Canada Names 2022 Olympic Men's Hockey Team

 

Canada's 2022 Olympic men's hockey roster will have a bit of an NCAA flavor.

Former college forwards who will suit up in China next month for Team Canada include Daniel Carr (Union), Corban Knight (North Dakota), Ben Street (Wisconsin), Adam Tambellini (North Dakota) and Daniel Winnik (New Hampshire). Also on the roster are defenseman Mat Robinson (Alaska Anchorage) and goaltender Matt Tomkins (Ohio State).

Current college players named to Team Canada for this year's tournament include forward Jack McBain (Boston College), defenseman Owen Power (Michigan) and goaltender Devon Levi (Northeastern).

Canada has won a record nine gold medals in men's hockey at the Olympics, with the last one coming in 2014. Canada finished third (bronze medal) in the most recent Games in 2018, which did not feature current NHL players, just like this year's competition.

The XXIV Olympic Winter Games are scheduled to be held in Beijing, China from Feb. 4-20.

Kreider Hits 30-Goal Mark, Leads NHL

The National Hockey League has its first 30-goal scorer of the 2021-22 campaign—and it's Chris Kreider (Boston College).

The 6-foot-3, 223-pound left wing from Boxford, Mass. hit the 30-goal mark for the first time in his pro career on Monday night, scoring the first goal for the New York Rangers in their 3-2 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Madison Square Garden. He now leads all NHL players in goals scored so far this season, having already eclipsed his previous season-high of 28 goals in both 2016-17 and 2018-19.

Kreider, 30, has recorded 207 goals and 389 points in 616 career NHL regular-season games, all with the Rangers, since turning pro in 2012. Now in his 10th NHL season, he tallied 49 goals and 92 points in 116 career NCAA outings with BC, and also helped the Eagles to national championships in both 2010 and 2012.

Nanooks Upset Ranked Minnesota Again

Alaska (Fairbanks) did it to Minnesota. Again.

One night after a 4-1 loss at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, the visiting Nanooks upset the host Golden Gophers, ranked eighth in the nation, by a 3-2 count on Saturday evening in NCAA competition before over 8,000 spectators.

Following a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes, Brayden Nicholetts and Markus Komuls scored goals to stake Alaska to a 3-1 lead after two periods. Chaz Lucius made it 3-2 just 18 seconds into the final frame for Minnesota, but Alaska (6-15-1 overall) held on behind goaltender Gustavs Davis Grigals, who made 36 saves for the victory. 

Minnesota (13-9-0) outshot Alaska, 36-16, but went 0-for-7 on the power play. The loss also snapped the Gophers' five-game win streak.

It's not the first time Alaska has upset the Gophers when the latter was ranked in the national top 10. In Oct. 2005, then-UAF edged host Minnesota, 4-3, in overtime, the first of three wins that season that the Nanooks registered over schools that were ranked No 1 at the time of play.

2022 U.S. Olympic Men's Hockey Roster Released

The roster for the 2022 U.S men's hockey team that will compete in Beijing, China next month at the XXVI Olympic Winter Games has been revealed. The team will be entirely comprised of college-trained players, including 15 current NCAA skaters. 

The National Hockey League announced last month that, due to scheduling concerns because of COVID-19, it would not be sending its players to the Olympics for the second straight competition, with the NHL having also declined to participate in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018. That prompted USA Hockey officials to again scour college and non-NHL rosters for possible participants for the Olympics.

The current professional players on this year's Team USA Olympic roster include defenseman David Warsofsky (Boston University), Aaron Ness (Minnesota), Steven Kampfer (Michigan) and Brian Cooper (Nebraska-Omaha), along with goaltenders Strauss Mann (Michigan) and Pat Nagle (Ferris State). Forwards include Kenny Agostino (Yale), Brian O'Neill (Yale), Nick Shore (Denver), and Andy Miele (Miami), with O'Neill the lone holdover from the 2018 American squad that finished seventh in Pyeongchang.

