

# Signed as free agent

* 2025 Hobey Baker Award top 10 finalist

BC's Leonard Wins 2025 Walter Brown Award

Boston College sophomore forward Ryan Leonard has been named the 2025 recipient of the Walter Brown Award as the top American-born player in New England Division men's college hockey.

In 35 games so far this season, the Amherst, Mass. native has scored a nation-high 29 goals to go with 18 assists, and is ninth overall with 47 points. In two NCAA seasons with the Eagles, Leonard, a 2023 first-round NHL draft choice of the Washington Capitals, has notched 60-47—107 points in 76 outings. According to BCEagles.com, he is the 25th player to win the Walter Brown Award all-time.

BC, the 2024-25 Hockey East regular-season champion, opens the NCAA tournament on Friday at 2 p.m. ET (ESPNU) against Bentley.

BC, BU to Meet for 2025 Beanpot Crown

For the first time since 2016, the annual Beanpot Tournament will come down to Boston College and Boston University.

No. 8 BU routed Harvard, 7-1, in Monday's men's semifinal opener at TD Garden in Boston, while top-ranked BC pasted two-time defending champion Northeastern, 8-2. Cole Hutson tallied two goals and set up two others for BU in the Terriers' win, while Ryan Leonard notched a goal and two assists for the Eagles in BC's triumph.

Harvard and Northeastern will face off in the consolation contest next Monday at 4:30 p.m. ET, followed by BC-BU for all the beans for the 23rd time in the storied tournament's 72 years. The Eagles swept the Terriers in a home-and-home regular-season series on Jan. 24-25 as Leonard scored four goals and added an assist. 

BC won its last Beanpot in 2016, defeating BU in OT, while BU last took it home in 2022 by beating Northeastern that year in the final, snapping a three-year NU title streak.

ADDENDUM: BU topped BC, 4-1, to win its record 33rd Beanpot title, while Harvard edged Northeastern, 4-3, in the consolation.

Leonard Hat Trick Lifts BC in 4-0 Win

Ryan Leonard scored three goals for his second hat trick in two weekends to lift No. 1 Boston College to a 4-0 victory over UMass Lowell in Hockey East play on Friday night.

Leonard, who also scored three goals in a 6-2 conference win at Boston University a week prior on Jan. 24, now leads all NCAA Division I men's players with 22 goals overall after scoring three against the eighth-ranked River Hawks before 7,884 onlookers at BC's Conte Forum. Backup netminder Jan Korec earned the shutout with 22 saves for the host Eagles (19-4-1 overall, 12-3-1 Hockey East), while Beni Halasz made 22 stops for UML (13-8-3, 6-6-2) .

BC, which has now won seven straight games overall, begins the 2025 Beanpot Tournament on Monday night at TD Garden in Boston against Hockey East rival and two-time defending champion Northeastern at 8 p.m. ET. That contest will take place following the opening game at 5 p.m. ET between Boston University and Harvard.

U.S. Wins Second Straight WJC Gold Medal

Teddy Stiga (Boston College) scored on a partial breakaway just over eight minutes into 3-on-3 overtime to lift the United States to a 4-3 win over Finland in the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal game tonight in Ottawa.

Team USA overcame deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-1 to claim its second straight WJC gold medal and seventh overall, all of them coming since 2004. James Hagens (Boston College) recorded the first U.S. goal to forge a 1-1 tie in the first period, while Brandon Svoboda (Boston University) and Cole Hutson (Boston University) tallied second-period scores to tie the contest at 3-3 after 40 minutes of play.

Ryan Leonard (Boston College), who earned tournament MVP honors, had two assists on the night, while Trey Augustine (Michigan State) made 21 saves in goal for the Americans. Hutson led all WJC scorers with three goals and eight assists for 11 points in seven games, while Leonard was third overall with 5-5—10 points and Augustine finished with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.

Czechia defeated Sweden, 3-2, in a shootout to claim the bronze medal. Next year's WJC will be contested in Minnesota, the first time it will be held in the U.S. since Buffalo in 2018.

U.S. Drops Swiss in WJC Quarterfinals

Fresh off a convincing 4-1 victory over host Canada in its last game of round-robin play on New Year's Eve, the United States moved closer to defending its gold medal status at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa with a 7-2 win today over Switzerland in the quarterfinal round.

James Hagens (Boston College) and Ryan Leonard (Boston College) each scored two goals for the Group A champion Americans, who also got 17 saves in goal from Hampton Slukynsky (Western Michigan) and three assists offensively from Gabe Perreault (Boston College).

The U.S. will now face Czechia in the WJC semifinals on Saturday. The other semifinal will match Sweden and Finland, with the winners to meet on Sunday for the championship.

ADDENDUM: Team USA defeated Czechia, 4-1, and will face Finland on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET (NHL Network) for the gold. Czechia will meet Sweden for the bronze.

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.

NCAA Regionals Conclude, 2024 Frozen Four Set

The 2024 NCAA Division I men's hockey regionals are in the books, and the last two tickets to this year's Frozen Four have been punched.

In Providence, Boston College overcame several one-goal deficits to edge defending NCAA champion Quinnipiac, 5-4, in overtime. Cornell transfer Jack Malone pushed home a loose puck just over three minutes into the extra session to give BC (33-5-1 overall) its only lead of the afternoon, after fellow New Jersey native Aram Minnetian had tied the contest with just under five minutes remaining in regulation. Ryan Leonard tallied two power-play goals for the Eagles, who also got 26 saves from Jacob Fowler. Jacob Quillan, last year's national championship game hero for the Bobcats (27-10-2), scored twice, while Vinny Duplessis had 27 stops for Quinnipiac.

In Maryland Heights. Mo., Michigan (23-14-3) used four third-period goals to break a two-all tie and overcome Big Ten rival Michigan State, 5-2. The Wolverines, who won their third consecutive regional final, got three points from Dylan Duke, including two third-period goals and the game-winner, while Ethan Edwards notched a goal and two assists, and Jake Barczewski made 38 saves. Trey Augustine had 30 stops for the Spartans (25-10-3), who won their first-ever Big Ten regular season championship this year, and then added the Big Ten tournament title eight days ago with an overtime win against Michigan.

Top-ranked BC will now face Michigan in the second Frozen Four semifinal in St. Paul, Minn. on April 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET. The first semifinal will pit Sioux Falls regional winner Boston University against Springfield, Mass. regional winner Denver at 5 p.m. ET. Both contests will be televised live on ESPN2. The semifinal winners will meet two days later for the national championship, which will also be held at the Xcel Energy Center.

U.S. Wins Gold at 2023 IIHF U18 Worlds

Ryan Leonard notched the game-winning goal early in 3-on-3 overtime on Sunday as the U.S. claimed the gold medal with a 3-2 win over Sweden at the 2023 IIHF U-18 Men's World Championship in Basel, Switzerland. 

Leonard, a Boston College commit, scored on a wrist shot 2:20 into sudden death to propel the Americans to their first gold medal in the U18 Worlds since 2017. The U.S. had battled back from a 2-0 deficit on third-period goals by Notre Dame commit Danny Nelson and Carey Terrance. Michigan State commit Trey Augustine had 30 saves for Team USA, while Boston College commit Will Smith earned tournament MVP honors by leading all players with nine goals and 20 points in seven games.

Canada won this year's bronze medal with a 4-3 OT win over Slovakia. Since the U18 Worlds debuted in 1999, the U.S. has now medaled on no less than 19 occasions, including winning the gold medal a record 11 times.