LIU to Begin Division I Men's Hockey

Long Island University will become the 61st current school to participate in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

Based out of Brooklyn, the Sharks are expected to begin competition during the 2020-21 season, according to the school's athletics website at liuathletics.com. They are the first school to join the NCAA Division I men's hockey ranks since Arizona State University elevated its program to varsity status from the club level in 2015-16.

Three years later, the Sun Devils became the first school to make the NCAA Tournament as an independent since Alaska Anchorage did so in 1992. ASU likely would have also qualified for this years's national tournament, until the 2019-20 season was canceled by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in March.

Last year, LIU combined its C.W. Post (Pioneers) and Brooklyn (Blackbirds) campuses into one entity, to compete at the NCAA Division I level in all sports as the Sharks. LIU women's ice hockey started skating in 2019-20, playing out of Islanders IceWorks and other arenas on Long Island. They finished 14-18-0 overall, and also won the 2020 New England Women’s Hockey Alliance tournament championship.

Gaudet Retires From Dartmouth After 32 NCAA Seasons

Longtime college head coach Bob Gaudet (Dartmouth) has called it a career.

Gaudet, who has mentored his alma mater since the 1997-98 campaign, has announced his retirement, effective at the end of June, after serving as head coach at first Brown University and then Dartmouth College since 1998-99. He departs with a 424-482-112 overall record amassed over 32 NCAA seasons.

Gaudet coached in his 1,000^th career contest in a 4-3 win at Princeton on Jan. 3. He coached his final career game in the Big Green’s 5-4 overtime loss to Princeton on March 7 in the first round of the 2020 ECAC Hockey championship.

”It blows me away, the doors that Dartmouth opened for me in my life, and to have the chance to come back as a coach … it was a natural progression,” said Gaudet to New York Hockey Journal in late 2018. “I owe so much to this school, and I try to repay it in some small way as a coach.”

Gaudet, from Saugus, Mass., became the all-time leader in hockey victories at his alma mater when the Big Green defeated Cornell, 3-2, on Nov. 30, 2018. It was Gaudet’s 309th win at Dartmouth, which pushed him past school legend Eddie Jeremiah.

In 23 seasons in Hanover, N.H., Gaudet posted a school-record 331 victories. The 2005-06 ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year when he guided the Big Green to the conference regular-season title, he also led Dartmouth to the 2006-07 Ivy League crown, and was personally inducted into the New Hampshire Legends of Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.

A 1981 graduate of Dartmouth, Gaudet backstopped the Big Green for four seasons as a goaltender, including NCAA semifinal appearances in both 1979 and 1980. After signing a contract with the Winnipeg Jets and playing professionally with Fort Wayne (IHL), he began his coaching career as an assistant at Dartmouth in 1983-84 before moving on to Brown in 1988-89 as the head coach for eight years. He led the Bears to a 1993 NCAA tournament berth before returning to Dartmouth for good four years later.

Perunovich Wins 40th Hobey Baker Award, Swayman Earns Richter Award

Scott Perunovich (Minnesota-Duluth) has been named the winner of the 40th annual Hobey Baker Memorial Award, as the top player in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

Perunovich, 21, from Hibbing, Minn., recorded a career-high 34 assists and 40 points this season in 34 games, and was also named the 2019-20 NCHC Player of the Year. The junior defenseman finished his collegiate career with 20 goals and 95 assists for 105 points in 115 career outings with the Bulldogs, whom he helped to two straight NCAA national titles (2018, 2019), plus a top five national ranking this year. A shot at a third straight NCAA crown was derailed last month by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has canceled almost all major sport seasons.

Perunovich becomes the sixth UMD Bulldog to win the Hobey Baker Award, following Tom Kurvers (1984), Bill Watson (1985), Chris Marinucci (1994), Junior Lessard (2004) and Jack Connolly (2012).

Jeremy Swayman (Maine) was named the winner of the 2019-20 Mike Richter Award as the top goaltender in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey. The junior from Anchorage, Alaska fashioned an 18-10-5 record for the Black Bears this past season with a 2.07 goals-against average and .939 save percentage, along with three shutouts, in backstopping them to a top 20 national ranking. In three seasons in Orono, Swayman, 21, went 47-40-12 in 100 career appearances (2.51, .927, 4 ShO). He was also a finalist for this year's Hobey Baker Award.

Both awards were revealed late Saturday night on ESPN, on an evening when the NCAA Division I men's ice hockey national title game was to have been played in Detroit. Both Perunovich and Swayman have bypassed their senior seasons to sign professional contracts with the NHL clubs that drafted them, Perunovich with the St. Louis Blues and Swayman with the Boston Bruins.

BC's Newhook Rookie of the Year

Alex Newhook (Boston College) has earned the 2019-20 Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year Award as the top newcomer in NCAA Division I men's hockey.

Newhook, 19, a 5-foot-10 native of St. John's Newfoundland, tied for BC's scoring lead with 19 goals and 42 points this season in 34 games. He helped the Eagles to a 24-8-2 overall record, a top five national ranking, and a first-place finish in Hockey East before the campaign was canceled last month by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Newhook's NHL rights are owned by the Colorado Avalanche, who drafted him 16th overall last summer.

Swayman Finalist for Both Hobey Baker and Richter Awards

The Hobey Hat Trick and the five finalists for the Mike Richter Award have both been announced—and Jeremy Swayman (Maine) is on both lists.

Swayman went 18-10-5 this past season with a 2.07 goals-against average and .939 save percentage, along with three shutouts. He is vying to become the first goaltender to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to the top player in NCAA Division I men's hockey, since Ryan Miller (Michigan State) in 2001. The two other finalists this year are forward Jordan Kawaguchi (North Dakota) and defenseman Scott Perunovich (Minnesota-Duluth). The winner will be announced April 11.

The four other finalists for the Mike Richter Award include Matthew Galajda (Cornell), Spencer Knight (Boston College), Strauss Mann (Michigan) and Dryden McKay (Minnesota State). The winner will be announced April 10.