Brown University hosted Alaska Anchorage on Black Friday in 1990. It was the first time the Alaska Anchorage hockey program had flown to Rhode Island. In fact, the November 23, 1990, game was the first time ever that Alaska Anchorage and Brown University faced off.
The Brown Bears are one of the founding members of the ECAC and remain in that conference to this day. Alaska Anchorage was an independent program during the 1990-91 season. It was in its seventh season since elevating to Division I. Heading into the Friday match up, Brown was still looking for its first win of the season after starting 0-5-1. The team was coming off a tough 7-1 loss to its cross-town rival Providence during the 5th annual Mayor’s Cup. Things weren’t going to get any easier for Brown; the Seawolves were a national tournament team the year before. And on the horizon the following weekend were the top two teams in the ECAC at the time: Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
As for the game itself, the visiting Seawolves controlled the majority of it at Meehan Auditorium that night. The third period saw numerous penalties called on both teams. In the final minute of regulation, the Seawolves were up by two goals but down two men. Chris Kaban netted a goal for Brown to cut the lead to 6-5. Derek Chauvette then tied the score to send the game to overtime. The bonus period didn’t see any scoring, resulting in a 6-6 tie.
1990-91 Brown Bears men’s hockey team
The improbable comeback spurred Brown as the Bears upset Clarkson the following week 5-2. The team would go 7-5-1 in the 13 games following this game. But in the end, Yale defeated Brown in the opening round of the ECAC tournament and the Bears finished with a 9-15-3 record. Alaska Anchorage, on the other hand, went to overtime the following night against Providence College as well but ran out of gas and lost in the extra session. It was just the third game in that all-time series after Providence visited Anchorage almost a decade prior. The Seawolves finished its 1990-91 regular season with a 20-14-4 record and received an invite to the NCAA tournament for the second season in a row. The Seawolves defeated Boston College in the best-of-three opening round series after winning the first two games against the Eagles. Eventual champion Northern Michigan defeated the Seawolves in the next round en route to the NCAA trophy.
Photo Credit: Featured photo: The Brown Daily Herald 118 (1990-11-27). Brown Daily Herald. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. Secondary photo: 1990-91 Brown Bears men’s hockey team photo from the Liber Brunensis (1991 Yearbook). Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
The four-year streak of a new NCAA men’s hockey team joining Division I was snapped this year. However, one conference expanded. Arizona State found a home in the NCHC during the 2024-25 season after spending nine seasons as a DI independent. The program won its first Division I conference game when the Sun Devils beat Omaha at home 3-2 on November 16, 2024. Later that month, the Sun Devils defeated Denver 3-2 to earn its first win over a top-ranked team in the nation. This win snapped Denver’s 21-game unbeaten streak in the process. Arizona State would later win its first conference playoff game and series after sweeping UMD in the opening round at home. The Sun Devils participated in the Frozen Faceoff and were defeated by Denver 4-2. The Pioneers, in turn, lost the following night when Western Michigan took down Denver in double overtime. Western Michigan won its first Frozen Faceoff title in the final NCHC championship game to take place in Saint Paul. Beginning next season, the entire NCHC playoffs will be played on campus.
The NCHC announced in the off-season that it would add another new member in St. Thomas in 2026-27. With the news of the Tommies’ future exit from its current conference, the CCHA, in turn, announced Augustana would become a full member in 2024-25; a year earlier than scheduled. Due to an unbalanced conference schedule for Augustana compared to the rest of the CCHA, the conference switched to points percentage this season to determine the standings. The Vikings finished second to Minnesota State in the standings. A unique situation occurred during the 2025 CCHA Mason Cup playoffs. When St. Thomas defeated Bowling Green in the semifinals, it ensured that the winner of the other semifinal between Minnesota State and Bemidji State would receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. This was because St. Thomas was not eligible for the tournament due to a mandatory four-year waiting period after transitioning from Division III to Division I. In a semifinal with unexpectedly high postseason ramifications, the Mavericks downed the Beavers 4-0 to earn the bid. The Mavericks put an exclamation point on the tournament the following week with a 4-2 win in the championship game, thus regaining the Mason Cup for the third time in four years.
The Lindenwood men’s hockey team defeated the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison October 11, 2024. It was the first program win over a top ten ranked opponent as well as its first win over a Big Ten team. Two weeks later in Indiana, LIU defeated Notre Dame for the program’s first road win over a ranked opponent. LIU finished the season with a record of 20-12-2; the first time the program hit the 20-win plateau in a season.
