University of St. Thomas Athletics

Program Overview

Men's Hockey Program Overview

Points of Pride

  • On pace to play the program's 2,000th game in 2022-23, with a history that dates back to 1905
  • Most wins among all Division III hockey schools (1,164 in 96 seasons) in its recently concluded D-III era
  • Two NCAA D-III runner-up teams
  • Ten NCAA D-III playoff trips in 22 years (1998-2020)
  • 50 All-America honors since 1971
  • 38 consecutive winning seasons to close D-III era
  • Six MIAC regular-season championships in nine seasons to close D-III era
  • 36 consecutive MIAC playoff appearances (no playoffs held in 2020-21) to close D-III era


In fall 2021 St. Thomas became the first institution to make a direct move in all sports from NCAA D-III into D-I athletics.

Tommie Men's Hockey competes in the eight-team Central Collegiate Hockey Association. St. Thomas teams also compete in 18 sports in the Summit League as well as the Pioneer Football League; and the WCHA women’s hockey league. 

Rico Blasi was hired in April 2021 to guide the program's Division I transition, and brings 20 years of experience as a Division I head coach. Blasi surpassed 400 career victories in the 2021-22 season.

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Division III Era

All-Time Record: 1,164-671-105

Best NCAA finish: 2nd in 2000, 2nd in 2005

NCAA Tournament Appearances (17): 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2020

MIAC Regular-Season Championships (34): 1923, 1934, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018

MIAC Playoff Appearances (all possible 36): Every year as a member since format started in 1985

The national runner-up team in both 2000 and 2005, St. Thomas is ranked first in Division III all-time victories and was the first to surpass 1,000 wins. The Tommies are now 1,164-671-105 in their 96-year history. They played the program's 1,900th men's hockey game in 2018-19.

Tommie men's hockey won or shared six of their last nine MIAC championships, and has posted 38 consecutive winning seasons.

St. Thomas was the first MIAC hockey program to reach the NCAA Division III championship game, with two appearances. The 2000 Tommies lost 2-1 to Norwich in the finals, while the 2005 Toms lost 5-0 to Middlebury. St. Thomas made 17 NCAA DIII playoff appearances, including 10 in their last 22 seasons as a member.

The Tommies received 50 All-America honors in the last 49 seasons of D-III, and two CoSIDA Academic All-America awards over the last 20 seasons.

St. Thomas won 34 MIAC championships, including 22 in their last 37 seasons as a member. They placed first or second in the MIAC52 times, including 32 of their last 37 seasons. The Tommies won the conference seven years in a row from 1989-95. Terry Skrypek, who was named National Coach of the Year in 2004-05, surpassed 400 career victories before retiring in March 2010.

Current coach Jeff Boeser has been associated with St. Thomas hockey as a player, assistant and head coach for nearly four 40 years. He guided the Tommies to six conference championships.

Boeser’s 2013-14 team was ranked as high as No. 2 in the Division III polls and surpassed 20 wins. St. Thomas broke a 10-year-old conference men's hockey record for fewest goals allowed (19) in a 16-game MIAC season.

After the current MIAC format began in 1983, the Tommies were swept just eight times out of a possible 288 in a regular-season conference weekend series. They advanced to the MIAC postseason playoffs in all 35 years they were a member, and the format was in existence, and reached the finals 24 times. They won five of their last 16 MIAC playoff crowns.

In 2013-14, St. Thomas became just the second Division III institution to qualify all four of its men's and women's hockey and basketball teams into the NCAA playoffs in one season. Amherst (Mass.) did it in 2009 and 2012.

The 2014-15 men's hockey team won the MIAC regular season title but fell in the MIAC semifinals to the eventual MIAC playoff champion Hamline. Senior Drew Fielding received his second All-American honor and was named MIAC Player of the Year after sharing the same award in 2013-14.

The 2019-20 Toms won their final five games and tied for ninth nationally, taking the conference playoff title with three wins. Their NCAA playoff run was halted before it began by the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Tommies played for 25 seasons at St. Paul’s historic State Fairgrounds Coliseum before moving into a new practice and game facility in November 2003 -- the 1,000-seat Saint Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights. The Tommies sport an 141-72-16 record in their 19 seasons on home ice at Saint Thomas Ice Arena. The St. Thomas men's and women's teams and the Saint Thomas Academy boys' team share the $4 million arena, which includes remodeled team locker rooms, a weight training room, and shooting stations.