BC's Perreault Gets First NHL Hat Trick

Gabe Perreault (Boston College) has notched his first NHL hat trick. 

The right wing from Sherbrooke, Quebec. tallied three goals in the New York Rangers' 4-1 win over visiting Detroit today. He collected his first goal late in the second period, added another midway through the third, and completed the trifecta by scoring into an empty net with just under two minutes remaining in regulation. He now has 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 45 outings so far this season for the Rangers, who had been previously eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff consideration for this year.

Perreault, 20, made his NHL debut last spring by going scoreless in a five-game audition with the Rangers, who drafted him 23rd overall in 2023 out of the U.S. National Team Development Program. He spent two years at BC, collecting 35-73—108 points in 73 appearances with the Eagles, while helping them to two Hockey East regular-season titles and two NCAA tournament berths, including the 2024 national championship game.

2026 Conference Tournaments Continue

Friday's games moved NCAA Division I men's hockey closer to filling out its 2026 NCAA tournament field, with three conference semifinal rounds and one conference final taking place, while the national title tilt for women's hockey is all set.

In Hockey East, UConn defeated Boston College in overtime, 4-3, while Merrimack edged UMass, 2-0. In ECAC Hockey, Princeton outlasted two-time champion Cornell, 3-2, while Dartmouth blanked Clarkson, 4-0. In the CCHA, Minnesota State topped St. Thomas, 2-1, to win its fourth league playoff crown in five years.

Saturday will be championship night, as Merrimack will meet UConn to decide Hockey East, Princeton and Cornell will face off in ECAC Hockey, Sacred Heart will take on Bentley for the Atlantic Hockey America championship, Michigan will host Ohio State for Big Ten accolades, and Denver will skate against Minnesota-Duluth for NCHC honors. As with Minnesota State, the championship game winners will earn their respective conference's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. Boston College, UMass, Clarkson, and St. Thomas have all been eliminated from NCAA consideration. 

On the NCAA Division I women's side, Wisconsin and Ohio State will meet on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, ESPNU) in State College, Pa. to decide the national champion in a rematch of the past three NCAA title games. Ohio State punched its ticket with a 5-0 shutout of Northeastern on Friday, while defending national champion Wisconsin upended host Penn State, 4-3, in OT.

ADDENDUM: Dartmouth Denver, Merrimack, Bentley, and Michigan all won their respective men's conference championships and earned automatic berths to the 2026 NCAA tournament. The NCAA selection show will be televised on Sunday (3 p.m., ET, ESPNU).

Hockey East Stars Shine for USA Men

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.

BC Tops BU in First Meeting of Season

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.

BC Women Drop BU, 5-2, in Opener

Sage Babey scored one goal and set up two others as Boston College topped visiting Boston University, 5-2, tonight in NCAA women's hockey action, in the first game of a home-and-home series.

After BU (2-9-0 overall, 2-4-0 Hockey East) tied the contest at two on a late second-period power-play goal by Lola Reid, BC (6-6-1, 5-2-1) ripped off three unanswered goals over the final 20 minutes for the win at Conte Forum. Grace Campbell stopped 43 shots for the victorious Eagles, while Michelle Pasiechnyk posted 18 stops for the Terriers as BU outshot BC, 45-23.

The two MBTA Green Line adversaries will renew their rivalry Friday night at BU's Agganis Arena.

BC's Leonard Named Hobey Baker Finalist

The accolades keep rolling in for Boston College men's hockey for its completed 2024-25 season.

Ryan Leonard, who recently signed with the Washington Capitals and made his NHL debut on Tuesday after two seasons at BC, is a Hobey Baker Award hat trick finalist long with Denver sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium and Michigan State junior forward Isaac Howard. The winner will be announced on April 11 at the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Louis.

Leonard, a sophomore forward, led all NCAA Division I men's hockey players with 30 goals this season, and finished his college career with 61 goals and 109 points. He also won this season's Walter Brown Award as the top American-born men's player in Division I hockey, the 25th BC player ever to do so. 

