NCAA Skaters Stars in NHL Playoff Openers

The NHL's 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs got underway this weekend, with several former NCAA players playing key roles in Game One first-round victories.

•  Jackson Blake (North Dakota) had two assists as Carolina topped Ottawa, 2-0.

• Matt Boldy (Boston College) scored two goals and set up another as Minnesota routed host Dallas, 6-1.

• Porter Martone (Michigan State) notched his first career NHL playoff goal, the game-winner in Philadelphia's 3-2 victory at Pittsburgh.

• Logan O'Connor (Denver) scored the game-winner in Colorado's 2-1 triumph over Los Angeles, assisted by Jack Drury (Harvard).

• Cole Caufield (Wisconsin) notched two assists, both on the power play, in Montreal's 4-3 overtime win at Tampa Bay.

• Tage Thompson (UConn) scored two goals and added an assist as Buffalo rebounded for a 4-3 victory over Boston.

• Nic Dowd (St. Cloud State) collected the game-winner as Vegas outlasted Utah, 4-2.

The eighth series, between Anaheim and Edmonton, gets underway tonight.

Princeton Endows Men's Hockey Coach Position

Princeton University recently announced that it has endowed the men's hockey head coaching position. 

According to goprincetontigers.com, a group of alumni have made gifts that will endow the position in honor of Hobart Amory Hare “Hobey” Baker, the former early 20th century Princeton hockey star for whom Princeton's Hobey Baker Memorial Rink is named, along with the Hobey Baker Memorial Award that is annually bestowed upon the top player in NCAA Division I men's hockey.

Hockey alumni contributors to the endowment include Gavin Colquhoun ’95, Craig Dahl ’77, Rob Engel ’86, John Hepburn ’72, David Johnson ’78, David Kelley ’79, Kris Kollevoll ’77, Dan Maze ’90, Chris Mitchell ’93, Robin Pierson ’78, Mike Pritula ’78, Frank Techar ’78, Bill Tresham ’78, John Van Siclen ’78 and Philip Webster ’68.

Princeton and head coach Ben Syer went 18-13-3 overall in the 2025-26 season, including an 11-9-2 mark in ECAC Hockey play to finish fourth in the conference standings. The Tigers also set a program record by finishing 14-2-1 at home, and came within an overtime goal of both an ECAC hockey championship and the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018. 

UMass Alum Quick Retires from NHL

Three-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Jonathan Quick (Massachusetts) has called it a career.

Quick, 40, from Milford, Conn. played the final game of his 18-year NHL career by making 14 saves for the New York Rangers in a 3-2 loss at Florida on Monday. He finished his league tenure with a 410-307-90 record, a 2.51 goals-against average, and 65 shutouts in 829 regular-season outings with the Los Angeles Kings, who drafted him 72nd overall in 2005, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Rangers, from 2008 to 2026. He also earned the Williams Jennings Trophy twice for lowest goals against, and posted 23 assists offensively, while also skating in two Olympic Winter Games with the United States.

Quick also fashioned a 49-43 mark over 92 career Stanley Cup playoff outings, backstopping Los Angeles to its first-ever NHL championships in both 2012 and 2014 while earning Conn Smythe Trophy playoff MVP accolades the first time. He won his third Stanley Cup as a backup in 2023 in his sole campaign with Vegas, and also played professionally with Manchester (AHL) and Reading (ECHL).

A product of Hamden (Conn.) High and Avon Old Farms, Quick spent two NCAA seasons at Massachusetts before turning pro in 2007. He went 23-22-6 with 2.79 GAA in 54 appearances with the Minutemen, earning Second Team All-America honors as a sophomore while also backstopping UMass to the NCAA tournament that same season.

Oliver Takes Over at St. Cloud State

St. Cloud State alumnus Nick Oliver is the new head coach of the Huskies men's hockey program. He succeeds Brett Larson, who took the head coaching job at Minnesota. 

Oliver, 34, served the last three years as an assistant at Wisconsin, helping the Badger to this year's NCAA title game. He began his coaching career as an assistant with Sioux Falls (USHL) in 2016-17, then moved back to his alma mater in 2018-19 as an assistant for a four-stint, where he helped the Huskies to the 2021 national championship contest. He then spent one year as head coach with Fargo (USHL), compiling a 40-14-8 record in his one year while leading the Force to the Clark Cup final before joining the Wisconsin staff.

A native of Roseau, Minn., Oliver was drafted 110th overall by the NHL's Nashville Predators after his first of three junior seasons skating for Fargo. He played on defense for SCSU from 2011 to 2015, tallying seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 145 career games while helping the Huskies to a WCHA regular-season title, an NCHC regular-season championship, and three NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2013 Frozen Four.

