NCAA Players Making Mark in NHL Play

Former NCAA players have been making their mark in the NHL recently following Friday's trade deadline.

Joel Farabee (Boston University) scored the only goal of the game Saturday night to lift Calgary to a 1-0 win over visiting Montreal. Charlie Coyle (Boston University) assisted on the game-winning goal that same evening in his first appearance with Colorado, as the host Avalanche defeated Toronto, 7-4, while Brady Tkachuk (Boston University) fired home the game-winner in overtime as host Ottawa downed the New York Rangers, 4-3. Cole Koepke (Minnesota-Duluth), a 2019 NCAA champion, tallied twice in Boston's 4-0 win at Tampa Bay, while Zach Hyman (Michigan) did the same for Edmonton in a 5-4 victory over visiting Dallas. 

Adam Fantilli (Michigan), the 2022 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner, notched his second career NHL hat trick tonight as visiting Columbus routed the Rangers, 7-3. Chris Kreider (Boston College) tallied a shorthanded goal for the home team, while Jonathan Quick (Massachusetts) made 20 stops in goal for the Rangers. Drew Helleson (Boston College) notched the game-winner as Anaheim upended the visiting New York Islanders, 4-1.

Lastly, defenseman Colton Parayko (Alaska Fairbanks) of the St. Louis Blues will be sidelined until mid-April with a knee injury. He has a career-high 15 goals to go with 20 assists for 35 points in 62 outings so far this season.

Fantilli Leads All NCAA-Related Players Drafted in 2023 NHL First Round

Adam Fantilli (Michigan) was taken third in the first round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft tonight in Nashville, the highest-ranking college-related player selected among the 32 NHL teams.

Projected to be tabbed as high as second overall, Fantilli, 18, was chosen by the Columbus Blue Jackets following a freshman campaign that saw him tally 30 goals and 35 assists for a nation-best 65 points as he led the Wolverines to a Big Ten tournament title and the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa. He also won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men's hockey, and earned All-Big Ten Rookie of the Year and First Team All-America accolades. The Toronto native, who also won gold medals this year at both the IIHF World Junior Championship and IIHF World Championship with Canada, has not yet indicated whether he will return to Michigan for his sophomore season or not.

The only other skaters chosen in the first round who played in the NCAA last year were Matthew Wood (UConn), who went 15th overall to the host Nashville Predators, and Charlie Stramel (Wisconsin), who was taken 21st overall by the Minnesota Wild. Wood tallied 11-23—34 points in 35 games last season for the Huskies, while Stramel posted 5-7—12 points in 33 outings for the Badgers. Fantilli, Wood and Stramel are all forwards, with Fantilli and Stramel lining up at center, and Wood at right wing.

Six other players—five forwards and one defenseman—were taken in the first round who are scheduled to begin their NCAA careers this fall. They include (name, position, selection, NHL team, school):

• William Smith, C, 4th, San Jose (Boston College)

• Ryan Leonard, RW, 8th, Washington (Boston College)

• Tom Willander, D, 11th, Vancouver (Boston University) 

• Oliver Moore, C, 19th, Chicago (Minnesota)

• Gabe Perreault, RW, 23rd, NY Rangers (Boston College)

• Bradly Nadeau, C, 30th, Carolina (Maine)

Smith, Leonard and Perreault were all linemates with the U.S. National Team Development Program last season in Plymouth, Mich., combining for an outstanding 353 points with the U.S. Under-18 Team. Willander played junior hockey with Rogles in his native Sweden, recording 25 points, and also helped his home country to a silver medal at the 2023 IIHF World Under-18 Championship. Moore put up 75 points this past year with the U.S. Under-18 Team, while Nadeau skated the past two seasons with Penticton (BCHL) and totaled 159 points over that span.

Rounds Two through Seven, the conclusion of this year's NHL Draft, will begin Thursday morning at 11 a.m. ET (NHL Network, ESPN+, SportsNet, TVA Sports).

ADDENDUM: Fantilli subsequently signed an entry-level contract with Columbus, relinquishing his remaining NCAA eligibility ... The full list of players with NCAA ties who were drafted this year can be found here. Boston College led all schools with six current/incoming players drafted, all of them incoming freshmen.

Canada Wins 2023 IIHF World Championship

Canada is the world champion of men's hockey once again. The Canadians defeated Germany, 5-2 on Sunday in Finland to claim their 28th gold medal all-time in the IIHF World Championship.

