Postseason Opens with Upset Win by 'Worst' Team in College Hockey: Puck Drop
Fans will claim it was everything from wearing the shamrock green so close to St. Patrick's Day, to the hockey gods serving notice that March will be absolutely crazy, but there's no denying that Canisius ran into a scorching-hot goaltender at the wrong time on Tuesday.
Although injury-plagued Mercyhurst had finished the regular season last in the 10-team AHA standings, No. 63 out 63 teams in Division I National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index, and was outshot 49-13, the Lakers won the first game of the college hockey postseason by shocking the host Golden Griffins in the first round of their conference tournament, 5-2.
Charles-Edward Gravel, a freshman from Quebec, made a career-high 47 saves to notch his third win. Meanwhile, the Lakers scored a season-high five goals, from Barrett Brooks, Ryan Coughlin, Sean James, Riley Fitzgerald and Christian Kocsis, the final two on an empty net as Canisus (17-16-2) was desperately trying to avoid the end of its season.
You may remember, Mercyhurst opened the season at Ann Arbor and was promptly crushed by then-No. 12 Michigan 11-1 and 7-0. After a 0-17-1 start, it didn't notch its first win until Jan. 9, when Gravel made 39 saves to shut out Army.
With the win, Mercyhurst (6-26-3, 6 -18-3 AHA) advanced to the AHA tournament quarterfinals for a best-of-three series against AHA regular-season champion Bentley. It also moved up to No. 62 in NPI, ahead of Alaska Anchorage (5-25-1).
Elsewhere, goaltending was big factor in the semifinals of the women's Hockey East tournament as well. No. 7 UConn's Tia Chan made 27 saves to earn her 25th win, while leading a 6-1 victory against Holy Cross. No. 5 Northeastern ended Vermont's season 3-1 to advance to a 10th-straight appearance in the Hockey East Championship game.
Insane stop by UConn’s Tia Chan tonight in the Hockey East semis
— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) March 4, 2026
I have Chan as the top NCAA goaltender expected to enter the PWHL draft this spring pic.twitter.com/OTJCAb28mV
Puck Drop: Wednesday, March 4, 2026
• Things have been relatively quiet on the NHL trade deadline front, but former US Hockey National Team Development Program center Michael McCarron (6-foot-6, 232 pounds), was traded by the Nashville Predators to the Minnesota Wild for a 2028 second-round draft pick. The Predators also sent former North Dakota left wing Cole Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights for defenseman Christoffer Sedoff and a 2028 third-round pick.
• Frankie Marrelli, a defenseman with the Ottawa 67s in the OHL, announced his commitment to Ohio State. ... Lake Superior State landed a commitment from forward Raoul Boilard out of Quebec, a fourth-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft buy the New York Rangers.
• Long Island announced a $3 million campaign with the goal of further establishing the Division I hockey atmosphere at the 2,500-seat Northwell Health Ice Center. Planned enhancements from the funding drive include new seating, a Jumbotron, lighting and sound upgrades and a deeper focus on the overall game-day experience.
• Bruins GM Don Sweeney Speaks on Prospects in BC Men's Hockey System
• Defenseman Quinn Hughes, from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and played at Michigan for the 2017–18 season, reached the 60-point mark (five goals, 55 assists) for his fifth consecutive season. Per @OptaStats, only three other NHL defensemen over the past 30 years have tallied 60-plus points in five straight seasons: Erik Karlsson ('13-14 to '17-18), Brent Burns ('14-15 to '18-19) and Cale Makar ('21-22 to '25-26). All we're going to say is that after the Olympics, and being on SNL and the Tonight Show over the past couple of days it looks the jet lag has worn off:
Quinn Hughes is on another planet. This is one of the best goals of his career. The speed he put on display here and the slick backhand to forehand finish is just lethal. #mnwild with a statement game vs TBL tn.
— Jack Jablonski (@Jabs_13) March 4, 2026
pic.twitter.com/nRMusSyr69
AHA Tournament
First Round
Tuesday, March 3
Mercyhurst 5, Canisus 2
Niagara 5, Army 4
Quarterfinals
Best of 3
Friday, March 6 (through Sunday)
Mercyhurst at Bentley
Niagara at Sacred Heart
Air Force at Robert Morris
RIT at Holy Cross
CCHA Tournament
Quarterfinals
Best of 3
Friday, March 6 (through Sunday)
Lake Superior State at No. 17 St. Thomas, 7 p.m. CT
Bemidji State at No. 14 Augustana, 7 p.m. CT
Ferris State at No. 16 Minnesota State, 7 p.m.
Bowling Green at Michigan Tech, 7 p.m.
ECAC Tournament
Opening Round
Friday, March 6
St. Lawrence at Harvard, 7 p.m. ET
RPI at Clarkson, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 7
Brown at Union, 5 p.m. ET
Yale at Colgate, 7 p.m. ET
Quarterfinals
Best of 3
Friday, March 13 (through Sunday)
Lowest remaining seed at No. 7 Quinnipiac, 7 p.m. ET
Second-lowest remaining seed at No. 11 Dartmouth, 7 p.m. ET
Second-highest remaining seed at No. 9 Cornell, 7 p.m. ET
Highest-remaining seed at Princeton, 7 p.m.
NCHC Tournament
Quarterfinals
Best of 3
Friday, March 6 (through Sunday)
Colorado College at Western Michigan, 7 p.m. ET
Miami at Denver, 7 p.m. MT
St. Cloud State at Minnesota Duluth, 7 p.m. CT
Omaha at North Dakota, 7 p.m., CT
Games between ranked opponents are bolded. All times are local to where the game is being played.
Women's Conference Tournaments
AHA Tournament
Saturday, February 28
No. 12 Mercyhurst 3, Lindenwood 2, 2OT
No. 3 Penn State 2, Syracuse 1
Championship
Saturday, March 7
No. 12 Mercyhurst at No. 3 Penn State, 2 p.m. ET
ECAC Tournament
Semifinals
At Lake Placid, N.Y.
Thursday, March 5
No. 8 Yale vs. No. 11 Cornell, 4 p.m. ET
No. 6 Quinnipiac vs. No. 10 Princeton, 7 p.m. ET
Championship
At Lake Placid, N.Y.
Saturday, March 7
Semifinal winners, 5 p.m. ET
Hockey East Tournament
Semifinals
Tuesday, March 3
No. 7 Connecticut 6, Holy Cross 1
No. 5 Northeastern 3, Vermont 1
Championship
Saturday, March 7
No. 7 Connecticut at No. 5 Northeastern, 2:30 p.m. CT
NEWHA Tournament
Semifinals
Wednesday, March 4
Saint Anselm at Assumption, 3 p.m. ET
Stonehill at Franklin Pierce, 7 p.m. ET
Championship
Saturday, March 7
Semifinal winners
WCHA Tournament
Semifinals
Thursday, March 5
At St. Paul, Minn.
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Minnesota State, BTN, 4 p.m. CT
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Minnesota, BTN, 7:30 p.m. p.m. CT
Championship
Saturday, March 7
At St. Paul, Minn.
Semifinal winners, BTN, 2 p.m. CT
Hockey Quote of the Day
"By the age of 18, the average American has witnessed 200,000 acts of violence on television, most of them occurring during Game 1 of the NHL playoff series."Steve Rushin
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POV: you're a puck pic.twitter.com/KJHQKuJvJ0
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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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