By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The last big weekend of college hockey non-conference matchups delivered even more upsets and back-and-forth affairs, further highlighting the burgeoning parity in the sport. This time, the Boston Bruins prospects found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard more often than before, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort, especially from a few key players:
Andre Gasseau (C/LW) – Boston College – Gasseau opened the scoring on Friday night with his first goal of the season in BC’s 7-3 loss to Denver. His goal, courtesy of a slick feed from fellow Bruins’ draft pick Will Moore, snapped a three-game scoring drought dating back to his three assists against Quinnipiac in the home opener. It was a rough night all around for the Eagles, but the Bruins contingent still flashed some positives.
James Hagens (C) – Boston College – One of those positives came from Hagens, who notched his third goal of the season. His second-period tally came off a nice sequence of puck retrieval, following the play after his initial pass to Teddy Stiga was broken up, and wiring a shot past Denver goaltender Quentin Miller from just above the slot while surrounded by Pioneer defenders. The goal extended his season-opening point streak to all five games the Eagles have played, and he leads the team in both goalscoring and points (3-3-6).
Dean Letourneau (C) – Boston College – Speaking of point streaks, a secondary assist on Jake Sondreal’s first-period equalizer extended Letourneau’s to four consecutive games. The Sondreal-Letourneau-Vote line has been a depth scoring revelation for BC this year, as most of the big guns, other than Hagens, have taken time to find their momentum. Big Dean is playing at a point-per-game pace (2-3-5 in 5 games) and is right behind Hagens in scoring, as well as shots on goal (14), a testament to his growing confidence.
Chris Pelosi (C) – Quinnipiac – Pelosi scored goals in both games over a weekend for the third time in his career, tallying against Merrimack and New Hampshire as the Bobcats split the road trip. In classic Pelosi fashion, both goals came from being positioned right in front of the net: a point shot deflection on the power play, and cleaning up a rebound with chaos in the crease, the latter of which doubled as the icebreaker and game-winning goal. Pelosi now sits at 4-2-6 through eight games, tied for second on the Bobcats in goalscoring.
Will Zellers (RW) – North Dakota – Zellers lit the lamp for the second time in his college career on Friday night during North Dakota’s 5-2 loss to Clarkson. He cashed in with a bullet one-timer off a point feed from Abram Wiebe just ten seconds into a power play. The freshman is brimming with confidence as he begins his tenure in Grand Forks, tied for third in scoring (2-2-4 in 6 games) and leading the team with 20 shots on goal.
Looking Ahead: Hagens, Gasseau, Letourneau, and the rest of the BC Bruins have a short turnaround, opening up Hockey East conference play with a home-and-home with Northeastern. Jonathan Morello and the Boston University Terriers will make the long bus trip up to Orono to play Maine twice. Philip Svedback and Providence open their Hockey East campaign with a home-and-home with UMass-Lowell.
Beckett Hendrickson and Minnesota will look to shake off a slow start with a Thursday-Saturday road series against Wisconsin to open their Big Ten conference schedule. Mason Langenbrunner and Ryan Walsh will both get their seasons underway by hitting the road on Friday. Harvard will head to Storrs, Connecticut, to play UConn in a one-off game, and Cornell will make the relatively short drive to Amherst to play UMass for two games.
Casper Nassen and the red-hot Miami Redhawks will welcome Arizona State to Ohio for the weekend. Zellers will head back home to play host, as North Dakota welcomes Minnesota-Duluth to Grand Forks.
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