Denver hosted UNLV for a holiday-season exhibition game on December 28, 2024. UNLV, an ACHA Division I hockey program, shocked the hockey world by defeating the Pioneers in a shootout 7-6. Granted, Denver was without head coach, David Carle, and star defenseman, Zeev Buium, but this was historic. It’s safe to say this was the first time an ACHA (club) team defeated the defending Division I men’s hockey team who also owns the record for most NCAA Division I hockey titles. In April, the Skatin’ Rebels capped its historic season with the school’s first-ever ACHA Division I national hockey championship.
Two Division I men’s conference championship games went to double overtime. This was just the second time this ever happened in the same season; the only other occurrence took place in 2017. In addition to the aforementioned NCHC title game when Western Michigan outlasted Denver, the Michigan State Spartans defeated Ohio State in double overtime by a score of 4-3 to earn its second Big Ten tournament title in a row. Elsewhere, Bentley won the Atlantic Hockey America tournament. The Falcons hoisted the Riley Trophy for the first time, granting the program its first-ever berth in the NCAA hockey tournament. Within Hockey East, Maine won its first Hockey East tournament since 2004 after defeating UConn in the title game. UConn, however, earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament; its first time ever participating in the national tournament. Within the ECAC, Quinnipiac won the regular season title for the fifth season in a row. However, the Bobcats lost in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Quinnipiac has not won any of the five conference tournaments throughout this five-peat run.
During the 2025 NCAA Division I men’s tournament, Denver and Boston College met in the Manchester Regional Final for a rematch of the 2024 title game. Since 1949, there have been seven instances of a title game rematch happening in the following season’s tournament. In all seven instances, the runner up from the season before avenged the loss. History did not repeat itself in 2025 as Denver beat Boston College 3-1 to earn a trip back to the Frozen Four.
The men’s Frozen Four took place in St. Louis for the first time since 2007. Of the four teams that made it, two are considered college hockey blue bloods in Denver and Boston University and two are first-time participants in Western Michigan and Penn State. Western Michigan defeated Denver in double overtime in the early semifinal. It was the second time the Broncos defeated the Pioneers in double overtime in 21 days. Also, the only other time these two teams met in the NCAA tournament, that too ended in double overtime. But Denver was on the winning side of that 2011 first round contest. The late semifinal game saw Boston University defeat Penn State; thus, ending the Cinderella run for the 13th overall seed. Western Michigan defeated Boston University two days later and claimed the program’s first NCAA hockey title. It was the third time in five years that a first-time winner was crowned for the Division I men. The Broncos are also the first champion to win two double overtime games in the NCAA tournament en route to a title. Western Michigan is the first men’s team to pull off the trophy trifecta (conference regular season title, conference tournament title, NCAA title) since Union in 2014. A Michigan-based team has won all three Frozen Fours hosted in the city of St. Louis (Western Michigan in 2025, Michigan State in 2007, and Michigan Tech in 1975).
The women’s Frozen Four was held at Ridder Arena. It was the seventh time it took place on the University of Minnesota campus. Two WCHA powerhouses met in the championship game yet again. In fact, it was the third year in a row that Ohio State and Wisconsin faced off for the championship trophy; the first time that has ever happened in the NC women’s hockey tournament. Wisconsin won two years ago, and Ohio State won the previous season. The two previous title games were decided by one goal and this year wasn’t any different. Wisconsin tied the game on a Kirsten Simms penalty shot with just 19 seconds left in regulation. The Badgers then won the game 4-3 in overtime on another goal by Simms. It was the fourth championship trophy for the Badgers in six seasons. Wisconsin has now won the hockey championship in the last four odd-numbered years. The Badgers increased their lead in the overall title count by adding this eighth trophy. This was also the 22nd women’s hockey championship for the WCHA.
In Division III men’s hockey, Hobart completed a three-peat after defeating Utica 2-1 in overtime during the championship game of the 40th NCAA hockey tournament for Division III. The Statesmen have defeated three different teams in the three consecutive championship games. The last time there was a three-peat in Division III men’s hockey, Middlebury (Vermont) won three in a row from 2004 to 2006.
The longest women’s hockey game in Division III history took place during the MIAC tournament. Augsburg (Minnesota) defeated Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota by a score of 3-2 when Aunna Schulte scored eight minutes and six seconds into the fourth overtime. The field for the NCAA Division III women’s tournament was expanded from 11 to 12 teams this year. For the second year in a row the semifinals and title game were held in River Falls, Wisconsin. It was held there in 2024 because Wisconsin-River Falls was the highest remaining seed. However, it was chosen as a predetermined site prior to this 2024-25 season. But as luck would have it, Wisconsin-River Falls made another tournament run and ended up back in the championship game at home. The Falcons defeated Amherst 3-1 to claim back-to-back titles.
