A month into the season and we’re starting to better understand the makeup of teams across college hockey. With a heavy dose of non-conference play wrapping up and teams getting ready to begin the bulk of conference play, we will get a closer look at each conference and the talent within.
For now, here’s six teams to watch, one from each conference.
*Atlantic Hockey: Niagara*
The Purple Eagles of Niagara are off to a strong start, 2-0-2 in their last four. Atlantic Hockey usually lacks the household names that other conferences have, but that does not mean there is no shortage of talent across the conference.
Niagara is the highest scoring program inside Atlantic Hockey, averaging four goals a game through six contests. The Purple Eagles are currently home to three of the conferences four leading scorers in Trevor Hoskin, Shane Ott and Jay Ahearn.
A big part of Niagara’s early offensive success has come from its powerplay, converting on 23.8% of its chances to date, tops among Atlantic Hockey programs.
*Big Ten: Michigan State*
A year ago, the Spartans were a game away from an appearance in the Frozen Four, losing to in-state rival Michigan in the St. Louis Regional Final. At 5-1-0, it’s clear Michigan State is motivated by its disappointing ending.
Michigan State’s lone loss came in a series split with Boston College—more on them in a bit.
Home to one of the countries top goaltenders in Trey Augustine, the Spartans have allowed more than one goal just twice in six contests.
Senior Isaac Howard and junior Daniel Russell have gotten off to fast starts, leading the team with four goals apiece.
*CCHA: Minnesota State*
Looking to get back to national prominence, Minnesota State survived a gauntlet of a non-conference slate at 5-3-0. Wins over Michigan, Merrimack, North Dakota and most recently a sweep of Omaha have been impressive.
Junior Adam Eisele and seniors Rhett Pitlick and Brian Carrabes lead the team in scoring with seven points apiece.
The Mavericks have gotten outstanding goaltending from Alex Tracy who has a 1.51 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage through eight games.
*ECAC: Union*
With the Ivy league schools always kicking off their season much later than the rest of the sport, only a few ECAC teams have dropped the puck on their 2024-25 campaign. So far, Union has been the most impressive, jumping out to a 6-1-0 start.
Ben Muthersbaugh has arguably been the nation’s top freshmen with six goals and seven assists through seven games. Only Denver’s Jack Devine—more on him below as well—has more points nationally.
Behind Muthersbaugh in the scoring lineup, juniors Parker Lindauer, Colby MacArthur and Nate Hanley are all averaging over a point per game with eight points.
*Hockey East: Boston College*
The Eagles came up short last season, falling to Denver in the national title game. The Eagles are clearly back for more.
A 3-1-0 start to its season has been solid, but Boston College still has a lot more to its game than it has shown. Scary, I know.
The Eagles series split with Michigan State featured two national powerhouses. The Eagles then steamrolled American International College before needing a pair of late goals from should-be-current-NHL’er Ryan Leonard to take down Western Michigan.
Through four games the Eagles are not quite scoring to the tune of 4.5 goals per game like they were last season, taking a step back so far at 3.8, but that doesn’t mean the Eagles are not as good as they were last season.
After being held to one goal through his first three games, Leonard’s two goal performance against the Broncos should get him going again. After an injury cut his freshman season short last season, Will Vote is off to a great start with three goals in four games.
*NCHC: Denver*
The defending national champions have picked up right where it left off, Denver off to a 6-0 start, outscoring teams in the process 30-10.
Denver returned several key pieces from its championship team including senior Jack Devine who has a goal and 13 assists through six games, leading the nation in scoring. Sophomore Zeev Buium has continued his development after being a first-round draft pick this past June.
Coming off one of the best national championship performances we’ve seen in a lone time, goalie Matt Davis has been nearly unbeatable with a .930 save percentage and 1.67 goals-against average.
Anthony has been writing about hockey for over 10 years now with previous stops at Bruins Daily and Hockey Buzz, covering the Boston Bruins. Follow him at @A_Travalgia on Twitter/X or for more at https://www.collegehockeynews.com/
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