Former ECAC Players Sign with NHL Teams

A pair of former Eastern College Athletic Conference hockey players inked NHL contracts this week, one of them a heralded rookie and the other a young veteran.

Union College forward Spencer Foo signed as a free agent with the Calgary Flames after spending the last three seasons in Schenectady. According to the Flames website, the contract will be finalized and made official on July 1. Foo, 23, tallied career highs of 26 goals and 36 assists for 62 points in 38 games this past year, while leading the Dutchmen to both the ECAC regular-season crown and their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2014.

The Edmonton native tied with teammate Mike Vecchione for the ECAC scoring lead, with 44 points in 25 conference games, and likewise was a fellow Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist. In 113 career outings at Union, Foo registered 49-63—112 points.

Former Princeton University netminder Mike Condon re-upped with the Ottawa Senators after spending most of last season in Canada’s capital. According to NHL.com, the deal is for $7.2 million for three years. The Holliston, Mass. native, who began last season with Pittsburgh before being traded to Ottawa in November, finished 19-14-6 in 40 games with the Senators. He also recorded a 2.50 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage to go with a career-high five shutouts.

In 96 career NHL games with Montreal, Pittsburgh and Ottawa, Condon, 27, has fashioned a 40-39-12 record with six shutouts. He went 18-22-8 with three shutouts in 53 NCAA appearances at Princeton from 2009 and 2013.

Kariya Named to Hockey Hall of Fame

Former University of Maine star and Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Paul Kariya was announced Monday as part of the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2017. The induction ceremony will be held in November.

The Vancouver native burst on the college hockey scene in 1992-93, when paced Maine with 25 goals and 75 assists for 100 points in 39 games, while also leading the Black Bears to their first-ever NCAA title. He also became the first freshman to ever claim the Hobey Baker Award, and was drafted fourth overall that summer by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

After recording eight goals and 24 points in just 12 games the following season with Maine, Kariya then joined the Canadian National Team. He competed in the 1994 Olympic Winter Games, where he won a silver medal, one year after earning gold at the World Junior Championship, and several months before winning gold at the World Championship. He then embarked upon a 15-season NHL career that saw him tally 402-587—989 points in 989 regular-season outings with Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville and St. Louis, before he retired in 2010.

A two-time 100-point scorer and a seven-time 30-goal scorer, according to hockeydb.com, Kariya also added 16-23—39 points in 46 Stanley Cup playoff contests, and helped Anaheim to within one victory of the Stanley Cup in 2003. He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in both 1996 and 1997, earned World Championship silver in 1996, and claimed Olympic gold in 2002.

Over 60 NCAA-Related Players Taken in 2017 NHL Draft

Two current NCAA players were drafted in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft in Chicago, while a host of incoming collegiate freshmen also heard their names called this weekend at the United Center.

St. Cloud State center Ryan Poehling was drafted 25th overall by the Montreal Canadiens, while goaltender Jake Oettinger of Boston University went to the Dallas Stars with the very next selection. Poehling tallied seven goals and 13 points in 35 games for the Huskies last season, while Oettinger went 21-11-3 with a 2.11 goals-against average in 35 appearances with the Terriers, who had a total of seven players drafted.

Cale Makar, who is slated to suit up on defense for the University of Massachusetts this fall, was the highest-rated college-related player to be drafted over weekend, as he went fourth overall to the Colorado Avalanche. Finnish forward Eeli Tolvanen, who went 30th overall to the Nashville Predators, had been committed to Boston College, but was recently reported to have been rejected by BC's admissions office.

Rensselaer blueliner William Reilly of Rensselaer was the final player drafted this year, as he was chosen 217th and last overall by the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. A full list of college-related players taken by NHL teams on Friday and Saturday can be found here.

Former NCAA Players Chosen in Expansion Draft

Several former NCAA players changed teams Wednesday in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, to help stock the new Vegas Golden Knights franchise:

Jon Merill           New Jersey  (Michigan)
Connor Brickley      Florida     (Vermont)
Jason Garrison       Tampa Bay   (Minnesota-Duluth)
Erik Haula           Minnesota   (Minnesota)
Trevor van Riemsdyk* Chicago     (New Hampshire)
Nate Schmidt         Washington  (Minnesota)

* van Riemsdyk was subsequently traded to Carolina on Thursday

The Golden Knights will also have 13 selections in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, which gets underway tonight in Chicago (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN) and continues all day Saturday (10 a.m. ET, NHL Network). It marks the second time in four years that the NHL Entry Draft and the NCAA Frozen Four will be held in the same city in the same year, the last coming in 2014 in Philadelphia.

AHL's Griffins Claim Second-Ever Calder Cup

The Grand Rapids Griffins won their second-ever Calder Cup, and first-ever at home, with Tuesday night’s 4-3 win over the Syracuse Crunch in Game 6 at Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Griffins claimed their first American Hockey League championship in 2013, by also defeating the Crunch in six games, with the deciding contest that year held in Syracuse. Grand Rapids, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, won 15 of 19 games during the 2017 postseason, ousting Milwaukee, Chicago and San Jose before doing likewise to Syracuse.

Ben Street (Wisconsin) of the Griffins was second on the squad, and fourth in the league, with 21 points during the playoffs. Jared Coureau (Northern Michigan) was in net for all of Grand Rapids’s postseason games, going 15-4-0 with a 2.89 goals-against average in 19 contests.

