Several NCAA Division I men's hockey teams saw their 2025-26 seasons come to a close with losses on Wednesday night.
Vermont, UMass Lowell, New Hampshire, Notre Dame, and Minnesota were all eliminated from their respective conference tournaments with single-elimination defeats. Each would have had to win their tournament to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
Conference playoffs continue this Friday and Saturday, and Sunday if necessary.
Long-time NHL veteran Troy Murray (North Dakota) passed away last week at the age of 63 after battling cancer the last five years.
A 100-point scorer in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, Murray played two seasons at North Dakota, tallying 55 goals and 120 points in 80 games, while also leading the then-Fighting Sioux to the 1982 NCAA title. He also captained Team Canada to the gold medal at the 1982 World Junior Championship.
Drafted 57th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1980, the Calgary native went on to a 16-year NHL career with Chicago, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Colorado, where he collected 230 goals and 354 assists for 584 points to go with 875 penalty minutes in 914 career NHL regular-season outings, including a 45-goal, 99-point season with Chicago in 1985-86 He also added 17-26—43 points and 145 PIM in 113 career Stanley Cup Playoff appearances, and won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996.
Murray, who was awarded the Selke Trophy in 1985-86 with Chicago as the NHL's best defensive forward, retired following the 1996-97 campaign where he registered 21-29—50 points in 81 games with the IHL's Chicago Wolves. He went on to be a longtime studio analyst and color commentator with the Blackhawks on both radio and TV, and called Chicago's three Stanley Cup championships in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
Senior captain Chase Dafoe scored 24 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime to lift top-seeded Alaska Fairbanks to a 4-3 victory over second-seeded Lindenwood in the championship game of the inaugural United Collegiate Hockey Cup on Saturday in Missouri.
Michael Citara and Peyton Platter each recorded a goal and an assist for the victorious Nanooks (15-15-3 overall), who also got 39 saves from senior goaltender Lassi Lehti in his final appearance in a UAF uniform. Jacob Fletcher scored one goal and set up another for the host Lions (15-15-0), including the tying goal with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. Liam Beerman stopped 18 shots for Lindenwood, which outshot UAF, 42-22, at the Centene Community Ice Center. The Nanooks won 32 out of 58 total faceoffs.
Citara, defenseman Nathan Rickey and Lehti were all named to the UCHC All-Tournament team, while Lehti was also named MVP. Lehti also backstopped UAF to the Adirondack Winter Invitational championship in Lake Placid back in November.
Long Island defeated Stonehill, 4-3, in the consolation game of the tournament, which featured all five NCAA Division I independent men's hockey programs. UAF, which had a first-round bye as the top seed, defeated Stonehill in a shootout on Friday to advance to the title game, while Lindenwood topped LIU on Thursday to earn its championship contest berth. Alaska Anchorage finished in fifth place after falling to Stonehill and LIU.
Some of the transactions involving former NCAA players during Friday's NHL trading deadline (players listed by last name):
Player, Position (School) Old Team New Team
Wyatt Bongiovanni, C (Quinnipiac) Ottawa Washington
Bobby Brink, F (Denver) Philadelphia Minnesota
Jacob Bryson, D (Providence) Buffalo Winnipeg
Justin Faulk, D (MN-Duluth) St. Louis Detroit
Warren Foegele, F (New Hampshire) Los Angeles Ottawa
Vinny Hinostroza, C (Notre Dame) Florida Minnesota
Bobby McMann, C (Colgate) Toronto Seattle
Massimo Rizzo, C (Denver) Philadelphia Boston
Aidan Thompson, C (Denver) Chicago NY Rangers
Michigan State has won its third consecutive Big Ten Conference regular-season title following last night's 7-1 win at Minnesota. The Spartans are the first Big Ten school to turn the trifecta since the conference began play in 2013.
It is also the first time MSU has won three consecutive regular-season conference titles, although the Spartans did win back-to-back regular-season crowns during their time in the original central Collegiate Hockey Association.
MSU (25-7-1 overall, 16-6-1 Big Ten) will close out its 2025-26 regular season tonight at Minnesota, and will have a first-round bye in the Big Ten championship, which it has claimed the last two years.
