The Division 1 men’s college hockey season is not even a month old, but it has had so much to offer so far.
Marquee non-conference games. Upsets. Newcomers making an impact. But it wouldn't be October around the college rinks without some surprises.
The top-ranked team entering the season has faced some adversity, while they and others have been forced to adapt following key injuries. There have been plenty of pleasant surprises around the region as well, including a couple of teams making some early noise against national powers.
Here are five unexpected developments from the first few weeks of the season around New England.
BU’s slow start
The preseason No. 1 team in the country, Boston University needed overtime to beat Bentley before losing to New Hampshire, the U.S. Under-18 Team in an exhibition and Notre Dame last Friday in its first four games.
“I think we just have to get back to playing the right way,” second-year head coach Jay Pandolfo said last week. “It looks like when you come back in your own zone, to stop, to finish checks, to have your stick on the ice. … It’s kind of endless right now.”
Pandolfo (Burlington, Mass.) had concerns related to his team’s effort to that point, but the Terriers are hoping their shaky start is in the past after scoring five first-period goals to bounce back for Saturday’s 8-2 win at Notre Dame.
A team effort with everyone pulling the right way was key, and it was made even more impressive considering BU played without two top defensemen in sophomore Lane Hutson and senior Cade Webber, who are both day-to-day with injuries.
Two of the three Terriers with multiple goals have been freshmen Macklin Celebrini — who has a pair of two-goal efforts — and Shane Lachance (Andover, Mass.). A candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, Celebrini has posted team-leading play right away, logging five goals, six points and 18 shots.
Massive upsets
Parity is always the talk of Hockey East, but the biggest story in the league so far may be New Hampshire picking off two wins against top-five Boston University and Quinnipiac. The Wildcats were picked to finish 10th in the 11-team league.
The Wildcats appear to have a much deeper lineup, with sophomore Cy LeClerc (Brentwood, N.H.) centering the top line alongside junior Liam Devlin (Needham, Mass.) and freshman Ryan Conmy, a draft pick of Los Angeles in July who has a team-leading six points. LeClerc capped his two-goal Saturday with the overtime game-winner.
WILDCATS WIN! Cy LeClerc nets the game-winner against No. 4 Quinnipiac! 'Cats win 5-4!#BeTheRoar @HarvardPilgrim pic.twitter.com/nlxWXWrWfk
— UNH Men's Hockey (@UNHMHOCKEY) October 22, 2023
Sophomore Morgan Winters, the Hockey East Player of the Week last week, has already scored three goals after netting only four in 20 games before having his rookie year cut short due to a shoulder injury.
The two victories in three games may have come as a surprise to outsiders, but coach Mike Souza (Wakefield, Mass.) has felt a “different vibe” around his team since the jump.
Holy Cross is 4-0-1, but the biggest victory for local Atlantic Hockey teams thus far came Saturday when American International finished its series at Penn State with a 6-4 victory.
Hockey East’s non-conference jump
Another pleasant surprise has been the much-improved performance of Hockey East teams in non-conference play. Hockey East teams are 26-12-1 (a .679 winning percentage) in non-conference play.
Other highlights of the early slate include Providence and Massachusetts both banking victories over Michigan in the first two weeks. Those same two teams had strong showings this past weekend, with the Friars beating Denver and the Minutemen sweeping Minnesota State. Boston College beat defending national champion Quinnipiac in its season opener.
The Bank of Adams™️
His second of the season gives us a two-goal lead in the third! Harding and Chmelar with the assists. pic.twitter.com/AwfCcXqszk
— PC Men's Hockey (@FriarsHockey) October 21, 2023
Looking back to last year, Hockey East teams finished with only a .587 win percentage in non-conference games.
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference and Big Ten still hold advantages in that department, but Hockey East has nearly reached half of its non-conference win total from a year ago.
Injuries hurting top teams
Several of New England’s top teams have been impacted by injuries, including the aforementioned duo at BU that was sidelined this past weekend.
Quinnipiac junior Collin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.) was tripped from behind and injured against BC before returning to score six points in two games, but he suffered another injury in Saturday’s loss to UNH and was seen in a walking boot afterward. Losing Graf again for any length of time would be a major dent in the Bobcats’ offensive power.
Merrimack just pulled off a strong sweep of St. Lawrence and Clarkson without star senior Alex Jefferies (Lunenburg, Mass.) and defenseman Mike Brown (Belmont, Mass.) in the lineup for a second straight week. The hope is that Jefferies will return in the coming weeks from an injury suffered in practice before Merrimack opened at Arizona State.
Northeastern was idle this past week, but senior center Justin Hryckowian and top sophomore Hunter McDonald were both out and considered week-to-week following the Huskies’ Oct. 14 game against Bentley.
Unheralded freshmen making impact
With all of the star power in New England, Massachusetts freshman Joey Musa has emerged as the top scorer on local teams thus far. His effort is no small part of why the Minutemen earned the No. 19 spot in the latest USCHO poll.
The former Trinity-Pawling prep product has logged eight points in five games after scoring his second goal during a two-point Friday effort at Minnesota State. He is the lone undrafted player on a rookie line that also includes a pair of Europeans in Bruins prospect Dans Locmelis — who recently made his season debut — and left winger Aydar Suniev.
Though he earned his first collegiate win a week earlier at Michigan, this past series may have been the breakout for another new Minuteman — Michael Hrabal in goal. The Arizona Coyotes prospect got the start in both games at Minnesota State, capping the weekend with a 32-save shutout and his third straight win over a ranked foe.
