University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, November 21
St. Paul, Minn. / Lee & Penny Anderson Arena
7:07 p.m. CST
vs
Bowling Green
Photo by: George Dannecker
First place Falcons come into town to face-off with Men’s Hockey
11/20/2025 5:24:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The Tommies, unbeaten in their last three, host Bowling Green, unbeaten in their last four
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Some normalcy on the horizon for the St. Thomas Men's Hockey team (4-5-2 overall, 1-1-1 CCHA) after some odd scheduling quirks to begin the season. The Tommies will host the first place Bowling Green Falcons (4-3-3, 4-1-3) on Friday presented by 3KeyLogic and Saturday at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
The Falcons are unbeaten in their last four games and have lost just once since the opening weekend of the season. They swept the Ferris State Bulldogs with ease last weekend by scores of 9-5 and 5-2 after recording a pair of ties in Mankato against the nationally ranked Mavericks. Bowling Green also took a good Bemidji State squad to overtime twice. They have three players with 10+ points, Noah Morneau, Quinn Emerson, and Tyler Hotson. Time in net has been shared evenly between Jacob Steinman, Tyler Palmer, and Cole Moore. Palmer and Steinman got the starts last weekend.
St. Thomas is unbeaten in their last three with wins against Minnesota State and St. Cloud State and a tie on the road last weekend with the Augustana Vikings. The Purple have played the fewest conference games in the CCHA to this point. This weekend against the Falcons will be their first "normal" conference series of the season. Alex Gaffney continues to lead the Toms with seven goals and 15 points while Will Ingemann had taken over the reins in net for the last two weeks.
THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
-Friday night's game is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
-Saturday's matchup is scheduled for 6:07 p.m. at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
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.
GOALS GOALS GOALS
-This weekend will be a matchup between the two most high-powered CCHA offenses. The Tommies lead the conference with 3.55 goals per game (12th in NCAA), and the Falcons are right behind with an average of 3.40 (16th in NCAA).
-Both sides have scored at least nine goals in a single game this season, the Toms have not been shutout once and Bowling Green has not been shutout since their season-opening loss to Niagara.
CONFLICTING STYLES
-Bowling Green has committed 54 penalties this season for an average of 11:36 PIMs per game, third most in the CCHA and 22nd in the country.
-St. Thomas has committed 41 penalties this season for an average of 7:27 PIMs per game, the least in the CCHA and 56th least in the country. The only teams with fewer penalty minutes per game this season are RIT, UMass, Brown, and Quinnipiac.
-The Tommies' mark would be a single season program record by two whole minutes per game if the season ended today.
MISMATCH ON THE DOT
-The Falcons' 56.9% faceoff win rate is tops in the CCHA. Bowling Green is second in the entire nation behind only Wisconsin (57.1%). Interestingly, the Falcons do not have a single player in the top-50 of the most faceoff wins in the country but the Tommies' Nathan Pilling is 35th with 110 wins.
-The Tommies' 47.5% is better than only Augustana. St. Thomas is 49th in the nation.
SCHEDULING QUIRKS
-The Tommies have played just three conference games this season. The Falcons have played eight. Most have played at least six games in CCHA play.
-St. Thomas' three conference games are the fewest of any team in the country. (outside of the ECAC which has its own scheduling oddities, Quinnipiac and Princeton have each only played two).
BRACE YOURSELF
-Jake Braccini scored in the ninth minute of the second period last Saturday against the Augustana Vikings. The goal was his third of the season but more importantly, the 50th point of his career.
-Braccini joined the Tommies in 2022-23 as a member of the "believer" class and has played 103 games for the Purple, seventh most in the DI era.
-He is the fifth Tommie to eclipse the 50-point mark behind Cooper Gay, Ryan O'Neill, Liam Malmquist, and Wahlin. All but Malmquist were also members of that 2022-23 freshman class.
