Alaska on 2023 NCAA Tournament Bubble

Alaska (Fairbanks) has climbed into the NCAA tournament conversation. The Nanooks, who swept host Arizona State this past weekend, have climbed to 12th in the Pairwise Rankings, which mimics the NCAA tournament selection process.

UAF (20-10-2 overall) has won nine of its last 10 games, and closes out its 2022-23 regular season this weekend at home against fellow NCAA Division I independent Lindenwood. Senior goaltender Matt Radomsky, a Holy Crass transfer, is 20-10-2 in net for UAF so far this season, with a 2.14 goals-against average and two shutouts 

The Nanooks last made the NCAAs in 2010, when they were a member of the original incarnation of the CCHA, while this season also marks their first 20-win campaign since 2001-02. The last independent to make the NCAA tournament field was Arizona State in 2019.

The 2023 NCAA tournament selection show and the 16-team bracket will be held on March 19. The regionals will be held in Allentown, Bridgeport, Fargo, and Manchester the following weekend, with the Frozen Four to be contested on April 6-8 in Tampa.

Yale Blanks Princeton on Road, 4-0

Princeton University's home postseason hopes took a bit of a hit with a 4-0 loss to visiting Yale University on Saturday evening, in the Tigers' regular-season home finale at 100-year-old Hobey Baker Rink.

Ian Carpentier notched the game-winning goal for Yale on a 5-on-3 power play in the first period, before closing out the scoring with just over a minute remaining in regulation on an empty-net goal. His two scores were sandwiched around a second-period tip-in by Niklas Allain, and a third-period partial breakaway converted by New Jersey native David Chen.

Yale improved to 6-17-4 overall, and 5-13-2 in ECAC Hockey, in gaining the season series split with Princeton, after a 3-0 loss to the Tigers three months prior in New Haven. Nathan Reid stopped all 40 shots he faced on Saturday in recording his second shutout of the season for the Bulldogs, while Aidan Porter made 22 saves on 25 shots against for the Tigers.

Princeton (12-15-0, 8-13-0) is in seventh place in ECAC Hockey, three points ahead of both Rensselaer and Union. The Tigers will visit both schools next weekend to close out the regular season. 

The top four teams in the conference will receive a first-round playoff bye, while the fifth through eighth seeds will host the ninth through 12th seeds, respectively, in the new single-elimination ECAC Hockey first round that will take place the first weekend of March. The first-round winners will advance to the best-of-three quarterfinals on March 10-12, also on campus sites, before the four quarterfinal survivors advance to the ECAC Hockey championship in Lake Placid on March 17-18. The ultimate winner in Lake Placid will receive ECAC Hockey's automatic berth to the 2023 NCAA tournament.

Paul Jerrard 1965-2023

University of Nebraska-Omaha assistant coach Paul Jerrard passed away earlier this week after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 57.

The Winnipeg native played on defense for Lake Superior State University from 1983 to 1987, notching 40 goals and 73 assists for 113 points to go with 199 penalty minutes for the Lakers over four seasons, before embarking on a 10-year professional career that included five NHL appearances, all with the Minnesota North Stars during the 1988-89 campaign.

Drafted 173rd overall by the New York Rangers in 1983 after starring for the Notre Dame (Sask.) Hounds, the 6-foot-1 Jerrard played in the now-defunct International Hockey League with Colorado/Denver, Kalamazoo, Albany, Milwaukee and Fort Wayne, totaling 73-139—212 points and 1,144 PIM in 503 IHL regular-season contests over eight years. He finished his playing career by skating two seasons with Hershey (AHL), helping the Bears to the 1997 Calder Cup championship.

Jerrard immediately entered the coaching ranks, and spent four of his first five years at his alma mater of LSSU. He also coached with Lowell, Hershey, Iowa, Texas and Utica in the AHL, and with Colorado, Dallas and Calgary in the NHL, all as an assistant, before joining Omaha for the 2018-19 NCAA campaign.

He is survived by his wife, Cheryl, and daughters Catherine and Meaghan.

Northeastern Claims Both 2023 Beanpot Crowns

Northeastern University is both king and queen of the Beanpot tournament for 2023.

The Northeastern men defeated Harvard University, 3-2, in a shootout on Monday night at a sold-out TD Garden in Boston, the first shootout in Beanpot history, although for NCAA tournament purposes the game is officially a tie contest. The Huskies still secured their fourth Beanpot title in the last five years following a 30-season drought. It was also the first time the Huskies and Crimson had met in the final in the tournament's 70-year history.

Gunnarwolfe Fontaine scored the opening and tying goals in regulation for 16th-ranked NU, sandwiching his scores around a pair by Harvard's Matthew Coronato. Aidan McDonough notched the decisive goal in the shootout for NU. Devon Levi, who stopped the two shots he faced in the shootout, made 32 saves for Northeastern (14-10-5 overall), and earned the Beanpot MVP award plus the Eberly Trophy as the tournament's top goaltender. Mitchell Gibson finished with 27 stops for the No. 9 Crimson (17-6-2).

