Why A Lot of Top College Hockey Players are Playing Hooky From School: Puck Drop

Boston College had a tournament game in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee on Sunday evening against reigning national championship Western Michigan, and was without four of its best players and Eagles head coach Greg Brown. They all missed the unofficial start to the second half of the college hockey season becasue they were all participating in the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship in Minnesota.

The game went about as well as expected, the No. 7 Broncos with a full roster defeated the No. 12 Eagles 5-3.

Monday evening, they face No. 2 Wisconsin for the tournament title, although the Badgers will be without three of its top players including Quinn Finley, a forward with the U.S. Collegiate Selects playing in the 97th Spengler Cup in Switzerland.

This isn't to complain about the overlapping schedules, which really can't be avoided with these special international tournaments played over the holidays, and also serve as a buildup to the upcoming Winter Olympics in February. Tournament schedules, both on the collegiate level and internationally, are set well in advance, and rosters for for the latter often aren't; determined until just before they start.

However, with college hockey returning from winter break, one has to take note of who's missing from the regular roster, and if the head coach may not be around, with every result. Overall, there are 34 of the top collegiate players contributing to various teams at the World Juniors, which won't wrap up until Jan. 5, and another 25 on the U.S. Selects.

Another way to look at it is imagine if the NHL kept playing during Olympics.

Here's a listing for which college players are in Minnesota for the 2026 World Junior Championship, and those competing in the Spengler Cup, "the oldest invitational hockey tournament in the world," that will wrap up with Wednesday's championship.

College Players in World Juniors/Spangler Cup

Augustana: Josh Kotai , G, U.S. Selects; head coach Garrett Raboin, Team USA assistant

Boston College: Sascha Boumedienne, D, Team Sweden; James Hagens, F, Team USA; Luka Radivojevic, D, Team Slovakia; Teddy Stiga, F, Team USA; head coach Greg Brown, Team USA assistant

Boston University: Kamil Bednarik, F, Team USA; Cole Eiserman, F, Team USA; Cole Hutson, D, Team USA; Gavin McCarthy, D, U.S. Selects

Colorado College: Wilson Björck, F, Team Sweden

Connecticut: Joey Muldowney, F, U.S. Selects

Cornell: Ryan Walsh, F, U.S. Selects

Denver: Brendan McMorrow, F, Team USA; Eric Pohlkamp, D, U.S. Selects

Harvard: Heikki Ruohonen, F, Team Finland

Holy Cross: Jack Stockfish, F, U.S. Selects

Massachusetts: Larry Keenan, D, U.S. Selects; Jack Musa, F, U.S. Selects; Václav Nestrašil, F, Team Czechia

Michigan: Asher Barnett, D, Team USA; Michael Hage, F, Team Canada; F Will Horcoff, F, Team USA; T.J. Hughes, F, U.S. Selects; Jack Ivankovic, G, Team Canada; Cole McKinney, F, Team USA; Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen, D, Team USA

Michigan State: Ryker Lee, F, Team USA; Porter Martone, F, Team Canada; Eric Nilson, F, Team Sweden; Shane Vansaghi, F, Team USA

Minnesota: L.J. Mooney, F, Team USA; Brodie Ziemer, F, Team USA; head coach Bob Motzko, Team USA; assistant coach Steve Miller, Team USA assistant

Minnesota Duluth: Adam Gajan, G, U.S. Selects; Adam Kleber, D, Team USA; Max Plante, F, Team USA; Zam Plante, F, U.S. Selects

Minnesota State: Alex Tracy, G, U.S. Selects

New Hampshire: Martins Lavins, F, U.S. Selects; head coach Mike Souza, U.S. Selects

Niagara: head coach Jason Lammers

Notre Dame: EJ Emery, D, Team USA; Nicholas Kempf, G, Team USA; Cole Knuble, F, U.S. Selects; Danny Nelson, F, U.S. Selects; Will Zellers, F, Team USA

North Dakota: Jake Livanavage, D, U.S. Selects; Cole Reschny, F, Team Canada; Keaton Verhoeff, F, Team Canada; Abram Wiebe, D, U.S. Selects