-Jake's 22 goals are seventh most in the DI era and his 28 assists are sixth. He is also 11th with 55 career blocks, third amongst Tommie forwards.
OPENED THE FLOODGATES
-Since the Tommies defeated the Falcons for the first time on 1/19/23 they are 6-2-3 after losing the first six matchups from 2021-23.
-The pair of sides battled five times last season and the Toms came away with the season series, 3-1-1 including a 3-1 victory in the Mason Cup Semifinals at Saint Thomas Ice Arena.
-St. Thomas has not lost a season series against Bowling Green since the 2022-23 season.
-They are 3-3-3 all-time on home ice when playing BGSU, but have not played them at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
POINTS PARITY
-The Tommies have had a different player lead them in points each of their first four seasons of DI play.
450 FOR BLASI
-Head coach, Rico Blasi, won his 450th game on Tuesday, November 11 against St. Cloud State. The now 25-year head coach currently sits 22nd all-time and fourth among active head coaches. He is 13 wins away from Murray Armstrong in 21st place, 18 from Joe Marsh in 20th, and 22 from Don Vaughan in 19th.
100 FOR WAHLIN
-Lucas Wahlin became the first Tommie to score 100 career points after his three-point burst against the Huskies on Tuesday, November 11. The Tommie captain did so in 109 games at a 0.92 points per game pace.
-25 different players either assisted on a Wahlin goal or scored a goal off a Wahlin assist over the course of the last four seasons.
-Liam Malmquist led each category with 12 assists on Wahlin goals and 15 goals off Wahlin assists.
WILL THE WALL
-Will Ingemann has been on fire in November with a 2-0-1 record behind a 2.57 goals against average and .914 save percentage.
-He leads all three Tommie netminders this season with two wins in five appearances and has been the only man between the pipes in November.
CURRENT TOMMIES AGAINST BOWLING GREEN
-Ryan O'Neill – 1G-8A-9P
-Lucas Wahlin – 3G-4A-7P
-Jake Braccini – 1G-5A-6P
-Quinton Pepper– 1G-4A-5P
-Casy Laylin – 1G-1A-2P
-Nick Williams – 0G-2A-2P (with MTU)
-Caige Sterzer – 1G-0A-1P
-Luc Laylin – 0G-1A-1P
-Carson Peters – 0G-1A-1P
-Aaron Trotter – 3-3-2, 241 saves, 488 mins, 22 GA, 2,70 GAA, .916 SV%
WHY PLAY WITH FIVE?
-The Tommies led the country in shorthanded goals last season (9) and are right back at it this season with the third most in the entire nation (4).
-Nathan Pilling is one of six players in the country with at least two shorthanded goals. Pilling is the fourth Tommie to score multiple SHG in a season (Malmquist 4, 24-25; Byers 2, 23-24; Wahlin 2, 24-25).
-Lucas Van Vliet and Alex Gaffney account for the other two SHG by the Toms this season.
-St. Thomas scored a pair of SHG against Providence for the first time in program history. Pilling's first goal at LPA was a shorty.
GOING STREAKING
-Lucas Wahlin has added at least one point in each of the last three games (5 points)
SPARKLING IN ST. PAUL
-It has been a dream start for Alex Gaffney after transferring in from Harvard for his final season of college hockey.
-Gaffney has added 15 points in 11 games and is second in the CCHA with 1.36 points per game.
-He led the Tommies with five goals and 11 points during October and has an additional two goals and four points through three games in November.
-He was the fastest Tommie to 10+ points in program history just one season after Liam Malmquist scored 10 points in eight games.
-Gaffney was named CCHA Forward of the Month for October, the third straight Tommie to earn the honor (Mamlquist & Wahlin last season).
MILESTONE WATCH
-Career Games Played
2025-26 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
-Alex Gaffney Forward of the Week (10/20/25)
-Chase Cheslock Defenseman of the Week (10/6/25)
2025-26 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
-Alex Gaffney Forward of the Month (11/3/25)
NOVEMBER RECAP
-2-0-1, +3 goal differential
-Came back from down 1-0, 3-1, and 4-3 to tie the Vikings, 4-4. The Tommies ultimately fell in the shootout to earn one conference point in hostile territory.
