By Roy J. Akers-www.skyviewsports.net
The NCAA College Hockey season is at the halfway point of the season. Sure, a few more games are played in the second half of the season, but the student athletes are already on break and most will return for the resumption of play during the holidays.
Holiday Tournaments
The games we are focusing on are the GLI and the inaugural Frozen Confines Big Ten Hockey series January 3rd and 4th at Wrigley Field in Chicago. www.skyviewsports (myself) will have coverage of both tournaments. The GLI will be contested at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids Dec. 29th and 30th. It will feature host Michigan Tech., NCAA No.1 Michigan State, No. 6 Western Michigan and Northern Michigan. Michigan State will be without standout goaltender Trey Augustine who is playing in the World Junior Tournament.
The Frozen Confines will feature all seven B1G teams and Ohio State will play twice.
What do the teams want for Christmas?
Speaking of team goals only, here’s what the Secret Santa from Sky View Sports projects as team wish lists this Christmas season.
Ohio State- No. 13 OSU plays (No.9) Michigan twice over the holidays. First in Chicago and then on Sunday in Ann Arbor. (The following week its hosts No.3) Minnesota for a pair of games. If OSU wants to improve their pairwise ratings, and ratings nationally, going 3-1 or better will help the Buckeyes in the new year.
Penn State- PSU has yet to win a game this season in league play and is 7-9 overall. The Nittany Lions just want a win. Arsenii Sergeev is a bright spot at goalie but he is 33rd in GAA average and has played only nine games this season. The PSU offense is ranked 9th in NCAA scoring.
Minnesota- The Golden Gophers have traded the top spot in the USCHO poll with MSU this season and the Gophers are just flat out good. Minnesota wants to get off to a good 2025 start and has a pair of games against Mercyhurst. Jimmy Snuggerud is second in the NCAA in scoring and three more teammates are in the Top 11. If they keep lighting the lamp, Minnesota looks golden. Lighting the lamp at will makes the Golden Gophers go Ho-Ho-Ho.
Wisconsin- The Badgers host hapless Ferris St. over the holidays and then the Badgers play MSU in Chicago. They are off a week and host LIU for a pair of games. Not the best way to move up the Pairwise standings. So in the words of NFL owner Al Davis, “Just Win Baby.” F-Quinn Finley is 6th in NCAA scoring with a scoring line of (12G-10A-22).
Michigan- Consistency. Michigan was ranked fourth nationally just a few weeks ago but has lost three games in a row. All shutouts. They go light in their holiday schedule as a few players are being loaned out to the World Juniors. They play Ohio State in Chicago and I bet the Buckeyes have NO sympathy. F- Michael Hage is 25th in the country in scoring with (10G-8A’s-18). The Wolverines need another player to get hot and join him soon. More goals is what the Wolverines want this holiday season.
Michigan State- MSU wants to Stay No. 1 for Christmas and continue with come from behind wins as a stocking stuffer. MSU loves holiday hockey. They play a pair of games in the GLI and two more against Wisconsin. This includes one at home and another contest in Chicago. The following week, MSU travels to hapless Penn State. Goaltender Trey Augustine will be back by the Penn State series after concluding play at the World Juniors.
Notre Dame- The Fighting Irish need goals this holiday season. They will not improve significantly unless they their 38th ranking in NCAA offense improves. They are scoring 2.67 goals per contest. They are last in offense in the Big Ten. So, they want some shots to find the back of the net.
Western Michigan- Keep beating the NCHC teams and MSU at the GLI. It may sound tough but only Denver is ahead of WMU in the USCHO poll and WMU could play Michigan State in the GLI Championship game with a win against Michigan Tech. WMU blew out Denver and looked great at home against Michigan. Their goaltending is top notch. Cameron Rowe is undefeated in regular season games and has a 1.56 GAA. Hampton Slukynsky, Fr, G, WMU is 3-3 with a 1.78 GAA. Keep an eye on this team in the second half of the season.
Northern Michigan- They play in the GLI against No. 1 MSU in the opener. They will play the winner/loser of Western Michigan and Michigan Tech. Northern Michigan is 0-11-1 in CCHA play. Any win will do. Beating MSU would be both a Christmas present and a stocking suffer for NMU.
Michigan Tech- They host the GLI and unlike last year when the Pietela gang was leading a very fun Tech team to the NCAA tournament. This year, they are 7-3-2 in league play and 9-5-2 overall. Stiven Sardarian, Jr, F, MTU is T-17th in NCAA scoring. He could use another player or two to become red hot. Tech is an intangible team and they usually find a way to win. The game against WMU will be a good test. May they stay hot. They want an extra gear for Christmas and mow through CCHA opponents.
Ferris State- Like a few other teams on the list, they just want a win. Ferris is 5-7 and 6-10-2 overall. Caiden Gault is the leading scorer with (8G-2A -10). They play the US National Developmental Team at home after the New Year and then against St. Thomas.
Bowling Green- wants to be above .500 for Christmas. They are 4-4-2 in the CCHA and 7-7-2 overall. They play a pair at Lake Superior State right after the new year. Brody Walters is second in the CCHA with 8 goals and Ryan O’Hara is third in the conference in assists with 11. The Falcons could move up in the standings in January as they play Ferris St., Augustana, and Northern Michigan. Ho-Ho-Ho.
Roy J. Akers writes college hockey and several other sports for www.skyviewsports.net.
