University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, November 22
Bemidji, Minn. / Sanford Center
7:07 p.m. Central
at
Bemidji State
Photo by: George Dannecker
Men’s Hockey on the road against reigning regular season CCHA champs
11/21/2024 1:18:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The Tommies head up to Bemidji for their first road trip of the season against the Beavers
THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
ON THE RADIO
CCHA TV ON MIDCO SPORTS PLUS
CCHA FORWARD OF THE WEEK – COOPER GAY
Cooper Gay was named CCHA Forward of the Week for this first time in his career after a three-goal four-point weekend series against Bowling Green.
His four points lead all skaters in the conference last weekend. All three of his goals came on the power play bumping his team-leading total to four, second most in the CCHA. He has half of the Toms' power play goals this season.
The 6'4" power forward leads the conference with seven goals through the Tommies' first 11 games. He is also tied for 18th in the country with his 0.64 goals per game. Gay is more than halfway to his career-best 12 goal tally that he put up in 29 games a season ago.
He is the seventh Tommie to be named Forward of the Week and the first since Ryan O'Neill last season on 12/4/23 after his five-point game and six-point weekend against Ferris State.
MALMQUIST'S TORRENT START
Liam Malmquist is currently the CCHA's leader with 13 points and nine assists. He is one of three players in the conference with at least a point per game of production. He scored a career-high 27 points in 36 games last season (0.75 points per game).
It took him just eight games to surpass the 10-point mark when he scored his 10th and 11th against Minnesota State on 11/8/24. He is the fastest Tommie to 10 points in program history.
2021-22: Christiano Versich – 17 games
2022-23: Lucas Wahlin – 15 games
2023-24: Lucas Wahlin – 10 games
2024:25: Liam Malmquist – 8 games
CCHA RANKINGS
NCAA RANKINGS
SERIES HISTORY
Bemidji State is 10-1-1 all-time against the Tommies with an overall goal differential of +24. They have taken each of the last five games by a combined score of 21-10 after the Tommies first and only victory on 2/24/23 in Mendota Heights. The Beavers took 11 of the 12 points from their series with the Toms last season, not game was decided by more than two goals. They are 5-0-1 against St. Thomas in Bemidji.
Bemidji State has been great on special teams in its 12-game history against St. Thomas. They have won the power play battle 33.3% to 15.8% going 9-27 with the man advantage and holding the Toms to 6-38. The Toms scored just one power play goal on 12 attempts last season. The Beavers were 4-7.
CURRENT TOMMIES AGAINST BEMIDJI STATE
GOING STREAKING
Liam Malmquist – two-game point streak (2A)
Cooper Gay – two-game goal streak (3G) & two-game point streak (3G, 1A)
Matthew Gleason – two-game goal streak (2G)
Chase Foley – two-game point streak (2A) – five points in last five games
2024-25 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
2024-25 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
OCTOBER RECAP
NOVEMBER RECAP
COACH BLASI
NON-CONFERENCE
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. 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 this year.
The goaltender is tied for 31st 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-11th in goals, t-7th in assists, t-7th in points, and 3rd 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
NHL DEVELOPMENT CAMPS
NHL DRAFT PICKS
CAPTAINS
TRANSFERS
FRESHMEN
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 12th. 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 12th. 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.
- The St. Thomas Tommies (3-5-3 overall, 2-2-2 CCHA) head up to Bemidji for a two-game CCHA series with the reigning regular season conference champion Bemidji State Beavers (5-6-0 overall, 3-3-0 CCHA). Friday's game at the Sanford Center begins at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday's is set to begin at 6:07 p.m.
- The final two games of the four-game season series with the Beavers will be played at Saint Thomas Ice Arena on Saturday, January 25 and Sunday, January 26.
