Ice Level Weekend Recap: 10/16-10/17/2026
everyone loves a spongebob reference with their college hockey, right?
Written by James Blennau
There’s a new sheriff in town after a duel out west! Plus, a new leader takes charge down south, an old rivalry renews on the plains of the Midwest, and an old friend is potentially on its way back up to a reputation in this county. Now unfortunately, I may need to stop with the Western references and get you some news, because that’s what you’re really here for. Let’s start in the desert, shall we?
Daniel Shlaine skates past the bench after a goal over UMass Lowell on Friday. | ASU Athletics
HAKSTOL ERA BEGINS WITH A SWEEP
Dave Hakstol is officially Arizona State Head Coach, the school announced Thursday. Hakstol returned to the college game with two wins over UMass Lowell at Tsongas Center. You may also notice the lack of an interim tag, as the school quietly cut ties with its first-ever Division I coach in the process. If fired without cause, the program will owe Powers upwards of $1.3 million from his contract, according to The Arizona Republic. Also according to the source, the school and Powers came to a “mutual agreement to part ways.”
Hakstol will also bring former North Dakota star and Los Angeles Kings stalwart Matt Greene alongside him as an assistant. The sweep over the River Hawks gives the program some much-needed momentum headed into this weekend’s NCHC-opening series at St. Cloud State. Hakstol returns to coach in a much different era of college hockey than the one he left, between transfers, NIL, and CHL recruiting all making drastic changes. It will likely be an adjustment, but the Sun Devils have found their new leader amidst an ongoing crisis in Tempe.
Above all, we must keep in mind that Matthew Mayich remains on life support at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. We here at The Dan K Show continue to wish him and his family the best, and hope he will make a full recovery to return to the game he and we all love so much.
Cole McKinney in Saturday’s 4-1 win at Magness Arena. | Michigan Photography
Wolverines spoil the pioneers’ party
Michigan isn’t just 6-0-0 to start the season. It isn’t just the new No. 1 in the USCHO poll, either. The Wolverines SWEPT defending national champion No. 1 Denver, ON THE ROAD, and did I mention they also spoiled banner night? If that doesn’t set the tone for a monstrous season, I don’t know what does.
The weekend began with a 4-1 beat-down in the Mile High City, with Jayden Perron, Malcolm Spence and Cole McKinney each scoring across all three periods to take a 3-0 lead. Kyle Chyzowski’s late-third power-play goal would make it 3-1, but it was too little, too late as Spence sealed a statement win with an empty-netter. The No. 2 Wolverines also dominated the once-lethal Pioneers power play, going 5/6 on the penalty kill in the game. Jack Ivankovic stood tall saving 27 of 28 shots, as his defense allowed a measly three shots on goal in the first period.
The Wolverines followed up Friday’s spoiler with a 4-3 win on Saturday, never allowing the Pioneers to lead after the game’s first 10 minutes. While Kristian Epperson finally broke through Michigan’s domiant penalty kill with a power-play goal in the early first period, the Wolverines and Garrett Schifsky answered just a few minutes later. Kieran Cebrian tied the game after a two-goal deficit in the early third, but Asher Barnett’s late-third strike sealed the deal.
The Wolverines next take on No. 5 Western Michigan at home on Friday night, looking to continue a perfect start against a dangerous in-state opponent.
Golden Gophers and Fighting Hawks skaters battle for the puck in the net-front. | Russell Hons/UND Athletics
An old rivalry heads home to the state of hockey
Minnesota hosts rival No. 3 North Dakota this week on Thursday and Friday, as it can turn its season around after a 0-1-1 weekend at No. 9 Minneosta Duluth. While the Golden Gophers search for their first ranked win this season, the Fighting Hawks head to town looking to continue their perfect start through four games so far.
3M Arena at Mariucci’s home opener will be an exciting game as the series heads back to Minneapolis for the first time since 2022, and both programs have changed head coaches since then. Brett Larson makes his series debut on Thursday night, and while he returns stars who have competed in the rivalry before, it will be a tall task to take three points from this North Dakota squad.
