University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, October 24
St. Paul, Minn. / Lee & Penny Anderson Arena
7:07 p.m. CST
vs
Providence
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Men’s Hockey opens Lee & Penny Anderson Arena against #15 Providence
10/23/2025 2:28:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The Tommies play hockey on campus for the first time in the DI era this Friday and Saturday
St. Paul, Minn. – After four years of playing Division I hockey out of a high school rink, St. Thomas Men's Hockey (2-3-0) will play in front of a 4,000+ crowd this coming Friday and Saturday at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena against the #15 Providence Friars (1-2-0) for the first time.
The Tommies are coming off a road split with the Air Force Falcons in which they won game one, 11-2, and lost game two, 6-2. That 11-goal game was program-record breaking in too many categories to count with goals from eight different Tommies and points from all but three skaters in the lineup.
Providence has only hit the ice three times this season with a season-opening series sweep at home at the hands of Michigan and then a 5-1 win over RPI on the road last weekend. The Friars deploy tremendous skill up and down the lineup and are spearheaded by 10th overall draft pick, Roger McQueen, the talented Saskatoon native has one collegiate point in his first three games. They have been backstopped in every game this season by fourth rounder, Philip Svedeback.
THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
-The Tommies and Friars battle for the first time in DI program history on Friday, October 24th at 7:07 p.m. CST and Saturday, October 25th at 7:07 p.m. CST. The games will be the first two men's hockey games to take place at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
-Providence finished 21-11-5 last season under head coach, Nate Leaman. 2024-25 was the Friar's eighth 20-win campaign under Leaman during his 15-year tenure. They made it to the NCAA tournament for the seventh time under Leaman, and the 16th time in program history. The Friars lost to Denver in the first round at the Manchester Regional.
-St. Thomas finished last season as one of the hottest teams in college hockey. Their historic run ended at the Mason Cup Final with a loss in their first trip to the CCHA Championship game. Had they won that game, they would not have been eligible for the tournament. The Tommies are eligible for the NCAA tournament this season.
-The Friars are 1-2 to begin this season and have been nationally ranked since the USCHO's preseason poll. They got swept by Michigan, 5-1 and 3-1, at home before taking down RPI on the road, 5-1. Will Elger led the way with two goals. While acknowledging the sample size is still quite small, they have been great on special teams with a 37.5% power play and 91.7% penalty kill.
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 home games 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.
KILLIN' IT
-The Tommies were a perfect, 6-6 on the penalty kill last weekend against the Air Force Falcons.
-The last time the Tommies finished a two-game series without allowing a power play goal was on 1/17&1/18 of 2025 against Lake Superior State. They held the Lakers off the board on five power plays. Both of those games went to overtime, the Tommies took the first and tied the second.
WITHOUT YOU
-The Tommies played their first full series without Lucas Wahlin last weekend since February 10-11 of 2023. He had played in 84 straight games since then.
ON THE PLUS SIDE
-Mason Poolman's +5 was one of the best in DI program history and was a personal best, he had recorded a pair of +3 games in his career.
-Charlie Schoen recorded his first career +4 rating on Friday.
-Cole Miller recorded his third career +3 rating on Friday against Air Force. The other two were on 3/7/25 in the Mason Cup Playoffs against Ferris State and on 10/13/23 against the Minnesota Gophers at Xcel Energy Center.
THERE'S NOTHING LIKE YOUR FIRST TIME
-Josh Giuliani scored his first career collegiate goal on Friday against Air Force, and then he scored his second, and then his third on Saturday. He is the first freshman with a three-goal weekend since Luc Laylin on 2/3/23 and 2/4/23 against Minnesota State. He is just the fourth freshman to do it for the Tommies (Josh Eernisse, Mack Byers, and Laylin).
-Dylan Godbout scored his first collegiate goal on Friday against the Falcons, he finished the game with three points, his first career multi-point game.
-Nick Williams scored his first goal as a Tommie, he had one in 59 games with Michigan Tech (the goal came against the Tommies on 3/2/24).
-Luke Schelter added his first career point in his first game.
-Colton Jamieson also contributed his first point.
-Aaron Trotter earned his first win of the season; he is the program's leader with 28 career victories.
-Luc Laylin earned his first career +3.
LUCAS HIM GO
-Lucas Wahlin is currently riding a 12-game point streak dating back to 2/8 of last season, he has 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points.
-He is five points shy of 100 career points; he would be the first Tommie to 100 points in DI program history. Liam Malmquist finished with 72 points in purple and the two closest active Tommies are Ryan O'Neill (70) and Jake Braccini (49).