Maryville University is expected to be the next school to ice an NCAA Division I men's hockey team, according to online sources. A private Catholic institution in St. Louis, Maryville will be the first school to join the NCAA Division I men's hockey ranks since Lindenwood did so in 2022-23.
The Saints are expected to play a hybrid schedule in 2026-27, against both NCAA and American Collegiate Hockey Association club opponents, and will then transition to a full NCAA schedule the following season. They play their home games at the Maryville University Hockey Center in Chesterfield, Mo., which is slated to undergo an expansion.
Maryville currently fields three men's American Collegiate Hockey Association teams, and two ACHA women's teams. The ACHA Division I men's team played three exhibition games this season against NCAA Division I competition, two at Long Island University and one at Alaska Anchorage. The 14th-ranked Saints have qualified for this year's ACHA Division I men's national championship, and will face No. 19 John Carroll in the preliminary round.
Brown University has named Tom Upton as its new men's ice hockey head coach. A native of Austin, TX, he succeeds Brendan Whittet, who resigned earlier this year for family medical reasons. Whittet coached his last game on Feb. 14, a 4-3 win over Dartmouth, as the Bears are being led by assistant coach Jason Smith for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign.
Upton, 41, played defense at Wisconsin Stevens-Point from 2006 to 2010, notching two goals and 11 assists for 13 points to go with 183 penalty minutes in 89 career games. A three-year veteran of the North American Hockey League at the junior level, he later played briefly in the Southern Professional Hockey League before turning to coaching.
Upton coached as an assistant at his alma mater from 2010 to 2013 before spending one year with the USHL's Cedar Rapids Roughriders, also as an assistant, and two seasons as head coach of the NAHL's Minnesota Magicians. He then served three years as an assistant at Mercyhurst College, before returning to the USHL for one season where he guided the Madison Capitols to the 2022 Clark Cup Finals. He spent the past four seasons as an assistant with the University of Massachusetts.
Brown (5-21-2 overall, 4-14-2 ECAC Hockey) closes out its regular season this weekend at home against Rensselaer and Union.
The Miracle on Ice finally got some company.
Exactly 46 years to the day that the Americans defeated the Russians at Lake Placid, the U.S. men's hockey team won its third goal medal ever with a 2-1 victory over Canada in overtime in the championship game Sunday at the XXV Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy.
Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils scored less than two minutes into the 3-on-3 overtime, assisted by Zach Werenski (Michigan), to give the U.S. the win and its first Olympic men's hockey title since 1980. Cale Makar (Massachusetts) had tied the game in the second period for Canada, which was seeking its first Olympic men's gold since 2014, the last time that NHL players participated in the Olympics. Matt Boldy (Boston College) scored Team USA's first goal of the day in the first period, assisted by Quinn Hughes (Michigan), on the Americans' first shot on goal.
Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) stopped 41 shots for the Americans, including a point-blank save on Devon Toews (Quinnipiac) in the second stanza. Toews later posted the lone assist on the goal by Makar, his teammate with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. Canada outshot the U.S., 42-28, overall but went 0-for-3 on the power play, including a two-man advantage in the second period, while the U.S. finished 0-for-2.
It was America's first Olympic men's hockey gold medal won outside the United States, as the first came in California in 1960. The U.S. won both Olympic hockey gold medals this year, with the American women also defeating Canada, 2-1 in OT, on Thursday.
For the 15th straight time, the Alaska Airlines Governors Cup belongs to the University of (Alaska) Fairbanks.
The Nanooks sewed up their annual in-state rivalry with Alaska Anchorage with a pair of wins in southeastern Alaska this weekend, defeating the host Seawolves by 4-3 and 6-2 scores. UAF has won four of its six meetings with UAA this season, while also recording a tie.
On Friday at Sullivan Arena, Braden Birnie scored with three seconds remaining in regulation to lift UAF to the win. On Saturday, Birnie supplied a goal and two assists, while Chase Dafoe and Alexander Malinowski both scored twice.
Lassi Lehti stopped 26 of 31 shots for the Nanooks over both games, which drew over 3,000 spectators each night to Sullivan Arena. Tyler Krivtsov stopped 51 of 60 shots in all for UAA, which got goals from five different skaters over the weekend.
The Nanooks (12-15-2 overall) and Seawolves (5-23-1) will close out their 2025-26 NCAA independent season series on Feb. 27-28 at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.
