Men’s Hockey travels to Michigan Tech

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES

Tommies Men's Hockey (3-8-4 overall, 2-5-3 CCHA) make the bus trip up to Houghton, Michigan for two games against the Michigan Tech Huskies (7-4-1 overall, 5-2-1 CCHA) this Friday, December 5 at 6:07 p.m. central and Saturday, December 6 at 5:07 p.m. central.
The final two games of the four-game season series with the Huskies will be played at Saint Thomas Ice Arena to finish the regular season on Friday, February 28^th and Saturday, March 1^st.
The Huskies come into the series with just one win in their last four games (1-2-1) against Bowling Green and Minnesota State. They got out to a hot conference start with four wins against Northern Michigan and Ferris State (3-0, 6-3, 3-2, 3-1). Tech is led offensively by junior New Hampshire transfer and Buffalo Sabres 3^rd round draft selection Stiven Sardarian who has seven goals and 12 points, he is coming off a three point weekend against Bowling Green. Both of their goaltenders, Derek Mullahy and Max Vayrynen has goals against averages below 1.90 and save percentages above .919. Their 2.00 opponent goals per game number ranks in the top-10 nationally.
The Tommies struggled in both of their games against Lake State with back-to-back two-goal losses. Gay continues to lead the conference and the Tommies with seven goals and Liam Malmquist leads both with 17 points. The Toms split time in net again last weekend, Aaron Trotter is 3-4-1 with a 2.88 GAA and .897 SV% and Jake Sibell is 0-4-3 with a 2.93 GAA and .904 SV%. The Tommies' .250 power play percentage leads the conference and is 12^th in the nation while their .831 penalty kill percentage is third in the CCHA.

ON THE RADIO

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SERIES HISTORY
The Huskies have won nine of the 14 games between the two programs over the last three seasons including the final game of the regular season last year with a 6-0 victory. The Toms had won each of the first three games of last year's season series and took nine of the 12 points available from Michigan Tech for the first time in program history.

The Toms are 2-6 all-time at MacInnes Arena. St. Thomas' first win over Tech was in Houghton on January 14, 2023 by a 3-2 score. Luc Laylin scored the game-winning goal in the third period with under four minutes remaining, he is the Toms' leading scorer against Tech with four career goals. Their only other win at the "Mac" was last season's 2-0 win to secure home-ice advantage in the CCHA Quarterfinals. Liam Malmquist scored with one minute remaining in the second and Aaron Trotter carried the load with a 36-save shutout (his second of three total career shutouts). Trotter has a 2.73 goals against average and .915 save percentage against the Huskies.

Both teams have struggled on the power play (or have been tremendous on the penalty kill if looked at optimistically) with just 12 power play goals in the 14 games between the two teams. Each side has scored six at an 11% rate for the Purple and a 13% rate for the Huskies. The Toms were 2-13 last season and Tech was 1-12.

CHASE FOLEY – NOVEMBER DEFENSEMAN OF THE MONTH
The Central Collegiate Hockey Association released its monthly honors and named grad transfer Chase Foley CCHA Defenseman of the Month, the second Tommie defenseman to be honored this season.

Foley, a native of Mendota Heights, Minn. has helped propel the Tommie power play from worst in the CCHA and one of the worst in the country through the first six games to the best in the conference and 12^th best in the nation at 25% (12-48). The blue liner contributed on eight power play goals with one goal of his own and seven assists during November. The Tommies' power play during that 10-game stretch jumped to 42.9% (12-28).

His nine points this season are the fourth most all-time for a Tommie defenseman. He has 19 games to tie Ethan Gauer's single-season program record 12 points. Foley has also climbed into the top 20 all-time scoring list for the Tommies' short Division I history.

The Colorado College transfer has a point in five of his last six games and added a point in seven of the Tommies' ten November games. He added his only multi-point game of the season against Minnesota State on 11/8 and scored his first goal in purple on 11/29 against Lake Superior State.

The award is Foley's first CCHA honor. He is the second Tommie in program history to be named Defenseman of the Month, Mason Poolman did it earlier this season for the month of October.

MALMQUIST'S TORRENT START
Liam Malmquist is currently the CCHA's leader with 17 points and 12 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). He scored 12 points during the month of November.

