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5 Final Takeaways from the NCAA Hockey Regional Semifinals: Puck Drop

Your daily briefing on what's going on in college hockey, everything from the assists on the ice to the Zamboni.
Christopher Walsh|
Denver freshman Johnny Hicks has helped lead the Pioneers to the NCAA Tournament, where he notched a shutout in his first game.
Denver freshman Johnny Hicks has helped lead the Pioneers to the NCAA Tournament, where he notched a shutout in his first game. | Tyler Schank/Denver Athletics
  1. Puck Drop: Saturday, March 28, 2026
  2. College Hockey Friday Scores
  3. College Hockey Saturday Schedule
  4. Hockey Quote of the Day
  5. We'll Leave You With This ...
  6. Bonus

Freshman Johnny Hicks has been a remarkable story in college hockey this season, and in more ways than one. To begin with, he's not supposed to be here in the NCAA Tournament.

Hicks hails from Kamploos, British Columbia, which is squarely between Baanf and Whistler in Canada, and as a rising prospect split the 2024-25 season between the Brooks Bandits of the British Columbia Hockey League and Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League. When it came time to make the decision on his career direction he didn't have a problem with heading to America. However, his initial commitment will surprise a lot of college hockey fans, Tennessee State.

When the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to launch a hockey program opted to bump things back a year to 2026-27, Hicks looked around again and that's how he ended up at Denver. However, the incoming class also included Quentin Miller, a fourth-round selection of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2023 NHL Draft, who was handed the starting job.

Miller won a few NCHC player of the week awards, but when Denver endured its midseason losing streak he went winless in six straight starts, and on Jan. 24 suffered a lower-body injury during a 6-0 setback to St. Cloud State. Since then, Hicks has been the Pioneers' goaltender, and he has yet to take a loss.

He made 24 saves while notching his third shutout as Denver dispatched Cornell from the Loveland Regional on Friday, 5-0. Junior Sam Harris and freshman Clarke Caswell both had a goal and an assist, junior Kieran Cebrian and sophomore Jake Fisher also scored for the Pioneers, and senior Rieger Lorenz added an empty-net goal.

Hicks pushed his unbeaten streak to 14 games, and winning streak to 10 during which no opponent scored more than three goals against him (Minnesota Duluth did it twice). Along the way he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCHC tournament, and if you remember the team and individual leaders we posted the other day he was leading all tournament goaltenders in winning percentage (.962), goals-against-average (1.14), and save percentage (.958).

Next up, yet another rematch with Western Michigan. On Sunday, the last two national champions will play for the sixth time this season: four NCHC regular-season games, the conference tournament and in the Regional Finals. They "only" played four times last season, with the two postseason meetings going double overtime including in the Frozen Four. Overall, of the nine meetings played so far over the last two seasons four went to OT.

Hicks' record against WMU during his win streak? 1-0, a 2-1 result in the NCHC semifinals. But he also faced the Broncos prior to his ongoing streak, winning his first game on the road on Nov. 7, 3-1, but lost the Jan. 10 game at home, 6-2. It's only one of three losses he's had at Denver, and came during the teams' midseason swoon.

Here are our five takeaways from Friday's four NCAA Regional Semifinals, which didn't see any upsets.

1. Early Entry for Save of the Tournament: Trey Augustine had a great point-blank save for Michigan State on Thursday, but Western Michigan's Hampton Slukynsky may have topped it while helping lead a 3-1 victory against Minnesota State.

Zach Bookman and Zaccharya Wisdom each had a goal and an assist while Owen Michaels added an empty-net goal for the reigning national champions. Slukynsky made 23 saves to improve to a career 5-0 in the tournament. Only three goalies in tournament history have finished undefeated with at last five career wins in the NCAA Tournament: Boston College's John Muse (8-0, 2008-10), North Dakota's Darren Jensen (5-0, 1980 and 1982), and UMD's Hunter Shepard (8-0, 2018-19).

2. Penn State's Gavin McKenna's freshman season ended with 51 points in 35 games as Penn State was eliminated by Minnesota Duluth, 3-1. He had had the fifth-most points by a draft-eligible player in college hockey since 1990. Meanwhile, Max Plante's goal in the first period gave him 50 points for the season. He's the first Bulldogs player to reach the milestone since Alex Iafallo had 51 points over the 2016-17 season.

3. Michigan looked like ... Michigan. Freshman goaltenderJack Ivankovic nearly had a shutout as well, only to yield a goal to Bentley with 27 seconds remaining after making the first 24 saves. T.J. Hughes had a goal and two assists, Garrett Schifsky notched a goal and Jayden Perron was credited with two assists. The one thing the top-ranked Wolverines were lacking was top center Michael Hage, who was scratched while still dealing with effects of a leg injury sustained while blocking a shot against Ohio State in the Big Ten championship.