Princeton and Colgate skated to a 1-1 deadlock on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink in ECAC Hockey men's play. The game will officially go into the NCAA's books as a tie, although visiting Colgate won the ensuing shootout, two to one, to earn an extra point in the conference standings.
Following a scoreless first period, Max Nagel put Colgate on top, 1-0, midway through the second period with his 10th goal of the season. The score remained unchanged until more than 11 minutes into the final frame, when Princeton defenseman Tyler Rubin knocked home a rebound to tie the contest for the Tigers.
In the shootout, Brendan Gorman scored for Princeton (14-11-2 overall, 10-8-1 ECAC Hockey), while Nagel and Jack Brandt connected for Colgate (11-16-4, 8-8-3). The Raiders are now unbeaten in their last nine meetings with Princeton.
Arthur Smith finished with 25 saves in regulation for the Tigers, while Reid Dyck made 47 stops for the visiting Raiders. Both teams finished 0-for-1 on the power play and also won 26 of 52 faceoffs overall, while Princeton outshot Colgate on the night, 42-26, before 1,811 spectators.
For the second time in three Olympic Winter Games, the United States has won gold in women's ice hockey.
Megan Keller (Boston College) slipped home a backhander just over four minutes into the 3-on-3 overtime to lift Team USA to a 2-1 victory over Canada in today's women's ice hockey gold medal game in Milan, Italy. The U.S. last won women's hockey gold in 2018 in Pyeongchang, with Canada winning four years ago in Beijing. It is the third gold medal all-time for the American women.
Keller's game-winner came after Team USA tied the game with just over two minutes remaining in regulation on an extra-attacker goal. Team captain Hilary Knight (Wisconsin), playing in her fifth and final Olympics, tipped home a shot by rookie Laila Edwards (Wisconsin) to push the contest into the extra session. For Knight, it was her 15th career Olympic goal, tops among American women all-time. Keller also assisted on Knight's goal, after Kristin O'Neill (Cornell) had put Canada ahead, 1-0, early in the second period on a shorthanded goal.
Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) stopped 30 shots for the Americans, while Ann-Renee Desbiens (Wisconsin) made 31 saves for the Canadians. The two rivals combined to go 0-for-4 on the power play before 11,171 on-lookers at Milano Santagiulia Arena. The U.S. finished the tournament 6-0-0, while Canada's only two loses came to the Americans.
Team USA's Caroline Harvey was named Olympic MVP and Best Defender after tallying two goals and seven assists for a tournament-high nine points in her second Olympics. She helped the U.S. to a silver medal four years ago as rookie.
Switzerland defeated Sweden, 2-1, in OT in this year's bronze medal game, with Alina Muller (Northeastern) notching the game-winning goal. It was the first Olympic medal for the Swiss women since they also won bronze in 2014 in Sochi.
Two former Michigan Wolverines made it Team USA's night.
Dylan Larkin (Michigan) scored the first goal of the game in the second period, and Quinn Hughes (Michigan) wristed home a shot early in overtime to lift the United States over Sweden, 2-1, in a men's ice hockey quarterfinal matchup at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy.
Hughes helped set up Larkin's deflection goal midway through regulation to open the scoring. After Sweden tied the contest on an extra attacker goal with less than 90 seconds remaining in regulation, Hughes won it just over three minutes into the 3-on-3 extra session with a shot from the slot after taking a pass from Matt Boldy (Boston College). Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) finished with 28 saves in the American net.
The U.S. now moves on to face Slovakia in one semifinal on Friday, while Finland will take on Canada in the other one. Canada outlasted Czechia, 4-3, in OT in the quarterfinals thanks to a goal and two assists from Macklin Celebrini (Boston University).
ADDENDUM: Team USA routed Slovakia, 6-2, and will face Canada, a 3-2 winner over Finland, in Sunday's gold medal game.
A list of the 10 semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award, which is annually awarded to the top goaltender in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey, was released last week, according to collegehockeynews.com:
Trey Augustine, Michigan State (Jr. – South Lyon, Mich.)
Alexis Cournoyer, Cornell (Fr. - Trois-Rivières, Que.)
Emmett Croteau, Dartmouth (Jr. – Bonnyville, Alb.)
