Men’s Hockey hosts Bowling Green

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES

St. Thomas (2-5-2 overall, 1-2-1 CCHA) will face-off for a two-game home series with the Bowling Green Falcons (5-3-0 overall, 2-0-0 CCHA) this weekend. Friday's game is set for a 7:07 p.m. puck drop at Saint Thomas Ice Arena and Saturday's game will start at 6:07 p.m.
The first 250 fans in attendance to Saturday's game will be given a free Tommie Hawaiian shirt.
The final two games of this four-game season series with the Falcons will be played in Bowling Green, Ohio on Friday, February 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8.
The history between the two teams has been mostly dominated by Bowling Green. The Falcons won the first six games of the series by a combined score of 19-9. The Tommies took their first game from the Falcons on 1/19/23 with a 4-2 win in Mendota Heights. St. Thomas has just one loss since that first win and are 3-1-2 overall over the last six matchups. They won their first season series against the Falcons last year, taking seven of the 12 available points.
The Falcons are coming into play this weekend fresh off a bye after sweeping the Ferris State Bulldogs on Nov. 1-2, 2-0 and 5-4. Bowling Green has defeated Mercyhurst, RIT, and Ferris State so far this season. Offensively they are led by sophomore Brody Waters with six goals and one assist for seven points. Five of his six goals have come on the power play for a unit that is 8-33 (24.2%) to start the season. Waters is the only player in the CCHA with a hat trick this season with three goals in his last game against Ferris State, all three on the power play. Sophomore Cole Moore has been the only man between the pipes for the Falcons this season with a 5-3-0 record, 2.62 GAA and .917SV%. Moore played in two games against the Tommies last season with a 1-0-1 record, 0.58 GAA and .984 SV%.
St. Thomas looks to bounce back from a frustrating series against Minnesota State where they held the lead in both games but lost on Friday, 5-3 and tied, 1-1, on Saturday. The Tommies salvaged one of the possible six points from the weekend with a loss Saturday's shootout. Liam Malmquist continued his hot start to the season with a two-point game last Friday, He remains the Tommies team leader with 11 points and currently leads the CCHA with 1.22 points per game, one of three players in the conference with at least one point per game. The Toms were back to splitting time in net last weekend with Aaron Trotter taking the reins in game one and Jake SIbell back between the posts for game two. Trotter is 2-3-0 with a 2.83 GAA and .891 SV% while Sibell is 0-2-2 with a 3.38 GAA and .887 SV%. The Tommies are scoring 2.33 goals per game, T-5^th in the conference, and are allowing 3.22 goals per game, 6^th in the conference. With their three power play goals last weekend they are moving along at a 12.9% clip, good for 6^th in the CCHA while their penalty killing unit is third-best in the conference at 85%.

ON THE RADIO

ESPN 1500 is the home of all St. Thomas Men's Hockey games.
Fans can listen on the radio at 1500 AM, online at https://live.skornorth.com/listen/ or on the Varsity Sports App.

CCHA TV ON MIDCO SPORTS PLUS

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CCHA RANKINGS

Cooper Gay & Liam Malmquist T-8^th with 4 goals
Matthew Gleason, Lucas Wahlin, and Mason Poolman T-16^th with 3 goals
Liam Malmquist tied for the CCHA lead with 7 assists
Wahlin and Chase Foley T-14^th with 4 assists
Malmquist leads the conference with 11 points
Wahlin T-11^th with 7 points
Poolman and Gay tied for T-22^nd with 5 points
Wahlin and Gay lead with 40 shots on goal
Malmquist is third with 33 shots on goal
Jake Braccini T-13 with 25 shots on goal
Wahlin is third in FO%
Gleason is 13^th in FO%
Malmquist leads with 1.22 points per game, one of just three players at a point per game
Malmquist leads as the only player with two shorthanded goals

NCAA RANKINGS

Liam Malmquist T-37^th with .78 assists per game
Lucas Wahlin T-13^th with 107 faceoff wins
Malmquist T-33^rd with 1.22 points per game
Malmquist T-2^nd with 2 shorthanded goals

SERIES HISTORY
Bowling Green is 7-3-2 all-time against the Tommies with an overall goal differential of +6. The Tommies have punched back with a 3-3-2 record over the past two seasons and a season series win in 2023-24 (2-1-1). The Toms are 1-3-2 at home against the Falcons.

The Falcons have owned the special teams matchup in their 12-game history against the Tommies. They kept St. Thomas from scoring on the power play through the first eight games (0-33) until Liam Malmquist scored one last season on 11/10/23 in a 4-1 victory. The Toms have since gone 3-15 (20% in four games) after that scoreless stretch for a complete power play tally of 3-48 (6.3%). They have scored power play goals in each of their last two games (Luc Laylin and Matthew Gleason). On the other side of the coin, Bowling Green's power play could not be stopped through their first six games against the Tommies going 8-24 (33.3%), they have since been held to 3-17 (17.6%) for a total of 11-41 (26.8%).