Also from the Heights, forward Gabe Perreault signed with the New York Rangers and made his NHL debut on Wednesday, while goaltender Jacob Fowler just signed with the Montreal Canadiens. Both were sophomores and 2023 NHL draft choices. Perreault tallied 35 goals and 108 points in two years with BC, while Fowler fashioned a 57-13-3 career record with a 1.90 goals-against average and seven shutouts while with the Eagles. Along with Leonard, they led BC to last year's national title game, and a Hockey East regular-season title this year. 

BC's Leonard Wins 2025 Walter Brown Award

Boston College sophomore forward Ryan Leonard has been named the 2025 recipient of the Walter Brown Award as the top American-born player in New England Division men's college hockey.

In 35 games so far this season, the Amherst, Mass. native has scored a nation-high 29 goals to go with 18 assists, and is ninth overall with 47 points. In two NCAA seasons with the Eagles, Leonard, a 2023 first-round NHL draft choice of the Washington Capitals, has notched 60-47—107 points in 76 outings. According to BCEagles.com, he is the 25th player to win the Walter Brown Award all-time.

BC, the 2024-25 Hockey East regular-season champion, opens the NCAA tournament on Friday at 2 p.m. ET (ESPNU) against Bentley.

BC Edges Providence, 3-2, in OT

Ryan Leonard took a penalty in the third period that negated what would have been a Boston College power play, then scored the tying goal late in regulation and the game-winner in overtime to lift third-ranked BC to a 3-2 victory at No. 10 Providence last night.

After Gabe Perreault had put BC ahead in the first minute of play, the host Friars responded with second-period goals less than three minutes apart by Clint Levens and Ryan O'Reilly to put Providence ahead, 2-1. That lead stood up until Leonard tapped home a pass from the far wing with less than four minutes remaining in regulation to tie the contest, before he backhanded home a loose puck in front just over four minutes into OT to end it.

Jan Korec stopped 24 shots for the visiting Eagles (8-2-0 overall, 3-1-0 Hockey East) in making his first start of the 2024-25 NCAA season, while Philip Svedebäck made 36 stops for the Friars (7-3-2, 5-2-2). Leonard and Perreault tallied three points apiece for BC, while James Hagens set up two goals for the Eagles. The two Hockey East rivals will close out the season series on Jan. 17 at BC.

BC Goalie Fowler Suspended One Game

Boston College sophomore goaltender Jacob Fowler has been suspended by Hockey East for one game after earning a roughing penalty and a game misconduct in 5-4 loss at UConn on Friday. He will sit out tomorrow night's conference contest against Providence, and be eligible to return on Nov. 22 against Northeastern.

Fowler, 20, from Melbourne, Fla. stopped 25 of 28 shots against in just under 25 minutes of action at UConn. He is 7-1-0 so far this season with a 1.55 goals-against average and three shutouts in nine games, and 39-7-1 with a 2.04 GAA and six shutouts in 48 career NCAA appearances to date with the Eagles. He was selected in the third round of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens.

BC (7-2-0 overall, 2-1-0 HEA) dropped from second to third in this week's USCHO.com national poll, behind Denver and Michigan State.

2024-25 Preseason Polls Flowing

Preseason polls for three of the six NCAA Division I men's hockey conferences are in. 

Boston College has been tabbed to finish first in Hockey East, while defending national champion Denver has been slotted to top the NCHC, and St. Thomas chosen likewise in the CCHA by its coaches (tied for first with Bemidji State in the media poll). 

In Division I women's hockey so far, Penn State has been selected as the preseason regular-season champion in the new Atlantic Hockey America conference, as the 2024-25 NCAA campaign draws closer.

BC Announces 2024-25 Schedule

Boston College has announced its 2024-25 men's ice hockey schedule. Last season, the Eagles won both the Hockey East regular season and tournament crowns en route to posting a school-record 34 wins overall, while also appearing in their first NCAA title game since 2012. 

Three Rising Sophomores Sign with NHL Clubs

Two All-America selections and one national champion have moved on from college hockey after just one season apiece, surrendering their remaining NCAA eligibility in doing so.

