The dawn of 2023 means the return of a full slate across Division 1 men’s college hockey.
Conference play will dominate much of the remaining schedules across Hockey East, ECAC Hockey and Atlantic Hockey, with the Connecticut Ice and Beanpot Tournaments being the two notable exceptions.
There's been a reshuffling among the region’s top teams, but there was plenty of action to be excited about from the first full weekend of the calendar year.
The biggest highlight was the return of outdoor action at Frozen Fenway on the heels of the Boston Bruins' return to the NHL Winter Classic last week.
Here is New England Hockey Journal’s latest look at the top teams in the region:
1. Quinnipiac (17-1-3, 12-0-0 ECAC)
New year, same Bobcats. After coach Rand Pecknold returned to campus with a World Junior bronze medal around his neck, Quinnipiac ran its win streak to seven games and with a weekend sweep of local ECAC Hockey rivals Dartmouth and Harvard. The Bobcats are unbeaten in 16 straight games. Sophomore Yaniv Perets made 11 of his 21 saves in the third period of Saturday’s 4-1 win over Harvard in which four different players scored goals.
Defense has reigned during the run as Perets has allowed one goal or fewer in five consecutive games, including his 15th collegiate shutout in Friday’s 3-0 victory. In addition, senior Ethan de Jong had a stellar weekend that included three goals and an assist; he joins sophomores Collin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.) and Jacob Quillan as 10-goal scorers on the roster. The Bobcats are a whopping 25-1-2 in their last 28 home games.
Previous ranking: 1Â
2. Boston University (13-6-0, 8-4-0 HEA)
After edging past Harvard in their Dec. 30 return to Walter Brown Arena, the Terriers fell one goal short to Michigan Tech in Arizona State’s Desert Hockey Classic title game on Saturday night. A 5-1 win over Air Force started the weekend, with senior Wilmer Skoog scoring twice and freshman Jeremy Wilmer dishing out three of his four assists over the two games.
Senior Matt Brown and freshman Devin Kaplan — who had three points in the tournament — helped BU climb out of a 3-0 hole after the first period, but the comeback effort was cut at 3-2 and BU’s three-game win streak ended. The Terriers have won all 10 games this season in which they have scored first. Junior Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.) made 29 saves and has helped a BU streak of 13 straight penalty kills.
Previous ranking: 4Â
3. Harvard (10-4-1, 8-2-0 ECAC)
The Crimson trailed 3-0 after two periods on back-to-back nights, but Friday featured a furious rally to beat Princeton 4-3 in overtime. Junior Alex Laferriere scored the game-winning goal after sophomore Matthew Coronato tallied twice in the third period, including tying the game with 2:20 left in regulation. Before Saturday’s loss at Quinnipiac, Laferriere logged eight points in his last four games — including four in an 8-4 New Year’s Day win over Northeastern — and junior Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) had an eight-game point streak. Sophomore Alex Gaffney scored the lone goal against Quinnipiac. Senior Mitchell Gibson continues to shoulder the load in net; he made 22 saves in Friday’s win.
Previous ranking: 3Â
4. Merrimack (14-6-1, 9-2-0 HEA)
The Warriors remain a top-10 team in the Pairwise rankings despite going 0-2-1 to close non-conference play as they climbed out of a two-goal deficit to tie Yale, 3-3, and lost, 6-2, to Brown this past weekend. RIT grad transfer Will Calverley had two goals and an assist, and senior Ben Brar assisted on all three goals as Merrimack used a pair of third-period tallies to draw even with Yale. Calverley tied the game with 4:51 left, but Merrimack was unable to win despite a 39-15 shots advantage.
Junior Zachary Borgiel remained undefeated in goal at 8-0-1, seeing action on back-to-back nights for the first time this season after sophomore partner Hugo Ollas was pulled Saturday against Brown, which scored two shorthanded goals before the Warriors got one of their own off the stick of junior Alex Jefferies (Lunenburg, Mass.), who reached the 25-point plateau.
Previous ranking: 2Â
5. Connecticut (13-6-3, 8-5-2 HEA)
Connecticut fell, 4-1, to Northeastern in Saturday’s Frozen Fenway battle of the Huskies, which was the first of back-to-back meetings between the teams as part of a three-game Hockey East season series. UConn, which has been ranked nationally for the last 13 weeks, will now return home to open its new Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs on Saturday night.