Cole Reschny, Will Zellers and Mac Swanson are each over a point per game already in this young season, freshman goaltender Caleb Heil looks hot after back-t0-back shutouts over Bentley to start his collegiate career, and the team is only averaging 1.25 goals allowed per game through four contests.
Meanwhile, the Gophs have yet to score more than twice through four contests so far. Only five players have found the back of the net, as Brodie Ziemer leads the team with two goals, also co-leading with two points. These offensive struggles will need to end quickly, otherwise the Hawks will strike early and often. Without an answer to an offensive onslaught, it could be a long night on Thursday and Friday.
Vermont skaters celebrate a goal in front of their bench. | Ansel Casper/UVM Athletics
Catamounts look to build on last season’s momentum
Vermont is back playing spoiler, as in two games against No. 11 Boston University in its home opening weekend, the Catamounts earned a 2-1 win and 2-1 overtime loss for four of a possible six points against the Terriers.
A tight battle through the first two periods on Friday night saw sophomore netminder Jacob Oster save 24 of 25 against a deep Terrier forward corps. Zachary Filak finally broke through the deadlock in the mid-third period, and BU’s late efforts fell short to earn the home team an early ranked win to start Hockey East play.
Saturday started as tightly as ever, with no score until Jonah Aegerter’s late-second period strike. As the Burlington fans watched the seconds tick down, Ryder Ritchie tied things up with just 57 left to play. Two minutes later, Ritchie struck again to take two points from the game, but the one thing the Terriers couldn’t keep from this weekend was their USCHO ranking, dropping to No. 15 in this week’s poll.
Vermont next meets Clarkson in an evenly-matched home-and-home series this weekend, while BU does the same against a dangerous No. 16 UConn team to continue Hockey East play.
Bobcats skaters celebrate the road win with goaltender Christian Kirsch. | Quinnipiac Athletics
Nittany Lions are still winless through three
What is going on at Penn State? The Nittany Lions have yet to win a game through their first three games this year, and a 6-3 loss to No. 8 Quinnipiac may begin to raise some questions. The team has yet to find an offensive spark, failing to keep up in two high-scoring losses against the Bobcats and Sacred Heart, and only scored once against No. 16 UConn.
While Penn State started its home opener well with two first-period goals, Quinnipiac quickly quieted The Roar Zone with six unanswered before Luke Misa scored in the late-third period to make the loss a bit more palatable.
Interestingly, none of the game’s goals were scored at even strength as four goals were scored shorthanded and five on the power-play, with 19, yes, you read that right, 19 penalties handed out over the course of the game. The Bobcats’ power play remained lethal, going 4/7 on the man advantage as well as ¾ on the penalty kill.
The Nittany Lions next meet Robert Morris at home on Tuesday, with Canisius visiting for a weekend series after that before Big Ten play begins. Now is the time for Guy Gadowsky’s team to find its identity. If not, conference play will be lots of fun for its opponents.
Trevor Hoskin and the Warriors celebrate one of eight goals over Minnesota State. | Merrimack Athletics
Does that say eight?
To answer your question, dear reader, yes. Merrimack is our highest single-game scorer this week, with an 8-2 shellacking over Minnesota State on Saturday. That also includes seven unanswered goals in the first two periods before the Mavericks’ first strike.
Seven different Warriors found the back of the net, including Nathan King, who potted two and Ty Daneault who, I kid you not, scored twice within 15 seconds. Quick shout-out to Seamus Powell who earned secondary assists on both of those goals. Overall, 17 Warriors earned at least a point in the game, as Powell, Daneault and Caelan Fitzpatrick each led the team with three.
The No. 20 Warriors next travel to South Bend, Indiana to take on Notre Dame and build upon this weekend’s offensive onslaught. The Mavericks, on the other hand, meet St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota in search of their first win this season.
Well, this week was a fun one, wasn’t it? Hey, that reminds me, you should come back here next week! We’ll have all the coverage you need of the biggest stories across the sport. Be sure to check out our other content here at The Dan K Show, keep watching this beautiful game, and remember: say his name and he appears, I believe in Mason Marcellus.
