As we enter the new year, get caught up to date with the top storylines from both NCAA Division I and Division III hockey. Both Men’s and Women’s NCAA hockey at both levels continues to deal with schedule changes and postponements due to Covid, creating unwanted downtime for some teams.
Division I
Latest Poll - 1.10.22
Source - USCHO
Minnesota State
Quinnipiac
Western Michigan
Michigan
St. Cloud
Teams to watch moving through January will by Michigan and Quinnipiac. Michigan, a team stacked with NHL talent, is 3-0 in 2022, with wins over #10 UMass and Penn State on Friday night. Quinnipiac, after having its home and home series with Princeton cancelled to open the new year, looked solid vs #18 Harvard on Friday night, taking the 3-0 win. Quinnipiac, currently second behind Harvard in the ECAC, has not lost a game since October vs North Dakota.
Top 20 Breakdown By Conference
NCHC - 6
Hockey East - 5
Big 10 - 4
ECAC - 3
CCHA - 2
Top 5 Roster Analysis
The breakdowns of Minnesota State, Quinnipiac, Western Michigan, Michigan and St Cloud did not bring much surprise, as the top leagues from around North America were well represented. Outside of Quinnipiac, all other teams from the top 5 were heavily weighted by players who spent time developing in the USHL, which led all conferences by a large margin. University of Michigan held 7 of 8 players who developed under the US National Development Team, including high profile NHL prospects Luke Hughes (New Jersey), as well as top other top NHL draft picks Owen Power (Buffalo, USHL) and Kent Johnson (Columbus, BCHL).
Another impressive statistic was the amount of NAHL players, a tier II junior hockey league that continues to produce Division I prospects, that were part of top 5 rosters, led by St Cloud State with 5.
Top 5 DI Roster Breakdown By League
USHL - 76
BCHL - 24
NAHL - 12
USNTDP - 8
NCDC - 4
US Olympic Team
From the 25 man roster for the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympic games, the US Men’s hockey team will consist of a total of 15 current NCAA Division I players, highlighted by top NHL prospects Jack Sanderson (Ottawa) and Matty Beniers (Seattle). Most impressive is that every player on the US team played Division I college hockey before going pro, or are currently playing in NCAA hockey.
Watch for Minnesota’s Ben Meyers as one of the top undrafted free agents from the college ranks.
Prospects To Watch
Matty Beniers (Seattle)
Jake Sanderson (Ottawa)
Matthew Knies (Toronto)
Brendan Brisson (Vegas)
Brock Faber (Los Angeles)
Fridays Are For The Upsets
Friday night was not a friend to a number of top 25 teams, including #1 Minnesota State, who fell to Northern Michigan 4-2. Hockey East Schools #20 Boston College fell to unranked New Hampshire, as well as #17 Providence falling to unranked Merrimack.
Cornell Bounces Back
After dropping their last 3 games, Cornell went into their weekend series at then #5 North Dakota determined to get back to their winning ways. Big Red would take both games vs North Dakota, 4-3 Friday and 3-1 Saturday, with 6 different goal scorers finding the net. Freshman Kyler Kovich, a Tri-City product of the USHL, finished the weekend with 2 goals, and other USHL product’s Sophomore Jack O’Leary and Senior Max Andreev finished with 1 goal and 1 assist.
Montreal’s Dobes Impressive In Freshman Campaign
Jakub Dobes, a Montreal Canadian 5th round pick in 2020, has started his college career in impressive fashion, going 14-6-1 and 6-3-1 in his last 10 starts. Not the most impressive stats by wins, but playing in a difficult Big 10 conference, and posting a .926 save % is no small tasks. The 6’4” former Omaha Lancer of the USHL, started off his college career 7-1.
Conferences Races
Starting with Atlantic Hockey, 6 teams seem to still be in the hunt led by AIC and Canisius, but the team to watch out for should be Bentley. In the Big Ten, Michigan seems to be the easy favorite but dont sleep on Notre Dame and Minnesota this season, as they have the structure and depth to handle Michigan’s stacked roster.
The CCHA seems to be a two horse race between Minnesota State and Bemidji State, with both Michigan Tech and Bowling Green close behind. The ECAC final few months, as well as the conference championships should be a great watch for east coast hockey fans, as Quinnipiac and Cornell do not look as if they will be slowing down anytime soon, even though Harvard holds the slight conference lead over both.
The always tough Hockey East looks to be ready for the taking by UMass Lowell but do not forget about Northeastern. The Huskies are blessed with a lineup that can play multiple different styles, and a stud goaltender in Devon Levi.
Recent Scores
Fri - #4 Michigan 3 vs Penn State 2
Fri - #13 Notre Dame 3 vs #16 Ohio State 2 OT
Fri - Northern Michigan 4 vs Minnesota State 2
Fri - #2 Quinnipiac 3 vs Harvard 2
Fri - New Hampshire 3 vs #20 Boston College 2
Division III
Latest Poll - 1.10.22
Source - USCHO
Adrian
Geneseo
Utica
Augsburg
Hobart
With no change in the top 7 spots, the Division III looks to build into the back half of the year with some great conference and national races to watch.
Top 15 Breakdown By Conference
NCHA - 3
UCHC - 2
SUNYAC - 1
MIAC - 1
WIAC - 1
CCC - 3
NEHC - 4
Elmira Continues To Impress
The Soaring Eagles have been hot since the start of December, going 6-1 including wins over #1 Geneseo and #8 Norwich. NAHL product Shawn Kennedy and EHL product Chance Gorman currently lead Elmira with 20+ points thus far. Gorman, who played for East Coast of the EHL, is a dynamic skater who brings speed and skill to any line. The sophomore dominant Soaring Eagles look to be getting better and better each game, and should be a tough matchup in an ultra-competitive NEHC.
The road for Elmira does not get easier in January, as the middle of the month brings a 3 game stretch against ranked opponents #6 Babson and #5 Hobart beginning Saturday January 15th.
Can UNE Crack Top 15 ?
UNE hasn’t lost since Nov 13 vs now #12 Endicott, winning its last 6. After their mid week game was cancelled vs Colby, UNE has a tough schedule ahead, starting with back to back double header weekends vs Salve Regina, and #15 Curry. If the Nor’easters can get through those two tests, plus #12 Endicott following that, they will be a another CCC school to crack the top 15.
Recent Scores
#1 Adrian Takes Care of Finlandia 6-1
#2 Geneseo continues to roll, walks by Lebanon Valley 8-1
##3 Utica dominates Neumann 11-3