Denver, Wisconsin Top USCHO Polls

Defending national champion Denver remains atop this week's men's NCAA Division I hockey poll at USCHO.com, followed by Boston College, Boston University, Michigan State and North Dakota in the top five. DU, BU and UND are all undefeated at this point, while BC and MSU split a two-game series in Michigan last weekend.

In USCHO's women's Division I poll, Wisconsin remains in the top slot with a perfect 6-0-0 record, followed by defending national champion Ohio State (5-2-1), Minnesota, Clarkson and Minnesota-Duluth. Clarkson is also 6-0-0 at this point of the season.

BC Blanks MSU in Season Opener

Will Vote scored twice and Oskar Jellvik added another goal, all in the second period and at even strength, as second-ranked Boston College blanked No. 4 Michigan State by a 3-0 count tonight at MSU's Munn Ice Arena. BC is now 1-0-0 overall on the 2024-25 season, while MSU fell to 2-1-0. 

BC goaltender Jacob Fowler picked up his first shutout of the season, and the fourth of his NCAA career, with 24 saves, while five different Eagles recorded assists on the night. Trey Augustine stopped 26 shots for the Spartans, who were outshot, 29-24, and went 0-for-2 on the power play before 6,555 on-lookers. MSU still leads the all-time series between the two schools, 17-12-1, although BC has now won the last six meetings, including a pair at home last year.

The Eagles and Spartans wrap up their two-game series tomorrow night at Munn (6 p.m. ET, B1G+).

ADDENDUM: In the rematch, MSU got two goals from Wisconsin transfer Charlie Stramel, the game-winner from Daniel Russell late in the second period, and 32 saves in all from Augustine as the Spartans edged BC, 4-3. It was the 600th victory all-time for MSU at Munn, which first opened its doors in 1974. Jellvik had two assists for the Eagles, while Fowler made 25 stops.

Denver Remains Atop National Poll

Defending national champion Denver remained atop this week's USCHO.com NCAA Division I men's hockey poll. The Pioneers opened their 2024-25 campaign with a two-game sweep at former WCHA opponent Alaska Anchorage over the weekend.

Rounding out the top five were Boston College, Boston University, Michigan State and Minnesota. BC opens its season this weekend at MSU, while BU topped Holy Cross in a single game and MSU swept a pair of outings at Lake Superior State. North Dakota, Cornell, Quinnipiac, Wisconsin and Michigan make up the rest of this week's top 10, with only Michigan having played this past weekend in a split with visiting Minnesota State.

Devils Sweep Sabres to Open NHL Season

Paul Cotter (Western Michigan) scored a goal in each game as the New Jersey Devils opened the 2024-25 NHL regular season with a two-step sweep of the Buffalo Sabres in the Czech Republic. The Canton, Mich. native tallied a goal and an assist in New Jersey's season-opening 4-1 win on Friday, and then added another goal in Saturday's 3-1 triumph. Owen Power (Michigan) and Tage Thompson (UConn) scored for the Sabres on the weekend, while Devon Levi (Northeastern) stopped 37 shots on Saturday.

Cotter played in eight games with WMU during the 2018-19 campaign, recording one assist before leaving Kalamazoo to play for London (OHL). He spent the last three seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, notching career highs of 18 assists and 25 points last year in 76 outings. The Devils return to action at home in Newark on Thursday against Toronto, while the Sabres will visit Los Angeles that evening.

Wisconsin Women Rout BC, 7-1

Casey O'Brien and Kelly Gorbatenko each recorded four points, and Laila Edwards scored two goals as No. 1 Wisconsin improved to 3-0-0 overall with a 7-1 victory over host Boston College. Grace Campbell made 36 saves for BC, which was outshot, 43-16, and fell to 1-1-0 overall. The Badgers now lead the all-time head-to-head series, 10-0-0. The two NCAA Division I women's hockey schools will meet again at 6 p.m. ET tonight at Conte Forum.

ADDENDUM: Wisconsin completed the sweep with a 7-0 victory on Saturday, as O'Brien, Edwards and Lacey Eden registered three points apiece.

Bennett Hired as Quinnipiac Assistant

Former NCAA champion Rick Bennett (Providence) is back in college hockey and in ECAC Hockey. Bennett, 57, has been hired as an assistant coach at Quinnipiac University.

Bennett, who led Union College to the 2014 NCAA championship, the first in school history, compiled a 195-134-45 record in nine-plus seasons in charge of the Dutchmen, including six seasons of 20 or more wins, before resigning in early 2022. He also guided Union to eight ECAC Hockey regular-season or postseason titles in his tenure in Schenectady. He spent the past two season coaching the ECHL's expansion Savannah Ghost Pirates, where he fashioned an overall 58-68-0 regular-season record. 

A native of Springfield, Mass., and a 1990 graduate of Providence College where he recorded 50 goals and 134 points in 128 outings at forward for the Friars, Bennett played nine years professionally in the NHL, AHL, IHL and ECHL, and actually began his coaching career as a player-assistant coach in the ECHL in 1995-96. After four seasons he returned to the college ranks at his alma mater as an assistant coach for five seasons, before moving on to Union in 2005. He then served as an assistant for two years with the Dutchmen, and as associate coach for five campaigns more before taking the head coaching reins in 2011. 

2024-25 Preseason Polls Flowing

Preseason polls for three of the six NCAA Division I men's hockey conferences are in. 

Boston College has been tabbed to finish first in Hockey East, while defending national champion Denver has been slotted to top the NCHC, and St. Thomas chosen likewise in the CCHA by its coaches (tied for first with Bemidji State in the media poll). 

In Division I women's hockey so far, Penn State has been selected as the preseason regular-season champion in the new Atlantic Hockey America conference, as the 2024-25 NCAA campaign draws closer.