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  • NCAA Tournament tiers: Where does Quinnipiac men’s hockey stand as field of 16 narrows?

    NCAA Tournament tiers: Where does Quinnipiac men’s hockey stand as field of 16 narrows?


    By: Cameron Levasseur and Ethan Hurwitz

    The NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament kicked off Thursday with regional semifinal games in Toledo, Ohio, and Fargo, North Dakota. As the field of 16 narrows, QUSportsPage’s Cameron Levasseur and Ethan Hurwitz break down which teams have a realistic shot at hoisting a national championship trophy, which ones are facing an uphill battle and everyone else in between.

    TITLE FAVORITES:

    No. 1 Boston College Eagles | 26-7-2 | At-Large Bid (Hockey East)

    The country’s top team for most of the season, Boston College enters this tournament the overwhelming favorites, but there are a few question marks. Struggles on the power play plagued BC all year and an upset loss to Northeastern in the Hockey East quarterfinals sent the Eagles to Manchester on a losing streak.

    And yet, sophomore, all-conference trio of goaltender Jacob Fowler, forward Ryan Leonard (the nation’s leader with 29 goals) and forward Gabe Perreault should lead the Eagles to their 27th Frozen Four in program history with ease.

    No. 4 Western Michigan Broncos | 30-7-1 | Automatic Qualifier (NCHC Champions)

    Western Michigan has been the country’s winningest team all season. Its 31 wins tops any other program in this tournament, and it became just the second team in NCHC history to win the regular season and postseason titles in the same season. Now, a bigger trophy awaits, one that the Broncos (1-9-0 all time in NCAA Tournaments) have never hoisted. 

    After a double overtime win over Minnesota State on Thursday, the Broncos are one step closer to that goal, set to face UMass in the Fargo Regional Final on Saturday. 

    No. 3 Maine Black Bears | 24-7-6 | Automatic Qualifier (Hockey East Champions)

    What a season for Maine. After claiming their first Hockey East title since 2004, the Black Bears clawed their way to the third-overall seed in this tournament and a date with Penn State in the Allentown Regional. The favorites to advance to the Frozen Four, this is a dynamic unit that features eight 20-point scorers and a sophomore goaltender in Albin Boija that boasts a 1.76 GAA and the Hockey East Tournament’s MVP honor to boot.

    FROZEN FOUR CONTENDERS:

    Denver Pioneers | 29-11-1 | At-Large Bid (NCHC)

    Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The Pioneers are back in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight season, and 34th time in program history. Winners of two of the last three national titles, head coach David Carle’s group entered the 2025 edition as an underdog to Providence, a team not unfamiliar with this bracket.

    Denver didn’t clinch the NCHC crown, falling to Western Michigan in a double-overtime thriller last Saturday. Instead, as one of the 10 at-large teams, it will be steered by forwards Jack Devine (56) and Aidan Thompson (51), two of the seven players across Division I to eclipse the 50-point mark.

    Providence Friars | 21-10-5 | At-Large Bid (Hockey East)

    The Friars — who are undefeated on neutral ice this season — will have over two weeks of rest after faltering to UConn in the Hockey East quarterfinals. They’ve also been resting from a tournament berth for over half a decade (2019).

    In the Manchester Regional, the defending national champion Denver Pioneers are up next on the docket, just the 25th time these programs have ever matched up, and second in an NCAA Tournament. It sure helps that theFriars’ two hour drive to SNHU Arena is nothing compared to Denver’s near-cross country flight.

    COULD MAKE SOME NOISE

    Quinnipiac Bobcats | 24-11-2 | At-Large Bid (ECAC Hockey)

    Just two years removed from a national title, Quinnipiac grabbed an at-large bid after leaving another conference tournament empty handed. In their way is fellow Nutmeg State program UConn, the same Huskies squad that knocked off these Bobcats in January. 

    Sophomore Matej Marinov (12-3, 1.75 GAA) has been one of the ECAC’s top goaltenders, while senior forward Jack Ricketts (team-high 20 goals) and junior forward Jeremy Wilmer (team-high 39 points) lead the offensive attack. A lucky draw to the Allentown Regional plays into the Bobcats’ hands, but losses in regional finals have plagued head coach Rand Pecknold’s team from adding to the trophy case in years past.