The Toms took the season series last year with a 2-1-1 record with both wins coming on the road 4-1 and 4-3. Cooper Gay had the game winning goal in first period of the 4-1 victory and Quinton Pepper scored the game winner in the second game in the final three minutes of the third period for his first career goal. Bowling Green took the extra point from a shootout in a 3-3 tie before winning the final game of the season series, 3-1 at Saint Thomas Ice Arena.

CURRENT TOMMIES AGAINST BOWLING GREEN

Ryan O'Neill – 0G-7A-7P
Cooper Gay – 5G-2A-7P
Jake Braccini – 1G-4A-5P
Quinton Pepper – 1G-4A-5P
Liam Malmquist – 2G-3A-5P
Grant Docter – 0G-2A-2P
Lucas Wahlin – 0G-2A-2P
Matthew Gleason – 1G-1A-2P
Ethan Gauer – 0G-2A-2P
J.D. Metz – 1G-0A-1P
Aaron Trotter – 2-2-2, 180 saves, 25 GA, 2.45 GAA, .923SV%
Jake Sibell – 1-1-0, 43 saves, 5 GA, 2.52 GAA, .896SV%

GOING STREAKING
Liam Malmquist's five-game point streak concluded last Saturday against Minnesota State, it was the longest by any Tommie this season.

2024-25 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Mason Poolman Defenseman of the Week (10/13/24)

2024-25 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE MONTH

Mason Poolman Defenseman of the Month (10/30/24)

OCTOBER RECAP

1-3-1 record, -9 goal differential
Lost a 1-0 game to open the season against nationally ranked St. Cloud State
Tied with Vermont 5-5 in game one at home and then took the season series with a 3-1 win over the Catamounts
Mason Poolman's three goals in the series set a new high-water mark for his career and earned him his first CCHA Defenseman of the Week honor
Lost both games to a tremendously talented Minnesota Golden Gophers squad, 7-1 and 6-2
Poolman was named CCHA Defenseman of the Month, the first in program history
Cooper Gay and Mason Poolman led the way with three goals in October, Poolman and Liam Malmquist each led the way with five points over the five games. Casy Laylin played all five games and finished the month with a team-best +3 rating
The Tommies were 0-17 on the power play and 17-21 (.810) on the penalty kill

NOVEMBER RECAP

1-2-1 record, +1 goal differential
Split series with Augustana, won game one 4-0 and lost game two 3-2
Took one of the six possible points from Minnesota State with a 5-3 home loss and 1-1 tie (SOL) on the road
Matthew Gleason, Lucas Wahlin, and Liam Malmquist each lead the Tommies with two goals while Malmquist's six points pace the Tommies
The Toms are 1-8 on the power play (.125) and 12-12 on the penalty kill

COACH BLASI

Entering fourth season for St. Thomas
During his 20-year tenure at Miami (Ohio) Blasi was the head coach of 10 NCAA Tournament teams, one national runner-up and one other Frozen Four team
National Coach of the Year in 2005-06
Coached one Hobey Baker Award winner (Andy Miele) and 10 Hobey Baker finalists, 10 All-America players, and 25 who went on to play in the NHL, including Stanley Cup Champions Alec Martinez, Jeff Zatkoff, Blake Coleman, and Riley Smith.
429 career wins (23^rd all-time / seventh among active head coaches)

NON-CONFERENCE

St. Thomas plays eight non-conference games this season. They opened with the #16 ranked St. Cloud State Huskies for their first ranked-on-ranked matchup in program history. Vermont made their first journey to Mendota Heights before the Toms headed across the river for a game on the road against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Game two of the cross-town series returned to Xcel Energy Center on Saturday October 26, presented by Wings Credit Union. The Toms' final non-conference games will be the second half of the home-and-home with St. Cloud on Sunday, December 29 and two games at Lindenwood in early January.
The Toms are 1-3-1 outside of the CCHA this season. They fell to the #16 St. Cloud State Huskies, 1-0, to open the season. St. Thomas tied Vermont 5-5 and beat them 3-1 to take the series. Most recently, they fell in two games to #5 Minnesota, 7-1 and 6-2.
St. Thomas has a -9 goal differential in five non-con games.
The Tommies have played three games against ranked non-conference opponents and they are 0-3-0.
1-1-1 home record, 0-1-0 away record, 0-1-0 neutral site record

MASON POOLMAN – CCHA DEFENSMAN OF THE MONTH
Mason Poolman was named CCHA Defenseman of the Month, the first Tommie to receive the honor in program history.