For more than five decades, if a hockey prospect played in one of the Major Junior leagues in Canada or even signed a contract with one of the teams, it rendered a player automatically ineligible from NCAA hockey. In fact, NCAA hockey did not accept players who had even played in a game against a professional player. However, this changed November 7, 2024, when a vote was passed that allowed NCAA Division I teams to recruit prospects who participated in Major Junior hockey or professional teams. The caveat was that the players must never have received payments more than the actual and necessary expenses as part of their participation on the team. Players who accepted additional expenses or gifts, or signed NHL contracts are still deemed ineligible in the eyes of the NCAA. It was determined that eligible players would be able to begin play within the 2025-26 season. Division III was excluded from this ruling. Braxton Whitehead was the first Canadian Hockey League player to commit to an NCAA team. Whitehead, an alternate captain for the Regina Pats of the WHL, verbally committed to Arizona State on September 13, 2024. He did so due to a class action suit filed against the NCAA to allow CHL players to be deemed eligible. The NCAA voted less than two months later to allow it. The fact that NCAA players currently earn scholarships and money from name, image, and likeness (NIL) helped fuel this change.
We previously highlighted the Division I women’s regular season champions. Now that the Division I men’s conference playoffs are in motion, it’s time to cover the 2024-25 regular season conference champions. Below is a look at the seven teams that ended the regular season on top of the six conferences and the historical implications for each. (No, there was not a typo in that last sentence.)
Holy Cross – The Crusaders won the regular season title in the first season after the Atlantic Hockey Association rebranded to Atlantic Hockey America. This marked the first regular season crown for Holy Cross since 2006. Minnesota Gophers fans will never forget what Holy Cross did in the NCAA tournament that season.
Michigan State and Minnesota – For the first time in Big Ten Hockey history, there are co-champions for the regular season title. It came down to the final weekend and both teams ended up tied at 50 points. The Spartans became back-to-back champs – the team won the Big Ten for the first time in 2023-24. Minnesota’s most recent title before this was in 2023. This year’s feat is Minnesota’s conference-leading seventh time doing so. Fun Fact: Michigan is the only team yet to win a regular season Big Ten title, yet it leads the field in conference tournament wins with three.
Minnesota State – A year after the MacNaughton Cup traveled 269 miles north, it found its way back to Mankato this season. The Mavericks ended with a .781 points percentage and 56 points on the season. The conference tracked points percentage this season because Augustana – the newest member of the CCHA – had far fewer conference games compared to the other teams. The Vikings ended up in second place with 30 points – yet a .625 points percentage. This is an impressive seventh time Minnesota State has brought home the MacNaughton Cup in the last eight seasons. (Three in CCHA and four in the now-defunct WCHA men’s hockey conference.)
Quinnipiac – It’s a five-peat for the Bobcats. Yes, you read that right. Quinnipiac has dominated the ECAC in the past ten-plus seasons – winning the Cleary Cup nine times since 2012-13. In addition to the regular season titles, Quinnipiac won the Whitelaw Cup once for winning the conference tournament in 2016, a national championship in 2023, and was NCAA runner-up in 2013 and 2016.
Boston College– The Eagles won the Hockey East regular season title for the second time in a row. It was the 19th time in Boston College history. The Eagles finished the season on a tear, winning six in a row to close it out and 14-2-1 overall in the last 17 games. The team is looking to win the Hockey East men’s tournament again to sweep the titles for the second year in a row.
Western Michigan – The 50th season was the charm. Western Michigan’s first season in Division I was 1973-74 and this year the Broncos won its first regular season title. Western Michigan is only the fourth school to lift up the Penrose Trophy in the 12-year history of the NCHC. (Fighting Hawks, Pioneers, and Huskies are the other three.) Western Michigan looks to win its first NCHC Frozen Faceoff this year as well – the last one being held in Saint Paul.
It’s worth noting that of the five independent teams in Division I men’s hockey, LIU finished with the best record at 20-12-2. It’s the first time the Sharks have hit the 20-win plateau since the program began five years ago.
Both Division I hockey programs in Alaska have a storied history of facing one another on the ice. This shouldn’t come as a surprise because of the proximity of these two teams compared to the other U.S. college hockey programs of the contiguous 48 states. The rivalry between the Alaska Nanooks and Alaska Anchorage Seawolves began in 1979. That happens to be the year when Alaska Anchorage launched its varsity men’s hockey program. The teams from Fairbanks and Anchorage faced each other eight times during that 1979-80 season. But the hockey history between these cities goes back a lot further than that. We recently discovered photos of the first game between the University of Alaska and an Anchorage team playing one another on the ice in 1935 – likely during the Fairbanks Dog Derby and Ice Carnival (Fairbanks Winter Carnival).