GOING STREAKING
-Lucas Wahlin – 12 game point streak (three game goal streak)
-Alex Gaffney – five game point streak (two game goal streak)
-Josh Giuliani – two game goal streak
-Nick Williams – two game point streak
-Casy Laylin – two game point streak
-Chase Cheslock – two game point streak
MILESTONE WATCH
-Career Games Played
-Alex Gaffney Forward of the Week (10/20/25)
-Chase Cheslock Defenseman of the Week (10/6/25)
OCTOBER RECAP
-2-3-0, -2 goal differential
-Won the first game of the season over St. Cloud State on the road, Nathan Pilling scored the game winning goal.
-Dropped a pair to North Dakota, 6-2 and 5-2.
-Split the road series with Air Force, with an 11-2 win in game one and a 6-2 loss in game two.
-Alex Gaffney leads the Tommies with nine points (4G-5A) in October.
-Carsen Musser is 1-3-0 with a 4.76 GAA and .835 SV%.
-Aaron Trotter is 1-0-0 with a 2.50 GAA and .911 SV%
-The Toms are 6-20 (30%) on the power play and 10-15 (66%) on the penalty kill.
DI SCORING RECORD HOLDERS
-Lucas Wahlin (38), Cooper Gay (35, 2022-25), and Mack Byers (31, 2022-24) round out the top three in DI goals scored.
-Bauer Berry (Edmonton Oilers)
-Chase Cheslock (New Jersey Devils)
-Carsen Musser (Utah Mammoth)
-Nathan Pilling (Ottawa Senators)
-Lucas Van Vliet (Vegas Golden Knights)
-Lucas Wahlin (Colorado Avalanche)
NHL DRAFT PICKS
-Bauer Berry was selected as the 218th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2024 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers.
-Chase Cheslock was selected as the 154th overall pick of the 2023 NHL draft by the New Jersey Devils and was the first drafted Tommie to commit to the program out of high school.
-Carsen Musser was selected as the 166th overall pick of the 2023 NHL draft by the Utah Mammoth.
-Lucas Van Vliet was selected as the 197th overall pick of the 2024 NHL draft by the Vegas Golden Knights.
IN GOOD COMPANY
-Lucas Wahlin entered the season third in career points in the NCAA among active players. His 92 (now 95) put him above all members of the CCHA and behind only Jeremy Wilmer of Quinnipiac (109) and T.J. Hughes of Michigan (122).
-Wahlin's 35 (now 38) career goals were ninth-most among active players.
-His 57 assists were fourth.
-Aaron Trotter's 78 career games in goal were fifth most in the country.
-Trotter's 26 career wins were tied for 10th.
PRESEASON PUB
-The Tommies were picked to finish in first place in the CCHA coaches' poll for the second consecutive season earlier in September.
-They were also selected second in the media poll for the second year in a row.
-Lucas Wahlin was once again named Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches after his 17-24—41 point season last year. The now senior was selected as team captain for the third-year running last week.
-Newcomer, Nathan Pilling, was named Preseason Rookie of the Year by the conference coaches. He skated in 218 total games across four seasons in the WHL for the Moose Jaw Warriors, Edmonton Oil Kings, and Seattle Thunderbirds… scored 70 career goals, added 56 career assists, and tallied 126 total points in the WHL… coming off a career-best season as assistant captain with the Thunderbirds with 37 goals, 30 assists, and 67 points in 67 games in 2024-25.
COACH BLASI
-Entering fifth season for St. Thomas
-During his 20-year tenure at Miami, 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 Alex Martinez, Jeff Zatkoff, Blake Coleman, and Riley Smith.
NICE TO MEET YA
St. Thomas returned just 13 players from its breakthrough 2024-25 squad. The Tommies welcome in 15 newcomers into the fold, 10 freshman and five transfers.
-Freshmen
-The Tommies are tied for the eighth most seniors in the country with eight.
-Between those eight seniors (Lucas Wahlin, Caige Sterzer, Ryan O'Neill, Quinton Pepper, Luc Laylin, Jake Braccini, Carson Peters, Aaron Trotter) they had amassed:
The Tommies are coming off a road split with the Air Force Falcons in which they won game one, 11-2, and lost game two, 6-2. That 11-goal game was program-record breaking in too many categories to count with goals from eight different Tommies and points from all but three skaters in the lineup.
Providence has only hit the ice three times this season with a season-opening series sweep at home at the hands of Michigan and then a 5-1 win over RPI on the road last weekend. The Friars deploy tremendous skill up and down the lineup and are spearheaded by 10th overall draft pick, Roger McQueen, the talented Saskatoon native has one collegiate point in his first three games. They have been backstopped in every game this season by fourth rounder, Philip Svedeback.
THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
-The Tommies and Friars battle for the first time in DI program history on Friday, October 24th at 7:07 p.m. CST and Saturday, October 25th at 7:07 p.m. CST. The games will be the first two men's hockey games to take place at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
-Providence finished 21-11-5 last season under head coach, Nate Leaman. 2024-25 was the Friar's eighth 20-win campaign under Leaman during his 15-year tenure. They made it to the NCAA tournament for the seventh time under Leaman, and the 16th time in program history. The Friars lost to Denver in the first round at the Manchester Regional.
-St. Thomas finished last season as one of the hottest teams in college hockey. Their historic run ended at the Mason Cup Final with a loss in their first trip to the CCHA Championship game. Had they won that game, they would not have been eligible for the tournament. The Tommies are eligible for the NCAA tournament this season.
-The Friars are 1-2 to begin this season and have been nationally ranked since the USCHO's preseason poll. They got swept by Michigan, 5-1 and 3-1, at home before taking down RPI on the road, 5-1. Will Elger led the way with two goals. While acknowledging the sample size is still quite small, they have been great on special teams with a 37.5% power play and 91.7% penalty kill.
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 home games 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.
KILLIN' IT
-The Tommies were a perfect, 6-6 on the penalty kill last weekend against the Air Force Falcons.
-The last time the Tommies finished a two-game series without allowing a power play goal was on 1/17&1/18 of 2025 against Lake Superior State. They held the Lakers off the board on five power plays. Both of those games went to overtime, the Tommies took the first and tied the second.
WITHOUT YOU
-The Tommies played their first full series without Lucas Wahlin last weekend since February 10-11 of 2023. He had played in 84 straight games since then.
ON THE PLUS SIDE
-Mason Poolman's +5 was one of the best in DI program history and was a personal best, he had recorded a pair of +3 games in his career.
-Charlie Schoen recorded his first career +4 rating on Friday.
-Cole Miller recorded his third career +3 rating on Friday against Air Force. The other two were on 3/7/25 in the Mason Cup Playoffs against Ferris State and on 10/13/23 against the Minnesota Gophers at Xcel Energy Center.
THERE'S NOTHING LIKE YOUR FIRST TIME
-Josh Giuliani scored his first career collegiate goal on Friday against Air Force, and then he scored his second, and then his third on Saturday. He is the first freshman with a three-goal weekend since Luc Laylin on 2/3/23 and 2/4/23 against Minnesota State. He is just the fourth freshman to do it for the Tommies (Josh Eernisse, Mack Byers, and Laylin).
-Dylan Godbout scored his first collegiate goal on Friday against the Falcons, he finished the game with three points, his first career multi-point game.
-Nick Williams scored his first goal as a Tommie, he had one in 59 games with Michigan Tech (the goal came against the Tommies on 3/2/24).
-Luke Schelter added his first career point in his first game.
-Colton Jamieson also contributed his first point.
-Aaron Trotter earned his first win of the season; he is the program's leader with 28 career victories.
-Luc Laylin earned his first career +3.
LUCAS HIM GO
-Lucas Wahlin is currently riding a 12-game point streak dating back to 2/8 of last season, he has 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points.
-He is five points shy of 100 career points; he would be the first Tommie to 100 points in DI program history. Liam Malmquist finished with 72 points in purple and the two closest active Tommies are Ryan O'Neill (70) and Jake Braccini (49).
GOING STREAKING
-Lucas Wahlin – 12 game point streak (three game goal streak)
-Alex Gaffney – five game point streak (two game goal streak)
-Josh Giuliani – two game goal streak
-Nick Williams – two game point streak
-Casy Laylin – two game point streak
-Chase Cheslock – two game point streak
MILESTONE WATCH
-Career Games Played
- Quinton Pepper is 1 away from 100
- Jake Braccini is 2 away from 100
- Carson Peters is 3 away from 100
- Lucas Wahlin is 5 away from 100
- Jake Braccini is 1 away from 50
- Luc Laylin is 2 away from 50
-Alex Gaffney Forward of the Week (10/20/25)
-Chase Cheslock Defenseman of the Week (10/6/25)
OCTOBER RECAP
-2-3-0, -2 goal differential
-Won the first game of the season over St. Cloud State on the road, Nathan Pilling scored the game winning goal.
-Dropped a pair to North Dakota, 6-2 and 5-2.
-Split the road series with Air Force, with an 11-2 win in game one and a 6-2 loss in game two.
-Alex Gaffney leads the Tommies with nine points (4G-5A) in October.
-Carsen Musser is 1-3-0 with a 4.76 GAA and .835 SV%.
-Aaron Trotter is 1-0-0 with a 2.50 GAA and .911 SV%
-The Toms are 6-20 (30%) on the power play and 10-15 (66%) on the penalty kill.
DI SCORING RECORD HOLDERS
-Lucas Wahlin (38), Cooper Gay (35, 2022-25), and Mack Byers (31, 2022-24) round out the top three in DI goals scored.
