Princeton Tops Harvard, 5-2, in 2023 Finale

Nick Carabin tallied a goal and two assists, and Nick Seitz set up three goals as Princeton rebounded for a 5-2 win over visiting Ivy League and ECAC Hockey rival Harvard yesterday at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink It was Princeton's first victory over Harvard since Nov. 2019, and also marked the completion of the two-game 2023-24 season series between the two schools, who played to a tie in Cambridge, Mass. in early November (with Princeton winning a subsequent shootout).

After Jack Bar and Joe Miller staked Harvard (1-6-3 overall, 1-4-3 ECACH) to a 2-0 lead just over 16 minutes into Saturday's contest, Princeton (6-5-2, 5-3-1) then rebounded with five unanswered goals spanning the last two periods for the win. Jaxson Ezman got the Tigers on the board with a shot from the slot 3:30 into the middle stanza to make it 2-1, before Adam Robbins and Kai Daniells tallied power-play goals just under 12 minutes apart to give Princeton a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.

Ezman salted away the contest on his second goal of the afternoon, with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, before Carabin scored shorthanded into an empty net less than two minutes later for the final margin, with Harvard's goaltender pulled for an extra attacker. Princeton outshot Harvard, 31-30, on the afternoon, while the Crimson won 32 of 61 faceoffs in all. The Tigers also went 2-for-3 on the power play, while killing off all four Harvard man-advantages, including a 5-on-3 in the first period.

Arthur Smith finished with 28 saves for the Tigers, while Derek Mullahy made 26 stops for the Crimson. Princeton will return to NCAA action on Jan. 5-6 at Hockey East opponent New Hampshire, while Harvard will visit Hockey East's UConn today to close out the calendar year.

Michigan Tech Claims 57th GLI

Michigan Tech claimed the 2023 Great Lakes Invitational last night with a 4-3 win over seventh-ranked Michigan State in Grand Rapids, Mich. The game goes down as an official 3-3 tie for NCAA tournament purposes, but the Huskies won the 57th GLI in a shootout. 

Jack Works tallied a hat trick in regulation for MTU, and also earned tournament MVP accolades. Ryland Mosley notched the only goal in the extra session after a scoreless overtime period, while Blake Pietila stopped a career-high 54 shots for the Huskies

Alaska Fairbanks won the consolation game, 3-2, over Ferris State earlier yesterday. In the preliminary round on Thursday at Van Andel Arena, MTU edged UAF, 3-2, in overtime while MSU upended Ferris, 4-1.

The GLI, which originated in Detroit, will play in Grand Rapids through 2026. Next year's edition will feature MSU, MTU, Northern Michigan and Western Michigan.

USA Rolling with Two More Wins at WJC

The United States improved to 3-0-0 at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden with today's 4-3 shootout victory over Czechia. 

Isaac Howard (Michigan State) scored a goal in regulation, and then added the decisive goal in the extra session to lift Team USA to the victory. Ryan Chesley (Minnesota) and Will Smith (Boston College) also tallied in regulation for the U.S., while Jacob Fowler (Boston College) picked up the win in goal after making 20 saves.

The day before, the U.S. posted a 11-3 rout of Switzerland, powered by a first-period hat trick from Jimmy Snuggerud (Minnesota). Cutter Gauthier (Boston College) and Frank Nazar (Michigan) recorded four assists apiece, while Gavin Brindley (Michigan) scored two goals and set up another, and Fowler had 21 stops.

Team USA will complete group play in this year's WJC on Sunday against Slovakia.

U.S. Tops Norway in 2024 WJC Opener

The United States got off to a solid start at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden on Tuesday, with a 4-1 victory over Norway in the opener for both teams.

The U.S. got two goals from Gavin Brindley (Michigan) and 22 saves from Trey Augustine (Michigan State) in the win. Isaac Howard (Michigan State) and Jimmy Snuggerud (Minnesota) also scored for the Americans.

Team USA returns to WJC pool play on Thursday against Switzerland.

Happy Hockey Holidays

2024 U.S. World Juniors Roster Finalized

The United States squad that will compete in the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship has been finalized.

Boston College leads the way with seven players on this year's American edition, while Michigan and Minnesota will supply four skaters apiece. Other NCAA schools represented on this year's U.S. roster include Bemidji State, Boston University, Denver, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Wisconsin. There are also three players from the Ontario Hockey League. The full roster can be found here.

This season's WJC will be contested from Dec. 26, 2023 to Jan. 5, 2024, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Team USA's group this year includes Czechia, Norway, Slovakia and Switzerland. The U.S. is coming off a bronze medal finish earlier this year in Canada.

Boston College Back to No. 1

For the second time in three weeks, and the fourth time overall during the 2023-24 season, Boston College has been voted the top team in NCAA Division I men's hockey.

