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.

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.

Happy Hockey Halloween 2024