Biggest Storylines Heading Into College Hockey Week 2: Puck Drop

Puck Drop: Friday, October 9, 2026
College Hockey Scores
Today's College Hockey Schedule
This Date in Hockey History
We'll Leave You With This ...

As we head from the first week to the second in men’s college hockey, plenty of storylines have begun to form across the country. From an injury to one of the nation’s stars, to potential conference realignment, there is a lot to unpack.

Minnesota Duluth Forward Max Plante Expected to Miss Series at Augustana

According to Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin, reigning Hobey Baker winner Max Plante is expected to miss the upcoming series against Augustana. The injury is an upper-body issue, but there wasn’t any specification on the length of the recovery. This comes less than two years after Plante missed a large portion of his freshman season due to injury.

The 5-foot-11 forward suffered the blow in last weekend’s sweep of Long Island University. He tallied two assists in the first game of the series, coupled by two shots, but didn’t add any points in the second contest. The Bulldogs outscored the Sharks 11-4. Minnesota Duluth will rely on Max’s brother Zam and the rest of the powerful forward unit in the second weekend of play.

Atlantic Hockey America Not Planning To Expand

Despite losing American International and Mercyhurst, the AHA announced they had no interest in adding new teams, despite Stonehill and Long Island being worthy contenders.

The AHA has been a one-bid league in the last few years. Bentley has represented the conference in the last two NCAA Tournament’s, but fell both times in the first round.

"We're a one-bid league,” AHA commissioner Michelle Morgan said to College Hockey News. “Do we have aspirations to change that? Yeah. But between here and there, there's a lot of time, effort, energy, dollars that it's gonna take to get there," Morgan said. "One more team coming into the mix is another team that you have to battle through to get to win the championship to get that [automatic NCAA qualifier]."

The conference has been a tough opponent for major teams in Hockey East and the ECAC in the past, but it has also provided easier non-conference games for those same teams. With the conference remaining at nine teams despite hard pushes from multiple independents, Morgan and the administration have elected to build from within.

No. 6 Quinnipiac Barrels Past Two Hockey East Opponents, Next Stop Maine

Did your favorite team’s offense produce eight goals per game in the opening weekend? If you're a Quinnipiac hockey fan, the answer is yes. In a non-conference weekend against New Hampshire and reigning Hockey East champions Merrimack, the Bobcats combined for 16 goals and showed no mercy for two teams in one of college hockey’s premier conferences.

Last season, Quinnipiac finished 27-10-3, but fell to a 18-17-3 Clarkson team in the first round of the conference tournament. They advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but received a thrashing against No. 1 North Dakota in the second round of the Sioux Falls Regional.

It seems they haven’t forgotten the sour taste in their mouth from last year. The Bobcats have five scorers of two goals or more and 11 goal contributors overall. They now prepare for Maine who battled to a split against Holy Cross last weekend.

Puck Drop: Friday, October 9, 2026

• Former Boston University standout Macklin Celebrini missed his second straight game for San Jose on Thursday. He participated in warmups last time out, but his lower-body injury kept him out of the bout against St. Louis.

• Along with Greg Powers' absence from Arizona State hockey, it's been announced that an assistant has also separated himself from the team for the home opener against Holy Cross. This comes after Matthew Mayich collapsed during a workout, creating controversy within the program. Former NHL player Taylor Pyatt is listed as a “volunteer assistant coach” and is expected to be among those behind the bench this weekend. Meanwhile, Research On Ice (ROI) reported that former North Dakota head coach Brad Berry is in negotiations to take over the Sun Devils program, and a deal could be completed as early as today.

• Don Bosco (N.J.) goalie Alex Annunziato committed to Army. Last season as a sophomore he had a .924 save percentage. Army also landed a commitment from Phillip Shargorodsky, a center with Barrie (OHL).

• Merrimack forward Parker Lalonde was taken off the ice on a stretcher after taking a hard hit against UNH. He was reportedly alert after leaving the game, but there was no postgame update.

• Cornell had two former players make their NHL debuts, Hoyt Stanley with Ottawa, and Jonathan Castagna, who had an assists with Calgary.

Adam Klapka shows off the soft mitts! 😍

What a move by the 6′8″ big man! pic.twitter.com/Qv2N8XKOWF
— NHL (@NHL) October 9, 2026

College Hockey Scores

MEN
Hockey East
Merrimack 3, New Hampshire 3 (SO)

Non-Conference
Notre Dame 3, Niagara 1
Western Michigan 6, Ferris State 0
Lindenwood 7, Lake Superior 4

WOMEN
AHA
Mercyhurst 2, Lindenwood 1

Non-Conference
No. 13 Clarkson 4, St. Lawrence 0

The reveal. #GoMack x #MissionMerrimack pic.twitter.com/zhCjju7SFH
— Merrimack Men’s Hockey (@Merrimack_MIH) October 8, 2026

Today's College Hockey Schedule

MEN
Ice Breaker (at Storrs, Conn.)
No. 17 Penn State at No. 16 Connecticut, 7 p.m. ET
Bowling Green at Sacred Heart, 7 p.m. ET

