Day After Freshman Notches First Shutout Providence Signs Pro Goalie: Puck Drop

While numerous college hockey teams have made a midseason addition this season, usually out of the Canadian junior leagues to try and spark a second-half run for the postseason, Providence College came up with a different way to try and fill an injury void by adding a pro.

Sunday, the Friars announced the addition of goaltender Michael Simpson (London, Ont.) to the 2025-26 roster. He had been with the Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL, after participating in training camp with the Florida Panthers. Last season he appeared in 16 games between Belleville (AHL) and Orlando (ECHL).

In 10 games with Savannah, Simpson was 3-5 with a 2.63 GAA and .909 save percentage. The 22-year-old from London, Ontario, has never played at the collegiate level.

Precipitating the move was an an injury to senior Philip Svedebäck, who is expected to be out several weeks after suffering a sprained MCL during last week's loss to Alaska. He left midway through the second period with the Friars down 2-1. He was replaced by freshman Jack Parsons, who yielded two goals in the 5-1 setback.

However, Parsons, who had made just one start for the Friars (a loss to Lowell), subsequently led No. 18 Providence to a home weekend sweep of No. 12 Maine, including his first collegiate shutout on Saturday 3-0. Although it didn't show on the scoreboard, the Friars jumped all over the Black Bears, outshooting them 12-4 during the scoreless first period. Providence ended up with a 32-20 edge and cored two goals on special teams (one power play, one shorthanded).

The sweep bumped Providence (11-7-2 overall) into a tie for third in Hockey East with Boston University, which has played 13 league games compared to the Friars' 10 (6-3-1).In terms of the national picture, they moved up to No. 13 in the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index that will be used to determine the NCAA field — probably right on the bubble as the six automatic spots go to the conference tournament champions.

This was the fourth straight season Svedebäck was Providence's primary goaltender, and he's among the program's career leaders for wins. In 17 starts this season, he had a 2.32 goals against average and .918 save percentage, but only a 8-6-2 record as the Friars have been inconsistent. Nevertheless, the Swede was named the Hockey East Goaltender of the Month for November with a 1.86 GAA and .934 save percentage at .934.

The only other goaltender on the roster is freshman Aaron Matthews, who has participated in just one game this season.

Simpson has a connection to the Friars through freshman defenseman Donovan McCoy, as they were teammates on the OHL champion Peterborough Petes in 2022-23. Simpson was named the OHL Playoff MVP, and subsequently won another OHL title the following season with the London Knights.

Puck Drop: Monday, January 12, 2026

• Former Boston College goaltender Thatcher Demko's injury woes continued as he was placed on injured reserve by the Vancouver Canucks after sustaining a lower-body injury during a 5-0 loss at Toronto on Saturday. He's 8-10-1 with a 2.91 goals-against average and .897 save percentage in 20 games this season.

• Former Merrimack defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic made his season debut for New Jersey after having knee surgery in June. He had an assist in the 4-3 loss to Winnipeg. Meanwhile, the Devils announced that Stefan Noesen will have knee surgery this week.

• Jane Daley recorded her second consecutive hat trick as the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team skated to a 9-1 victory over Czechia in the preliminary round of the 2026 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship in Nova Scotia. The U.S. outshot Czechia 53-16 while improving to 2-0. The U.S won it's opener on Saturday 13-0 over Slovakia. Next up: Finland on Tuesday.

• No one seems to have any more issues with the ice part of Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, which will host hockey during the upcoming Winter Olympics. Now if they could just build some locker rooms ...

.@IIHFHockey President Luc Tardif gives an update on the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena while hosting the Italian Cup ahead of Milano Cortina.https://t.co/c3M2lqCWmi

📹: @Brian_Pinelli pic.twitter.com/tRIB5gaTsw
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) January 11, 2026

Men's College Hockey Sunday Scores

Non-Conference
Long Island 3, Stonehill 2

Women's College Hockey Sunday Scores

No Games Scheduled

Games between ranked opponents are bolded. All times are local to where the game is being played.

Men's College Hockey Monday Schedule

Non-Conference
No. 19 Boston University at Harvard, NESN, 7:00 ET

Women's College Hockey Monday Schedule

No Games Scheduled

On This Date in Hockey History:

January 12, 1917: Jimmy Skinner, credited with starting the tradition of kissing the Stanley Cup Selkirk, was born in Manitoba, Canada. Over the years with the Detroit Red Wings, he was the head coach, chief scout, and farm director, director of player personnel, director of hockey operations, assistant general manager, and general manager. The Red Wings won the Staley Cup his first year as head coach in 1955. They didn’t win it again until 1997

January 12, 1922: American goaltender Dick Bittner, who played just one game the NHL (for the Boston Bruins), but also for the U.S. National Team that finished third at the 1949 World Championships, was born in New Haven, Conn.

January 12, 1930: Hall of Fame defenseman Tom Horton, who played 1,445 games over 24 seasons in the NHL, and also co-founded the Tim Hortons restaurant chain, was born in Cochrane, Ontario.

January 12, 1943: Former St. Cloud State goaltender Frank Brimsek notched his 26th career shutout and Boston 16-year-old rookie Bep Guidolin had two goals and an assist during one of four fundraiser games for American Red Cross during World War II. The game raised $10,624 and the Bruins defeated the visiting Blackhawks 3-0.

January 12, 1955: Notre Dame right wing Alex Pirus was born in Toronto.

January 12, 1991: Former Minnesota Duluth defenseman Tom Kurvers was traded by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Vancouver Canucks for center Brian Bradley.

January 12, 1993: The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that Mario Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.

January 12, 1994: Wayne Gretzky scored two goals during the 6-4 Los Angeles Kings victory over the Hartford Whalers to become the first player in NHL history to score 2,400 career points.

January 12, 2010: Former Wisconsin goaltender Curtis Jospeh announced his retirement after 19 NHL seasons. Despite being undrafted, he was sixth all-time with 943 games played, and seventh in wins with 454.

Hockey Quote of the Day

"A scout from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the engineering college in Troy, New York, this particular bird dog had seen me playing Tier 2. One day, he told me, 'You got some talent.' Then he talked to my coach and suggested that I go to RPI. I was tickled when I heard that and then I heard from RPI's coach, Mike Adessa. He said, 'We'll give you a scholarship if you go back to school and get your grades.' So I went back to school, got my grades and finally entered RPI. But I can tell you this, that was no breeze, juggling academics with hockey at a tough school like RPI. I had to take courses like calculus that I never would have passed if I didn't have tutors."
Adam Oates

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We'll Leave You With This ...

It's called the greatest assist of all time. Abbey Murphy. 28 goals and 50 points leads the nation. #cawlidgehawkey 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://t.co/GnIJzHnHTW
— BucciOT.Com (@Buccigross) January 11, 2026