Michael Hrabal, Massachusetts (Jr. – Prague, Czechia)
Jack Ivankovic, Michigan (Fr. - Mississauga, Ont.)
Josh Kotai, Augustana (Jr. - Abbotsford, B.C.)
Tyler Muszelik, Connecticut (Sr. - Long Valley, N.J.)
Jan Spunar, North Dakota (Fr. - Olomouc, Czechia)
Alex Tracy, Minnesota State (Sr. - Chicago, Ill.)
Lawton Zacher, Northeastern (Jr. - Buffalo, N.Y.)
Augustine is currently third among Division I men's netminders with 20 victories so far this season, while Ivankovic is fourth with 18 wins, and Tracy is first with five ties. Kotai is second with 1,080 minutes played, while Tracy is fourth with 1,755 minutes. Tracy is fourth with a 1.91 goals-against average, while Augustine is fifth (1.96) and Kotai is 10th (2.06). Kotai and Zacher are tied for the national lead with four shutouts, while Kotai ranks first overall with 890 saves made, and is also tied with Muszelik for second overall with a .935 save percentage.
The 2026 Mike Richter Award winner will be announced on April 10 at the Frozen Four in Las Vegas.
Ethan Wyttenbach and Matthew McGroarty each scored one goal and set up another as fifth-ranked Quinnipiac topped host Princeton, 4-1, this afternoon at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink before 2,230 on-lookers. The Bobcats thus completed a two-steep sweep in ECAC Hockey play, having bested the visiting Tigers by the same score on Saturday evening in Hamden, Conn.
McGroarty opened the scoring on Sunday, wristing a shot from the right circle into the far side of the Princeton net just over three minutes into the second period. David Ma responded for Princeton on a power play just under two minutes later, before Quinnipiac's Alex Power put the Bobcats ahead for good less than 90 seconds later off a deflection in front for his first goal of the season.
Antoni Verreault made it a two-goal game with a shot from the right circle on a power play nine minutes into the final frame, before Wyttenbach closed out the scoring on an empty-netter from center ice with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.
Dylan Silverstein finished with 21 saves in goal for Quinnipiac (24-5-3 overall, 15-2-1 ECAC Hockey), while Arthur Smith made 21 stops for Princeton (14-11-1, 10-8-0). The Bobcats outshot the Tigers, 25-22, and also won 40 of 70 faceoffs in all. Both teams finished 1-for-4 on the power play.
Quinnipiac remains in first place in ECAC Hockey, while Princeton falls to fifth.
Hockey East alumni supplied four goals and more than 20 saves as the United States men's hockey team defeated Denmark, 6-3, on Valentine's Day at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy.
Matt Boldy (Boston College) scored the first goal for Team USA, while Noah Hanifin (Boston College) converted his own rebound for the eventual game-winning goal. Jack Eichel (Boston University) and Brady Tkachuk (Boston University) also tallied for the Red, White and Blue, which got 21 saves in goal from Jeremy Swayman (Maine). Eight different U.S. skaters also notched assists on the day.
The Americans, who twice battled back from one-goal deficits to defeat the Danes, improved to 2-0-0 in the tournament so far, and will complete the round-robin portion of their schedule with a game against Germany on Sunday.
ADDENDUM: Jake Sanderson (North Dakota) set up two goals and Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) made 24 stops as Team USA upended Germany, 5-1.
Brock Nelson (North Dakota) scored two goals, including the game winner, as the U.S. men's hockey team opened its 2026 Olympic Winter Games with a 5-1 win over Latvia on Thursday in Milan, Italy.
Jack Eichel (Boston University) and Quinn Hughes (Michigan) set up two goals apiece for the Americans, who also got their opening goal from Brady Tkachuk (Boston University). Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) made 17 saves in net for Team USA.
In other Olympic men's hockey action, Macklin Celebrini (Boston University) scored a goal off an assist from Cale Makar (UMass), and Canada went on to blank Czechia, 5-0. Canada takes on Switzerland today, while the U.S. will face Denmark on Saturday.
Michigan State has regained the top spot in both the USCHO.com and USAHockey.com NCAA Division I men's college hockey polls this week after splitting with archrival Michigan, the former No. 1, last weekend.
