Winter Break Edition of Women's College Hockey Bracketology: Puck Drop

We haven't done a women's college hockey bracketology since the original, super-early edition at the beginning of the month as there hasn't been much movement in the polls. But does that mean there 's been little change in the potential NCAA Tournament pairings as well?

Regardless, it's important to have a benchmark at Winter Break, so see which teams have improved as the season develops and we get clsoer to the NCAA Tournament.

Reminder, the brackets are different for the field,. The 11 teams include five automatic qualifiers and six at-large selections. The first-round games and quarterfinals are held on campus locations, with the Women’s Frozen Four set to be played March 20-22 at Penn State's Pegula Ice Arena.

The five conferences receiving automatic bids are: Atlantic Hockey, ECAC, Hockey East, NEWHA, and the WCHA. Just like with the men we're going to project the teams based on the current standings: Penn State, Princeton, Northeastern, Saint Anselm and Wisconsin. Two of those teams changed from last time.

The NPI (NCAA Percentage Index) rankings, which will be used to determine the tournament field and seedings, has them, in order, at No. 4, 9, 6, 30 and 1. You may remember, in the initial bracketology, Ohio State was top team.

The six at-large teams, would then be: Ohio State, Minnesota, Connecticut, Minnesota Duluth, Quinnipiac and Minnesota State. There's still five WCHA teams on target to make the tournament.

Nine of the next 10 teams teams just missing the field are all from the East Coast, led by Clarkson, Cornell, Holy Cross and St. Cloud State.

Time for the seedings. The top four teams are placed so that if they all advance to the Women’s Frozen Four it’ll be 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3.

1 Wisconsin
4 Penn State

2 Ohio State
3 Minnesota

Note that the Nittany Lions will play on their home ice if they make the Frozen Four, which could be a very interesting development if they're the No. 4 seed. Also, the No. 5 seed gets a first-round bye and automatically plays the No. 4 seed regardless of conference affiliation. That would mean Connecticut at Penn State, which in this scenario would have home ice for the entire tournament.

The next three teams are placed and have the opportunity to host first-round games. The remaining three teams are placed in order, but first-round conference matchups must be avoided if possible. That comes into play here as Minnesota State and UMD are both in the WCHA, so the 9-10 seeds swap places.

Holy Cross at Northeastern
Princeton at Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota State vs. Quinnipiac

Thus, our bracket:

Minnesota State/Quinnipiac winner at 1 Wisconsin
5 UConn vs. 4 Penn State

Princeton/Minnesota Duluth winner at 2 Ohio State
Holy Cross/Northeastern winner at 3 Minnesota

Puck Drop: December 18-19, 2025

• Former Northeastern defenseman Michael Kesselring returned to Buffalo's lineup after missing 14 games with a lower-body injury. ... Former Harvard defenseman Adam Fox, who has missed eight games with an upper-body injury, was reportedly skating with the New York Rangers and wearing a red non-contact jersey Thursday morning. ... Former Boston College forward Ryan Leonard is likewise with Washington after being out with shoulder/facial injuries. ... Former U.S. Developmental Program Team left wing Nick Foligno is close to returning to the Chicago Blackhawks per Break Away On SI.

• Army picked up a pair of commitments for 2026-27 with Thomas Neu (Blackfalds Bulldogs, BCHL) and Rhys Wallin (Des Moines Buccaneers, USHL). Meanwhile, Stonehill landed right wing Landon Mackie (Victoria Grizzlies, BCHL) and defenseman Landon Mackie (Salmon Arm Silverbacks, BCHL), Minnesota State received a commitment from goaltender Raiden Legall (Everett Silvertips, WHL); and right wing Taisetsu Usiho (Prince George Spruce Kings, BCHL) is heading to Alaska Anchorage.

• Is Boston College 'Goalie U' of NCAA Division I Hockey Programs?

• In case you missed this game-winning goal by former Boston University center Macklin Celebrini on Tuesday night:

MACKLIN CELEBRINI SPIN-O-RAMA!! 😱 pic.twitter.com/zZa1PBb2eI
— NHL (@NHL) December 17, 2025

Wednesday-Thursday Scores

No Games Scheduled

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

This Week's College Hockey Schedule

MEN
Non-Conference
Omaha at Augustana, 7 p.m. CT Friday; 6 p.m. Saturday

Players of the Week

Only a few honors were handed out this week due to the reduced schedule:

ECAC Men
Forward: Ben Muthersbaugh, So., Union
Defender: Tyler Dunbar, Jr., Union
Rookie: Nathan Morin, Fr., Dartmouth
Brayden Gillespie, Fr., Union

NCHC
Forward: Bennett Schimek, Arizona State, Sr.
Defenseman: Philippe Blais-Savoie, Colorado College, So.
Goaltender: Quentin Miller, Denver, Fr.
Rookie: Jan Špunar, North Dakota, G

NEWHA
Forward: Nicola Forth, So. Saint Anselm
Defenseman: Kayla Lunney, Fr., Saint Anselm
Goaltender: Kayla Czukoski, Saint Anselm
Rookie: Kayla Lunney, Fr., Saint Anselm

This Date in Hockey History:

December 18

December 18, 1938: Former St. Cloud State goaltender Frankie Brimsek continued to earn his “Mr. Zero” nickname, as the rookie notched his fourth straight shutout, and five in six games, with a 2-0 victory for Boston over Detroit.

December 18, 1960: Yale center Bob Brooke was born in Melrose, Mass.

December 18, 1967: Maine center Bob Corkum was born in Salisbury, Mass.

