U.S. Collegiate Selects win their group at the Spengler Cup
Plus: Canada and the U.S. are back in action at the World Juniors today a full recap of Sunday's NCAA games, and a notebook
The U.S. Collegiate Selects captured their group at the Spengler Cup, earning a direct berth into Tuesday’s semifinal. Meanwhile, at the World Juniors, the U.S. and Canada are back in action today, each coming off victories highlighted by strong performances from NCAA players.
Also in today’s issue (#624):
— A full recap of Sunday’s NCAA action, including scores and game summaries from the Great Lakes Invitational and Holiday Face-Off tournaments.
— Vermont adds a goaltender for the second half of the season.
— College basketball continues to follow a path familiar to college hockey, with at least one former professional player joining an NCAA roster for the second half.
If you have ideas for a future newsletter, tips you want to share, mailbag submissions, or if you want to sponsor a future newsletter, please email mike@collegehockeyinsider.com.
I’m also @MikeMcMahonCHN on Twitter.
Thank you to our premium subscribers for their support of independent sports media!
Now, onto today’s newsletter …
U.S. Collegiate Selects win their group at the Spengler Cup
The U.S. Collegiate Selects captured their group at the Spengler Cup thanks to HC Davos’ win over Canada on Sunday.
As a result, the Selects earned a bye into Tuesday’s semifinals, where they’ll face the winner of Monday’s quarterfinal between Sparta Praha and Team Canada. Tuesday’s semifinal will stream on YouTube at 9:15 a.m. Eastern.
The Selects’ position was bolstered by an impressive win over Davos on Saturday. HC Davos currently sits atop the Swiss National League standings and boasts a roster that includes several former NHL players, among them Filip Zadina, Brendan Lemieux, Joakim Nordström, and Rasmus Asplund.
“The team played two hard fought games and earned a day off tomorrow,” said Selects head coach Guy Gadowsky. “We plan to take advantage of it and enjoy this beautiful town.”
U.S. and Canada back in WJC action today
Canada and the U.S. are back in action at the World Juniors later today. Canada is coming off an overtime win over Latvia on Saturday and will face Denmark at 8:30 p.m. Eastern (NHL Network, TSN).
The U.S. came away with a win over Switzerland on Saturday and will meet Slovakia at 6 p.m. Eastern (NHL Network, TSN).
The U.S. victory was overshadowed by a frightening moment in the second period, when BU defenseman Cole Hutson was struck by a puck near the head. Hutson was transported to a local hospital for evaluation but was later released and rejoined the team. His status for the remainder of the tournament remains undetermined.
“Cole’s back with us, and we’ll know more in the morning. But it was a scary situation, no question,” U.S. coach Bob Motzko said. “It’s a very close group of guys, and they responded, so that’s all we got on it. So he’s back with us and we’ll know more in the morning.”
Will Zellers (North Dakota) and Brodie Ziemer (Minnesota) scored for the U.S., while Nicholas Kempf (Notre Dame) stopped 12 shots.
For Canada, Michael Hage (Michigan) delivered the game-winning goal in overtime. Cole Reschny (North Dakota) also scored for the Canadians.
Hage’s overtime winner was set up by Gavin McKenna (Penn State).
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Just happy I could help us get a win,” Hage said. “It was a good pass by Gavin. Glad I got pretty good wood on it.”
Jack Ivankovic (Michigan) made 26 saves in goal for Canada.
College Hockey Tonight: Dec. 28, 2025
College hockey returned to center stage this weekend. Dartmouth and Arizona State got things started Saturday, followed by a fuller slate Sunday, with both the Great Lakes Invitational and the Holiday Face-Off underway.
Here’s a look back at Sunday’s action:
Great Lakes Invitational
Michigan State and Michigan Tech will meet in the GLI final later today (7 p.m. Eastern).
Michigan Tech 5, Miami 2: The Huskies added a pair of empty-net goals late in the third, making the final margin look more comfortable than the game itself. Jack Anderson snapped a 2-2 tie midway through the second period. Stiven Sardarian finished with three points (1g, 2a), while Tom Leppa chipped in a goal and an assist.
Michigan State 5, Ferris State 2: The Spartans seized control early, building a 4-0 lead midway through the second period. Charlie Stramel led the way with two goals and an assist, while Patrick Geary and Colin Ralph each contributed two assists from the blue line.
Holiday Face-Off
Western Michigan and Wisconsin will square off in the tournament final later today (8:30 p.m. Eastern).
Wisconsin 3, Lake Superior 2: The scoreline was tight, but the Badgers delivered a strong, controlled performance, limiting Lake Superior to 20 shots on goal and just 1.5 expected goals against. The Lakers briefly held a 2-1 lead after two third-period goals, but Ben Dexheimer tied the game late in the second, and Finn Brink struck early in the third for the game-winner.
Western Michigan 5, Boston College 3: The game of the day. Western Michigan jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1 through two periods, but BC pushed back with a pair of third-period goals, including a late tally by Dean Letourneau, his 10th of the season. Oscar Hemming made his collegiate debut for BC, finishing minus-3 with three shots on goal. Owen Michaels (1g, 2a) and William Whitelaw (two goals) paced the Broncos, while Michael Hagens (three assists) and Ryan Conmy (1g, 1a) led the Eagles.
Non-Conference
Dartmouth 4, Arizona State 1: After Arizona State took the opener of the series 5-1 on Saturday, Dartmouth responded with a convincing win. Four Big Green players recorded multi-point nights.
Princeton 5, Brown 4 (OT): Despite the close score, Princeton controlled much of the game, outshooting Brown 51-20 and holding a 4.3–1.5 edge in expected goals. Kai Daniells posted three points (2g, 1a), Tyler Rubin added two assists from the back end, and Brown goaltender Tyler Shea was busy, turning aside 46 shots.
Long Island 4, Army 4 (OT): Brett Ryland scored with the extra attacker late in the third period to force overtime. LIU outshot Army 42-27. Brent Keefer scored twice for Army, while Ben Ivey chipped in two assists.
Notebook: Vermont adds a goalie for the second half
— Vermont added goaltender Cullen DeYoung from the transfer portal for the second half of the season, and he’ll be in uniform tonight when the Catamounts open the post-break schedule against Merrimack.
DeYoung spent the past two seasons at Sacred Heart (2023–24, 2024–25) before entering the portal in the spring. Last season, he appeared in 15 games for the Pioneers and posted a 3.22 goals-against average with an .885 save percentage.
The Catamounts navigated significant health issues in the first half of the season. Jacob Oster suffered a season-ending injury that required surgery and is currently rehabbing at Vermont. DeYoung’s arrival gives the Catamounts three healthy goaltenders.
At one point, Vermont endured a five-week stretch with just one healthy goalie, as Oster’s injury and a separate issue that limited Axel Mangbo’s availability left the position stretched thin. It also made running practices difficult with just one goalie.
— College basketball is dealing with a parallel storyline to college hockey, as former professional players continue to find their way onto NCAA rosters. Last week, Baylor added James Nnaji for the second half of the season. Nnaji was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 2023 NBA Draft but never signed a contract, instead playing in Europe and the G League.
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo weighed in on the trend over the weekend, saying, “If that’s what we’re going to do, shame on the NCAA. Shame on the coaches, too, but shame on the NCAA because coaches are going to do what they’ve got to do, I guess, but the NCAA’s the one – those people on those committees who are making those decisions to allow something so ridiculous and not think of the kid.”