-Finished off their season series with St. Cloud State on Tuesday to sweep the Huskies, 4-3 and 3-1.
-Took down the 18th ranked Mavericks, 4-3 in overtime on the road. Nathan Pilling notched his second game winner of the season.
-Alex Gaffney leads the Tommies with two goals and Lucas Wahlin leads the way with five points.
-Will Ingemann is 2-0-1 with a 2.57 GAA and .914 SV%.
-The Toms are 1-11 (9.1%) on the power play and 9-10 (90%) on the penalty kill.
OCTOBER RECAP
-2-5-1, -7 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.
-Tied on night one at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena and then won the shootout against #15 Providence before dropping game two 7-4.
-Lost to open CCHA play against Mankato, 3-1 at home.
-Alex Gaffney led the Tommies with 11 points (5G-6A) in October.
-Carsen Musser was 1-4-0 with a 5.25 GAA and .831 SV%.
-Aaron Trotter was 1-0-1 with a 2.24 GAA and .929 SV% .
-Will Ingemann was 0-1-0 with a 2.64 GAA and .875 SV%.
-The Toms are 6-31 (19.4%) on the power play and 20-27 (74%) on the penalty kill.
DI SCORING RECORD HOLDERS
-Lucas Wahlin (40), Cooper Gay (35, 2022-25), and Mack Byers (31, 2022-24) round out the top three in DI goals scored.
-Lucas Wahlin (101), Liam Malmquist (72, 2023-25), and Ryan O'Neill (73) make up the top three in career points.
NHL DEVELOPMENT CAMPS
-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 97) 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.
-His 450-405-87 record has him 22nd all-time and 4th among active head coaches. He is 13 wins from Murray Armstrong in 21st place and 29 wins from the next closest active coach, Scott Sandelin in 18th place with 479.
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
GOING GREY
-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 Falcons are unbeaten in their last four games and have lost just once since the opening weekend of the season. They swept the Ferris State Bulldogs with ease last weekend by scores of 9-5 and 5-2 after recording a pair of ties in Mankato against the nationally ranked Mavericks. Bowling Green also took a good Bemidji State squad to overtime twice. They have three players with 10+ points, Noah Morneau, Quinn Emerson, and Tyler Hotson. Time in net has been shared evenly between Jacob Steinman, Tyler Palmer, and Cole Moore. Palmer and Steinman got the starts last weekend.
St. Thomas is unbeaten in their last three with wins against Minnesota State and St. Cloud State and a tie on the road last weekend with the Augustana Vikings. The Purple have played the fewest conference games in the CCHA to this point. This weekend against the Falcons will be their first "normal" conference series of the season. Alex Gaffney continues to lead the Toms with seven goals and 15 points while Will Ingemann had taken over the reins in net for the last two weeks.
THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
-Friday night's game is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
-Saturday's matchup is scheduled for 6:07 p.m. at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
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.
GOALS GOALS GOALS
-This weekend will be a matchup between the two most high-powered CCHA offenses. The Tommies lead the conference with 3.55 goals per game (12th in NCAA), and the Falcons are right behind with an average of 3.40 (16th in NCAA).
-Both sides have scored at least nine goals in a single game this season, the Toms have not been shutout once and Bowling Green has not been shutout since their season-opening loss to Niagara.
CONFLICTING STYLES
-Bowling Green has committed 54 penalties this season for an average of 11:36 PIMs per game, third most in the CCHA and 22nd in the country.
-St. Thomas has committed 41 penalties this season for an average of 7:27 PIMs per game, the least in the CCHA and 56th least in the country. The only teams with fewer penalty minutes per game this season are RIT, UMass, Brown, and Quinnipiac.