Macklin Celebrini (Boston University), who claimed the Hobey Baker Memorial Award and was also an AHCA First Team All-America choice as a 17-year-old, has signed with the San Jose Sharks, who chose him first overall at last month's NHL Draft in Las Vegas after he turned 18. A native of Vancouver, Celebrini tallied 32 goals and 30 assists for 62 points last season to lead BU in scoring, while also earning Hockey East Rookie of the Year and Hockey East Player of the Year accolades. The six-foot, 190-pound center also helped BU to the Beanpot Tournament title game, the Hockey East championship game, and the NCAA Frozen Four while personally earning Hockey East First Team All-Star, Hockey East All-Rookie Team, and national rookie of the year recognition, among other tributes.

Artyom Levshunov (Michigan State) also decided to sign with an NHL club following being drafted last month, when he went second overall to the Chicago Blackhawks. A 6-foot-2, 198-pound defenseman from Zhlobin, Belarus, Levshunov recorded 9-26—35 points in 38 outings last season in helping MSU to its first Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles, along with the Spartans' first NCAA tournament victory since 2008. He also earned AHCA Second Team All-America status, along with All-Big Ten First Team, All-Big Ten Freshman Team, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.

Leaving for the NHL after winning this year's national title was Miko Matikka (Denver), who signed with the Utah Hockey Club that drafted him 67th overall in 2022 when the organization was still based in Arizona. A native of Helsinki, Finland, he registered 20-13—33 points in 43 appearances in helping DU to a record 10th NCAA championship. A 6-foot-3, 201-pound right wing, Matikka, 20, was a unanimous selection to the NCHC All-Rookie Team, and was also a four-time NCHC Rookie of the Week.

All three players signed standard three-year entry-level contracts with their respective NHL clubs, and all three also participated recently in development camps with those organizations.

More NCAA Head Coaching Changes Occur

Two more NCAA Division I schools have or will be making head coaching changes.

Jeff Jackson (Michigan State) will step down from college coaching following the 2024-25 season at the University of Notre Dame, after helming the Fighting Irish for a full 20 years. Since taking over in South Bend in 2005-06, Jackson, 69, has led UND to an overall record of 407-266-73, including 12 NCAA tournament berths, eight combined conference regular-season and tournament titles over three leagues (CCHA, Hockey East, Big Ten), four NCAA Frozen Four berths, and two NCAA championship game appearances. 

Prior to joining the Irish, Jackson spent six seasons as head coach at Lake Superior State University, winning two NCAA championships while also leading the Lakers to six NCAA tournament appearances, four CCHA tournament crowns and two CCHA regular-season titles. A native of Roseville, Michigan, Jackson has also served as head coach with St. Clair (NAHL), the U.S. National Team Development Program, and Guelph (OHL), while also working as an assistant with LSSU and the New York Islanders. He is also a two-time winner of the Spencer Penrose Award as the top head coach in college hockey, and has fashioned an overall NCAA record of 589-318-98.

Dave Shyiak (Northern Michigan) has returned to his alma mater as head coach after serving the past four years as associate head coach at St. Cloud State, where he helped the Huskies to the 2021 NCAA championship game. A native of Brandon, Manitoba, Shyiak previously served as head coach at the University of Alaska Anchorage from 2005 to 2013, where he compiled a record of 80-177-33 with the Seawolves. 

Shyiak, 57, first worked as a head coach in the BCJHL with both Kimberley and Merritt, then spent 10 seasons as assistant/associate head coach at NMU, before later serving as associate head coach at Western Michigan for six seasons after coaching at UAA. He was also a member of NMU's 1991 NCAA championship team, and tallied 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points to go with 217 penalty minutes in 125 career games as a forward with the Wildcats. 

Former NMU head coach Grant Potulny (Minnesota), who left the Wildcats earlier this month after seven years in Marquette, has been announced as head coach of the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, the top affiliate of the New York Rangers. He guided NMU to a 128-113-17 mark overall, including their transition from the WCHA to the new CCHA, as just the third head coach in program history.

BU's Quinn Let Go by San Jose

David Quinn (Boston University) has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the NHL's San Jose Sharks after two seasons. He posted a a 41-98-25 overall regular-season record, with the Sharks missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs both years while also finishing last overall in the league both times. San Jose went 19-54-9 overall in 2023-24, and was four wins behind Chicago for the worst record in the NHL.

