By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
College hockey is back in full force. The first full weekend of games nationwide delivered exactly how you could imagine: blowouts, comebacks, upsets, overtime, and everything in between. A few Bruins prospects came out scorching hot in their opening matchups, racking up points in bunches to propel their teams to victory, and a few others have picked up right where they left off last season:
Will Zellers – W – North Dakota – Zellers put the Fighting Hawks on his back during their weekend sweep of Bemidji State, factoring into six of seven North Dakota goals over their home-and-home series with the Beavers. He flashed his playmaking skills on Friday night with assists on all three goals in a 3-2 win, all of which came in different fashion; creating a rebound for Cole Reschny, carrying the puck into the zone to start the play, and then drawing the defense away from the goal to feed Reschny alone in front.
For an encore performance, Zellers opened the scoring on Saturday night with two power-play one-timer goals, converting on both penalties of a five-on-three advantage. He later added a secondary assist on the eventual game-winner, bringing his total to six points in the series. Zellers became the first North Dakota player to record six points in an opening weekend since Brock Boeser in 2016, and the second player in program history to record at least three points in back-to-back games to open the season, joining Zach Parise in 2002.
Casper Nassen – RW – Lake Superior State – Not trailing too far behind, Casper Nassen racked up four points in his first two games with Lake State, recording a pair of assists in his debut, then adding a power-play goal and assist in a 4-3 win on Saturday to split the weekend with Lindenwood. Nassen looks to have found immediate chemistry with the Lakers’ top line, Charles Savoie and Raoul Boilard, as all three recorded points in both games of the series.
Dean Letourneau – C – Boston College – Letourneau scored his first goal of the season, on the power play, in BC’s stunning 3-2 home upset loss to Alaska-Fairbanks on Friday night. The Nanooks’ forechecking pressure gave the Eagles fits all night, and the team leaned heavily on Letourneau to drive the offense. He finished with a team-high 7 shots on goal and led all forwards with 22:03 of ice time. Despite the loss, there were early signs of a strong year ahead as the number one guy in Chestnut Hill.
Looking Ahead: Letourneau, Will Moore, Kristian Kostadinski, and Leo Henriquez will look to rebound quickly when they host St. Cloud this weekend. The Eagles and Huskies will play on Thursday and Saturday night in Conte Forum, with an off day in between. Jonathan Morello and the Boston University Terriers will take the long drive up to Vermont for a weekend set with the Catamounts.
Chris Pelosi and Elliott Groenewold will head to Happy Valley for a Friday night standalone game against Penn State. Zellers and Cooper Simpson will host Bentley for two games starting Friday. Cole Spicer and Western Michigan will play a home-and-home series with Notre Dame, starting in Kalamazoo on Friday. Beckett Hendrickson and Minnesota will rekindle their in-state rivalry with former WCHA foes Minnesota-Duluth, playing both games in Duluth this weekend.
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