By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The Boston Bruins’ college hockey prospect pipeline was well represented over this past week. Five players received All-Conference honors, with James Hagens and Elliott Groenewold making the First-Teams in Hockey East and the ECAC, respectively. Dean Letourneau, Ryan Walsh, and Will Zellers also earned accolades of their own, picking up Hockey East Third-Team, ECAC Honorable Mention, and the NCHC All-Rookie Team as well.
Their recognition was well deserved, and they backed it up with production in conference tournament play. Bruins prospects racked up 13 combined points over the weekend, with several delivering clutch performances with their seasons, or at least a shot at some hardware, on the line.
Ryan Walsh (C) – Cornell – Walsh recorded four points over Cornell’s three-game ECAC quarterfinal series against Harvard, including a goal and an assist in the 5-2 win on Sunday to advance to Lake Placid. The Big Red’s captain recorded two points in both wins after dropping the opener on Friday, where he won 22 out of 34 faceoffs. He’s tied his career high in points from last season, with 9-22-31 in 31 games.
James Hagens (LW/C/RW) – Boston College – Hagens recorded two goals and an assist in BC’s 5-0 thumping of Maine on Friday night. The Hockey East scoring champion struck less than a minute after Teddy Stiga opened the scoring to give BC an early 2-0 advantage. He then added an empty net goal and assist to cap the blowout win and keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. Hagens now carries 23-22-45 into TD Garden on Friday night.
Dean Letourneau (C) – Boston College – Letourneau added two points of his own during the blowout win over the Black Bears, scoring the first empty net goal and then assisting on Hagens’. The all-conference recognition adds to the impressive breakout sophomore season for Boston’s 2024 first-round pick, and he now sits at 20-17-37 in 35 games heading into the Hockey East semifinals.
Looking Ahead:
Hagens, Letourneau, Andre Gasseau, Oskar Jellvik, Will Moore, and Kristian Kostadinski will face UConn in the nightcap of the Hockey East semifinals on Friday, with significant NCAA Tournament qualification implications for both teams. The winner will advance to the final on Saturday night against the winner of UMass and Merrimack. Walsh and the Big Red will face Princeton in the ECAC semifinals in Lake Placid on Friday, with the winner advancing to face either Dartmouth or Clarkson.
Chris Pelosi, Elliott Groenewold, Philip Svedeback, Will Zellers, and Cole Spicer will all now await their NCAA Tournament matchups, as Quinnipiac, Providence, North Dakota, and Western Michigan were all eliminated from their conference tournaments over the weekend, but are safely in the qualification field.
Beckett Hendrickson, Jonathan Morello, and Mason Langenbrunner joined Casper Nassen, as their seasons have all concluded following conference tournament elimination. Langenbrunner will be a name to watch in the coming days, as he has exhausted his NCAA eligibility and could sign an entry-level contract with the Bruins organization.
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