Northern Michigan: Tobias Pitka, F, Team Slovakia

Northeastern: Vinny Borgesi, D, U.S. Selects

Penn State: Charlie Cerrato, F, U.S. Selects; Matt DiMarsico, F, U.S. Selects; Aiden Fink, F, Penn State; Mac Gadowsky, D, U.S. Selects; Gavin McKenna, F, Team Canada; JJ Wiebusch, F, U.S. Selects; head coach Guy Gadowsky, U.S. Selects

Quinnipiac: Chris Pelosi, F, U.S. Selects

Wisconsin: Quinn Finley, F, U.S. Selects; Logan Hensler, D, Team USA; Luke Osburn, D, Team USA

Puck Drop: Monday, December 29, 2025

• Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson, who was hit in the head by a puck during the U.S. victory against Switzerland, was with the team at practice on Sunday morning. Coach Bob Motzko (Minnesota) told reporters that he's day-to-day, but they hope to have him back "real soon."

Cole Eiserman said of the photo today, “I could kind of breathe once he could squeeze my hand. I just wanted him to know I was there for him. No matter what, I was by his side.”@TerrierHockey @usahockey @USAHockeyNTDP https://t.co/L4x6RhlWp0
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 28, 2025

2026 World Junior Championship

At St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn,
Sunday's Games (All Times ET)
Germany vs. Sweden; 1 p.m., NHLN, TSN
Finland vs. Czechia; 3:30 p.m. ET, NHLN, TSN
Slovakia vs. United States; 6 p.m., NHLN, TSN
Canada vs. Denmark; 8:30 p.m., NHLN, TSN

• Team Canada's Porter Martone (Michigan State) Apologizes for End-of-Game Behavior

• Matthew Tkachuk (U.S. National Development Team) participated in his first practice with the Florida Panthers since have surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia, but he was wearing a yellow non-contact jersey. Florida hosts Washington on Monday and Montreal on Tuesday. It'll then host the NHL Winter Classic at the Miami Marlins’ ballpark against the New York Rangers on Friday. ... A couple of other injury updated from former USNDT players, Detroit's Patrick Kane returned from an upper-body injury against Toronto after missing six games, and Nick Foligno (hand) returned to Chicago's lineup after missing 19 games,

• The U.S Collegiate Selects finished first in their group at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland., and earned a bye to the semifinals (Tuesday, 9 a.m. ET). With Davos defeating Team Canada 4-1, all three teams in the Cattini Group had one win in pool play, but thanks to goal differential and then head-to-head the U.S. team came out on top. The host team came up one goal short.

📊 Final standings in Group Torriani and Group Cattini.

Coming up tomorrow: Pre-semifinals

15:10 | @HCSpartaPraha vs. Team Canada
20:15 | HC Davos vs. @HIFKHockey pic.twitter.com/A6Wwf0Edf5
— Spengler Cup Davos (@spenglercup) December 28, 2025

Sunday's Scores

MEN
ECAC
Princeton 5, Brown 4 (OT)

Non-Conference
No. 8 Dartmouth 4, Arizona State 1
Army 4, Long Island 4 (SO)

Great Lakes Invitational (at Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Michigan Tech 5, Miami 2
No. 3 Michigan State 5, Ferris State 2

Holiday Face-Off (at Milwaukee, Wis.)
No. 2 Wisconsin 3, Lake Superior 2
No. 7 Western Michigan 5, No. 12 Boston College 3

Exhibition
Concordia at No. 10 Quinnipiac, cancelled
UMass Lowell 3, Bentley 2 (OT)

And Ezman calls game!