- 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 Beavers come into this series riding high after their 3-1 victory over the third ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers last Saturday night. They have split each of their last four series with Ferris State, Minnesota State, Augustana, and Minnesota. They have an overtime win over then 18th ranked Minnesota Duluth and two losses to St. Cloud State. Offensively, they are led by junior Irey Kirklan with four goals and eight points, he is currently on a three-game point streak with three goals in the Minnesota series. Mattias Sholl is their man in net with a 4-6-0 record, 2.53 goals against average and .913 save percentage. Sholl earned three wins against the Tommies last season.
- The Tommies took four of six points at home against Bowling Green with a shootout loss in a 2-2 tie on Friday and a 6-3 victory on Saturday. Cooper Gay led the way with three power play goals in a CCHA Forward of the Week effort. Overall, Gay leads the Toms with seven goals and Liam Malmquist leads with 13 points. Both lead the CCHA in those respective categories. The Tommies split time in net again last weekend with Jake Sibell going on Friday and Aaron Trotter playing on Saturday. They sent home three power play goals last weekend to raise their power play percentage to 20%, forth in the conference. Their penalty kill is killing penalties at an 86% clip, third best in the CCHA.
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
- All St. Thomas and CCHA games will be live-streamed on Midco Sports Plus
- Midco Sports Plus provides each subscriber with access to all content and events with the purchase of a monthly or yearly subscription.
- Midco Sports Plus is available on IOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.
CCHA FORWARD OF THE WEEK – COOPER GAY
Cooper Gay was named CCHA Forward of the Week for this first time in his career after a three-goal four-point weekend series against Bowling Green.
His four points lead all skaters in the conference last weekend. All three of his goals came on the power play bumping his team-leading total to four, second most in the CCHA. He has half of the Toms' power play goals this season.
The 6'4" power forward leads the conference with seven goals through the Tommies' first 11 games. He is also tied for 18th in the country with his 0.64 goals per game. Gay is more than halfway to his career-best 12 goal tally that he put up in 29 games a season ago.
He is the seventh Tommie to be named Forward of the Week and the first since Ryan O'Neill last season on 12/4/23 after his five-point game and six-point weekend against Ferris State.
MALMQUIST'S TORRENT START
Liam Malmquist is currently the CCHA's leader with 13 points and nine assists. He is one of three players in the conference with at least a point per game of production. He scored a career-high 27 points in 36 games last season (0.75 points per game).
It took him just eight games to surpass the 10-point mark when he scored his 10th and 11th against Minnesota State on 11/8/24. He is the fastest Tommie to 10 points in program history.
2021-22: Christiano Versich – 17 games
2022-23: Lucas Wahlin – 15 games
2023-24: Lucas Wahlin – 10 games
2024:25: Liam Malmquist – 8 games
CCHA RANKINGS
- Cooper Gay leads with 7 goals
- Matthew Gleason T-4th with 5 goals
- Lucas Wahlin and Liam Malmquist T-10th with 4 goals
- Gay 2nd with .64 goals per game
- Gleason 6th with .45 goals per game
- Malmquist and Wahlin T-12th with .36 goals per game
- Malmquist leads with 9 assists
- Chase Foley T-7th with 6 assists – 2nd among defensemen
- Wahlin T-9th with 5 assists
- Malmquist leads with .82 assists per game
- Foley T-7th with .60 assists per game
- Malmquist leads with 13 points
- Gay and Wahlin T-4th with 9 points
- Malmquist leads with 1.18 points per game – one of three players at or above a point per game
- Wahlin and Gay T-5th with .82 points per game
- Gay leads with 50 shots
- Wahlin 6th with .553 FO%
- Gleason 7th with .532 FO%
- Malmquist leads with 2 shorthanded goals
- Gay 2nd with 4 power play goals
NCAA RANKINGS
- Liam Malmquist T-45th with .73 assists per game
- Lucas Wahlin 8th with 136 faceoff wins
- Cooper Gay T-18th with .64 goals per game
- Malmquist T-32nd with 1.09 points per game
- Gay T-5th with 4 power play goals
- Malmquist T-2nd with 2 shorthanded goals
- Matthew Gleason T-8th with 1 shorthanded goal
- St. Thomas – 17th with .860 penalty kill
- St. Thomas – 4th with 13.91 penalty minutes per game
- St. Thomas – T-2nd with 3 shorthanded goals
SERIES HISTORY
Bemidji State is 10-1-1 all-time against the Tommies with an overall goal differential of +24. They have taken each of the last five games by a combined score of 21-10 after the Tommies first and only victory on 2/24/23 in Mendota Heights. The Beavers took 11 of the 12 points from their series with the Toms last season, not game was decided by more than two goals. They are 5-0-1 against St. Thomas in Bemidji.