Freshman Matthew Wood was the lone UConn skater to score on the outdoor stage after scoring to cap a previous home-and-home sweep of LIU, moving within two of junior Ryan Tverberg’s team-leading total of 10 for the season. The team’s goaltending rotation has continued, with freshman Arsenii Sergeev making 22 saves at Fenway in his eventual third loss in 11 decisions.
Previous ranking: 5Â
6. Boston College (8-6-4, 5-3-3 HEA)
The Eagles continue to play their best hockey of the season, extending a 6-2-2 run with Saturday’s 4-2 non-conference win over Massachusetts at Frozen Fenway. Notre Dame graduate transfer Cam Burke (Boxborough, Mass.) scored his first two BC goals under the Fenway lights after star freshman Cutter Gauthier scored just 2:25 into his return from World Juniors. Gauthier has multiple points in three of his last five games as an Eagle. Burke’s fellow grad transfer Mitch Benson stopped 23 shots, including nine in the third period. BC has now won four of its five all-time games at Fenway and improved to 7-1-0 in its last eight against UMass.
Previous ranking: 9Â
7. Providence (11-5-6, 6-2-5 HEA)
After winning the Ledyard Bank Classic on the final two days of 2022, the Friars had a down weekend as they were shut out by New Hampshire 2-0 and skated to a 3-3 tie at Army. Providence has now skated in a whopping nine overtime games this season, and it had not been shut out before Friday.
Seniors Parker Ford (Wakefield, R.I.) and Patrick Moynihan (Millis, Mass.) scored third-period goals, but Army forced the tie with an extra-attacker goal in the final two minutes of regulation. Sunday’s game started a six-game road trip that also includes Hockey East weekend series with Merrimack and Maine, and a midweek game at Princeton in between. Freshman Jaroslav Chmelar was one of just two collegiate players to play in the World Junior Championship Final, taking home a silver medal with Czechia.
Previous ranking: 6Â
8. UMass Lowell (11-8-1, 5-4-1 HEA)
The River Hawks bounced back from being swept by Alaska Anchorage to close non-league play with a 4-2 Saturday win over American International in which two defensemen and two forwards netted goals. A pair of Massachusetts natives found the back of the net in junior Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.) and freshman Owen Fowler (Tewksbury, Mass.). The latter notched the winning goal a week after his first multi-point effort.
Graduate Gustavs Davis Grigals made 27 saves in goal and now has a .932 save percentage for the season, a nation-best mark among goalies with double-digit appearances.
Previous ranking: 7
9. Massachusetts (9-8-3, 3-6-1 HEA)
UMass was on the short end of Saturday’s Frozen Fenway nightcap against BC despite power-play scores by freshman Michael Cameron and sophomore Ryan Ufko making it a one-goal game in the third period. Sophomore Luke Pavicich made 33 saves to help keep his team within striking distance. Man-up success has been apparent for most of the season as a 33.3 percent success rate leads the nation.
The Minutemen have buried six power-play goals over the last four games after a previous four-game stretch without a goal. Earlier in the week, freshman Tyson Dyck scored twice and Pavicich pitched a 33-save shutout in a 3-0 home win over Brown. The rookie trio of Cameron, Dyck and Cole O’Hara has combined for six of the team’s 12 goals over the last four games.
Previous ranking: 8Â
10. Northeastern (9-9-3, 7-4-2 HEA)
Despite a recent 1-5 non-conference stretch, the Huskies are just two points out of first in Hockey East. Perhaps Saturday’s 4-1 Fenway win over Connecticut will get them back on track. Senior captain Aidan McDonough (Milton, Mass.) led off with his league-leading 13th goal, while Merrimack transfer Liam Walsh’s first at Northeastern was the eventual winner. Sophomore Justin Hryckowian added his 11th tally — making him just one of three Hockey East players with that many — and freshman Jack Williams (Biddeford, Maine) also scored in the third period to finish a multi-point effort.
Junior Devon Levi, who still boasts a .920 save percentage, made 29 stops for his first league win since a 41-save shutout Nov. 18 at BU.
Previous ranking: 10Â
