NCAA hockey season recap

The NCAA hockey season has come to an end and it was very exciting, to say the least. From recording breaking seasons to disappointing outcomes, here is a brief recap of some of the important moments.

Looking at the USA Hockey and The Rink Live’s Men’s College Hockey Poll, Denver takes the top spot as they won the Frozen Four and ended the season with a 32-9-3 record. Michigan State stays in the top five and Michigan Tech hangs onto spot 20.

Michigan State were the Big Ten champions this year but unfortunately for them, they would fall to the University of Michigan and not make it to the Frozen Four. They had a lot of their key players step up this year and contribute to the team's success in winning their first Big Ten title.

Jumping to the Frozen Four, Denver, Michigan, Boston College and Boston University were the teams involved. The semifinal matchups were Denver vs. Boston University and Michigan vs. Boston College.

The Pioneers would take a 2-1 overtime win against the Terriers to send them to the championship. The Eagles blew over the Wolverines in a 4-0 game to take them to the finals.

Denver won 2-0 against Boston College in the championship game to make them national champions.

The Pioneers became the first team to win 10 NCAA men’s hockey national championships and they also were the champions in 2022. Matt Davis was the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player as he was fabulous in goal for the Pioneers.

Looking at the NCAA players' stats, Will Smith finished first in points as he tallied 71 in 41 games with the Eagles. Smith’s teammate, Cutter Gauthier had the most goals with 38. Jacob Fowler from Boston College has the best goalie-winning percentage with .833.

Denver ends with the best-scoring offense and Cornell ends with the best-scoring defense.

This year's finalists for the Hobey Baker Award were Gauthier, Macklin Celebrini (Boston University) and Jackson Blake (University of North Dakota). Celebrini took home the award and he is expected to be the No.1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft.

Celebrini ended the season with 64 points out of 32 goals and 32 assists.

Many players are now signing their entry-level contracts with the NHL teams that were drafted including Frank Nazar from Michigan, Cutter Gauthier, Landon Slaggert from Notre Dame and many more.

Many teams are looking to bounce back like Michigan State who had a good season but not a good finish and other teams are looking to completely rebuild after a disappointing season like Ohio State.

Penn State could also fall into the category that needs to improve for the season to come.

It will be interesting to see how many teams will do next year and how these star players will either contribute to their college team or the NHL.

Kassie Vasellas is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email kmv5506@psu.edu.