Seven Schools Plan to Leave WCHA

Seven of the 10 schools in the current Western Collegiate Hockey Association are seeking to leave and form a new NCAA Division I men's ice hockey conference, according to published reports.

The seven schools making the proposed move include Bemidji State University, Bowling Green State University, Ferris State University, Lake Superior State University, Michigan Technological University, Minnesota State University (Mankato), and Northern Michigan University. The new league would begin play in the fall of 2021, and according to bgsufalcons.com, the seven schools have already independently submitted formal letters of notice to the WCHA office regarding their intent to leave the conference.

The "original" WCHA split up in 2013 when Minnesota and Wisconsin went over to the new Big Ten conference, and Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota and St. Cloud State joined the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Bowling Green, Ferris State Lake Superior and Northern Michigan all left the dissolving Central Collegiate Hockey Association that year and transferred to the new WCHA.

The loss of the seven aforementioned schools would leave the WCHA with just three members in Alabama-Huntsville, Alaska Anchorage, and Alaska (Fairbanks).

BC's York to Hall of Fame, Orpik Retires from NHL

Jerry York (Boston College) will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto in November. York, the NCAA's all-time wins leader in men's hockey with 1,067 career victories to date, also has five national championships to his credit, four with BC and one with Bowling Green. A Watertown, Mass. native and former All-America forward at BC who began his coaching career at Clarkson University in 1970, York, 73, is believed to be the first inductee into the Hall of Fame solely on NCAA credentials. He has notched 27 seasons with 20 or more wins, and has 41 wins in NCAA Tournament play alone.

Also on Tuesday, defenseman Brooks Orpik (Boston College) announced his retirement as an active player after 15 NHL seasons. Orpik, 38, won Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 2009 and with Washington in 2018, the only two NHL organizations he ever played for. A 6-foot-3 blueliner from Amherst, N.Y., he recorded 176 assists and 194 career points to go with 972 penalty minutes in
1,035 regular-season NHL appearances, and also played in 156 career Stanley Cup Playoff contests. He skated three seasons at BC, collecting 41 points and 324 PIM from 1998 to 2001, and was a member of the Eagles' 2001 NCAA title team. He also won a silver medal with the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team in Vancouver.

Three BC Freshmen Chosen in 2019 NHL First Round

Three incoming Boston College Eagles were selected in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft on Friday in Vancouver.

Matthew Boldy of Millis, Mass. was selected 12th overall by the Minnesota Wild. Last season with the U.S. National Team Development Program out of Michigan, the 6-foot-2 left wing tallied 33 goals and 48 assists for 81 points in 64 games. He more than doubled his output from the 2017-18 campaign, when he finished with 12 goals and 35 points with the NTDP.

Spencer Knight went 13th overall to the Florida Panthers. The 6-foot-3 goaltender from Darien, Conn. compiled a 15-1-0 record with a 2.21 goals-against average and .903 save percentage against USHL clubs, and finished 17-3-1 in exhibition contests against NCAA and similar competition. He is expected to step into the Eagles' starting goaltender slot with the departure of three-year starter Joe Woll to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization earlier this year.

The 16th NHL choice on Friday went to the Colorado Avalanche, who used it on Alex Newhook from St. John's, Newfoundland. The 5-foot-10 center collected 38-64—102 points in 53 outings last season with Victoria (BCHL), and added five goals and 10 points in five appearances with Canada's U-18 squad.

NTDP all-time leading scorer Jack Hughes, one of seven players from that organization chosen on Friday, went first overall to the New Jersey Devils, but he is not expected to play college hockey like his older brother Quinn Hughes (Michigan) and father Jim Hughes (Providence). The top player with NCAA ties chosen in the first round this year was forward Alex Turcotte, also from the NTDP, who will play at Wisconsin starting this fall.

A full list of this year's NHL's draft selections can be found here. Rounds 2-7 will be televised starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday (NHL Network).

Michigan's Trouba Traded to Rangers by Jets

Jacob Trouba (Michigan) is headed back east.

The Rochester, Mich. native and former Wolverines defenseman was traded on Monday from the Winnipeg Jets to the New York Rangers. Trouba, who according to eliteprospects.com earns $5.5 million annually, was acquired in exchange for defenseman Neal Pionk (Minnesota-Duluth), plus the 20th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, which begins Friday in Vancouver.