- Wahlin has scored one goal in each of the first three games this season, he finished last year with a career-high, 17.
- Wahlin has three points this season, one from each of the first three games.
- O'Neill added a pair of helpers in the Tommies' 11-2 win over Air Force last Friday.
-Bauer Berry (Edmonton Oilers)
-Chase Cheslock (New Jersey Devils)
-Carsen Musser (Utah Mammoth)
-Nathan Pilling (Ottawa Senators)
-Lucas Van Vliet (Vegas Golden Knights)
-Lucas Wahlin (Colorado Avalanche)
NHL DRAFT PICKS
-Bauer Berry was selected as the 218th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2024 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers.
-Chase Cheslock was selected as the 154th overall pick of the 2023 NHL draft by the New Jersey Devils and was the first drafted Tommie to commit to the program out of high school.
-Carsen Musser was selected as the 166th overall pick of the 2023 NHL draft by the Utah Mammoth.
-Lucas Van Vliet was selected as the 197th overall pick of the 2024 NHL draft by the Vegas Golden Knights.
IN GOOD COMPANY
-Lucas Wahlin entered the season third in career points in the NCAA among active players. His 92 (now 95) put him above all members of the CCHA and behind only Jeremy Wilmer of Quinnipiac (109) and T.J. Hughes of Michigan (122).
-Wahlin's 35 (now 38) career goals were ninth-most among active players.
-His 57 assists were fourth.
-Aaron Trotter's 78 career games in goal were fifth most in the country.
-Trotter's 26 career wins were tied for 10th.
PRESEASON PUB
-The Tommies were picked to finish in first place in the CCHA coaches' poll for the second consecutive season earlier in September.
-They were also selected second in the media poll for the second year in a row.
-Lucas Wahlin was once again named Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches after his 17-24—41 point season last year. The now senior was selected as team captain for the third-year running last week.
-Newcomer, Nathan Pilling, was named Preseason Rookie of the Year by the conference coaches. He skated in 218 total games across four seasons in the WHL for the Moose Jaw Warriors, Edmonton Oil Kings, and Seattle Thunderbirds… scored 70 career goals, added 56 career assists, and tallied 126 total points in the WHL… coming off a career-best season as assistant captain with the Thunderbirds with 37 goals, 30 assists, and 67 points in 67 games in 2024-25.
COACH BLASI
-Entering fifth season for St. Thomas
-During his 20-year tenure at Miami, 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 Alex Martinez, Jeff Zatkoff, Blake Coleman, and Riley Smith.
NICE TO MEET YA
St. Thomas returned just 13 players from its breakthrough 2024-25 squad. The Tommies welcome in 15 newcomers into the fold, 10 freshman and five transfers.
-Freshmen
- Bauer Berry | 6-4 | Defenseman | Grand Forks, N.D. | Muskegon (USHL)
- Josh Giuliani | 6-1 | Forward | Plymouth, Minn. | Dubuque (USHL)
- Hayes Hundley | 6-3 | Defenseman | Upper Arlington, Ohio | Fargo (USHL)
- Will Ingemann | 5-11 | Goaltender | Plymouth, Minn. | Penticton (BCHL)
- Colton Jamieson | 6-0 | Defenseman | Hudson, Wis. | Madison (USHL)
- Attila Lippai | 5-9 | Forward | St. Paul, Minn. | Tri-City (USHL)
- Nathan Pilling | 6-4 | Forward | Calgary, Alta. | Seattle (WHL)
- Sam Ranallo | 5-10 | Forward | Rogers, Minn. | Cranbrook (BCHL)
- Luke Schelter | 6-2 | Forward | Centennial, Colo. | Fargo (USHL)
- Lucas Van Vliet | 6-2 | Forward | Livonia, Mich. | Dubuque (USHL)
- Alex Gaffney | 5-9 | Forward | West Orange, N.J. | Harvard (NCAA)
- Dylan Godbout | 5-11 | Forward | Woodbury, Minn. | Ohio State (NCAA)
- Carsen Musser | 6-4 | Goaltender | Fairmont, Minn. | Colorado (NCAA)
- Charlie Schoen | 5-10 | Forward | Andover, Minn. | Arizona State (NCAA)
- Nick Williams | 5-9 | Defenseman | Edina, Minn, | Michigan Tech (NCAA)
-The Tommies are tied for the eighth most seniors in the country with eight.
-Between those eight seniors (Lucas Wahlin, Caige Sterzer, Ryan O'Neill, Quinton Pepper, Luc Laylin, Jake Braccini, Carson Peters, Aaron Trotter) they had amassed:
- 783 games
- 120 goals
- 210 assists
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
D
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
D
/ Men's Hockey
G
/ Men's Hockey
D
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
D
/ Men's Hockey
G
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
D
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
D
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
G
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
D
/ 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