A three-year letterman on the blueline at BU (1984-1987), Quinn, 57, eventually began his coaching career at the college level in 1993-94 as an assistant at Northeastern. He then moved on to Nebraska-Omaha before spending five years as an associate at BU, helping the Terriers to the 2009 NCAA title in his final year there. He went on to coach Lake Erie (AHL) for three seasons, and spent one season as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche, before taking the top job at his alma mater in 2013. 

In five seasons at the BU helm, Quinn guided the Terriers to a 105-68-21 overall record, including four NCAA Tournament berths, two Hockey East Association regular-season titles, two HEA tournament crowns, and one Beanpot Tournament title, plus the 2015 NCAA Championship Game in Boston. He remained at BU until signing on with the New York Rangers in 2018, where finished with a regular-season record of 96-87-25 in 208 NHL regular-season games, and made one Stanley Cup Playoff appearance. The Cranston, R.I. native spent the 2021-22 season coaching Team USA at both the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, and the 2022 IIHF World Championship in Finland, before joining San Jose in July 2022.

BC's Brown Named National Coach of the Year

 

Boston College head coach Greg Brown is the 2023-24 recipient of the Spencer Penrose Award, which is bestowed annually upon the top head coach in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey. He had previously been named Hockey East Coach of the Year in helming the Eagles to both the Hockey East regular-season and tournament titles.

Brown, 56, spent the 2021-22 season as head coach of Dubuque (USHL) before taking the reins at BC, succeeding the legendary Jerry York. Prior to that, he served three seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL's New York Rangers, after a 14-year stint as an assistant/associate coach at his alma mater that included three national championships (2008, 2010, 2012).

A product of the St. Mark's School in his hometown, Brown skated for three seasons at BC, not including one year off to skate with the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team. In those three campaigns on the Heights, he tallied 24 goals and 96 assists for 110 points in 119 outings . As a junior, he captained the Eagles to the 1990 Hockey East tournament title and the NCAA Frozen Four in Detroit, and and was also a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist that same year. A two-time First Time All-America selection and a two-time Hockey East Player of the Year honoree, Brown was preceded at BC by his older brother, Doug, and later coached his nephews, Chris and Patrick, with the Eagles.

Drafted 26th overall by Buffalo in 1986, Brown collected four goals and 18 points in 94 career NHL games with the Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets, and also skated for the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team. He also played with Rochester (AHL) and Cleveland (IHL), before finishing his professional career with eight seasons in Europe, including stops in Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Germany.

Brown will guide the Eagles (33-5-1 overall) in the second NCAA Frozen Four semifinal tomorrow night against Michigan (8:30 p.m. ESPN2).

Conference Championships Conclude Tonight

It's the last night of conference championships in NCAA Division I men's hockey.

One automatic bid to this year's NCAA tournament has already been awarded, and the rest of the field of 16 will be decided tonight, with the official bracket to be announced live tomorrow night (ESPNU, 6:30 p.m. ET).

Atlantic Hockey: American International @ RIT

Big Ten: Michigan @ Michigan State

CCHA: Michigan Tech (defeated Bemidji State, 2-1)

ECAC Hockey: Cornell vs. St. Lawrence (Lake Placid, NY)

Hockey East: Boston College vs. Boston University (Boston, MA)

NCHC: Omaha vs. Denver (St. Paul, Minn.)

The 2024 NCAA Division I women's hockey title will be decided in Durham, N.H. tomorrow afternoon (ESPN, 4 p.m. ET), when Ohio State takes on WCHA rival and defending national champion Wisconsin in a rematch of last year's national championship contest.

ADDENDUM: RIT, Michigan State, Cornell, Boston College and Denver all won their respective league tournaments and earned automatic berths to the NCAAs. 

BC Clinches 2024 Hockey East Title

Boston College is once more the Hockey East regular-season champion. The top-ranked Eagles outlasted New Hampshire, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon to clinch their first conference title since 2021, and 18th overall since Hockey East began play in 1984-85. Eamon Powell scored the only goal of the game midway through the third period at BC's Conte Forum, while Jacob Fowler stopped 27 shots in posting his second shutout this season for the Eagles (27-5-1 overall).

BC, which finishes its regular season on March 9 at Merrimack, is seven points ahead of second-place Boston University, which has two games remaining. The Eagles, who will receive a first-round bye in the Hockey East postseason tournament, also remain the top team in the Pairwise Rankings, which mimics the NCAA tournament selection process.

