Back
Halloween is looming and college hockey is on the uptick. With nearly a month of games in the books, teams are starting to fall into their identities that they will continue to build upon as the season progresses.
This week, the Big Ten is all over the place. The best team in the country, Michigan, is from the conference, and Wisconsin has risen to No. 2, but the likes of Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame are greatly struggling. A frew days ago, though, Minnesota was very much in the same boat.
A handful of these teams are the main focus of this week's college hockey stock report, which recaps which teams are looking good and on the rise, along with some areas that could use some fine-tuning.
It was a brutal start to the campaign for the Golden Gophers and the new coaching staff. Each of the first six games on the schedule were against ranked teams, and as a result, Minnesota started winless through the first four: No. 19 Michigan Tech swept UM and No. 9 Minnesota Duluth grabbed a win and tie.
And then-No. 3 North Dakota, a bitter rival, came to town and something clicked for Minnesota. The Fighting Hawks entered the weekend as a perfect 4-0, and they came out on the other side a 4-2 team. Back-to-back 5-3 victories put the Gophers back on the college hockey map.
Game two was the coming out party for star freshman Wyatt Cullen, who scored a hat trick with an assist in the back half of the sweep. Sophomore Christian Humphreys took over in the series opener with a pair of goals to get Minnesota back to its typical respectable form.
Everything was sunshine and rainbows in the opening weekend against Niagara, but since then, the Fighting Irish have lost its threat going forward. After scoring seven goals across its first two games, Notre Dame has found the net just five times across the last four, all losses.
First, it was No. 6 Western Michigan, a notoriously well-organized team on the defensive end. A 6-1 loss, followed by a 4-0 defeat had the Irish reeling, but the problems compounded against No. 20 Merrimack. A winnable 2-1 overtime loss on Friday in South Bend turned into a 6-3 loss on Saturday.
The Irish mustered a 33-22 advantage in shots during the overtime loss, but simply could not convert. They also won in faceoff, 36-21. When the offense finally came alive in the first period of game two, Notre Dame regressed to scoring once in the last 50 minutes of the game, then conceded three power play goals in just six minutes during the second period.
It’s about time Augustana got some respect in the CCHA. There’s an argument to be made for the Vikings to be the best team in the conference thus far, although Michigan Tech will have something to say about that. At 5-0-1, they’ve jumped all the way up to No. 11 in the polls, easily the highest ranking in program history.
The opponents have not been straightforward, either. They beat and tied then-No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (the biggest home win in terms of ranking in program history), then swept Omaha. Last weekend, a clean sweep of Ohio State marked the first-ever victories against a Big Ten opponent. A tight 3-2 overtime result and a 4-3 regulation triumph gave Augustana a pair of massive road wins to solidify its spot the rankings.
Sophomore forward Leonid Bulgakov has taken charge in the scoring department. His six goals are double any of his teammates. Nace Langus has three and eight other players have contributed one in a balanced scoring attack. In goal, Mathis Langevin has been a brick wall with a .932 save percentage and a 1.94 goals against average.
Robert Morris entered the week winless in its first four, but a matchup with Penn State on Tuesday put one in the win column. Despite a majorly disappointing start for the Nittany Lions, it was still a crucial result for a team badly needing some hope. George Krotiris scored twice in the 5-2 win.
That hope was quickly crushed a handful of days later, when the Colonials traveled to Waltham, Mass., to get flattened by Bentley. They lost by a combined 10-1 score, but the two games were very different. Game one was a thrashing from start to finish, but the second was a pure meltdown.
After Bruce McDonald opened the scoring, the Falcons tied things up just over two minutes later. For the next period and a half, the scoresheet went silent. The flood gates opened wide in the third period, as Bentley poured on four unanswered goals, sending Robert Morris into an early hole likely too deep to climb out from.
Minnesota Duluth defenseman Ty Hanson is on a tear. A very small handful of defensemen just have the scoring touch, and he’s one of them. He stands at 5-foot-9, so he’s not going to beat teams with his physical strengths, but the junior makes up for it with his skating speed and offensive prowess.
In his eight-game October so far, Hanson has picked up seven goals and five assists, astonishing numbers for a blue-liner. He ranks second in the entire country in scoring, behind only Jayden Perron (10) of the high-octane Michigan offense.
He’s averaging a point and a half per game to put his 12 points at third in the nation, again behind just Perron and his Wolverines teammate, Michael Hage. The Bulldogs have played a series every weekend so far and sit at 5-1-2 despite having reigning Hobey Baker Award winner Max Plante out with an injury, good for the No. 7 ranking. Hanson will look to keep up his incredible production as the games build up and the season grows heavier.
For the first time since 2002-03, the Friars are 5-0. The undefeated start to the new season has placed them at No. 5 in the newest USCHO top-20 poll. Providence won the Hockey East regular season handily last year, by 11 points, and there’s reason to believe that they might be able to do it again.