DU Wins 11th NCAA Men's Hockey Title

Outshot and even outplayed over the first two periods, the University of Denver managed to rebound over the final 20 minutes tonight in Las Vegas to claim its latest NCAA hockey national title.

Rieger Lorenz and Kyle Chyzowski scored just under seven minutes apart in the third period, the first one off a rebound and the second on a deflection, to lift Denver to a 2-1 comeback victory over Wisconsin in the 2026 NCAA Division I men's hockey national championship game. It is the 11th NCAA crown in DU's hockey history, its second in three years, and its third in five seasons.

Vasily Zelenov staked Wisconsin to a 1-0 lead just over 13 minutes into regulation on a wrist shot from the left circle, but the Badgers went scoreless the rest of the way despite outshooting DU, 21-5, through the first 40 minutes of play, and by a 30-15 count overall. Daniel Hauser finished with 13 stops in goal for Wisconsin (24-13-2 overall). 

Denver (29-11-3) finished the campaign on a 16-0-1 run, all with goaltender and 2026 Frozen Four MVP Johnny Hicks (29 saves) in net. It was the first time DU defeated Wisconsin in the NCAAs in four tries all-time, and it also prevented the Badgers from winning their first men's hockey national title in 20 years. Next year's Frozen Four will be held in Washington, D.C.

Major College Hockey Awards Handed Out

Four major college hockey awards were handed out Friday night at the NCAA Frozen Four in Las Vegas.

Sophomore forward Max Plante (Minnesota-Duluth) earned this year's Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men's college hockey. Hailing from Hermantown, Minn., he paced the Bulldogs with career-high totals of 27 goals and 25 assists for 52 points in 40 games, while also leading UMD to the NCAA tournament. He is the 11th player from the state of Minnesota to win the Hobey Baker, and the seventh Bulldog, both tops among the award's 44 winners all-time.

Junior netminder Trey Augustine (Michigan State) claimed this year's Mike Richter Award as the nation's top goaltender. A native of South Lyon, Mich., he fashioned a 24-9-1 record in 34 games this past season, with a 2.11 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage, while earning Big Ten Goaltender of the Year accolades. He is now a member of the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins. 

Senior forward Meg Simon (Middlebury) was the 2026 recipient of the Hockey Humanitarian Award. Originally from East Grand Rapids, Mich., she is the fifth skater from the NCAA Division III ranks to earn the award. She serves as the Co-Chair of Volunteering for Middlebury's women’s hockey program, and has worked with the Middlebury Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) and Special Olympics Vermont, among other organizations, both on and off campus. Simon tallied two assists in 39 career games with the Panthers while helping them to three NCAA tournament berths and two semifinal appearances.

Senior forward Kevin Anderson (Princeton) was this year's recipient of the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award, named for the late Army skater, and which is bequeathed to the player judged to best exemplify sportsmanship, competitiveness, intelligence and work ethic. Anderson, from Regina, Sask., has helped create and cultivate the “Tiger Pals” program that pairs Princeton student-athletes with local children who need strong, consistent mentorship, and has also hosted his “Tiger Pals” program at Hobey Baker Rink for skates, games and social gatherings with the Tigers, while also serving with Team IMPACT. He finished his college career with 7-11-18 points in 87 games for Princeton, which came within an overtime goal of this year's NCAA tournament.

Freshman forward Ethan Wyttenbach (Quinnipiac) was named the winner of the 2026 Tim Taylor Award, which is named after the former longtime Yale head coach and goes to the Rookie of the Year in NCAA Division I men's hockey. A native of Roslyn, N.Y., Wyttenbach  paced all Division I men's scorers with 59 points (25g-34a) this past season while also leading the Bobcats to the NCAA tournament. He was drafted 144th overall by the Calgary Flames in last year's NHL Entry Draft.

Wisconsin, Denver to Meet in NCAA Title Game

Wisconsin scored twice in 27 seconds in the opening period, with Ryan Botterill's goal standing up as the game-winner, and the Badgers also killed off five power plays to top North Dakota, 2-1, in the early semifinal game of the 2026 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey Frozen Four in Las Vegas.

In the nightcap, Denver's Johnny Hicks made 49 saves in all, and Kent Anderson scored midway through the second overtime to lift the Pioneers to a 4-3 victory over No. 1 Michigan.

Wisconsin and DU will now meet on Saturday (5 p.m. ET, ESPN) at T-Mobile Arena for the national title, in another battle of former WCHA schools. The Badgers (24-12-2 overall) are after their first NCAA crown since 2006, while the Pioneers (28-11-3) are seeking their second NCAA title in three seasons, and third in five campaigns.