Non-Conference
No. 6 Quinnipiac at Maine, 7 p.m. ET
Alaska-Anchorage at Michigan, 7 p.m. ET
Niagara at Notre Dame, 7 p.m. ET
St. Lawrence at No. 9 Providence, 7 p.m. ET
Ohio State at RPI, 7 p.m. ET
No. 12 Michigan Tech at St. Cloud State, 7 p.m. CT
Holy Cross at Arizona State, 7 p.m. MT
Air Force at St. Thomas, 7 p.m. CT
Vermont at Bentley, 7 p.m. ET
Alaska at No. 11 Boston College, 7 p.m. ET
Colgate at Stonehill, 7 p.m. ET
Lake Superior at Lindenwood, 7 p.m. CT
No. 8 Western Michigan at Ferris State, 7 p.m. ET
No. 7 Wisconsin at No. 19 Minnesota State, 7 p.m. CT
No. 5 Minnesota Duluth at Augustana, 7 p.m. CT
No. 4 North Dakota at Bemidji State, 7 p.m. CT
Clarkson at UMass Lowell, 7:15 p.m. ET
RIT at No. 18 Massachusetts, 7:30 p.m. ET
Northern Michigan at No. 3 Michigan State, 7:30 p.m. ET
Canisius at Long Island, 7:30 p.m. ET

Exhibition
US Under-18 at No. 15 Colorado College, 7 p.m. MT

WOMEN
AHA
Mercyhurst at Lindenwood, Noon CT
Penn State at Syracuse, 6 p.m. ET
Delaware at RIT, 6 p.m. ET

Hockey East
Northeastern at Providence, 2 p.m. ET
Boston University at New Hampshire, 6 p.m. ET
Boston College at Holy Cross, 7 p.m. ET

NEWHA
Long Island at Post, 2:30 p.m. ET
Sacred Heart at Assumption, 7 p.m. ET
Stonehill at Saint Michael's, 7 p.m. ET

WCHA
St. Thomas at Minnesota Duluth, 6 p.m. CT
Wisconsin at Ohio State, 6 p.m. ET

Non-Conference
Robert Morris at Rensselaer, 3 p.m. ET
St. Lawrence at Clarkson, 6 p.m. ET
Maine at Minnesota, 6 p.m. CT
St. Cloud State at Colgate, 6:30 p.m. ET
Vermont at Franklin Pierce, 7 p.m. ET

The PWHL’s expansion teams have unveiled their home jerseys ahead of their inaugural seasons 👀

(📸: @thepwhlofficial) pic.twitter.com/u6xk824AiS
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 8, 2026

This Date in Hockey History

October 9, 1896: Hall of Fame right wing Bill Cook was born in Brantford, Ontario.

October 9, 1947: Wisconsin goaltender Wayne Thomas was born in Ottawa, Ontario.

October 9, 1950: Hall of Fame goaltender George Hainsworth died in a car accident in Gravenhurst, Ontario. He was 57.

October 9, 1972: Michigan State forward Rem Murray was born in Stratford, Ontario.

October 9, 1974: The Washington Capitals made their NHL debut, but lost 6-3 to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

October 9, 1975: New Hampshire center Jason Krog, the 1999 Hobey Baker winner, was born in Fernie, British Columbia.

October 9, 1975: Michigan State right wing Tony Tuzzolino was born in Buffalo, N.Y.

October 9, 1978: The Los Angeles Kings sent a first-round draft pick to the Boston Bruins for former Denver goaltender (and future athletic director) Ron Grahame. The Bruins used the pick to selected Ray Bourque.

October 9, 1981: Former UMD and Miracle on Ice center Mark Pavelich scored his first NHL goal during an 8-3 loss by the New York Rangers at Winnipeg.

October 9, 1983: Boston College center Stephen Gionta was born in Rochester, N.Y.

October 9, 1990: Former Bowling Green defenseman Rob Blake scored his first NHL goal as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Vancouver Canucks 6-2.

October 9, 1993: Michigan left wing Phillip Di Giuseppe was born in Toronto.

October 9, 1996: Wisconsin center Cameron Hughes was born in Edmonton, Alberta.

October 9, 1997: Alaska Anchorage left wing Mike Peluso notched 27 penalty minutes for the Calgary Flames in a 1-1 tie with the New York Rangers.

October 9, 1998: Former St. Cloud State right wing Mark Parrish scored two goals during his first NHL game, a 4-1 victory against the Visiting Tamp Bay Lightning. It was also the first game in the new home of the Florida Panthers, National Car Rental Center.

October 9, 2000: Former UMD forward Brett Hull notched his 611st goal to top his father Bobby Hull’s career mark of 610. The son also had two assists as the Dallas Stars defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1.

October 9, 2002: The Los Angeles Kings retired Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99 and a bronze statue of the Great One was unveiled outside of the Staples Center.

October 9, 2008: Former Minnesota right wing Blake Wheeler scored his first career goal to help the Boston Bruins notch a 5-4 opening night win against the Colorado Avalanche

October 9, 2010: Former Wisconsin center Derek Stepan became just the fourth rookie since 1918 to score a hat trick in his first career NHL game as the New York Rangers defeated Buffalo, 6-3.

October 9, 2014: Former Minnesota right wing Blake Wheeler had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (a goal, an assist and a fight) to lead Winnipeg to a 6-2 victory against Phoenix. Wheeler scored a second goal in the first period as well.

[On facing Edmonton in 1985] "[Wayne] Gretzky on one line and [Mark] Messier and [Glenn] Anderson on another line is the best one-two punch in hockey. It's like Muhammad Ali followed by Larry Holmes."
Bill Gardner

We'll Leave You With This ...

It all starts tomorrow pic.twitter.com/H0IgxvmkpL
— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) October 8, 2026

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