MSU garnered 30 of 50 first-place votes in the Feb. 9 USCHO.com poll, and 18 of 34 first-place votes in the corresponding USA Hockey poll. Rounding out the top five in both rankings were Michigan, North Dakota, Western Michigan and Quinnipiac.
MSU fell, 4-3 in overtime, at Michigan last Friday, but rebounded to earn its third consecutive "Duel in the D" trophy with a 6-2 victory the next night in Detroit. The Spartans (22-6-0 overall) return to Big Ten action this weekend against Notre Dame.
Boston College shook off an early deficit and rebounded for a 6-2 victory over Boston University last night in the 2026 Beanpot Tournament championship game at TD Garden in Boston. It was BC's 21st Beanpot men's crown all-time, in the 300th meeting overall between the two Commonwealth Avenue rivals, and first Beanpot championship since it also defeated BU in the title tilt in 2016.
After defending champion BU took an early 1-0, lead, BC responded with five consecutive goals, three of them on the power play. Andre Gasseau scored two goals for the 14th-ranked Eagles (16-9-1 overall), and Lukas Gustafsson notched the eventual game-winner from the point on a man advantage. Will Vote also scored twice for BC, including an empty-net insurance tally in the final two minutes of regulation, while Ryan Conmy collected four assists.
Louka Cloutier stopped 27 shots in net for the Eagles, and also earned the Eberly Trophy as this year's top Beanpot goaltender with a .950 save percentage. BC's James Hagens took home Beanpot MVP accolades after registering two assists last night, and five points over two Beanpot contests. Mikhail Yegorov finished with 32 saves for BU (13-14-2), which got goals from Brandon Svoboda and Cole Eiserman. The Terriers and Eagles will meet again on Feb. 27-28, in a home-and-home series in Hockey East conference play.
Harvard took last night's Beanpot men's consolation contest with 4-1 victory over Northeastern. The Crimson won this year's women's Beanpot, defeating BU in overtime at TD Garden.
Joy Dunne (Ohio State), Alex Carpenter (Boston College) and Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin) notched a goal and an assist each as the U.S. Women's Olympic team blanked Switzerland today, 5-0, in Group A play at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy.
Gwyneth Philips (Northeastern) earned the shutout by stopping all 20 shots she faced for the Americans, while Andrea Braendli (Ohio State) made 45 saves for the Swiss. Team USA is now 3-0-0 overall and will next face archrival Canada, which defeated Czechia, 5-1, as Julia Gosling (St. Lawrence) scored two goals and Brianne Jenner (Cornell) collected two assists.
For the third year in a row, the "Duel in the D" went to Michigan State. Second-ranked MSU scored the first four goals of the game en route to a 5-2 victory over No. 1 Michigan tonight before 19,515 onlookers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. MSU also avenged a 4-3 overtime loss last night in Ann Arbor to gain the series split, while also leapfrogging the Wolverines by one point for first place in the Big Ten conference.
Tiernan Shoudy and Tommi Männistö tallied a goal and an assist each for MSU (22-6-0 overall, 13-5-0 Big Ten), while Maxim Štrbák notched two assists. Trey Augustine made 25 saves for the Spartans, while Jack Ivankovic stopped 34 shots for Michigan (23-5-0, 14-4-0) in his return to action since suffering an injury in mid-January. MSU outshot Michigan, 37-27, on the night, and also killed off all three Michigan power play attempts while recording two shorthanded shots on goal.
MSU is at Notre Dame on Feb. 20-21, while Michigan will host Penn State next weekend.
The U.S. Women's Hockey Team got off to a good start at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina, Italy with a 5-1 victory over Czechia on Thursday.
Hayley Scamurra (Northeastern) scored two goals for the Americans, while Tessa Janecke (Penn State) notched two assists and Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) made 14 saves.
Team USA takes on Finland tomorrow in its next contest.
ADDENDUM: The United States blanked Finland, 5-0, with team captain Hillary Knight scoring her 14th career Olympic goal, tying her for first among American skaters all-time.
James Hagens scored two goals, including the game winner, and set up another as No. 12 Boston College stormed into the 2026 Beanpot Tournament final with a 5-1 first-round victory over Harvard tonight at TD Garden in Boston.
