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.

USA Wins 2024 World Juniors

Exactly 20 years after winning its first-ever gold medal in the competition, the United States is again king of the IIHF World Junior Championship.

Issac Howard (Michigan State) scored two goals, and Gabe Perreault (Boston College) notched a goal and two assists as the U.S. broke open a two-all game with four answered scores Friday in a 6-2 win over host Sweden in the gold medal game of this year's event. Trey Augustine (Michigan State) made 24 saves in net to help the Team USA win its sixth WJC gold medal ever, and first since 2021 when it defeated host Canada.

The Americans, who finished with a perfect 7-0-0 record in this year's tournament, advanced to the title game following a 3-2 victory over Finland in the semifinal round on Thursday. Cutter Gauthier (Boston College) tallied the decisive power-play goal late in regulation after Team USA fought back from a 2-0 first-period deficit, while Augustine made 21 stops. Gauthier tied for the tournament scoring lead with 12 points, on two goals and 10 assists, while Howard led all WJC goal scorers this year with seven goals in all.

Sweden made it to the final after downing Czechia, 5-2, in the semifinals. Czechia then won the bronze medal after defeating Finland, 8-5, earlier Friday. Next year's WJC is scheduled to be held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada for the first time since 2009.

USA Upends Latvia in WJC Quarterfinal

The United States has advanced to the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. Team USA made it to the WJC final four by routing Latvia, 7-2, on Tuesday in Sweden.

The U.S. tallied three goals in each of the first two periods to win going away. Gabe Perreault (Boston College) scored twice and asded an assist for the Americans, who also got three assists apiece from Cutter Gauthier (Boston College) and Seamus Casey (Michigan). Jacob Fowler (Boston College) finished with 25 saves in goal for the U.S., which went 1-for-5 on the power play. 

The U.S. will face Finland (1:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network) in one of the two semifinal contests on Thursday. The other will feature Sweden, which edged Switzerland on Tuesday, vs. Czechia, which upset defending WJC champion Canada in the final minute of regulation in their quarterfinal matchup.

Kraken Win 2024 Winter Classic

Joey Daccord (Arizona State) recorded the first shutout in NHL Winter Classic history on Monday when his Seattle Kraken blanked the visiting Vegas Golden Knights, 3-0, in an outdoor game at T-Mobile Park, home of MLB's Seattle Mariners.

Daccord finished with 35 saves to backstop the Kraken, who got a goal in each period on New Year's Day, including one in the second stanza from defenseman Will Borgen (St. Cloud State). Vegas forward Jack Eichel (Boston University) had five shots on goal for the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights, but couldn't solve fellow Massachusetts native Daccord in front of 47,313 on-lookers.

It was the first Winter Classic appearance for either club, and the 39th outdoor game in NHL history.

Happy Hockey New Year

 

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.