-The Tommies' mark would be a single season program record by two whole minutes per game if the season ended today.
MISMATCH ON THE DOT
-The Falcons' 56.9% faceoff win rate is tops in the CCHA. Bowling Green is second in the entire nation behind only Wisconsin (57.1%). Interestingly, the Falcons do not have a single player in the top-50 of the most faceoff wins in the country but the Tommies' Nathan Pilling is 35th with 110 wins.
-The Tommies' 47.5% is better than only Augustana. St. Thomas is 49th in the nation.
SCHEDULING QUIRKS
-The Tommies have played just three conference games this season. The Falcons have played eight. Most have played at least six games in CCHA play.
-St. Thomas' three conference games are the fewest of any team in the country. (outside of the ECAC which has its own scheduling oddities, Quinnipiac and Princeton have each only played two).
BRACE YOURSELF
-Jake Braccini scored in the ninth minute of the second period last Saturday against the Augustana Vikings. The goal was his third of the season but more importantly, the 50th point of his career.
-Braccini joined the Tommies in 2022-23 as a member of the "believer" class and has played 103 games for the Purple, seventh most in the DI era.
-He is the fifth Tommie to eclipse the 50-point mark behind Cooper Gay, Ryan O'Neill, Liam Malmquist, and Wahlin. All but Malmquist were also members of that 2022-23 freshman class.
-Jake's 22 goals are seventh most in the DI era and his 28 assists are sixth. He is also 11th with 55 career blocks, third amongst Tommie forwards.
OPENED THE FLOODGATES
-Since the Tommies defeated the Falcons for the first time on 1/19/23 they are 6-2-3 after losing the first six matchups from 2021-23.
-The pair of sides battled five times last season and the Toms came away with the season series, 3-1-1 including a 3-1 victory in the Mason Cup Semifinals at Saint Thomas Ice Arena.
-St. Thomas has not lost a season series against Bowling Green since the 2022-23 season.
-They are 3-3-3 all-time on home ice when playing BGSU, but have not played them at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
POINTS PARITY
-The Tommies have had a different player lead them in points each of their first four seasons of DI play.
- Christiano Versich in 2021-22 (15 points)
- Mack Byers in 2022-23 (26 points)
- Lucas Wahlin in 2023-24 (30 points)
- Liam Malmquist in 2024-25 (45 points)
- Alex Gaffney through 11 games on 2025-26 (15 points)
450 FOR BLASI
-Head coach, Rico Blasi, won his 450th game on Tuesday, November 11 against St. Cloud State. The now 25-year head coach currently sits 22nd all-time and fourth among active head coaches. He is 13 wins away from Murray Armstrong in 21st place, 18 from Joe Marsh in 20th, and 22 from Don Vaughan in 19th.
100 FOR WAHLIN
-Lucas Wahlin became the first Tommie to score 100 career points after his three-point burst against the Huskies on Tuesday, November 11. The Tommie captain did so in 109 games at a 0.92 points per game pace.
-25 different players either assisted on a Wahlin goal or scored a goal off a Wahlin assist over the course of the last four seasons.
-Liam Malmquist led each category with 12 assists on Wahlin goals and 15 goals off Wahlin assists.
WILL THE WALL
-Will Ingemann has been on fire in November with a 2-0-1 record behind a 2.57 goals against average and .914 save percentage.
-He leads all three Tommie netminders this season with two wins in five appearances and has been the only man between the pipes in November.
CURRENT TOMMIES AGAINST BOWLING GREEN
-Ryan O'Neill – 1G-8A-9P
-Lucas Wahlin – 3G-4A-7P
-Jake Braccini – 1G-5A-6P
-Quinton Pepper– 1G-4A-5P
-Casy Laylin – 1G-1A-2P
-Nick Williams – 0G-2A-2P (with MTU)
-Caige Sterzer – 1G-0A-1P
-Luc Laylin – 0G-1A-1P
-Carson Peters – 0G-1A-1P
-Aaron Trotter – 3-3-2, 241 saves, 488 mins, 22 GA, 2,70 GAA, .916 SV%
WHY PLAY WITH FIVE?