4. As noted in the first-day takeaways, it's already been a horrendous tournament for the East as Quinnipiac was the only team to get a win and advance. Even the Eastern team that plays in a Western conference, Penn State, lost. If the Bobcats fail to advance, it could be the second time in five years that the Frozen Four is an all Western event. The 2022 national semifinals that year featured Denver, Minnesota State, Michigan and Minnesota. Where was that Frozen Four played? Boston, of course. It would be third time in 10 years as the 2018 Frozen Four was all-West as well.

5. The Albany Regional is getting ripped for numerous reasons including empty seats. Remember when we thought the NCAA Tournament selection committee would put Cornell there to boost attendance, and then didn't? Talke a look ...

... and then there's this from one of the UMD players:

Meanwhile, at the Loveland Regional, where Denver was the host school, 4,217 fans packed into Blue Arena, most of them clad in crimson and gold.

"The building was awesome," Denver sophonmore forward Jake Fisher said.

Puck Drop: Saturday, March 28, 2026

• Mercyhurst announced that it would discontinue the men's hockey program, a decision "that reflect a comprehensive strategy focused on long-term viability and alignment with student demand." The Lakers went 6-28 -3 this season, 5-18-3 in the AHA. It finished last, No. 63 out of 63 teams, in the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index. The women's program will continue. “Atlantic Hockey America is deeply disappointed by the news regarding the Mercyhurst men’s ice hockey program," AHA commissioner Michelle Morgan said in a statement. "We recognize the weight of this decision and the significance it has for the student-athletes and staff members who are affected. Our focus remains on supporting those impacted by this transition and ensuring the continued stability of our conference. The AHA will remain steadfast in continuing to elevate our league while remaining nimble in the continually changing landscape of collegiate athletics.”

• Mercyhurst is taking extra heat for its announcement because after the decision was made it still posted a video from players and coaches on Wednesday asking for donations from fans. The video has since been taken down. The school said it will honor scholarships, but nearly the entire team has already entered the transfer portal.

• Meanwhile, the Grand Forks Herald reported that North Dakota athletics was covering ticket costs for students traveling to Sioux Falls for the regional final.

• Sophomore forward Hayden Stavroff is the first player from Dartmouth to win the Walter Brown Award, which goes to the best American-born Division I player in New England. With 29 goals he led the nation in goals per game (.83) and had 19 assists in 34 games.

• Freshman defender Sydney Sawyer, who entered the transfer portal from Colgate, is heading to Ohio State. She's a six-time gold medalist at various levels, with titles at the U18 Nationals (2023, 2024), National Aboriginal Championships (2024, 2025), U22 Ontario Provincials (2025), and the 2025 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship with Team Canada.

• Defenseman J.T. Veney, who had previously been headed to Army, committed to Long Island.

• Former Boston College defenseman Drew Fortescue made his NHL debut with the New York Rangers. Many of his former teammates drove down to see the 6-1 victory against the Blackhawks. He was named the third star of the game after getting an assist, and played some on the blue line with Adam Fox. ... Meanwhile, Former North Dakota and Boston University center Sacha Boisvert got into his first career NHL fight in his second game.

College Hockey Friday Scores

NCAA Tournament
All times Eastern
Loveland Regional
No. 4 Western Michigan 3, Minnesota State 1
Denver 5, Cornell 0

Albany Regional
No. 1 Michigan 5, Bentley 1
Minnesota Duluth 3, Penn State 1

College Hockey Saturday Schedule

All times Eastern
Worcester Regional
At DCU Center
Semifinals
Finals
No. 3 Michigan State vs. Wisconsin, 4:35 p.m. , ESPN2


Sioux Falls Regional
At Denny Sanford Premier Center
Finals
No. 2 North Dakota vs. Quinnipiac, 7 p.m., ESPN2

Hockey Quote of the Day

“Find a purpose greater than yourself. I had Olympic rings in the back of my head as a 10-year-old, which made the demanding trainings easier to deal with. I knew my purpose was not the practice itself, but what it would help me achieve.”
Angela Ruggiero

We'll Leave You With This ...

This is actually from Thursday night, but features former Wisconsin center Dylan Holloway of the St. Louis Blues:

Bonus

Former Minnesota Duluth forward Brett Hull was among the former players who showed up in St. Louis for its annual Puck Cancer night.

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Published
Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and is also the publisher of the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt sites . He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004 and is the author of 27 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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