Come back each week for a preview of interesting NCAA games coming up and some thoughts on what happened in the previous week's action. Check out Thursday's How to Watch for links to all the weekend's games.
(9) St. Lawrence at (8) Penn State
Thursday at 6:00 PM and Friday at 3:00 PM Eastern
It's rare that we get ranked matchups between teams in different conferences since the non-conference schedules are set up in advance. This week we get two of them and aside from seeing how the team's matchup with each other, they should also give us a good baseline to use as the season goes on for understanding the relative strengths of their respective conferences.
For both teams, this matchup is about proving they are an NCAA Tournament level team.
While Penn State has earned their way into the NCAA Tourament by winning their conference tournament in recent years, they're also a team that likes to place themselves in a position to make the tournament whether they get that autobid or not. That means scheduling tough out of conference opponents and keeping themselves around where they are currently ranked so the are mathematically included no matter what.
On the other side, St. Lawrence has earned their recent NCAA Tournament berths by where they are ranked nationally. They certainly could win the ECAC autobid, but that's a much more wide open race so they are looking to boost their numbers and ideally move higher than ninth nationally so that their spot in the postseason doesn't hinge on whether any conference tournament have an upset winner.
Beyond the subtext, both of these teams graduated some key program players last season and will be looking to find their footing and establish the kind of team they will be this season. They've given themselves a short runway for shaking off the dust and finding their team chemistry and character this year.
Penn State may spend some time in the early season trying out pairings and comibinations they'll need to use when Tessa Janecke misses time with Team USA for the Olympics. The World Championship gold-medal-winning goal scorer is the heart of the team and has since she first joined the program. She's been so intrinsic to their identity that I think there is a lot of uncertainty of how they'll fare without her. She's really helped elevate the program, but she's a senior, so they have to prepare for life after Janecke. As she heads out to camps and eventually the games, they're getting little test runs for what that looks like and I think it will help the team start to establish their identity outside of her.
St. Lawrence has had a bit of a resurgence as a program the past few years and many of the players that were integral to that push have now graduated. Now the younger players have a chance to show that they can continue what was built and keeping their team in the national conversation.
And if all that wasn't enough, these two teams have met in the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons, with St. Lawrence taking the win both times. If they're on a crash course to meet again in March, the Nittany Lions could use the confidence boost of a win or two here.
(13) St. Cloud State at (12) Connecticut
Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern
I won't go into it all again in specific to these two teams, but the same points I made about Penn State and St. Lawrence wanting to get themselves to a point in the national rankings that they earn at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament apply here - the main difference is that these two teams are on the outside looking in. They have to improve their national rankings a couple of spots and wins over another ranked program will certainly help.
Connecticut has reigning Hockey East Rookie of the Year Claire Murdoch as well as goalie Tia Chan shutting things down in net. The Huskies brought in Julia Pellerin, BC's second-highest scorer last season, to add more depth on offense. The question for me will be on defense. Chan needs players lifting sticks, cutting off lanes and blocking pucks in front of her. There are plenty of players on the roster that can step up into bigger roles, so that's what I'll be watching for in this series. Who stands out on defense and helps transition the puck and get the team back on offense?
St. Cloud State has a new coach in Mira Jalosuo. A former assistant with the program, she most recently won two Walter Cups as an assitant coach with the PWHL Minnesota Frost. These Huskies had shown immense growth in a short time under previous coach Brian Idalski (who departed to become the head coach of PWHL Vancouver) and the hope is that they will be able to continue that under Jalosuo, particulary because she was on Idalski's staff.
SCSU is in transition with its roster, as well, as a couple of their biggest names graduated. They lost a lot of physicality and speed in transition - something that really helped them stand apart in the past few seasons. So I'll be watching this series to see which of the younger players can really be strong and establish themsleves on the ice.
Boston College vs. (3) Minnesota
Thursday and Friday at 6:00 PM Central
Last season, Boston University started their season at Minnesota and pretty quickly established that their sixth place ranking in the Hockey East coaches preseason poll was not an accurate gauge of how their season would go. Now Boston College makes the same trip and hopes to make a similar statement and show they're going to be a team to reckon with this season.
To be clear, BU still lost both of their games, but they kept things close with Minnesota, showed their structure and movement and puck possession abilities, had great defense and even better goaltending. The goal for BC here isn't necessarily points (though obviously that's always the goal), but instead is about matching up against a top three team who has national championship aspirations and a number of world class players.
The Eagles had some turnover this offseason with portal moves and they've set themselves a tough task with little runway for adjusting or easing in. They did bring in former Gopher Emma Connor, who will certainly have helped set up her new team in preparation for this series
Minnesota is in an interesting spot where they have the best incoming class in the country and have Abbey Murphy, Nelli Laitinen, Josefin Bouveng, Sarah Paul and Jamie Nelseon for just this season. It's a really good mix with a ton of room to grow that also has a bit of urgency in returning the program to the top and getting a title before these seniors move on. The Gophers will be looking to set the tone for their season in this series.
(Photo: Penn State Women's Hockey/X)
