By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The 2025-26 NCAA Hockey season is quickly approaching its midpoint, with the winter break just a few weeks away, and the Boston Bruins’ college prospects are sprinting into the intermission. The holiday weekend didn’t slow the group from their recent pace, with six forwards turning in multi-point weekends, punctuated by a highlight performance on Chestnut Hill:
James Hagens (C/LW) – Boston College – Hagens electrified the Conte Forum crowd on Black Friday with his first career hat trick in BC’s 5-2 win over Notre Dame, scoring three straight goals for the Eagles. He struck twice within the final three minutes of the second period to break a 2-2 tie, then put the game out of reach on a breakaway midway through the third. Hagens has now reclaimed sole possession of BC’s scoring lead with 9-7-16 in 14 games.
Dean Letourneau (C) – Boston College – Hagens wasn’t the only BC forward to show out with a career day against the Fighting Irish. Letourneau recorded his first three-point game as an Eagle, scoring once and logging a pair of assists, all of which came in the second period. Big Dean scored BC’s second goal of the day to bring them back level less than a minute after Notre Dame took a 2-1 lead, then assisted on both of Hagens’ quick strike goals before the horn.
It’s no coincidence that the Eagles’ recent turnaround has coincided with a massive step forward in Letourneau’s play. BC won six of seven games in November, and the Notre Dame performance capped a full-blown breakout for Letourneau, who finished with 4-5-9 in those seven games. For the season as a whole, he sits second behind Hagens in scoring for the Eagles with 6-8-14 in 14 games.
Chris Pelosi (C) – Quinnipiac – Pelosi capped off his own torrid November stretch with three points against Holy Cross and Stonehill, finishing the month with 5-6-11 in seven games. He scored a power play goal and assisted on another in a topsy-turvy 7-6 overtime win over Holy Cross, then recorded a secondary assist on Markus Vidicek’s power play icebreaker as the Bobcats staved off a Skyhawk upset bid, winning 3-2.
Pelosi is up to 10-8-18 in 16 games, rapidly approaching his freshman year totals in less than half the time. He’s second on the Bobcats in scoring behind Ethan Wyttenbach, and leads the team in power play goals, game-winning goals, and overall goalscoring.
Will Zellers (RW) – North Dakota – Zellers scored in each game of North Dakota’s weekend sweep over Bemidji State. Both of his goals came on the power play, and the second was the overtime winner to secure the sweep, following up his own rebound after his initial shot was blocked. The freshman is now tied for the Fighting Hawks team lead in goalscoring with nine, and leads the team in both power play goals and game-winning goals, with six and three, respectively.
Casper Nassen (LW)- Miami OH – Nassen factored on a goal in each game of the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as the RedHawks came away with the Belpot by defeating RIT and Union. He assisted on an empty net goal to ice the 4-0 win over RIT on Friday, then gave Miami a second-period lead in the championship game with a blistering power play goal en route to an eventual 3-2 victory.
The weekend production brought Nassen up to ten points on the season (3-7-10), matching his freshman year total in 20 fewer games. He is one of eight Miami skaters with ten or more points for a revitalized program that has won double-digit games for the first time since 2018-19.
Philip Svedeback (G) – Providence College – Svedeback saved 67 of 71 shots over the weekend, backstopping the Friars to a road split against Colorado College. The Swedish netminder particularly stood on his head on Saturday, making 37 of 38 saves to secure the 2-1 win.
Svedeback has looked to have found his game after a rocky start to the season and is playing some of his best hockey for Providence. He started eight of nine Friar games in November, finishing the month with a 4-3-1 record, with a 1.86 Goals Against Average, and a .934 save percentage. For the season as a whole, he’s sporting a 6-5-2 record, with a 2.31 Goals Against Average and a career-best .918 save percentage.
Looking Ahead: Beckett Hendrickson gets the weekend started early with a road series at Ohio State starting Thursday night. Ryan Walsh will take the long road trip up north as Cornell journeys to Clarkson and St Lawrence. Pelosi and Elliott Groenewold will also be hitting the road to face RPI and Union on Friday and Saturday. Mason Langenbrunner and Harvard will host a pair of fellow Ivy League schools, as Yale and Brown come to town.
Jonathan Morello and Boston University return home from New York City to host Vermont for two games. Hagens, Letourneau, Will Moore, and Kristian Kostadinski have a home-and-home with UMass-Lowell, starting at Tsongas Arena on Friday night.
Nassen and Miami head west for two games against Denver. Zellers will have a road weekend series at St Cloud State. Cole Spicer and Western Michigan will welcome the Plante brothers and Minnesota-Duluth in a heavyweight NCHC matchup.
Looking to check out the Boston Bruins college hockey prospects in person? Consider our partner StubHub for all your sports & concert ticketing needs HERE!
Leave a Reply