The University of Alaska Fairbanks’ first year of hockey was 1925. At the time, the school was known as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines. The program played that one season and then discontinued hockey until 1932. Over in Anchorage, the University of Alaska Anchorage formally began its varsity hockey program in 1979 within Division II and made the leap to Division I in 1984. This photo predates the Alaska Anchorage hockey team and even the creation of the school.
The featured photo from 1935 shows a hockey game between teams from Anchorage and Fairbanks. It appears to be played in Fairbanks on the frozen Chena River according to the description of the photograph. The Northern Commercial Company building is shown on the shore in the background. The Cushman Street Bridge is out of frame to the left. Spectators would line up on the bridge during big games. This is presumably photo evidence of the first game played between the University of Alaska and a team from Anchorage, as another photo states that the 1935 team was the first hockey team organized by the city of Anchorage.
It’s highly likely this photo was taken during the Fairbanks Winter Carnival tournament in March 1935. And if so, the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines won the game 4-1. Several months later on July 1, 1935, the Alaska Territorial Legislature changed the institution’s name to the University of Alaska. The hockey team was referred to as the Alaska Polar Bears or U of A Polar Bears. The school changed its nickname to the Nanooks in 1963. Nanook is a derivation of nanuq, which is the Inupiaq word for polar bear.
Flash forward eighty-seven years and the two college hockey programs from these cities will play one another at the Carlson Center this weekend – less than two miles away from that 1935 meeting on the river. At this point, both teams participate as independents within Division I. It’s Alaska Anchorage’s first season back on the ice since the 2019-20 season. In fact, the Nanooks and Seawolves last played one another February 29, 2020; mere days before COVID-19 shut down that season. The teams will begin play for the Governor’s Cup this weekend. This is an award given to the winner of the most games between the two hockey programs throughout each season. While the schools formally began the rivalry on the ice in 1979 and started the Governor’s Cup in 1994, these upcoming games will be the renewal of a rivalry between cities that began nearly 90 years ago.
Photo Credit: Culhane family photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
USC and Minnesota met in game 2 of the series March 26, 1938, as described in the Daily Trojan.
This is Part 2 of a two-part series where we look back at the unique two-game series between the USC Trojans and Minnesota Golden Gophers that took place more than 83 years ago. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.
On March 26, 1938, USC and Minnesota faced off for game two of their series in Los Angeles. The Trojans defeated the heavily-favored Gophers 5-2 just two days beforehand. Minnesota had hoped to jump out to an early lead to quiet the packed Polar Palace arena crowd in Hollywood. It looked like they may be in luck early on as the Gophers were awarded a power play in the first period. Unfortunately for the away team, they gave up the puck in front of the USC net and Herm Schaller skated the length of the ice to tally a short-handed goal for USC to make it 1-0. The Trojans extended the lead to 3-0 on two second period goals from Bennie Novicki. The Gophers gained a little momentum back when Bill Bredeson scored at the end of the second period making it 3-1 heading into the third.
Eventually the Gophers tied it up 3-3 with two unanswered goals in the final frame. However, USC stood tall and wouldn’t back down. Earl Robson stole the puck from the legendary John Mariucci and scored the game winner with less than two minutes to go in regulation. The Saturday night game ended 4-3 in favor of the home team and earned the Trojan hockey team a sweep of the Big Ten champion Gophers.
The Gophers would head north three days later to Washington to face Gonzaga in the last game of the three-game West Coast trip. The team lost 5-1 in the only hockey contest to date between the two schools. The Trojans and Gophers would face off again the following season. USC traveled east to Minnesota just nine months later. The cold weeknights in December didn’t faze the Trojans as they swept the Gophers yet again; accounting for one third of Minnesota’s losses in the 1938-39 season. The early series set the tone for USC that season with the Trojans eventually regaining their Pacific coast championship from Loyola in 1939.
December 1938 would be the last time these two teams shared the ice together. Eighty-two years later USC can still claim they are undefeated against the Minnesota hockey team with a 4-0 record.
The golden state of California was home to very talented college hockey teams in the 1930s. Yes, you read that right. In fact, these teams would routinely put up great competition against the best that the United States and Canada had to offer. USC and Loyola dominated the four-team league in California. We highlighted these two teams in our coverage of the 1930s in our U.S. College Hockey History summary.
