By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The second half of the college hockey season is in full swing, and the Boston Bruins prospects are wasting no time getting involved. Three different players scored in their first game back in the lineup off short turnarounds from international tournaments, helping their teams get back into rhythm with big wins:
Ryan Walsh (C) – Cornell – Walsh recorded a pair of assists in Cornell’s 6-4 comeback win over Omaha on Friday, a short turnaround from scoring in the Spengler Cup Final on New Year’s Eve. His first assist came off a netmouth scramble where his shot was blocked, but fell right to teammate Xavier Veilleux to extend the Cornell lead. He later added a primary assist on the empty net goal to secure the victory. Walsh leads all Big Red skaters in scoring with 3-11-14 in 13 games, and only needs four more assists to beat his career high from last season.
Chris Pelosi (C) – Quinnipiac – Like Walsh, Pelosi also slotted right back into the lineup on Friday night upon returning home from Switzerland, and scored his 11th goal of the season in the Bobcats 9-1 thumping against Harvard. He’s one of three Quinnipiac forwards playing over a point per game pace (11-10-21 in 20 games), and has his freshman year scoring totals in sight, only four points away from setting a new career high.
Will Zellers (RW) – North Dakota – The overtime loss to Finland in the World Juniors on Friday didn’t quite cool off Zellers red-hot play from the tournament, as he jumped right back into the North Dakota lineup on Saturday night and recorded an assist as part of a 6-1 win over Mercyhurst to secure the weekend sweep. The freshman winger is up to 10-6-16 in 19 games with the Fighting Hawks, who currently rank fourth in the nation.
Elliott Groenewold (D) – Quinnipiac – Groenewold logged an assist in each game of the Bobcats’ weekend sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth, the second time this season he has done so. The sophomore defenseman leads all Quinnipiac skaters with a +17 rating in just over 20 minutes of ice time per game, and his 2-7-9 scoring line is well on pace to surpass his freshman year total (4-8-12) relatively soon.
Looking Ahead: With international tournaments winding down for the college prospects, this upcoming weekend will be the first full slate of the second half. Beckett Hendrickson will kick it off as Minnesota heads to Hockey Valley to play Penn State on Friday evening. Mason Langenbrunner hits the road for the second weekend in a row, as Harvard heads to Dartmouth on Friday for a single-game weekend. Pelosi & Groenewold will stay home to play host to Union and RPI. Ryan Walsh has another non-conference weekend series on tap with Alaska coming to Lynah Rink.
Jonathan Morello, fresh off scoring in an exhibition win over Simon Fraser, has a home-and-home with UMass, starting in Amherst on Friday. Philip Svedeback and Providence will host Maine for the weekend, though his status is up in the air after leaving Saturday night’s game against Alaska with a lower-body injury. James Hagens, Dean Letourneau, Will Moore, Kristian Kostadinski, and potentially Andre Gasseau and Oskar Jellvik will host Stonehill for an exhibition game on Friday night.
Zellers will head to Colorado Springs for a weekend series at Colorado College. Casper Nassen is heading to the desert to play Arizona State. Cole Spicer has not played in the second half for Western Michigan, and it is unclear whether he will return to the lineup for their upcoming road series against Denver.
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