Drew Fortescue, Dean Letourneau and Lukas Gustafsson also scored for the Eagles (15-8-1 overall), who built a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back. Andre Gasseau and Oscar Hemming had two assists apiece for BC, which also got 30 saves in net from Louka Cloutier. Ryan Healey scored Harvard's lone goal early in the second stanza, while Ben Charette finished with 38 stops for the Crimson (12-9-1).
BC will now face rival Boston University, a 3-2 shootout winner over Northeastern in the nightcap, in next Monday's championship contest.
Stramel scored just over three minutes into the extra session at the home of Penn State football, after the Spartans had battled back from 3-2 and 4-3 deficits in regulation. He also recorded an assist to go with his three goals, while linemates Porter Martone and Daniel Russell also finished with four points apiece. Trey Augustine made 31 saves for MSU (21-5-0 overall, 12-4-0 Big Ten), which swept its weekend Big Ten series with PSU following a 6-3 win at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday night. The Spartans have also won six straight games overall, and 10 of their last 11 outings.
Aidan Fink scored twice for Penn State (18-8-0, 10-6-0), while Dane Dowiak set up three goals for the Nittany Lions, who got 35 stops in net from Kevin Reider. MSU outshot PSU, 40-35, on the day, and also went 1-for-2 on the power play, with Stramel supplying that goal. The Spartans will now face No 1 Michigan twice next weekend, including the annual "Duel in the D" matchup in Detroit, while PSU is off until playing at Michigan on Feb. 13-14.
Boston College raced out to a 3-0 lead and held on for 4-1 victory at Boston University tonight in Hockey East play. It was the first of three regular-season meetings between the MBTA Green Line rivals, with a home-and-home scheduled for Feb. 27-28.
Andre Gasseau, Dean Letourneau and James Hagens recorded a goal and an assist apiece for the Eagles (14-8-1 overall, 10-5-0 HEA), who have won three straight games, and five of their last seven outings. Louka Cloutier finished with 33 saves for BC, which also got an empty-net insurance goal from Brady Berard late in regulation. Jack Harvey scored the lone goal for BU (12-13-1, 8-10-0), while Mikhail Yegorov made 17 stops for the Terriers.
Both BC and BU will take part in the first round of the annual Beanpot Tournament on Monday at TD Garden in Boston. BC will meet Harvard in the opening game, while defending champion BU will face Northeastern in the nightcap, with both contests to be televised on NHL Network. The consolation and championship games will take place on Feb. 9.
Brown University men's hockey head coach and 1993 graduate Brendan Whittet will step down at the end of the 2025-26 regular season for family medical reasons. He will be replaced by assistant coach Jason Smith for the remainder of the campaign, and will transition into a new role in Brown's athletics administration upon his return from leave, according to USCHO.com.
Whittet, 54, has compiled an overall record of 149-259-59 to date at the helm of his alma mater since taking over in 2009-10, including a berth in the 2013 ECAC Hockey championship game and three league semifinal appearances. Prior to that, he served 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College following two years as an assistant at Brown. A native of East Providence, R.I., he recorded two goals and nine assists for 11 points in 73 games on defense for the Bears over four seasons while helping them to the 1993 NCAA tournament as a senior, their last NCAA berth to date.
Brown is currently 4-16-0 overall (3-9-0 ECAC Hockey) and will face Colgate and Cornell at home this weekend at Meehan Auditorium in conference play. The university has already begun its search for a new head coach.
Jake Percival knocked home a rebound with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, and the University of Connecticut won its second straight Connecticut Ice title with a 4-2 win tonight over Quinnipiac in New Haven. It also marked the first meeting between the two schools since UConn defeated Quinnipiac in the 2025 NCAA Allentown Regional final back in March in Allentown, Pa.
UConn (15-7-3 overall), which defeated host Yale in the opening round on Friday, rebounded from a 2-1 deficit after 40 minutes with three third-period goals, capped by Joey Muldowney's empty-netter with less than two minutes left. Tabor Heaslip and Carlin Dezainde also scored for the 13th-ranked Huskies, who got 28 saves in net from Tyler Muszelik. Markus Vidicek and Chris Pelosi scored for the No. 6 Bobcats (19-5-2), which routed Sacred Heart last night. Both Quinnipiac goals tonight came in the second period, while Matej Marinov stopped 25 shots in goal.
Sacred Heart took this year's Connecticut Ice third-place game by edging Yale, 3-2.