-The Tommies led the country in shorthanded goals last season (9) and are right back at it this season with the third most in the entire nation (4).
-Nathan Pilling is one of six players in the country with at least two shorthanded goals. Pilling is the fourth Tommie to score multiple SHG in a season (Malmquist 4, 24-25; Byers 2, 23-24; Wahlin 2, 24-25).
-Lucas Van Vliet and Alex Gaffney account for the other two SHG by the Toms this season.
-St. Thomas scored a pair of SHG against Providence for the first time in program history. Pilling's first goal at LPA was a shorty.
GOING STREAKING
-Lucas Wahlin has added at least one point in each of the last three games (5 points)
SPARKLING IN ST. PAUL
-It has been a dream start for Alex Gaffney after transferring in from Harvard for his final season of college hockey.
-Gaffney has added 15 points in 11 games and is second in the CCHA with 1.36 points per game.
-He led the Tommies with five goals and 11 points during October and has an additional two goals and four points through three games in November.
-He was the fastest Tommie to 10+ points in program history just one season after Liam Malmquist scored 10 points in eight games.
-Gaffney was named CCHA Forward of the Month for October, the third straight Tommie to earn the honor (Mamlquist & Wahlin last season).
MILESTONE WATCH
-Career Games Played
- Carson Peters is 1 away from 100
- Luc Laylin is 1 away from 50
2025-26 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
-Alex Gaffney Forward of the Week (10/20/25)
-Chase Cheslock Defenseman of the Week (10/6/25)
2025-26 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
-Alex Gaffney Forward of the Month (11/3/25)
NOVEMBER RECAP
-2-0-1, +3 goal differential
-Came back from down 1-0, 3-1, and 4-3 to tie the Vikings, 4-4. The Tommies ultimately fell in the shootout to earn one conference point in hostile territory.
-Finished off their season series with St. Cloud State on Tuesday to sweep the Huskies, 4-3 and 3-1.
-Took down the 18th ranked Mavericks, 4-3 in overtime on the road. Nathan Pilling notched his second game winner of the season.
-Alex Gaffney leads the Tommies with two goals and Lucas Wahlin leads the way with five points.
-Will Ingemann is 2-0-1 with a 2.57 GAA and .914 SV%.
-The Toms are 1-11 (9.1%) on the power play and 9-10 (90%) on the penalty kill.
OCTOBER RECAP
-2-5-1, -7 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.
-Tied on night one at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena and then won the shootout against #15 Providence before dropping game two 7-4.
-Lost to open CCHA play against Mankato, 3-1 at home.
-Alex Gaffney led the Tommies with 11 points (5G-6A) in October.
-Carsen Musser was 1-4-0 with a 5.25 GAA and .831 SV%.
-Aaron Trotter was 1-0-1 with a 2.24 GAA and .929 SV% .
-Will Ingemann was 0-1-0 with a 2.64 GAA and .875 SV%.
-The Toms are 6-31 (19.4%) on the power play and 20-27 (74%) on the penalty kill.
DI SCORING RECORD HOLDERS
-Lucas Wahlin (40), Cooper Gay (35, 2022-25), and Mack Byers (31, 2022-24) round out the top three in DI goals scored.
-Lucas Wahlin (101), Liam Malmquist (72, 2023-25), and Ryan O'Neill (73) make up the top three in career points.
NHL DEVELOPMENT CAMPS
-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 97) 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.
-His 450-405-87 record has him 22nd all-time and 4th among active head coaches. He is 13 wins from Murray Armstrong in 21st place and 29 wins from the next closest active coach, Scott Sandelin in 18th place with 479.
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)
GOING GREY
-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
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/ Men's HockeyTommie Men's Hockey 2025 Intro Video
Wednesday, November 12
Press 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
