Devils Sweep Sabres to Open NHL Season

Paul Cotter (Western Michigan) scored a goal in each game as the New Jersey Devils opened the 2024-25 NHL regular season with a two-step sweep of the Buffalo Sabres in the Czech Republic. The Canton, Mich. native tallied a goal and an assist in New Jersey's season-opening 4-1 win on Friday, and then added another goal in Saturday's 3-1 triumph. Owen Power (Michigan) and Tage Thompson (UConn) scored for the Sabres on the weekend, while Devon Levi (Northeastern) stopped 37 shots on Saturday.

Cotter played in eight games with WMU during the 2018-19 campaign, recording one assist before leaving Kalamazoo to play for London (OHL). He spent the last three seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, notching career highs of 18 assists and 25 points last year in 76 outings. The Devils return to action at home in Newark on Thursday against Toronto, while the Sabres will visit Los Angeles that evening.

2024 Richter Award Semifinalists Named

The list of the 10 semifinalists for the 2024 Mike Richter Award as the top goaltender in NCAA Division I men's hockey was released last week (name, grade, school, and conference):

• Trey Augustine, Fr., Michigan State (Big Ten)

• Ryan Bischel, Grad., Notre Dame (Big Ten)

• Vinny Duplessis, Dr., Quinnipiac (ECAC Hockey)

• Jacob Fowler, Fr., Boston College (Hockey East)

• Kaidan Mbereko, So., Colorado College (NCHC)

• Kyle McClellan, Sr., Wisconsin (Big Ten)

• Tommy Scarfone, Jr., RIT (Atlantic Hockey)

• Ian Shane, Jr., Cornell (ECAC Hockey)

• Jake Sibell, Jr., St. Thomas (CCHA)

The award, which is named for former NHL and U.S. Olympic goaltender Mike Richter (Wisconsin), has been presented every year since its inception in 2014, and the winner will again be named at the NCAA Frozen Four. The winner in each of the last two seasons was current NHL goaltender Devon Levi (Northeastern), the first two-time recipient in the history of the award.

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.

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).

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.)

BC Bows Out of 2022 Hockey East Tournament

Boston College's 100th men's ice hockey season has come to a close.

The Eagles fell at Northeastern, 3-2, in a Hockey East quarterfinal elimination game at Matthews Arena in Boston on Saturday, after spotting the Huskies a three-goal lead in the second period. BC responded with third-period scores from defensemen Drew Helleson (power play) and Marshall Warren, but could get no closer despite outshooting NU, 48-36, on the night, and 25-9 in the final frame.

Gunnarwolfe Fontaine tallied a goal and an assist for the 11th-ranked Huskies, who got 46 saves from goaltender Devon Levi. Eric Dop made 33 saves for BC in his final appearance for the Eagles, who went 1-for-2 on the power play.

BC finishes the 2021-22 campaign at 15-18-5 overall, while top-seeded NU improved to 25-11-1 and will face Connecticut in the conference semifinals at TD Garden in Boston.

BC Honors 2001 Team, Tops NU

 

Boston College honored its 2001 NCAA championship team following the first period tonight at Conte Forum. The current group of Eagles then rebounded to claim a 5-3 win over visiting Northeastern in the Hockey East opener for both schools.

Marc McLaughlin scored twice for BC (2-0-1 overall, 1-0-0 Hockey East), while Jack McBain had three assists and Eric Dop made 22 saves for the victory. Aidan McDonough had two goals for the Huskies (2-2-0, 0-1-0), while Devon Levi had 32 stops. BC scored three times in the third period to break a 2-2 tie after 40 minutes.

BC defeated North Dakota, 3-2, in overtime in Albany, N.Y.. in April 2001 to earn its first national hockey title in 52 years. Nearly two dozen members of that team were presented at tonight's NU-BC contest, and they will also be honored on Saturday night at halftime of the North Carolina State-BC football game at Alumni Stadium.