Charlie Stramel scored the game-winning goal in the second period, and also had an assist as fourth-ranked Michigan State edged No. 2 Wisconsin, 4-3, tonight at the Kohl Center. It was MSU's first victory against Wisconsin this season, after the Badgers swept a two-game series in East Lansing, Mich., back in November. All three games have been decided by one goal.
Ryker Lee, Gavin O'Connell and Daniel Russell also scored for the victorious Spartans (16-5-0 overall, 7-4-0 Big Ten), who got 24 saves in net from Trey Augustine. Oliver Tulk, Kyle Kukkonen and Tyson Dyck scored the host Badgers (15-4-2 8-3-0), who got 19 stops from Daniel Hauser. The Spartans outshot the Badgers, 27-23, on the evening, while the two teams combined to go 0-for-5 on the power play.
MSU and Wisconsin will close out their 2025-26 season series on Friday night in Madison.
ADDENDUM: MSU finished off the two-step sweep with a 4-1 victory in Game Two.
The Princeton University men's hockey team has cracked the USCHO.com Top 20 for the first time in seven seasons.
The Tigers (10-4-0 overall, 6-2-0 ECAC Hockey) have won five consecutive games overall, and have won all eight games at home so far this season at Hobey Baker Rink, Princeton's longest home-opening win streak since the arena opened in 1923. The Tigers are also currently in first place in ECAC Hockey, and were last ranked among the national top 20 NCAA Division I men's teams during the 2018-19 campaign.
In addition, two Tigers were honored by the conference after last weekend's home sweep of Ivy League opponents Harvard and Dartmouth. Senior defenseman Tyler Rubin was named ADAPT Nutrition Defender of the Week award for the second consecutive week after recording three assists in those two outings, while junior goaltender Arthur Smith was tabbed as MAC Goaltending Goalie of the Week after stopping 58 of 64 shots and picking up two wins in his first action since November.
Princeton closes out a five-game homestand this weekend with conference contests against Rensselaer and Union.
Former NCAA skaters make up the bulk of the 2026 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team that will compete in Italy next month, the first time that current NHL players will compete in the Olympic Winter Games since 2014 in Russia.
Forwards
Matt Boldy, Minnesota Wild (Boston College)
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets (Michigan)
Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights (Boston University)
Clayton Keller, Utah Mammoth (Boston University)
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings (Michigan)
Brock Nelson, Colorado Avalanche (North Dakota)
Tage Thompson, Buffalo Sabres (UConn)
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators (Boston University)
Defensemen
Brock Faber, Minnesota Wild (Minnesota)
Noah Hanifin Vegas Golden Knights (Boston College)
Quinn Hughes, Minnesota Wild (Michigan)
Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins (Boston University)
Jake Sanderson, Ottawa Senators (North Dakota)
Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes (Colorado College)
Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets (Michigan)
Goaltenders
Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets (UMass Lowell)
Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars (Boston University)
Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins (Maine)
In addition, Canada's 2026 Olympic men's squad will boast three former NCAA skaters in forward Macklin Celebrini (Boston University) of the San Jose Sharks, and defensemen Cale Makar (UMass) and Devon Toews (Quinnipiac) of the Colorado Avalanche and Colton Parayko (Alaska Fairbanks) of the St. Louis Blues.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will take place from Feb. 5-22 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
There will be no three-peat for the United States at this year's World Junior Championship. The U.S. was ousted tonight by Finland, 4-3, in overtime in a semifinal game in St. Paul. It was the second straight loss for the Americans, who also fell to Sweden, 6-3, on New Year's Eve in their final game of group play.
Ryker Lee (Michigan State) tied the contest late in regulation after Finland had taken a 3-2 lead on back-to-back goals. Cole Eiserman (Boston University) and Cole Hutson (Boston University) scored second-period goals for Team USA, which also got two assists from James Hagens (Boston College), and 21 saves in net from Nick Kempf (Notre Dame). Heikki Ruohonen (Harvard) scored a goal for Finland, which fell to the U.S. in last year's final in OT in Ottawa.
Finland will now face Sweden in one WJC semifinal, while Canada will take on Czechia in the other, both on Sunday. The bronze and gold medal games are scheduled for Monday.
ADDENDUM: Sweden won the gold medal over Czechia, while Canada took the bronze.