Poolman, a native of East Grand Forks, Minn.. scored two goals and added an assist in game one against the Vermont Catamounts and tallied the game-winning goal in game two against the nonconference foe. His second goal on Friday tied the game at five and pushed the affair to overtime.

He matched the Tommies' single-season program record for goals by a defenseman in just one weekend. The sophomore is now tied with Ethan Gauer (2022-23) and Trevor Zins (2021-22). He also surpassed his freshman season goal total of two.

After a week off for the Toms' early season bye, Poolman added an assist in St. Thomas' game-two loss against #5 Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center.

He is currently tied for the team-lead with five points and sits in the top 10 in the CCHA in points, goals, points per game, and goals per game. He also paced all conference defenseman in goals and points during October.

The award is Poolman's second CCHA honor of any sort in his 33-game collegiate career. He is the first Tommie in program history to be named Defenseman of the Month and the first defenseman to receive more than one in-season CCHA honor in program history.

AARON TROTTER – OFFENSE EXTRAORDINAIRE
Junior goaltender, Aaron Trotter added his fifth career point with an assist on Cooper Gay's empty-net goal at the end of the Toms' 3-1 win over Vermont two weekends ago. Trotter is still lacking that first career goalie goal as all five of his points have come from assists. He recorded two his freshman year, two his sophomore year, and one in one game this year.

The goaltender is tied for 30^th all-time in scoring for the Tommies in their short 3+ year Division I history. Externally, Trotter is far-and-away the best offensive goalie in the country. His five career points are most among active NCAA Division I Men's Hockey.

As of the Saturday in which Trotter added his fifth point, there were just seven active goaltenders with two points and 25 goalies with at least one point. One of those 25 other goalies is Jake Sibell with one career point scored last season for St. Thomas. The Tommies are one of three programs in the country with two goaltenders who have recorded at least one point, Holy Cross and Penn State are the other two.

PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR – LUCAS WAHLIN
Junior, Lucas Wahlin was the first Tommie to score 30 points in a season, the first Tommie to be named to an All-CCHA team, and now the first Tommie in Division I program history to be named CCHA Preseason Player of the Year.

He was one of three named by conference head coaches along with Isaac Gordon of Michigan Tech and Connor Milburn of Lake Superior State. Wahlin was the only Preseason Player of the Year selected by the media. He was also named to both Preseason All-CCHA Teams.

The junior captain set career marks in goals (12), assists (18), and points (30) while playing in all 37 games last season. He ranked t-11^th in goals, t-7^th in assists, t-7^th in points, and 3^rd in shots in the conference.

Wahlin, a native of Woodbury, Minn., is the program's leader in points (51) and is the only Tommie above the 50-point milestone during the DI era. He was also the program's first sophomore captain.

He earned Second-Team All-CCHA, CCHA All-Academic, and CCHA Scholar Athlete honors last season and was named conference player of the week on November 6 for his four points in a weekend series sweep of Northern Michigan.

DI SCORING RECORD HOLDERS

Mack Byers (2022-24; 31), Luke Manning (2021-24; 23), Lucas Wahlin (21) round out the top three in DI goals scored
- Wahlin last scored a goal on the power play in the Tommies' 5-3 loss last weekend against Minnesota State
Lucas Wahlin (58), Ryan O'Neill (49), and Mack Byers (2022-24; 47), make up the top three in DI points
- Wahlin contributed a three-point performance (1G, 2A) in the Toms' game one loss to Minnesota State last weekend.
- O'Neill added an assist for his 49^th career point in that same 5-3 loss.

NHL DEVELOPMENT CAMPS

Chase Cheslock (New Jersey Devils)
Ryder Donovan (Vegas Golden Knights)
Cooper Gay (Colorado Avalanche)
Lucas Wahlin (St. Louis Blues)
Liam Malmquist (Los Angeles Kings)

NHL DRAFT PICKS

Ryder Donovan was selected as the 110^th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights.
- Donovan played three games last season for the Purple but made an instant impact with the overtime game-winner against ranked St. Cloud State to open the season.
Chase Cheslock was selected as the 154^th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils and is the Tommies first "homegrown" draft pick.
- Cheslock joined the Tommies mid-season and played 19 games with one goal and two assists. His first career goal came in the Toms' game-two playoff win over Lake Superior State.