NCAA-trained players who helped Canada to its sixth World Championship in the last eight seasons included Adam Fantilli (Michigan), Brad Hunt (Bemidji State), Devon Levi (Northeastern) and Jack McBain (Boston College). Fantilli, who is projected to be selected second overall in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, scored the game-winning goal in a semifinal victory over Latvia on Saturday.

The United States, which won its first eight games in this year's tournament, fell to Germany in the semifinals and to co-host Latvia in the third-place game, both in overtime, to finish out of the medals. Germany earned silver for the third time overall in World Championship competition, while Latvia won bronze this year, its first medal of any kind ever in the event.

Next year's World Championship will be contested in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia in May 2024.

Michigan's Fantilli Wins Hobey Baker Award

Freshman forward Adam Fantilli (Michigan) is the winner of the 2023 Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men's hockey.

Fantilli, 18, from Nobleton, Ont., led all Division I skaters with 65 points this season, and tied for the national lead with 30 goals while finishing fourth with 35 assists. He is the first player from Michigan to win the Hobey Baker Award since 2008, the third Wolverine ever to do so, and the third freshman overall to be so honored since the award's inception in 1981. He also tallied at least one point in 33 of the 36 games he played this year.

The 6-foot-2 Fantilli, who is eligible for this year's NHL Draft, scored Michigan's final goal of the 2022-23 season in its 5-2 NCAA Frozen Four semifinal loss to Quinnipiac in Tampa on Thursday night. He finished the campaign on a seven-game point-scoring streak, in which he recorded 10 goals and five assists for 15 points, while helping the Wolverines to a 26-12-3 overall record, the Big Ten tournament title, and the NCAA Allentown (Pa.) Regional championship.

Minnesota, Quinnipiac Advance to NCAA Title Game

Minnesota will play for its first national championship in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey in nine years, while Quinnipiac will be looking to win its first ever.

Top-ranked Minnesota blitzed Boston University, 6-2, in the first NCAA Frozen Four semifinal on Thursday before 19,119 on-lookers at Amalie Arena in Tampa, scoring four consecutive goals in the third period to break a two-all tie. Luke Mittelstadt tallied two goals in the first four minutes of the final frame, before Logan Cooley added two empty-net scores in the waning moments to power the Golden Gophers to their first national title contest since 2014.

For BU (29-11 overall), which took a 1-0 lead on a first-period goal by Sam Stevens and then tied the game in the second period on Jay O'Brien's tally, the loss ended both the Terriers' 2022-23 campaign and their nine-game winning string that included both the Hockey East regular-season and tournament titles, plus the NCAA Manchester (N.H.) Regional championship. Drew Commesso made 28 saves for BU, which was outshot, 34-31, on the evening. Minnesota (29-9-1) got 29 stops from Justen Close, and finished 3-for-7 on the power play, while also hitting almost a half-dozen posts and a crossbar on offense.

In the nightcap, No. 2 Quinnipiac broke open a tie game after 40 minutes with three unanswered third-period goals to oust No. 3 Michigan, 5-2. Sam Lipkin's goal from behind the Michigan net less than 90 seconds into the final period stood up as the game-winner, with Zach Metsa and Ethan de Jong (empty net) later notching insurance goals to send the Bobcats to their third NCAA title game overall, and first since 2016. 

Jacob Quillan scored twice in the first period for Quinnipiac, the second his 20th goal of the season, to stake the Bobcats to a pair of leads. Michigan's Seamus Casey and Adam Fantilli (30th goal) responded for the Wolverines each time to make it 2-2 after two periods, before Quinnipiac pulled away in the third. Yaniv Perets stopped 29 shots for Quinnipiac (33-4-3), which beat Michigan (26-12-3) for the first time ever in six meetings, including last year's NCAA Allentown (Pa.) Regional final that was won by the Wolverines. Erik Portillo had 25 saves for Michigan, although two pucks went in off him on shots from behind his net. Michigan outshot Quinnipiac, 31-30, while both teams finished 0-for-3 on the power play.

Minnesota will now meet Quinnipiac on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2), in a matchup of the top two ranked schools, to decide this year's national championship. Minnesota is seeking is sixth national title overall, first since 2003, and first-ever for the Big Ten Conference. Quinnipiac is looking for the first-ever NCAA crown in school history, and first for ECAC Hockey since 2014.

2023 Hobey Hat Trick Announced

The three finalists for the 2023 Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey have been announced. All three candidates in the Hobey Hat Trick are forwards from the Big Ten Conference, and all three will play in the NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa next week in search of a national championship.