Trouba, 25, was drafted ninth overall by Winnipeg in 2012, and had spent his entire NHL career with the Jets after prepping with Compuware, the U.S. National Team Development Program, and Michigan. In his lone NCAA season, he tallied 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points in 37 outings in 2012-13, and then joined the Jets full-time the next season. In 408 NHL regular-season games to
date, the 6-foot-3, 203-pound blueliner has tallied 42-137—179 points.

Pionk played at UMD from 2015 to 2017, recording 11-40—51 points in 82 appearances while helping the Bulldogs to the 2017 NCAA Frozen Four. He spent all of last season in the NHL with New York, collecting 6-20—26 points in 73 games.

Earlier this month, the Jets traded the rights to forward Kevin Hayes (Boston College), who came to them at the trading deadline from the Rangers, to the Philadelphia Flyers. Hayes registered a career-high 55 points in 2018-19 with New York and Winnipeg.

St. Louis Blues Win First Stanley Cup

For the first time ever, the St. Louis Blues are the Stanley Cup champions.

The Blues defeated the host Boston Bruins, 4-1, on Wednesday in Game Seven of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, for the first NHL championship in the Blues' 51-year history. It marked the fourth straight year the Cup was awarded to a team that was playing on the road, and it was also the Blues' 10th road win of this postseason.

After the Blues scored twice late in the first period and once again midway through the third, Zach Sanford (Boston College) scored his first goal of the playoffs to put St. Louis up, 4-0. Matt Grzelcyk (Boston University), in his return to the Bruins lineup after suffering an injury in Game Two of the series, closed out the scoring later on with Boston's lone goal of the evening.

Jordan Binnington made 32 saves for the Blues, who went from the worst team in the NHL at the start of the calendar year to league champions. St. Louis forward Ryan O'Reilly finished the postseason with a league-high 23 points and earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Other former NCAA players on the Blues roster included Tyler Bozak (Denver), Jaden Schwartz (Colorado College), Colton Parayko (Alaska Fairbanks), Mackenzie MacEachern (Michigan State), Chris Butler (Denver), and Jordan Schmaltz (North Dakota).

Bruins Force Game Seven in Stanley Cup Final

There will be a Game Seven in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

The Boston Bruins staved off elimination on Sunday night, and also put the St. Louis Blues' backs to the wall, with a 5-1 win in Game Six at Enterprise Center in Missouri. Boston scored four goals in the third period to break open a game that had been 1-0 since a Bruins' 5-on-3 power-play goal in the first period, with Torey Krug (Michigan State) drawing an assist on that play.

Karson Kuhlman (Minnesota-Duluth), playing in his first game for Boston since April 30, wristed home a puck from the right side to make it 3-0 in the third period as the Bruins knotted the series at three games apiece after dropping the last two contests. Kuhlman was the MVP of the 2018 NCAA Tournament when UMD won its first of two consecutive national championships. Sean Kuraly (Miami) helped set up Boston's fourth goal, after the Blues had pulled within 3-1.

Game Seven will be Wednesday night at TD Garden in Boston (8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC), to close out both the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the 2018-19 NHL season as a whole.

Charlotte Wins 2019 Calder Cup Championship

The Charlotte Checkers outlasted the host Chicago Wolves, 5-3, in Game Five of the 2019 Calder Cup Final on Saturday to win the first American Hockey League postseason championship in franchise history.

After dropping Game One at home in overtime last week, the Checkers reeled off four consecutive victories, including three by 5-3 scores. Andrew Poturalski (New Hampshire) scored two goals for Charlotte in the clincher, including the game-opening goal, plus one of two empty-net tallies in the third period that stood up as the game-winner. Poturalski, who played two NCAA seasons at UNH, also claimed the Jack Butterfield Trophy as this year's AHL playoff MVP, scoring 12 goals in the postseason. Charlotte captain Patrick Brown (Boston College), who scored a goal in each of the previous two games, was the first Checker to hoist this year's Calder Cup.

The Checkers, who moved to the AHL from the ECHL in 2010, a total of 16 years after they won the league playoff title at that level, were also the top team in the AHL during the 2018-19 regular season with an overall 51-17-7 record. They then won the Eastern Conference playoff crown by dethroning defending AHL champion Toronto in the conference final, after recording series victories over Providence and Hershey.

Blues Win Game Five, Take Stanley Cup Final Lead

The St. Louis Blues are one win away from their first-ever Stanley Cup.

