Men’s Hockey enters weekend on a hot streak

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES

Tommie Men's Hockey (8-10-4 overall, 5-6-3 CCHA) struts into Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. on a four-game winning streak, its longest of the season. Their weekend series with the Lake Superior State Lakers (9-12-1 overall, 7-7-0 CCHA) is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 17 at 6:07 p.m. locally and Saturday, Jan. 18 at 5:07 p.m. locally.
The Lakers have won just one of their last six games, most recently coming off a split against Michigan Tech on the road. They scored four unanswered goals to come from down two in their game one victory over the Huskies. Sasha Teleguine, the CCHA's leading goal scorer, added two in the win. Lake State was then shutout in a 1-0 game in which they mustered just 21 shots on goal. Teleguine leads the team with 11 goals but Connor Milburn has been their most productive player with 17 points. Rorke Applebee has been their man in net with a 9-10-1 record, 2.65 goals against average, and .916 save percentage. Applebee allowed five goals on 48 shots in two wins against the Tommies earlier this season.
St. Thomas comes in off their first conference series sweep of the season. They took down Ferris State in record-breaking fashion with a 9-6 win on Friday and then scored two unanswered goals in the third period on Saturday to complete the comeback victory, 4-3. Cooper Gay leads the team with 11 goals and Liam Malmquist is a top the team with 28 points. Jake Sibell and Aaron Trotter have been sharing the load between the pipes this season. The Tommies remain atop the CCHA's power play units with a 27.8%, 4^th in the country, and their penalty kill is 4^th in the conference (.810).

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SERIES HISTORY
The Lakers have won nine of the 15 meetings between the two programs over the last four seasons, including a sweep of the Tommies at Saint Thomas Ice Arena earlier this season. The Toms are 1-3 on the road against the Lakers, they have not played in Sault Ste. Marie since 2/18/23.

Lucas Wahlin leads the way with 10 career points against the Lakers. His four goals are also the most scored against Lake State among current Tommies.

Special teams play has been dominated by the Tommies with a 29.3% power play conversion rate (17-58) and 83.3% penalty killing rate (40-48). Earlier this season, the Toms were 3-5 on the power play and 8-10 on the penalty kill.

Liam Malmquist - CCHA Forward of the Week

The Central Collegiate Hockey Association released its weekly honors and senior Liam Malmquist was named CCHA Forward of the Week for the second time in his career.

Malmquist, a native of Edina, Minn. recorded the Tommies second hat trick in program history during a record-breaking 9-6 win over the Ferris State Bulldogs. He then recorded a goal and an assist on Lucas Wahlin's game-tying goal in their 4-3 win on Saturday to extend his multi-point streak to four games.

The senior forward is leading the CCHA in points with a career-high 28 at a rate of 1.27 points per game. He is 10^th in the nation in points per game and tied for 11^th in the nation at .82 assists per game. His five power play goals are good for second in the conference and are a part of the 4^th best power play in the country at 27.8%.

SOMEBODY, STOP THAT MALM!
Liam Malmquist's four-point performance against Lindenwood moved him into the top three in program history with 50 points in Purple. He is the third Tommie to surpass 50 career points (Lucas Wahlin 67 points and Ryan O'Neill 55).

He completed the feat in 56 games, a program record. It took O'Neill 82 games and Wahlin 62 games.

RAZOR-THIN MARGINS
Before last weekend, the Tommies had played five one-goal games this season and lost all five. They had also played into overtime four times and tied all four. Overall, that was nine games decided by no more than one goal, and a record of 0-5-4.

That all changed on Friday against with Lions with their 3-2 overtime win. It was their first OT win in 454 days since Ryder Donovan and the Toms shocked the Huskies on 10/7/23. It was also their first win in a one-goal game since 1/11/24 when the defeated Michigan Tech 4-3 at home.

The Tommies are now 2-0-0 in one-goal games since that 0-5-2 start.