Logan Cooley (Minnesota), a freshman from Pittsburgh, ranks second in the NCAA with 57 points, on 20 goals and 37 assists through 37 games, and leads the nation with a plus-37 plus-minus rating. Selected third overall by Arizona in the 2022 NHL Draft, Cooley, 18, helped Minnesota to its second straight Big Ten regular-season title this year, and posted a goal and four assists in the Fargo (N.D.) Regional won by the Golden Gophers last weekend.

Adam Fantilli (Michigan), a freshman from Nobleton, Ont., leads the nation in scoring with 64 points, and is second with 29 goals in 35 games. He helped Michigan to its second  straight Big Ten tournament title earlier this month, and had two goals and an assist in two games as the Wolverines won the Allentown (Pa.) Regional last weekend. Fantilli, 18, is eligible for this summer's NHL Draft.

Matthew Knies (Minnesota), a sophomore from Phoenix, has notched 21-20--41 points through 38 contests this season.  Drafted 57th overall by Toronto in 2021, Knies, 20, has put up 36-38—74 points in 71 total outings so far with the Golden Gophers.

The Hobey Baker Award will be presented to this year's winner on April 7, between the NCAA semifinals and the national title game. Michigan faces Quinnipiac in the first game on April 6 at 5 p.m. ET at Amalie Arena, followed by Minnesota versus Boston University. The two semifinal winners will meet on April 8 for the NCAA championship.

Michigan, Quinnipiac Make 2023 Frozen Four

The final two spots in the 2023 NCAA Men's Division I Frozen Four have been claimed by second-ranked Michigan and No. 3 Quinnipiac. Both schools won their regional finals on Sunday to advance to the national semifinals in Florida early next month.

Michigan outlasted Big Ten rival Penn State, 2-1, as Mackie Samoskevich scored 52 seconds into overtime before a sold-out crowd of 8,375 in Allentown, Pa. Hobey Baker Award finalist Adam Fantilli tied the game with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation for the Wolverines, after No. 11 Penn State took a late second-period lead on a power-play tally by Connor MacEachern. Liam Souliere finished with 41 saves for the Nittany Lions, while Erik Portillo made 31 stops for Michigan, which advanced to its second straight Frozen Four and record 27th all-time. 

Quinnipiac advanced to its third Frozen Four ever, and first since 2016 (also in Tampa), by besting Ohio State, 4-1, in Bridgeport, Conn. After the eighth-ranked Buckeyes took an early lead, the Bobcats responded with four unanswered goals, with Skyler Brind'Amour notching the game-winner and Christophe Fillion posting a goal and an assist. Hobey Baker Award finalist Yaniv Perets made 34 saves for Quinnipiac, which blanked OSU on four power plays.  

Michigan and Quinnipiac will meet in the late NCAA semifinal at Amalie Arena in Tampa around 8:30 p.m. ET on April 6, a rematch of last year's Allentown regional final that was won by the Wolverines. The first semifinal at 5 p.m. ET that afternoon will feature old foes Boston University and Minnesota, with the two semifinal winners advancing to the national title game at 8 p.m. two nights later. All three games are scheduled to be televised on ESPN2.

Canada Tops U.S. in 2023 World Junior Semifinal

The United States skated out to an early two-goal lead against host Canada tonight, but couldn't maintain the advantage in a 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship semifinal tonight at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Canada responded with a half-dozen unanswered goals over the last 49-plus minutes to rout Team USA, 6-2, and will now face Czechia tomorrow night for the gold medal.

Logan Cooley (Minnesota) and Kenny Connors (UMass) staked the Americans to a 2-0 lead just past the halfway point of the opening period, but Canada came back with one goal in the first stanza, three scores in the second, and two more in the third to win going away. Adam Fantilli (Michigan) notched a goal and an assist for the Canadians, who were outshot, 45-37. Michigan State commit Trey Augustine stopped 31 shots in net for the Americans, who had two goals disallowed due to interference with Canada's goaltender.

The U.S., which won gold at the 2021 WJC in Edmonton, will now face Sweden for the bronze medal on Thursday afternoon. Canada is seeking its second straight WJC gold medal, and 20th overall, after winning last season's re-scheduled competition in Edmonton in August.

ADDENDUM: The U.S. earned bronze with an 8-7 win over Sweden, while Canada claimed gold by edging Czechia, 3-2. Both games were decided in overtime.