The Northeastern women followed suit a day later with a 2-1 win over host Boston College in the 44th women's final, held at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill. A second-period goal by tournament MVP Maureen Murphy stood up as the game-winner, after Mia Brown had staked the No. 5 Huskies to a 1-0 lead in the opening stanza. BC's Hannah Bilka made it a one-goal game late in the third period with an extra-attacker tally.

Gwyneth Philips stopped 27 shots for NU (28-2-1), earning her the the Bertagna Award as the tournament's most outstanding goaltender, while Abigail Levy made 34 saves for the Eagles (18-13-1).

Valentine's Day 2023

 

DU Tops North Dakota, Stays Atop NCHC

Defending NCAA champion Denver has solidified its hold on first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

The fourth-ranked Pioneers upended visiting North Dakota, 5-3, on Friday evening at Magness Arena to improve to 22-7-0 overall this season, and 13-4-0 in the NCHC. UND dropped to 12-12-4 overall (6-9-2 NCHC). 

Carter Mazur scored twice for DU, to break a personal five-game pointless string, while Mike Benning had two assists for the Pioneers and Magnus Chrona made 34 saves in net. Jackson Blake set up two goals for the Fighting Hawks, who finished 2-for-8 on the power play. Jakob Hellsten stopped 11 of 12 shots for UND after relieving starter Drew DeRidder, who took the loss after surrendering four goals on 11 shots against.

DU is now five points ahead of second-place Western Michigan in the NCHC standings, while UND remains tied for sixth place with Colorado College. DU and UND  meet again tonight in Denver to close out their regular-season series, with the Pioneers having won all three meetings so far this season. 

Harvard and Northeastern to Meet in Beanpot Men's Final for First Time Ever

For the first time in its 70-year history, the Beanpot men's final will match Harvard against Northeastern. The Crimson and Huskies will face off next Monday at TD Garden in Boston for the title, the first time that will occur since the tournament began back in late 1952.

Harvard, ranked 10th in the national polls, punched its ticket to this year's championship game by outlasting Boston College, 4-3, in overtime in the opener on Monday. Marek Hejduk's score with just over one second remaining in the 3-on-3 extra session was the difference, after BC had fought back from a 3-1 deficit with back-to-back goals in the final five minutes of regulation. 

Hejduk finished with two goals on the afternoon for the Crimson (16-6-1 overall), as did Matthew Coronato. Mitchell Gibson notched 45 saves for the Crimson, who were outshot by a 22-2 count in the third period alone. Lukas Gustafsson posted two assists and Mitch Benson made 21 stops for the Eagles (9-11-6), who are winless in their last seven outings overall.

In the nightcap, No. 20 Northeastern jumped out to a 2-0 lead against third-ranked and defending Beanpot champion Boston University, then held on for a 3-1 victory. The Huskies (14-10-3) scored once in each period, with Jakov Novak leading the way with a goal and an assist, including the game-winning goal early in the second period. 

After Matt Brown got the Terriers (20-7-0) within a goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Hunter McDonald sealed matters with his shot into an empty BU net with 30 seconds left, the first goal of his NCAA career. Devon Levi stopped 33 shots for NU, while Drew Commesso came up with 26 stops for BU, which saw its seven-game winning streak snapped.

BC and BU will meet in the consolation game for the first time ever on Feb. 13, followed by the first-ever Crimson-Huskies tilt for the Beanpot men's title later that night. Harvard is seeking its first Beanpot crown since 2017, while the Huskies had won three straight tournaments until last year, when they fell to BU in by a goal in the final. (The 2021 edition of the event was canceled by COVID-19.)

Western Michigan Outlasts UMD, 3-2, in OT

Western Michigan has moved into a tie for third place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

The visiting Broncos pulled out a 3-2 win in overtime Friday night at Minnesota-Duluth, as Max Sasson backhanded home a loose puck just over two minutes into the extra session before 6,316 fans at Amsoil Arena. The goal came after he had attempted a centering pass from behind UMD's net.

Quinn Olson's extra-attacker goal with exactly one minute remaining in regulation had pulled the host Bulldogs (12-14-1 overall) into a 2-2 tie, after Luke Grainger's power-play goal midway through the second period put No. 10 WMU (18-10-1) ahead by a goal. WMU had taken a 1-0 lead early in the first period on a shorthanded goal by Jason Pollin, his nation-leading 24th goal of the 2022-23 season, before Ben Stevees knotted matters less than eight minutes later for UMD.

Cameron Rowe made 32 saves for the Broncos, while Zach Stejskal recorded 28 stops for the Bulldogs, as UMD outshot WMU, 34-31.  The two teams, who will finish their two-game series tonight in Duluth, combined to go 1-for-6 on the power play, while WMU won 41 of 75 faceoffs overall.

WMU is now tied with Nebraska-Omaha for third place in the NCHC with 30 points apiece, although Omaha has a game in hand. Defending NCAA champion Denver is in first place with 32 points, while St. Cloud State is right behind DU with 31 points.