CCHA RANKINGS

Cooper Gay T-1^st with 11 goals
Lucas Wahlin & Liam Malmquist T-4^th with 10 goals
Matthew Gleason T-9^th with 8 goals
Liam Malmquist T-1^st with 18 assists
Wahlin T-5^th with 12 assists
Chase Foley T-8^th with 11 assists
Liam Malmquist 1^st with 28 points
Lucas Wahlin 3^rd with 22 points
Cooper Gay T-8^th with 17 points
Wahlin, Gay, Malmquist – 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd in shots
Gleason T-2^nd with .240 shot %
Wahlin 1^st with 15 penalties
Gay & Malmquist T-2^nd with 5 power play goals
Gleason T-6^th with 3 power play goals
Gay 1^st with .58 goals per game
Malmquist T-1^st with .82 assists per game
Malmquist 1^st with 1.27 points per game
Wahlin 3^rd with 1.00 points per game
Malmquist 1^st with 2 shorthanded goals
Malmquist T-11^th with +7 rating

NCAA RANKINGS

Liam Malmquist T-11^th with .82 assists per game
Lucas Wahlin T-33^rd with 197 faceoff wins
Matthew Gleason 43^rd with 188 faceoff wins
Cooper Gay 11^th with .58 goals per game
Malmquist & Wahlin T-43^rd with .45 goals per game
Malmquist 9^th with 1.27 points per game
Gay & Malmquist T-12^th with 5 power play goals
Gleason T-41^st with 3 power play goals
Malmquist T-3^rd with 2 shorthanded goals
Matthew Gleason T-17^th with 1 shorthanded goal
St. Thomas – 4^th with .278 power play
St. Thomas – 5^th with 12.77 penalty minutes per game
St. Thomas – T-2^nd with 5 shorthanded goals

CURRENT TOMMIES AGAINST LAKE SUPERIOR STATE

Lucas Wahlin – 4G-6A-10P
Luc Laylin – 1G-8A-9P
Liam Malmquist – 2G-6A-8P
Matthew Gleason – 3G-2A-5P
Ryan O'Neill – 2G-3A-5P
Grant Docter – 0G-3A-3P
Jake Braccini – 1G-2A-3P
Ethan Gauer – 0G-2A-2P
Quinton Pepper – 1G-1A-2P
Mason Poolman – 0G-2A-2P
Cooper Gay – 0G-2A-2P
Chase Cheslock – 1G-1A-2P
Chase Foley – 1G-1A-2P
Jase Sofo – 1G-0A-1P
Carson Peters – 0G-1A-1P
Alexander Tell – 1G-0A-1P
Casy Laylin – 0G-1A-1P
Aaron Trotter – 5-4-0, 236 saves, 18 GA, .929 SV%, 2.01 GAA, 1 assist
Jake Sibell – 0-2-0, 62 saves, 6 GA, .912 SV%, 3.05 GAA

GOING STREAKING

Lucas Wahlin - four-game point streak & three-game goal streak
Ryan O'Neill – two-game point streak
Jake Braccini – two-game point streak
Luc Laylin – three-game point streak
Cooper Gay – two-game point streak
Liam Malmquist – four-game point streak (four-game multi-point streak)

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)
Lucas Wahlin Forward of the Week (1/6/25)
Liam Malmquist Forward of the Week (1/13/25)

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)

JANUARY RECAP

4-0-0 record, +7 goal differential
Swept Lindenwood for the first of the season. They won their first overtime game of the year, 3-2 before a come-from-behind effort in game two.
Swept Ferris State with a program-record nine goals on Friday and came back in the final half of the third period on Saturday.
Liam Malmquist and Lucas Wahlin are each leading the way for the Tommies with nine points a piece during January.
Liam Malmquist leads the Toms with four points in January. Malmquist is also leading the way with four goals this month.
Jake Sibell got the wins in both games against Ferris State with a 3.81 goals against average and .870 save percentage. Aaron Trotter got both wins against Lindenwood, he has a 2.73 goals against average and .906 save percentage this month.
The Toms are 6-13 on the power play (46.2%) and 10-13 on the penalty kill (76.9%).