It took him just eight games to surpass the 10-point mark when he scored his 10^th and 11^th 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

NOVEMBER RECAP

2-5-3 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
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.
Tied Bemidji State in game one 2-2, lost in the shootout, fell to the Beavers in regulation, 2-1 in game two.
Fell in both games by two goals each against Lake State.
Cooper Gay was named CCHA Forward of the Week for the first time in his career after his three-goal weekend against the Falcons.
Chase Foley was named CCHA Defenseman of the Month for his eight power play points to lead the Tommie power play to its top spot in the conference (25%)
Lucas Wahlin and Matthew Gleason each pace the Tommies with five goals in November, Liam Malmquist's 12 points led the team.
Aaron Trotter made six starts in goal with a .900 SV% and 2.67 GAA.
Jake Sibell saw action in four games with a .933 SV% and 1.94 GAA.
The Toms were 12-31 on the power play (38.7%) and 37-44 on the penalty kill (84.1%).

CCHA RANKINGS

Cooper Gay T-1^st with 7 goals
Matthew Gleason and Lucas Wahlin T-4^th with 6 goals
Liam Malmquist T-11^th with 5 goals
Malmquist leads with 12 assists
Chase Foley T-4^th with 8 assists – T-1^st among defensemen
Malmquist leads with 17 points
Wahlin and Gay T-6^th with 11 points
Gay leads with 58 shots, Wahlin 2^nd (57), Malmquist 3^rd (50)
Gleason 7^th with .530 FO%
Wahlin 10^th with .523 FO%
Malmquist leads with 2 shorthanded goals
Gay 2^nd with 4 power play goals

NCAA RANKINGS

Liam Malmquist T-20^th with .80 assists per game
Lucas Wahlin 14th with 169 faceoff wins
Matthew Gleason T-32^nd with 134 faceoff wins
Cooper Gay T-33^rd with .50 goals per game
Malmquist T-26^th with 1.13 points per game
Gay T-7^th with 4 power play goals
Malmquist T-3^rd with 2 shorthanded goals
Matthew Gleason T-9^th with 1 shorthanded goal
St. Thomas – 21^st with .831 penalty kill
St. Thomas – 12^th with .250 power play
St. Thomas – 4^th with 15.40 penalty minutes per game
St. Thomas – T-2^nd with 4 shorthanded goals

CURRENT TOMMIES AGAINST MICHIGAN TECH

Jake Braccini – 1G-4A-5P
Luc Laylin – 4G-0A-4P
Liam Malmquist – 2G-2A-4P
Matthew Gleason – 1G-3A-4P
Grant Docter – 0G-3A-3P
Ethan Gauer – 0G-3A-3P
Carson Peters – 0G-2A-2P
Ryan O'Neill – 0G-2A-2P
Mason Poolman, Lucas Wahlin, Cooper Gay – 1G-0A-1P
Aaron Trotter, Quinton Pepper, Chase Cheslock, Tobias Abrahamsson – 0G-1A-1P
Aaron Trotter – 2-5-0, 214 saves, 20 GA, 2.73 GAA, .915 SV%
Jake Sibell – 1-1-0, 39 saves, 5 GA, 3.41 GAA, .886 SV%

GOING STREAKING

Lucas Wahlin – 2 game goal streak
Liam Malmquist – 2 game point streak (3A)
Chase Foley – 2 game point streak (1G 1A)
Ryan O'Neill – 2 game point streak (2A)
Cooper Gay – 2 game point streak (2A)

2024-25 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Mason Poolman Defenseman of the Week (10/13/24)
Cooper Gay Forward of the Week (11/18/24)

2024-25 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE MONTH

Mason Poolman Defenseman of the Month (10/30/24)
Chase Foley Defenseman of the Month (12/3/24)

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

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 (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. 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 32^nd 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 were one of three programs in the country with two goaltenders to have recorded at least one point, Holy Cross and Penn State were the other two at the time of Trotter's fifth point.

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), Lucas Wahlin (24), Luke Manning (2021-24; 23) and Cooper Gay (23) round out the top three in DI goals scored
- Wahlin leapfrogged into second all-time in goal scoring after adding a goal in each of the Tommies' games against Lake State last weekend.
- Gay scored three goals 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 (62), Ryan O'Neill (54), and Mack Byers (2022-24; 47), make up the top three in DI points
- Wahlin added two points last weekend against Lake State.
- O'Neill assisted on two goals last weekend, he had five assists in his last five games.

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

Tobias Abrahamsson

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

Nick Mikan

Ryan O'Neill

Quinton Pepper

Carson Peters

Mason Poolman

Jake Sibell

Caige Sterzer

Alexander Tell

Aaron Trotter

Lucas Wahlin

University of St. Thomas Athletics