Also clinching regular-season Division I men's hockey conference crowns this weekend were Bemidji State (CCHA), Michigan State (Big Ten) and North Dakota (NCHC). Quinnipiac claimed the ECAC Hockey title the previous weekend, while RIT earned the Atlantic Hockey championship.

Flyers Trade BC's Gauthier to Anaheim

It appears that Cutter Gauthier (Boston College) will not play for the Philadelphia Flyers after all.

The Flyers, who drafted Gauthier fifth overall in 2022, dealt his rights yesterday to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Jamie Drysdale. Multiple sources claimed that Gauthier ultimately did not wish to play for Philadelphia.

Gauthier, 19, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound left wing who was born in Sweden but grew up in Arizona, has not spoken publicly on the matter, although he reportedly would not meet with Flyers management. He is coming off of a Best Forward and All-Star team performance at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden, where he led the United States to a goal medal. He tallied two goals and a tournament-high 10 assists to tie for the event scoring lead with 12 points in seven games.

A product of the U.S. National Development Team program in Michigan, Gauthier is in his sophomore season at top-ranked BC where has tallied 29 goals and 31 assists for 60 points in 49 career NCAA contests to date, including 13-10—23 points in 17 outings so far this season. He is expected to turn pro at the conclusion of the Eagles' 2023-24 campaign, which resumes this weekend with a home-and-home series with Hockey East rival Providence.

Gauthier is the highest-drafted player ever at BC, along with former NHL skater and current Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin, who himself was tabbed fifth overall by the New Jersey Devils in 1989. Guerin won two Stanley Cups as a skater, one each with New Jersey and the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he later earned two more Cup rings as assistant GM with Pittsburgh.

Boston College No. 1 in the Nation

Following a two-step sweep of eighth-ranked Michigan State, Boston College is the new top team in the USCHO.com poll for NCAA Division I men's hockey.

The Eagles garnered 36 first-place votes in raising their overall record this season to 5-1-0, after former No. 1 school Minnesota was swept by No. 14 Wisconsin last weekend. It is the first time that BC has been ranked first overall since March 15, 2021. Denver, North Dakota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Providence, Quinnipiac, Boston University and Cornell round out this week's top ten.

BC opens Hockey East conference play this weekend in a home-and-home series against UMass Lowell.

ADDENDUM: The Eagles improved to 6-1-0 with a 3-2 win over UML on Friday night at Kelley Rink. Freshman defenseman Aram Minnetian notched the game-winning goal for BC, which added a second 3-2 victory Saturday night in Lowell as freshman forward Gabe Perreault recorded three assists. 

BC's Schneider Retires from Pro Hockey

Longtime NHL netminder Cory Schneider (Boston College) has called it a career, retiring after 16 professional seasons.

Schneider, 37, last played in the NHL in 2021-22, making his only appearance with the New York Islanders in a win against his old New Jersey Devils team. He spent all of last season in the American Hockey League, posting a 19-11-3 record with a 2.94 goals-against average and one shutout for Bridgeport. The Marblehead, Mass. native, who dealt with hip and other injuries that curtailed the latter part of his career, finished with a 171-159-58 record in 410 NHL regular-season appearances with Vancouver, New Jersey and the Islanders, to go with a 2.43 GAA and 26 shutouts. He also helped Vancouver to within one game of the Stanley Cup in 2011, the same year he and Roberto Luongo combined to win the Jennings Trophy. He was later traded to New Jersey at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, where he remained until 2020.

In 224 career AHL regular-season outings, Schneider went 127-79-17 (2.53, 14 SO) with Manitoba, Binghamton and Bridgeport, and was tabbed the AHL's Best Goaltender in 2008-09. A product of Phillips Academy Andover in Massachusetts, he played three years at Boston College (99 GP, 66-26-7, 2.09, 15 SO) and backstopped the Eagles to back-to-back NCAA title game appearances in 2006 and 2007. He was also a First Team All-America selection in 2006, and a two-time NCAA Hockey East All-Academic Team choice.

Schneider also represented the United States with the U.S. National Team Development Program prior to BC. He also played for Team USA at the 2004 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, two World Junior Championships, the 2017 World Cup and the 2019 World Championship.