    UConn Huskies | 22-11-4 | At-Large Bid (Hockey East)

    This is the season UConn has been waiting for since it joined Hockey East in 2014. A program-record 22 wins, 12 wins in conference, a trip to the NCAA Tournament and the chance to grow the school’s pedestal of dominance beyond basketball. 

    The Huskies didn’t just make their first tournament, they asserted their ability to compete. They’re the No. 6 overall seed, set to face in-state rival Quinnipiac — which they beat en route to a Connecticut Ice Championship — in Allentown on Friday. 

    Penn State Nittany Lions | 20-13-4 | At-Large Bid (Big Ten)

    Two years ago, Penn State came up one goal short of its first Frozen Four appearance in an overtime loss to Michigan in the Allentown Regional Final, a regional it hosted. This year, the Nittany Lions are back in Allentown, again the hosts, and perhaps a better team than they were in 2023. 

    After a slow start to the season, Penn State is 13-4-4 since the start of the new year, led by Hobey Baker finalist Aiden Fink’s 52 points. The Nittany Lions face No. 3 Maine Friday night. 

    Boston University Terriers | 21-13-2 | At-Large Bid (Hockey East)

    BU won the Beanpot in Boston’s TD Garden in February, but couldn’t replicate that success on the same ice in the Hockey East Tournament in March, exiting with a three-goal loss to eventual runner-up UConn. So an at-large bid to the big dance for a second-straight year, the Terriers are looking to overcome their defensive shortcomings with an electric offense and power their way to a third-consecutive Frozen Four. They did so Thursday, powering past Ohio State with a five-goal third period to set up a date with Cornell in the Toledo Regional Final. 

    The team is led by Quinn and Cole Hutson (47 and 41 points, respectively). The latter Hutson, a freshman defenseman, has taken up the mantle left by his brother Lane, now with the NHL’s Montreal Canadians. 

    Cornell Big Red | 18-10-6 | Automatic Qualifier (ECAC Hockey Champions)

    Few teams in the tournament are as hot as Cornell, which came back to reality in the ECAC Tournament after a disappointing regular season hampered by injuries that left it as the conference’s No. 6 seed. The Big Red knocked off No. 3 Colgate, No. 1 Quinnipiac and No. 2 Clarkson en route to a second-consecutive Whitelaw Cup and an automatic berth. 

    Cornell head coach Mike Schafer will retire at the end of this season. He has made just one Frozen Four (2003) in his 30-year career. The Big Red took a step closer to making his second on Thursday, knocking off No. 2-overall seed Michigan State with a goal in the final ten seconds of regulation. 

    UMass Minutemen | 20-13-5 | At-Large Bid (Hockey East)

    The final of six at-large bids out of the Hockey East, UMass enters its sixth NCAA Tournament as an underdog. The Minutemen are 1,500 miles from home in Fargo, North Dakota, and faced a heavy crowd disadvantage against Minnesota Thursday. 

    Regardless, UMass battled the Gophers to overtime, an Aydar Suniev winner powering the Minutemen into the regional final for the first time since 2021, when they won  the national championship. They’ll face the indomitable No. 4 Western Michigan on Saturday with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line. 

    NEEDS A MIRACLE

    Bentley Falcons | 23-14-2 | Automatic Qualifier (Atlantic Hockey America Champions)

    Bentley won a program-record 23 games this season en route to an Atlantic Hockey Championship and its first NCAA Tournament Appearance. The Falcons, led by former Quinnipiac forwards Ethan Leyh (41 points) and Nick Bochen (29 points), stormed their way through the AHA Tournament as the No. 3 seed. They swept No. 2 Sacred Heart on its home ice in the semifinals and erased a two-goal deficit to top Holy Cross in the championship game. 

    The odds are stacked against Bentley, the No. 16 seed who will face overall No. 1 seed Boston College Friday, but such an upset is not out of the realm of possibility. Three Atlantic Hockey teams (RIT in 2015, Air Force in 2018 and American International in 2019) knocked off the tournament’s top seed as its lowest-ranked entrant. 

  • Stock up, stock down: A look at six men’s hockey players before ECAC postseason begins

    Stock up, stock down: A look at six men’s hockey players before ECAC postseason begins

    By: Toni Wetmore, Brandon Murdock

    With the men’s ECAC postseason tournament beginning Friday, top-seeded Quinnipiac has a first-round bye as it looks for its first Whitelaw Cup since 2016. 