Schools represented on this year's U.S. team include Boston College (two players), Boston University (two), Denver, Ferris State, Harvard (two), Miami, Michigan (four), Minnesota (four), Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State (two), and Yale (two).

The coaching staff for this year's American entry includes head coach David Quinn (Boston University), and assistants Mike Hastings (St. Cloud State), Brett Larson (Minnesota-Duluth), Scott Young (Boston University) and David Lassonde (Providence).

The roster for the 2022 U.S. Olympic women's hockey team that will compete in Beijing was announced on Jan. 1. It includes 13 returning players from the team that won Olympic gold in South Korea four years ago.

LaFontaine Leaves Minnesota for NHL

 

The University of Minnesota is suddenly in need of a new starting goaltender.

Fifth-year netminder and team tri-captain Jack LaFontaine chose to leave the Golden Gophers and sign a one-year, entry-level contract Sunday with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, who drafted him 75th overall in 2016. The 6-foot-3 LaFontaine, from Mississauga, Ontario, has been assigned to Carolina's taxi squad but could be fast-tracked to playing for the Hurricanes due to injury woes in Carolina's goaltending depth, which was believed to be the impetus for his signing halfway through the NCAA season. According to NHL.com, LaFontaine's one-year entry-level contact is worth $750,000 at the NHL level, and $70,000 at the American Hockey League level, through the end of the 2021-22 season.

The winner of last year's Mike Richter Award as the top goaltender in NCAA Division I men's hockey, and a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as best overall player, LaFontaine, posted a 22-7-0 record in 2020-21 for Minnesota to go with a 1.79 goals-against average and five shutouts in 29 appearances. He also led Minnesota to the Big Ten tournament title and an NCAA tournament berth, and was named Big Ten postseason MVP and First Team All-America.

LaFontaine, 24, began his collegiate career with the University of Michigan from 2016-18, where he went 5-11-1 in 22 games from 2016 to 2018 with the Wolverines. He played the 2018-19 campaign with Penticton (BCHL), where he went 30-13-1 with a 2.19 GAA in 45 regular-season games before joining Minnesota the following fall. 

LaFontaine made his final NCAA appearance with 21 saves in Saturday's 6-3 win at Michigan State, one day after he made 24 stops in a 4-1 win at MSU. In 96 career NCAA contests, he finished 48-35-7 overall with a 2.52 GAA and five shutouts, including a 12-8-0 mark in 20 games this season for the ninth-ranked Golden Gophers.

The only other goalie to see action so far this season for Minnesota has been junior Justen Close, who has played all of 28 minutes. He has six career NCAA appearances with no decisions in just under three seasons. Also on this year's Minnesota roster is freshman netminder Brennan Boynton, who has yet to make his collegiate debut. 

Princeton Shuts Down Several Home Hockey Contests

Princeton University men's ice hockey won't be returning to action this weekend, thanks to opponent COVID protocols.

Friday's game against Yale and Saturday's contest with Brown, both at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink, will be moved to alternate dates, which will be announced at a later time. The Tigers (3-9-1 overall, 2-4-0 ECAC Hockey) have not played since being swept at Providence on Dec. 10-11, their seventh and eighth consecutive losses.

The Tigers home contest against Quinnipiac on Jan. 3 had already been rescheduled to Jan. 26. The Jan. 2 matchup at Quinnipiac has been re-set for Jan. 18 in Hamden, Conn. A number of NCAA Division I hockey contests this weekend have also been postponed or canceled, with the national governing body itself also recently releasing updated COVID-19 guidelines for winter sports.

Princeton women's hockey returned to action for the first time since mid-December with a 1-0 victory over visiting Long Island University on Monday. The Tigers (7-5-3, 5-2-1) are scheduled to host Clarkson on Friday night, although Saturday's game against St. Lawrence has already been postponed. 

Princeton University as a whole is not allowing spectators at any athletic home contest on its central New Jersey campus through the rest of January 2022, as explained at goprincetontigers.com. All 2020-21 Princeton athletic campaigns, in all three seasons, were lost to COVID-19.