DECEMBER RECAP

1-2-0 record, +1 goal differential
Split series on the road against a strong Michigan Tech team. Outshot the Huskies 26-25 but could not find the equalizer after taking and giving up an early lead. St. Thomas was greatly outshot against Tech in game two 30-17 but rode a three-goal first period to an easy victory.
Fell in second game of split series with #12 St, Cloud state in 5^th one-goal loss of the season, 2-1.
Mason Poolman, Cole Miller, Lucas Wahlin, Matthew Gleason, Liam Malmquist, Alexander Tell, and Chase Cheslock each led the Tommies with 2 points during December. Poolman, Miller, Wahlin, Gleason, Malmquist, and Cooper Gay each had one of the Toms' six goals.
Aaron Trotter appeared in three games with an 0-2-0 record, 1.65 GAA, .942SV%, 4GA, 65SV in 145 minutes
Jake Sibell made one start but was removed midway due to injury. He has a 1-0-0 record, 1.94GAA, .944SV%, 1GA, 17SV in 31 minutes.
The Toms were 1-11 on the power play (9.1%) and 4-6 on the penalty kill (66.6%).

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%).

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.
435 career wins (23^rd all-time / seventh among active head coaches)

NON-CONFERENCE

St. Thomas played 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' dropped the second half of their split series with #12 St. Cloud. They wrapped up their out-of-conference schedule with a sweep of the Lindenwood Lions, their first of the season.
The Toms were 3-4-1 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. They fell in two games to #5 Minnesota, 7-1 and 6-2 and lost another one-goal battle with #12 St. Cloud State. Most recently they swept Lindenwood on the road, 3-2 in overtime and 4-2.
St. Thomas had a -7 goal differential in eight non-con games.
The Tommies have played four games against ranked non-conference opponents and they are 0-4-0.
1-1-1 home record, 2-2-0 away record, 0-1-0 neutral site record

A MAGICIAN AT WORK
Liam Malmquist is one of three players in the CCHA with at least a point per game of production (1.15) his teammate, Lucas Wahlin is one of them. In total, the Edina native has a CCHA-leading 28 points in 22 games. Malmquist 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 and has added nine points in two games this month.

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 was 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

Lucas Wahlin will hold onto the title for fastest to the 20-point mark, he did so in just 16 games last season, Malmquist has played 17 already this year. Wahlin scored 30 points for the first time in program history last season, it took him 36 games, Malmquist is currently on pace for 48.3 points (including two CCHA playoff games).

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.

MASON POOLMAN – CCHA DEFENSEMAN 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.

DI SCORING RECORD HOLDERS

Mack Byers (2022-24; 31), Lucas Wahlin (28), and Cooper Gay (27) round out the top three in DI goals scored
- Wahlin scored one goal in each of his games against the Bulldogs last week including the game-tying goal in the Toms' third period comeback victory on Saturday. He has a goal in three consecutive games.
- Gay has done nothing but score goals since coming back from injury on 12/29. He has four goals in the five games during that stretch including one in each of the Ferris State contests. He leads the Toms with 11 this season.
Lucas Wahlin (73), Ryan O'Neill (58), and Liam Malmquist (55), make up the top three in DI points
- Wahlin became the first Tommie to the 70-career point mark with a six point weekend. It took the junior 84 games to reach the milestone.
- O'Neill's tallied three points last weekend, two in game one and one in game two.
- Malmquist added five points against Ferris State with his first career hat trick on Friday. He leads the CCHA in points with 28 this season.

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".

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.

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.

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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

Nick Mikan

Cole Miller

Ryan O'Neill

Quinton Pepper

Carson Peters

Mason Poolman

Jake Sibell

Jase Sofo

Caige Sterzer

Alexander Tell

Aaron Trotter

Lucas Wahlin

University of St. Thomas Athletics