    It’s been an up and down season for the Bobcats, and likewise for their players. So as the postseason begins, we’re taking a look at which players’ stocks have gone up and which have gone down since the start of the new year before they hit the ice for the quarterfinals March 14.

    Stock up:

    Jeremy Wilmer – Junior Forward

    13 goals – 25 assists – 38 points 

    Wilmer has recorded at least one point in each his last six games, with three goals and nine assists for 12 points total.

    “He’s a high-end player for sure,” said head coach Rand Pecknold earlier this season. “He’s got great offensive instincts.”

    His recent surge has pushed him to the top of the team leaderboard in points, surpassing Travis Treloar and Mason Marcellus, who had led all season. Wilmer also jumped to second in the ECAC in total points this season with 38.

    Jack Ricketts – Senior Forward

    20 goals – 6 assists – 26 points 

    Next is Ricketts, a senior transfer from Holy Cross. Ricketts was a bit snakebitten in the scoring department at the beginning of his Bobcat career, only scoring two goals in the first month of the season. However, he is tied for the most goals in the country since December with 15 in his last 18 games played.

    “Just buying into the system, playing hard and fast, something we preach is always keeping your feet moving,” said Ricketts after the Oct. 25 game against New Hampshire.

    He was shutout in the last game of the regular season, but entering the finale, had a streak of five-straight games with a goal. The surge brought him to second in the ECAC in goals, goals per game and plus/minus. 

    Travis Treloar – Graduate student Forward 

    16 goals – 18 assists – 34 points 

    Treloar, a graduate student, has made an impact for the Bobcats from the jump and never wavered. Treloar is first in power play goals in the ECAC and fourth in the conference in goals. He’s been on a six-game point streak since  Feb. 8 against Clarkson. Quinnipiac will need to lean on Treloar’s leadership as it moves into the playoffs. 

    Stock down: 

    Dylan Silverstein – Freshman Goaltender

    12-8-2 record – 2.22 GAA

    Silverstein was more than solid to begin his collegiate career. With big games against UMaine, holding a high-powered Black Bear offense to just two goals with 27 saves, then the following week against New Hampshire, in which he totaled 58 saves on the weekend. He won the starting job over sophomore Matej Marinov, but over the last month, has struggled keeping the puck out of the net, allowing three goals or more three times in the last 11 games. 

    Silverstein has also scuffled in the big games this year, specifically against Cornell and the two games against No. 2 Clarkson. The freshman gave up five goals over the course of the last two games played against Cornell and in the last game against Clarkson on the road, gave up four goals on just 12 shots. He played well Feb. 22 against Brown, recording a shutout, but leading up to that game, had not given up less than two goals in a game since Jan. 17, coming in relief in a 6-3 win over Colgate. 

    Chris Pelosi – Freshman Forward

    11 goals – 11 assists – 22 points

    The forward found a groove in early February, scoring a goal in four-straight games. Now, Pelosi has been in a scoring drought since Feb. 15.  While he has been a playmaker in that span, recording three assists, he has been unable to score. He’ll have to find a way to get the puck in the net if the Bobcats approach do-or-die territory in the playoffs. Pelosi faces high expectations, as he was a third-round draft pick by the Boston Bruins this summer.

    Elliot Groenewold – Freshman Defenseman

    4 goals – 5 assists – 9 points

    The first-year defenseman was a ‘24 fourth-round pick of the Boston Bruins and came in with big expectations as the blue line had been depleted from the previous season. Quinnipiac lost players such as Jayden Lee, Iivari Räsänen and Charles-Alexis Legault either to graduation or the NHL ahead of the season . 

    Groenewold has been very disciplined over the course of the year, especially for a young player, only taking seven penalties on the season. However, since his defensive partner Aaron Bohlinger went down on Feb. 21 with a season-ending knee injury, Groenewold has struggled. Giving the puck away and being out of position at times has either cost the Bobcats goals or nearly have. In the last weekend of the season against  Clarkson, and with a chance to clinch the Cleary Cup, he was a -2 in the game. Also, he has not had as much of an impact on the offensive side of the ice over the past month, only recording three points since Jan. 10.