Jackson Ezman with an OT goal to give the Tigs the win over Brown!@ecachockey | @NCAAIceHockey | @TeamECH pic.twitter.com/8P0v9qlwU6
— Princeton Men's Ice Hockey (@princetonhockey) December 28, 2025

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

College Hockey Schedule

Monday, December 29
Hockey East
Merrimack at Vermont, 6 p.m ET

Great Lakes Invitational (at Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Third-Place Game: Ferris State vs. Miami, 4 p.m. ET
Championship: Michigan Tech vs. No. 3 Michigan State, 7:30 p.m. ET

Holiday Face-Off (at Milwaukee, Wis.)
Third-Place Game: No. 12 Boston College vs. Lake Superior, 4 p.m. CT
Championship: No. 2 Wisconsin vs. No. 7 Western Michigan, 7:30 p.m. CT

Non-Conference
RIT at Clarkson. 6 p.m. ET

Exhibition
US Under-18 at Bowling Green. 7 p.m. ET

Tuesday, December 30
AHA
Robert Morris at Sacred Heart, 4 p.m. ET

Wednesday, December 31
Non-Conference
Long Island at No. 11 UConn, 2 p.m. ET

Exhibition
Guelph at Niagara, 2 p.m. ET

WOMEN
Tuesday, December 30
Non-Conference
Brown vs. Maine. 5 p.m. ET (Portland, Maine)
No. 10 Cornell at No. 4 Penn State, 6 p.m. ET

This Date in Hockey History:

December 29, 1902: Hall of Fame defenseman Eddie Shore was born in Fort Qu'Appelle, North-West Territories.

December 29, 1902: Hall of Fame center Nels Stewart was born in Montreal.

December 29, 1953: Wisconsin left wing Steve Alley was born in Anoka, Minn.

December 29, 1957: One of the most unusual situations occurred when Boston goaltender Don Simmons dislocated his shoulder during the first period and the Bruins didn’t have a backup. Detroit assistant trainer Lefty Wilson played against his own team and helped earn a 2-2 tie at Olympia Stadium.

December 29, 1961: Boston University center/defenseman Tom O’Regan was born in Cambridge, Mass.

December 29, 1967: Michigan State defenseman Don Gibson was born in Deloraine, Manitoba.

December 29, 1971: Minnesota Duluth center Chris Marinucci was born in Grand Rapids, Mich.

December 29, 1979: Princeton right wing George Parros was born in Washington, Penn.

December 29, 1981: The Hartford Whalers acquired former Minnesota defenseman Russ Anderson and an eight-round draft pick in 1983 for from Pittsburgh for center Rick MacLeish

December 29, 1988: Cornell center Sean Collins was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

December 29, 1990: Former Clarkson right wing Dave Taylor scored NHL goal No. 400, but Los Angeles lost to Montreal, 3-2.

December 29, 1992: Former Michigan State center Rod Brind’Amour had his first career hat trick and three assists as Philadelphia scored 10 unanswered goals for a 10-2 win against Los Angeles

December 29, 1992: Former Wisconsin defenseman Chris Chelois notched career assist No. 500 as the Blackhawks won at Buffalo 5-2.

December 29, 1995: Scotty Bowman coached NHL game No. 1607 to break Al Arbour’s record. Detroit defeated the Dallas Stars 2-1.

December 29, 2001: Former St. Cloud State standout Bret Hedican set a Florida Panthers record for defensemen with four points (two goals and two assists) in a 4-2 win over visiting Toronto.

December 29, 2022: Former Minnesota right wing Kyle Okposo became the third player in Buffalo Sabres history with a hat trick at age 34 or older during a 6-3 home victory against Detroit

December 29, 2005: Former Minnesota defenseman Keith Ballard scored twice, including a shorthanded goal at 3:52 of overtime to heled lead the Phoenix Coyotes a 6-5 win over visiting Los Angeles. In addition to the rookie, left wing Ladislav Nagy had a goal and three assists.

December 29, 2011: Former Dartmouth right wing J.T. Wyman notched the first two points of his NHL career with a goal and an assist as Tampa Bay defeated visiting Montreal, 4-3. He had been a draft pick of the Canadiens and landed with the Lightning as a free agent.

Hockey Quote of the Day

“This is not the time to say goodbye. This is the time to say thank you.”
Ken Dryden on Jean Beliveau’s passing

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We'll Leave You With This ...

104 year old World War 2 Veteran Dominick Critelli performed the National Anthem on the saxophone at tonight’s game! pic.twitter.com/m0v0WT6L2Y
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) December 28, 2025