By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The first half of the 2024-25 NCAA Hockey season wrapped up with fireworks this past weekend. With most of the country already on winter break, a trio of ranked head-to-head series made for absolute cinema: multigoal comebacks, nailbiters, and OT goals aplenty. A few Bruins prospects played starring roles in their series, scoring pivotal goals and leaving everyone wanting more when the second half starts in January:
Jake Schmaltz (C) – North Dakota – Schmaltz put a bow on the first half for North Dakota with the overtime winner to complete a weekend sweep of then-ninth-ranked St Cloud State. The veteran center has three goals and nine points in 19 games for the Fighting Hawks. While his scoring totals don’t jump off the page, Schmaltz does most of his damage at the faceoff dot – 214 wins out of 362 draws, and a team-leading 59.1%.
Ty Gallagher (D) – Colorado College – Gallagher netted his fourth goal of the season on Saturday night, breaking the ice halfway through the first period of an eventual 2-1 loss to rivals Denver. The veteran blueliner finished the first half with 12 points in 16 games while skating a team-high 22:00 per game. He’s on pace to smash his career high of 21 points and only needs two more goals to set a new high mark in that category.
Looking Ahead: Something to look out for before the second half of the season gets underway is the 2025 World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa. The preeminent U20 international hockey tournament occurs annually just after Christmas through the first week of January and routinely features the best NHL prospects from the top ten hockey nations. Rosters are released in the weeks leading up to the tournament, and there’s a likelihood that the College Bruins will be represented on the big stage.
Due to the tournament’s age restrictions, only four of the Bruins’ 13 college prospects are eligible to be selected for their national teams: Chris Pelosi and Elliott Groenewold from Quinnipiac, Dean Letourneau from BC, and Beckett Hendrickson from Minnesota. Dans Locmelis, a three-time World Juniors veteran with his native Latvia, missed the birth date cut-off to compete for a fourth time, as he will turn 21 shortly after the tournament concludes.
Pelosi was named to Team USA’s preliminary roster on December 2nd as one of 29 invitees for the final 25-man roster. Early projections suggest he is on the bubble to make the team, and his two-way play style could be valuable defensive insurance in the USA’s high-octane forward group.
In the lower 48, Philip Svedeback and the Providence Friars will start the second half on December 28th, facing off against Northeastern in the Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover, New Hampshire. Should Pelosi miss the cut for Team USA, he’ll rejoin Elliott Groenewold and Quinnipiac against American International College on Sunday the 29th and then against Mason Langenbrunner and Harvard on New Year’s Day. Harvard will also play host to UConn on January 4th.
Ryan Walsh and Dans Locmelis will go head to head as Cornell faces UMass in the Desert Hockey Classic on January 3rd. Either team will face Robert Morris Univeristy or Arizona State, depending on outcomes. Ty Gallagher and Colorado College return to work, hosting Augustana for a weekend starting January 3rd. Beckett Hendrickson and top-ranked Minnesota will host Mercyhurst for their first home series of the second half.
Jake Schmaltz, Casper Nassen, Andre Gasseau, Oskar Jellvik, and Dean Letourneau all start their second halves on January 10th. North Dakota heads to the desert to play Arizona State, Miami takes on Denver, and Boston College plays a home-and-home with Merrimack.
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