It’s true that the opponents haven’t been exceptionally challenging and things will be ratcheted up in that department, but it’s not easy to win games in college hockey. There’s only 63 teams in Division 1, and very few who have played a full month have survived unscathed.
St. Lawrence, Clarkson, Union and UMass Lowell were the four opponents the Friars have knocked down. They have posted a +15 goal differential through their five wins and have conceded just six times in total.
Ryder Cali had high expectations coming in as a freshman, and he’s lived up to those with four goals in his first five collegiate contests. Returning sophomore Jonathan Fauchon has matched Cali’s four goals at the top of the team leaderboard. Last season's leading point-getter and goal scorer, John Mustard, has two goals and three assists and hopes to increase his production.
Quite an opening 20. pic.twitter.com/UN0F4aCnVM
— PC Men's Hockey (@FriarsHockey) October 24, 2026
No games scheduled
No games scheduled until Thursday
October 28, 1942: Michigan State right wing Doug Roberts was born in Detroit.
October 28, 1948: Former Minnesota defenseman, and future Hall of Fame inductee, John Mariucci was traded by the Chicago Blackhawks to the St. Louis Flyers of the American Hockey League.
October 28, 1963: Denver right wing Kevin Dinnen was born in Quebec City, Quebec. He went on to play 1,188 games over 19 seasons in the NHL and tally 760 points.
October 28, 1963: North Dakota right winger Chris Jensen was born in Fort St. John, British Columbia.
October 28, 1966: Western Michigan center Ron Hoover was born in Oakville, Ontario.
October 28, 1977: Former Boston College center Harvey Bennett was traded by the Philadelphia Flyers to the Minnesota North Stars for Blake Dunlop and a third-round draft pick, which was used to select former Michigan Tech right wing Gord Salt.
October 28, 1978: Colorado College center Mark Cullen was born in Moorhead, Minn.
October 28, 1982: The Pittsburgh Penguins traded right wing George Feguson and their first-round pick in the 1983 draft to the Minnesota North Stars for left wing Anders Hakansson. The pick ended up being the No. 1-overall selection, with Brian Lawton the first US-born and first non-Canadian hockey player drafted first overall.
October 28, 1987: Former Western Michigan goaltender Glenn Healy notched his first NHL victory with the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3 over the New York Rangers.
October 28, 1995: North Dakota forward Cole Smith was born in Brainerd, Minn.
October 28, 1996: Boston University center Jack Eichel was born in North Chelmsford, Mass.
October 28, 2000: Former UMD left wing Shjon Podein scored twice in 10 seconds as the Colorado Avalanche remaining unbeaten (9-0-2) with a 4-2 victory against the Edmonton Oilers.
October 28. 2000: Former Michigan Tech right wing Randy McKay and former Michigan center John Madden both scored four goals as the New Jersey Devils crushed Pittsburgh 9-0. They were the first teammates to score four times in a single game since Odie and Sprague Cleghorn with the Montreal Canadiens in 1922.
October 28, 2001: Harvard right wing Alex Laferriere was born in Chatham, N.J.
October 28, 2005: Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov was born in Zhlobin, Belarus.
October 28, 2021: Former UMass defenseman Cale Maker scored his 100th NHL point,and tied Sergei Zubov as the sixth-fastest defenseman to reach that mark, behind Harry Cameron, Mark Howe, Brian Leetch (Boston College), Larry Murphy and Phil Housley (third-leading scorer among American players).
October 28, 2023: Former Minnesota Duluth forward Adam Johnson was killed after having his neck cut by a skate blade in an on-ice collision, causing him to bleed out. He was 29.
“I was fortunate enough to also start my USA journey with Krissy Wendell. Krissy is one of the best players I've ever seen play the game. Krissy and I also couldn't be more opposite off the ice. She was social, I was quiet. We played 10 years together, most of them as linemates, but most importantly, we were good friends off the ice. There's absolutely no way I would be here tonight without Krissy. So, it's fitting we are entering the Hall of Fame together.”
Natalie Darwitz (Minnesota)
Connor Hellebuyck (Lowell) made 16 saves in his debut with the New Jersey Devils during a 5-1 victory at Dallas.
Connor Hellebuyck is a New Jersey Devil 🔴⚫ pic.twitter.com/1wI6j7vLvG
— NHL (@NHL) October 27, 2026
Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Threads and Blue Sky for the latest news.
Back
Top
| Privacy Statement Terms of Service Contact |
Refresh
|
All the best breaking news stories from Apex Football Lite. Optimised for feature phones and low end Android devices, Apex Football Lite helps users with legacy devices and poor network connectivity access the latest football news and live scores. Particularly relevant for breaking football news in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.