Today we’re focusing on the first time the Golden Gophers of Minnesota visited Los Angeles to take on the host USC Trojans on March 24, 1938. USC had recently lost the league championship to Loyola the previous week. This marked four championships in a row for Loyola. It had to have stung the Trojans who were hoping to regain the West Coast title they routinely touted in the early 1930s. The heavily-favored Gophers were the reigning Big Ten champions. It was rumored that the Gophers purposely avoided Loyola on the team’s West Coast tour due to the alleged “poaching” of Minnesota’s Iron Range prospects by the Loyola team. USC hockey teams routinely included players from Canada, Minnesota and Massachusetts but there was no ill will between the two universities.
The indoor Polar Palace arena was packed with 3,500 spectators who wanted to see how this West Coast-Midwest tilt was going to shape up. They were treated to a fast-paced game from the opening puck drop. Both teams had four shots on goal within the first two minutes of regulation. Nat Harty of USC broke the proverbial ice five minutes into the game. The Trojans would jump out to a 2-0 lead later in the first period. The Gophers were able to get on the board in the final period to cut it to 2-1. Minnesota was able to narrow the lead to one goal again later in the final period but the Trojans scored twice in 20 seconds and took the opening game of the series 5-2.
Leading the Trojans that night was the team’s senior captain Nat Harty with two goals. The Daily Trojan applauded goalie Jerry Beranek as well as defensemen Al Fitzgerald and Howie Smith for bottling up Minnesota sophomore John Mariucci. The paper claimed it was the first time in Mariucci’s college career where he was held scoreless in a game.
In Part 2 of our USC-Minnesota series, we will highlight the second game that took place on Saturday, March 26, 1938.
Photo Credit: USC Digital Library. The Daily Trojan Collection
On July 23, 1987, the Alabama Huntsville athletic department called a press conference. The school’s hockey team had just completed a 20-win season – its first in Division II. The university announced that the Chargers hockey team was elevating its program to Division I – effective immediately. The NCAA did not sponsor Division II hockey so the move allowed the school to play against the best competition at the collegiate level with a chance to participate in the NCAA postseason.
The Chargers first opponent in Division I was the Maine Black Bears on October 30, 1987. It was a true test to start this new era as the Black Bears were nationally ranked and coming off a 24-win season that ended in the national tournament. The Chargers put two goals on the scoreboard that evening but it wasn’t enough as Maine defeated the host team 8-2.
The Chargers ended their inaugural Division I season with an 11-18-1 record. The schedule for the 1987-88 season was a mix between Division I and II opponents. It is common for programs to schedule a mix of Division I opponents in the first season at the highest collegiate level. The season saw the team travel to Alaska in December to play a total of four games against Alaska and Alaska Anchorage in six days. The Chargers also faced off against St. Cloud State four times in the month of February. The season ended on a high note with a victory over Queens University of Ontario in the Alabama Face-Off Tournament that the school hosted.
As with all hockey programs, Alabama Huntsville has had its ups and downs throughout the years. The program dropped back down to Division II in 1992 and ended up winning two national championships over Bemidji State in 1996 and 1998. After six seasons in Division II, it was elevated back to Division I in 1998 and then joined its first Division I conference – College Hockey America – in 1999. The Chargers participated in two Division I national tournament games; losing both in 2007 and 2010. Alabama Huntsville was admitted to the WCHA conference in 2013. It was an historic moment for this program. On its own proverbial island, the Chargers hockey team is a one-of-a-kind program in the southern United States. This is a program that has defied the odds and keeps pushing forward.
Its toughest test yet came seven years later. In response to COVID-19, Alabama Huntsville announced in May 2020 that the hockey program would be discontinued. However, the university stated that the program would be reinstated if the community could raise $750,000. Pledges from alumni and the general public surpassed that goal in one week so the program ended up participating in the WCHA for the 2020-21 season. With the majority of teams in the WCHA leaving to create a newly-reformed CCHA for the 2021-22 season, Alabama Huntsville announced on May 5, 2021, that the university was suspending the hockey program. The school officials and the alumni group that helped provide funds the previous season had both agreed to discontinue the program if they were unable to secure a new conference. There is a caveat that the hockey program will be reinstated if a new conference can be secured. If that happens, Alabama Huntsville will not be eligible for conference play for at least one year after receiving an invitation. This leaves the door open for a possible return in 2022-23.
If we’ve learned one thing about college hockey over the past eight seasons, it’s that the conference structure is not set in stone. There have been major conference realignments as well as several new teams that have joined Division I. While it looks almost certain that Alabama Huntsville won’t play hockey in the 2021-22 season, we’re not going to rule anything out regarding its future. A conference invitation could be in its future along with a new lease on life for the Alabama Huntsville Chargers hockey team.
Photo Credit: UAH Magazine, Winter 1988. Archives and Special Collections, M. Louis Salmon Library at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
