By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The theme of this past weekend among Bruins prospects in college hockey was spreading the wealth, as seven skaters racked up eleven assists. Andre Gasseau led the way with three helpers, Dans Locmelis notched his 20th apple of the season, and Dean Letourneau broke a long scoring drought with an assist on Friday. But they weren’t the only ones feeling generous on the ice:
Andre Gasseau (C) – Boston College – Gasseau put together the best performance of his BC career over the weekend against UVM, recording three points in each contest as the Eagles swept the road series in Burlington. Slotted into the Eagles’ top-line Center between Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard, Gasseau recorded a goal and two assists on Friday night, then two goals and an assist on Saturday.
He entered the weekend behind the pace of matching his career-high point total of 29 points from his freshman and sophomore seasons and has quickly made up enough ground to be on track for a new career high. His third goal of the weekend set a new career high in goal scoring with 13 goals. Gasseau’s performance was recognized on Monday, as he earned Hockey East Player of the Week Honors.
Beckett Hendrickson (LW) – Minnesota – Hendrickson recorded an assist in each game of Minnesota’s big weekend sweep of Ohio State, which helped them leapfrog Michigan State atop the Big Ten standings. Both of the young winger’s assists came in significant points of the games: setting up the eventual game-winner on Friday night and the empty net clincher on Saturday. His last assist gave him 11 points for the season and three in his last four games, his second scoring outburst in just over a month.
Chris Pelosi (C) – Quinnipiac – Pelosi recorded his third multi-point game of the month during the Bobcats’ 4-0 Saturday night win over Brown. It’s a broken record, but Pelosi has been on fire for quite a while now. He has four goals and nine points in February alone and 16 points in his last 17 games overall. His assist on Jack Ricketts’ first-period power-play goal gave him more power-play points since January 1st than total points in his first 16 games. Not to be overlooked, Pelosi also won 12 of 16 faceoffs on Saturday.
Ryan Walsh (C) – Cornell – Walsh added to his career-high point total by setting a career-high in assists (11) during the Big Red’s 6-0 win over St. Lawrence on Saturday night. The sophomore center surpassed his freshman points and goal marks last weekend and leads all Cornell skaters in scoring by four points heading into the end of the regular season. He capped off his weekend by winning a pristine 30 of 47 faceoffs in his games against St. Lawrence and Clarkson.
Looking Ahead: Dans Locmelis will get a head start on the weekend as UMass hosts UMass-Lowell in a critical game for both teams in the Hockey East standings. The Minutemen are tied for seventh with 28 points but can jump as high as fourth with a regulation win. Andre Gasseau and Dean Letourneau will take on New Hampshire in a home-and-home. Oskar Jellvik has not played since the Beanpot opening round and is likely out for the rest of the season. Philip Svedeback and Providence have a home-and-home with Merrimack, their first weekend against unranked opposition since January 7th.
Chris Pelosi and Elliott Groenewold will take their turn on the long bus trip up north to Clarkson and St. Lawrence. The former will be a significant game in ECAC play, as Quinnipiac leads Clarkson by just four points. Ryan Walsh and Cornell will head to Union and RPI with an eye on improving their standings leading into the conference tournament. Mason Langenbrunner and Harvard head to New Haven to take on historic rivals Yale, then pop over to Brown before returning home.
Beckett Hendrickson and the Golden Gophers will head to Hockey Valley to play a surging Penn State team that has risen to 15th in the latest poll after receiving one single vote as recently as January 20th. Jake Schmaltz and 18th-ranked North Dakota hit the road for Kalamazoo and fourth-ranked Western Michigan. Casper Nassen and Miami’s season is just about wrapped, but they get a chance to play spoiler against Minnesota-Duluth.
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