Bemidji State has been great on special teams in its 12-game history against St. Thomas. They have won the power play battle 33.3% to 15.8% going 9-27 with the man advantage and holding the Toms to 6-38. The Toms scored just one power play goal on 12 attempts last season. The Beavers were 4-7.
CURRENT TOMMIES AGAINST BEMIDJI STATE
- Lucas Wahlin – 3G-8A-11P
- Ethan Gauer – 1G-4A-5P
- Ryan O'Neill – 0G-5A-5P
- Cooper Gay – 2G-1A-3P
- Matthew Gleason – 0G-3A-3P
- Luc Laylin – 1G-1A-2P
- Mason Poolman – 1G-1A-2P
- Liam Malmquist – 1G-1A-2P
- Cole Miller – 1G-0A-1P
- Carson Peters – 0G-1A-1P
- J.D. Metz – 0G-1A-1P
- Aaron Trotter – 1-4-1, 159 saves, 22 GA, 3.88 GAA, .878 SV%
- Jake Sibell – 0-2-0, 64 saves, 4 GA, 2.05 GAA, .941 SV%
GOING STREAKING
Liam Malmquist – two-game point streak (2A)
Cooper Gay – two-game goal streak (3G) & two-game point streak (3G, 1A)
Matthew Gleason – two-game goal streak (2G)
Chase Foley – two-game point streak (2A) – five points in last five games
2024-25 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
- Mason Poolman Defenseman of the Week (10/13/24)
- Ryan O'Neill Forward of the Week (11/18/24)
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
- 2-2-2 record, +4 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
- Tied Bowling Green in game one, lost in the shootout, defeated the Falcons 6-3 in game two, their second largest margin of victory this season.
- Cooper Gay and Matthew Gleason each pace the Tommies with four goals in November, Liam Malmquist's eight points this month lead the team in that category.
- Aaron Trotter has made four starts in goal with a .901 SV% and 2.54 GAA this month.
- Jake Sibell has seen action in two games with a .949 SV% and 1.38 GAA during November.
- The Toms are 8-23 on the power play (34.8%) and 28-30 on the penalty kill (93.3%).
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.
- 430 career wins (23rd 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. 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 this year.
The goaltender is tied for 31st 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-11th in goals, t-7th in assists, t-7th in points, and 3rd 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), Cooper Gay (23) round out the top three in DI goals scored
- Gay scored three goals last weekend against Bowling Green, all on the power play. He leads the Tommies and the CCHA with seven goals this season, he is second in the conference with four power play goals.
- Lucas Wahlin (60), Ryan O'Neill (51), and Mack Byers (2022-24; 47), make up the top three in DI points
- Wahlin is now the first Tommie in program history to 60 career points after adding two against the Falcons, an assist and an goal.
- O'Neill became the second Tommie to eclipse 50 career points on an assist to Lucas Wahlin. He later added a goal in the Toms' 6-3 victory on Saturday.
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 110th 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 154th 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 9thagainst 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 12th. 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 12th. 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.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's HockeyPress Conference: Rico Blasi January 27th 2025
Monday, January 27
St. Thomas Men's Hockey 2023-24 Intro Video
Friday, October 27
Rico Blasi Pre-Season Press Conference, September 26th, 2022
Friday, October 21
Rico Blasi Press Conference October 3rd
Friday, October 21