CAPTAINS

Junior, Lucas Wahlin, wears the "C" on his chest for coach Rico Blasi's squad for the second consecutive season. Wahlin, a Woodbury, Minn. native, finished with 30 points in 37 games last season. He became the first Tommie in program history to surpass the 50-point career milestone on March 9^thagainst Lake Superior State. He played for three teams over three seasons in both the NAHL and USHL before finding a home on the corner of Cretin and Summit.
Seniors Ethan Gauer and Matthew Gleason along with junior Cooper Gay don the "A" this season.
Both Gauer and Gleason are one-time transfers, but Gauer has played in each season of the Tommies' four at the DI level. He has 25 career points and leads the program with 124 blocked shots in 103 career games in purple.
Matthew Gleason transferred in from Colorado College last season and had a career year. He scored five goals and added 18 assists for 23 points. Gleason is originally from St. Paul and played high school hockey for Cretin Derham Hall.
Cooper Gay was on track for a tremendous season before going down with an injury in the second half of the season. The Hanover, Minn. native scored 12 goals and added 10 assists for a total of 22 points in 29 games as a sophomore. Gay has scored the fifth most goals in program history (16) and is sixth in points (29).

TRANSFERS

Graduate student, Chase Foley, a Mendota Heights, Minn. native and Colorado College transfer, played 104 games for the Tigers and scored three goals with 28 assists over his four-year career as a defenseman. He is coming off a career season with two goals and 14 assists.
Graduate student, Ray Christy, a St. Paul, Minn. native and Colorado College transfer, played 105 games for the Tigers and scored five goals with nine assists over his four-year career as a defenseman. He is coming off a career season with two goals and five assists while wearing the "A".
Junior, Caige Sterzer, a Kimberley, B.C., Canada native and Lindenwood transfer, played 54 games for the Lions and scored 14 goals with 19 assists over his two-year NCAA career as a forward. He is coming off a career season with eight goals and 14 assists, he was the Lions leading point scorer.
Both Chase Foley and Ray Christy played their Minnesota High School hockey at Saint Thomas Ice Arena for the Saint Thomas Academy Cadets. Neither Christy nor Foley has played in Mendota Heights since 2017-18. Foley was the captain of that 2017-18 Cadets team.

FRESHMEN

First-year, Casy Laylin, native of St. Michael, Minn. most recently played for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the BCHL for a season and a half. The forward skated in 69 games and added 15 goals and 29 assists for Salmon Arm.
First-year forward, Nick Mikan, an Edina, Minn. native, most recently played for the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL where he skated in 35 games with eight goals and five assists.
First-year defenseman, Ethan Elias, a native of Maple Grove, Minn., most recently played for the Madison Capitols for two seasons where he skated in 105 games with 10 goals and 22 assists. He was the captain of the 2023-24 Capitols team.
First-year forward, Alexander Tell, from Linkoping, Sweden, skated in 49 games for Linkoping HC 120 and added 11 goals and 14 assists while wearing an "A".

SIBELL NAMED ONE OF NATION'S TOP TENDERS
Jake Sibell was named to the semi-finalist list for the Mike Richter Award last season. Sibell was the first in program history and only last season from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

The Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) announced the semifinalists for this year's Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men's NCAA Division I hockey since 2014. Ten goaltenders from a "Watch List" of 30 were singled out by a panel of voters across the hockey community.

Sibell was one of two goalies on the list from Minnesota (Ryan Bischel of Notre Dame from Medina, Minn.). He was also one of two from a team within the Land of 10,000 Lakes (Justen Close from the University of Minnesota).

Kyle McClellan of Wisconsin won the award for the 2023-24 season.

PRESEASON CCHA COACHES POLL
St. Thomas was picked to finish first in the Preseason CCHA Coaches Poll on September 12^th. The former high-water mark in the preseason poll was a fifth-place finish last season. The Toms earned 73 votes in total and tied with Bemidji State in first place votes (3). The Beavers earned 69 votes, four behind St. Thomas. Michigan Tech (2) and Minnesota State (1) finished third and fourth respectively and each earned at least one first place vote. Bowling Green (50), Lake Superior State (46), Augustana (46), Ferris State (28), and Northern Michigan (26) rounded out the poll.

PRESEASON CCHA MEDIA POLL
St. Thomas was picked to finish second in the Preseason CCHA Media Poll on September 12^th. This is the highest the Tommies have ever finished in the preseason media poll. Bemidji State came out on top with 107 total votes and five first place votes. The Tommies came up with the same amout of total votes (107) but earned one less first place vote. Minnesota State (2) and Michigan Tech (1) finished third and fourth respectively and each earned at least one first place vote. Bowling Green (63), Lake Superior State (60), Augustana (52), Northern Michigan (40), and Ferris State (33) rounded out the poll.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jake Braccini

Mack Byers

Chase Cheslock

Ray Christy

Grant Docter

Ryder Donovan

Ethan Elias

Chase Foley

Ethan Gauer

Cooper Gay

Matthew Gleason

Casy Laylin

Luc Laylin

Liam Malmquist

Luke Manning

J.D. Metz

Nick Mikan

Ryan O'Neill

Quinton Pepper

Mason Poolman

Jake Sibell

Caige Sterzer

Alexander Tell

Aaron Trotter

Lucas Wahlin

University of St. Thomas Athletics