Syracuse forward Cory Conacher (Canisius) led all scorers during the Calder Cup Playoffs with 12 goals and 28 points. Mike McKenna (St. Lawrence) finished with a 13-9 record and a 2.68 goals-against average in 22 playoff appearances, while Matt Taormina (Providence) paced all league defensemen with 15 assists and 20 points.

One Year Later

Hard to believe it's been a year since retired Michigan State head coach and college hockey legend Ron Mason passed away.

Penguins Win Second Straight Stanley Cup

The Pittsburgh Penguins have repeated as Stanley Cup champions.

A goal by Patric Hornqvist with 1:35 remaining in regulation proved to be the game-winner, and Carl Hagelin (Michigan) added an empty-net goal to lift Pittsburgh to a 2-0 win tonight over the host Nashville Predators. The Penguins, who won the series in six games, become the first repeat NHL champion since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998.

Other former NCAA players who participated for the Penguins in the Final this spring who will have their names engraved on the Cup include Justin Schultz (Wisconsin), Brian Dumoulin (Boston College), Ron Hainsey (UMass Lowell), Nick Bonino (Boston University), Chris Kunitz (Ferris State), Bryan Rust (Notre Dame), Scott Wilson (UMass Lowell), Ian Cole (Notre Dame), Carter Rowney (North Dakota), Conor Sheary (Massachusetts), Josh Archibald (Nebraska-Omaha), Ryan Guentzel (Nebraska-Omaha) and Phil Kessel (Minnesota). Pittsburgh's staff includes head coach Mike Sullivan (Boston University), goalie coach Mike Bales (Ohio State), and assistant general manager Bill Guerin (Boston College).

Penguins Take 3-2 Stanley Cup Final Lead

Justin Schultz (Wisconsin), Bryan Rust (Notre Dame), Conor Sheary (Massachusetts), Phil Kessel (Minnesota) and Ron Hainsey (UMass Lowell) all scored goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins dismantled the visiting Nashville Predators, 6-0, on Thursday night in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final.

Kessel also had two assists as the Penguins scored three goals in each of the first two periods, and recorded the first shutout of the series. Pittsburgh, which won Games One and Two at home at PPG Paints Arena last week, rebounded to take a three games-to-two series lead after losing Games Three and Four in Nashville.

The Penguins can clinch their second straight Stanley Cup (and fifth all-time) with a victory on Sunday night (8 p.m. ET, NBC) at Bridgestone Arena in Tennessee. If Nashville wins that evening, the seventh and deciding match will be contested on Wednesday in Pittsburgh to conclude the 2016-17 NHL campaign.

 

Colorado Wins ECHL's Kelly Cup

The Colorado Eagles are the champions of the ECHL.

The Eagles, a transplant from the defunct Central Hockey league, won their first-ever Kelly Cup by completing a four-game sweep of the South Carolina Stingrays with a 2-1 triumph in North Charleston, S.C. on Monday night.

Luke Salazar (Denver) notched the Cup-winning goal just over a minute into the second period, to break a 1-1 tie at the North Charleston Coliseum. Lukas Hafner (Western Michigan) stopped 25 of 26 shots for the Eagles, and ended the postseason with a personal 14-2-0 record. Parker Milner (Boston College) finished with 42 saves Monday for the Stingrays, who got their lone goal from Derek Arnold (UMass Lowell).

Colorado won all four games of the final by one goal apiece, to capture its first playoff title since it won its second of two CHL Ray Miron President's Cups in 2007. South Carolina was seeking its fourth ECHL playoff crown overall, and first since 2009.

Predators Knot Stanley Cup Final

Craig Smith (Wisconsin) and Harry Zolnierczyk (Brown) each posted an assist on Monday night, as the Nashville Predators evened the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-1 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. The NHL's ultimate annual playoff series is now tied at two games apiece.

Smith had previously scored a goal in Nashville's 5-1 victory on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena in Tennessee, after the Predators had dropped the first two games in Pittsburgh. Brian Dumoulin (Boston College) assisted on the Penguins' lone goal Monday, which briefly tied the game at a goal apiece.

Game 5 will be played Thursday in Pittsburgh, with Game 6 back in Nashville on Sunday.

Shawhan New Head Coach at Michigan Tech

The latest NCAA head coaching vacancy this offseason was filled on Monday when Michigan Tech University assistant coach Joe Shawhan was named as the 22^nd head coach overall of the Huskies. He succeeds Mel Pearson, an MTU graduate who left Tech after six seasons to return to the University of Michigan as head coach in place of the retired Red Berenson.

Shawhan has been on MTU's staff the last three seasons, helping the Huskies to a WCHA playoff title and NCAA Tournament berth this past season. He previously served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Lake Superior State University, and at Northern Michigan University. He also guided the U.S. Junior National Team to a silver medal at the Viking Cup in Alberta as head coach in 2004, two years after doing the same as an assistant.

Prior to becoming an NCAA Division I college coach, Shawhan served as head coach and general manager of the now-defunct Soo Kewadin Casino Indians of the North American Hockey League from 1995 to 2005, amassing a league-record 474 junior “A” wins to go along with three NAHL titles. He also turned out dozens of players for the collegiate and professional ranks, most noticeably former Michigan State University goaltender Ryan Miller, a Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner and U.S. Olympian who now plays for the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.

A native of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Shawhan played collegiately at LSSU. He led the Lakers in total saves (480) in 1982-83 and in goals-against average (3.03) in 1985-86, and finished with 1,130 career saves.