The Blues outlasted the Boston Bruins, 2-1, in Game Five of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night in Massachusetts. St. Louis now leads the best-of-seven series, three games to two, and has won two consecutive games.

Zach Sanford (Boston College) set up the Blues' opening goal for his third assist in as many games.
Torey Krug (Michigan State) assisted on Boston's lone goal late in the third period on a delayed penalty, minutes after an uncalled tripping infraction by St. Louis forward Tyler Bozak (Denver) on Boston's Noel Acciari (Providence) along the boards in the Bruins' defensive zone led to the Blues' game-winning goal.

Game 6 is Sunday night in St. Louis (8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC). If necessary, Game Seven of the NHL championship would be decided in Boston on Wednesday.

Growlers Win 2019 ECHL Kelly Cup

The Newfoundland Growlers are the 2018-19 ECHL champion.

The Growlers defeated the Toledo Walleye in six games in the final, clinching the Kelly Cup with a 4-3 win at home in the finale on Monday. Newfoundland becomes the first ECHL expansion team to win the league title since Greensboro in 1990.

Michael Gartieg (Quinnipiac) backstopped the Growlers to the crown with a 16-6-1 record in 23 playoff games, including a 2.19 goals-against average and three shutouts. Brady Ferguson (Robert Morris) was the Growlers' third-leading playoff scorer with seven goals and 24 points in 23 outings.

Blues Knot Stanley Cup Final at Two Games

Zach Sanford (Boston College) had an assist for the second straight game as the St. Louis Blues tied the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-2 win at home on Monday over the Boston Bruins. The series is now tied at two games apiece.

The win was the first ever in the Blue's Stanley Cup Final history, and assured more one home game for St. Louis this postseason, which will be played Sunday night. The Blues scored twice in the third period to break a 2-2 tie for the win.

Charlie Coyle (Boston University) scored a goal for the third straight game for the Bruins, who will now host Game Five on Thursday night (8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC).

Toledo Still Alive in ECHL Kelly Cup Final

The Walleye just won't die.

Toledo's ECHL team staved off elimination in the league's 2019 Kelly Cup Final with a 3-2 win over the visiting Newfoundland Growlers on Saturday night at the Huntington Center in Ohio. Newfoundland now leads the best-of-seven series, three games to two.

Ryan Obuchowski (Yale) and Tyler Spezia (Bowling Green) scored goals for the Walleye, while Pat Nagle (Ferris State) made 28 saves. Michael Gartieg (Quinnipiac) finished with 22 stops for the Growlers, who outshot Toledo, 30-25, on the night.

Game Six is set for Newfoundland's Mile One Center on Tuesday, with Game Seven slated for the following night, if necessary.

Krug's Four Points Boost Boston to Game Three Win

Torey Krug (Michigan State) scored one goal and set up three others as the Boston Bruins regained control of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final with a 7-2 victory in Game Three at St. Louis on Saturday night. Boston now leads the best-of-seven series, two games to one.

Charlie Coyle (Boston University) and Sean Kuraly (Miami) scored first-period goals to help put Boston up, 3-0, after 20 minutes, while Krug scored the final goal of the second period to give the Bruins a 5-1 lead over the host Blues at that point. Noel Acciari (Providence) then tallied an empty-net goal in the final frame, with Krug assisting on another goal to make him the first Bruins defenseman to ever record four points in a Stanley Cup Final game.

Krug now has 16 points in 20 playoff games this spring. Boston also finished the night with four power-play goals as a team, scoring those four man-advantage goals on just four shots.

Colton Parayko (Alaska Fairbanks) scored the Blues’ second goal on a power play in the third period, assisted by Tyler Bozak (Denver), while Zach Sanford (Boston College) set up the first goal of the night for St. Louis in the second stanza for his first career NHL playoff point.

Game Four will be held Monday night in Missouri (8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC).

New NCAA Recruiting Rules in Effect a Month Now

It's been a month since the NCAA introduced new legislation that affects student-athlete recruiting, especially in ice hockey.

As of May 1, recruiting conversations cannot take place prior to Jan. 1 of a prospect’s sophomore year (Grade 10), whether those conversations are initiated by the coach or the prospect. The new regulations have also established Aug. 1 prior to a prospect’s junior year (Grade 11) as the initial date that NCAA coaches can make a verbal offer to a recruit.

No more verbal commitments from 12-year-olds and the like.