The Eagles garnered 34 first-place votes in the USCHO.com poll for Dec. 11 to reclaim the top spot from North Dakota (12-5-1 overall), which was swept at home last weekend by Colorado College. BC (13-3-1) defeated Providence, 5-4, on Dec. 9 in its only game last week, which dropped the opposing Friars (9-5-2) to 10th in the nation.

In second place in this week's poll is Boston University (11-4-1), which picked up eight first-place votes, followed by Quinnipiac, North Dakota and Denver to round out the top five. According to USCHO.com, it is the first time ever that BC and BU have held the top two spots in any national college hockey poll at the same time. BC is now off until Jan. 12, while BU will next play on Dec. 29. 

The poll stands to remain largely unchanged in the next week or so, as most Division I teams are now on break until after Christmas, when annual holiday tournaments will be contested.

Sacred Heart Edges Princeton in Shootout

Princeton's home overtime winning streak came to a close on Saturday.

The Tigers settled for a 2-2 non-conference tie with Sacred Heart at Hobey Baker Rink on Dec. 9 after 65 minutes of play. SHU won the ensuing shootout, 2-1, but for NCAA tournament purposes the game goes into the books as a draw. Princeton, which had defeated ECAC Hockey opponents Yale, Brown and Cornell in its three previous home games last month, is now 5-5-2 overall on the season, while SHU moved to 8-7-1. Princeton had earned a 4-0 win at SHU the previous evening in Fairfield, Conn. in the first meeting between the two schools since Jan. 2013.

Daniel Ebrahim led the visiting Pioneers with a goal and also drew an assist on Hunter Sansbury's goal, as SHU built a 2-1 lead after two periods of play. Noah de la Durantaye got Princeton on the board in the second stanza to tie the game at one, before Jack Cronin knotted the contest early in the third period. In the shootout, Kevin Lombardi and Mark Cheremeta sandwiched scores around one by de la Durantaye to give SHU the "win".

Cullen DeYoung made 32 saves for the Pioneers in his first-ever collegiate start, while Arthur Smith stopped all seven shots he faced for the Tigers over the final 25 minutes in relief of starter Ethan Pearson (17 saves). Princeton outshot SHU, 34-27, on the night, while the Pioneers won 36 of 64 faceoffs total. The two schools combined to go 0-for-5 on the power play, with Princeton squandering three extra man opportunities, including a five-minute major man advantage.

Both teams are now off until Dec. 30, when Princeton hosts Ivy League foe Harvard and SHU entertains Hockey East's New Hampshire.

Alaska Nanooks Claim Governor's Cup Again

The annual Governor's Cup has once again been claimed by Alaska (Fairbanks).

The Nanooks swept a pair of contests over the weekend at in-state rival Alaska Anchorage, by 5-0 and 3-1 counts. Michigan State transfer Pierce Charleson recorded both victories in net, including the shutout on Friday, followed by a 33-save effort on Saturday. Brady Risk paced the UAF attack with three goals and two assists for five points overall through the two games.

Coupled with an earlier pair of wins in Fairbanks on Nov. 3-4 against UAA, it means that UAF (8-5-1 0verall) has again taken possession of the instate trophy that has been awarded in the head-to-head series between the two NCAA Division I hockey schools since 1994. UAF has won the last 10 Cups, although its 2010, 2011 and 2012 titles were vacated as a result of NCAA violations against the Nanooks. Neither team played during the 2020-21 COVID season, while the Seawolves also sat out the 2021-22 campaign while re-establishing their program after it had been a victim of budget cuts. UAA (6-11-1) last earned the Cup in 2009.

The Nanook and Seawolves will wrap up their 2023-24 season series on Jan. 13 in Fairbanks and on Feb. 3 in Anchorage.

College Players Come Through for Canadiens

Wednesday evening in central Ohio was NCAA night for the Montreal Canadiens.

Alex Newhook (Boston College) and Cole Caufield (Wisconsin) scored goals for the Habs, and Mike Matheson recorded two assists in the third period for the visitors as Montreal outlasted the host Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-2, at Nationwide Arena. Zach Werenski (Michigan) set up one of Columbus' two goals, as the Bluejackets fell to 7-13-4 overall and four points behind Montreal in the NHL's Eastern Conference standings. 

Montreal improved to 10-10-2 with the victory, but fell back below the .500 mark the next night after a 5-1 loss to visiting Florida. Newhook, the Canadiens' top goal scorer with seven goals so far this season, was injured in that contest and did not return. He earned a Stanley Cup ring in 2022 with Colorado, a year after helping Boston College return to the NCAA tournament.

Columbus hosts Ottawa (8-9-0) tonight, while Montreal will entertain Detroit (12-7-3) tomorrow.