December 18, 1971: Minnesota left wing Joe Dziedzic was born in Minneapolis.

December 18, 1977: Former Cornell goaltender Ken Dryden made 22 saves to not only shut out Philadelphia 2-0, but sparked Montreal’s 28-game unbeaten streak (23-0-5). It was his 39th career shutout.

December 18, 1979: St. Cloud State defenseman Jeff Finger was born in Houghton, Mich.

December 18, 1984: Boston College center Brian Boyle was born in Hingham, Mass.

December 18, 1986: Former Notre Dame center Dave Poulin recorded his fifth, and final, NHL hat trick, and Tim Kerr also scored three goals and had an assists as Philadelphia defeated the New York Islanders 9-4.

December 18, 1993: St. Cloud State goaltender Charlie Lindgren was born in Lakeville, Minn.

December 18, 1997: Alex DeBrincat, who has played for Team USA in international tournaments, was born in Farmington Hills, Mich.

December 18. 1998: Boston University goaltender Jake Oettinger was born in Lakeville, Minn.

December 18, 2001: The Los Angeles Kings traded former UMD defenseman Brett Hauer to the Nashville Predators for former Boston University defenseman Rich Brennan.

December 18, 2007: Per Vintage Minnesota Hockey, the Wild’s Jacques Lemaire became the first person to coach 1,000 NHL games after playing in more than 800 during his career as Minnesota came back from a 2-0 third-period deficit for a 3-2 win over the visiting Nashville Predators.

December 18, 2016: Former Maine right wing John Tortorella became the first U.S.-born head coach to win 500 NHL games as Columbus won at Vancouver, 4-3 in overtime.

December 18, 2021: Former Michigan center Dylan Larkin recorded his first NHL hat trick during a 5-2 Detroit victory over New Jersey.

December 19

December 19, 1904: The Dawson City Nuggets in Yukon began a nine-day trek including by dog sled to get a boat to Seattle, to catch train to travel and challenge the Ottawa Silver Seven for the Stanley Cup.

December 19, 1917: The National Hockey League began its inaugural season. The Montreal Canadiens won at the Ottawa Senators 7-4, and the Montreal Wanderers outscored the Toronto Arenas 10-9. Wanderers’ defenseman Dave Ritchie was credited with scoring the first goal. He also got the first game-winner later in the game.

December 19, 1924: Hall of Fame defenseman Doug Harvey was born in Montreal.

December 19, 1952: Minnesota forward Mike Polich was born in Hibbing, Minn.

December 19, 1961: Michigan State left wing Dale Krentz was born in Steinbach, Manitoba.

December 19, 1961: The ceremonial groundbreaking was held and construction began on the Duluth Arena-Auditorium.

December 19, 1966: Maine defenseman Eric Weinrich was born in Roanoke, Va.

December 19, 1969: Former Michigan Tech goaltender Tony Esposito recorded his fifth shutout of the season on Dec. 19, 1969, in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-0 win at the Oakland Seals. He finished the 1969-70 season with 15 shutouts, an NHL rookie record.

December 19, 1981: Former Bowling Green goaltender Mike Liut earned his fifth NHL shutout and Bernie Federko extended his assists streak to 10 games as St. Louis defeated Vancouver 5-0.

December 19, 1984: Wayne Gretzky obliterated the NHL record for fastest to 1,000 points, reaching it 42 games with two goals and an assist as Edmonton dismantled the Los Angeles Kings, 7-3. The previous record was 720 by Guy Lafleur.

December 19, 1985: UMass Lowell goaltender Carter Hutton was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

December 19, 1989: Former Harvard defenseman Neil Sheehy tallied 26 penalty minutes as Washington won at Philadelphia, 2-1.

December 19, 1986: Former U.S. National Team forward David Jansen and former Northern Arizona left wing Greg Adams helped set the record for the fastest three goals by one team to start a game. Jensen (:26), Adams (:53), and Mike Gartner (1:21) scored for Washington, but New Jersey still won at home 6-4.

December 19, 1992: The Philadelphia Flyers acquired former Minnesota right wing Dave Snuggerud from San Jose in exchange for left wing Mark Pederson.

December 19, 1995: The Calgary Flames traded former Cornell center Joe Nieuwendyk to the Dallas Stars in exchange for the rights to 1995 first-round draft pick Jarome Iginla and former Minnesota center Corey Millen.

December 19, 1996: St. Cloud State defenseman William Borgen was born in Moorhead, Minn.

December 19, 2000: Eagan (Minn.) High School retired Natalie Darwitz's jersey, No. 20. She had yet to graduate.

December 19, 2006: Former North Dakota left wing Jason Blake scored three straight goals for his fourth NHL hat trick to lead the New York Islanders to a 4-3 victory at the Rangers.

December 19, 2008: Former North Dakota left wing Zach Parise had four assists and Patrick Elias had two goals and two assists as New Jersey defeated visiting Ottawa 5-1.

December 19, 2015: Former Minnesota defenseman Alex Goligoski notched his 200th NHL assist, but Dallas lost to Montreal 6-2.

December 15, 2015: Former Minnesota right wing Phil Kessel became the 23rd player in NHL history to pay in 500 straight games. However, his Pittsburgh Penguins lost 2-1 at home to Carolina.

December 19, 2023: Former Michigan State defenseman Toney Krug, who went undrafted because of his 5-9 size, played in his 600th NHL game.

December 19, 2023: Former Michigan standout Quinn Hughes became the first Canucks defenseman to notch 40 points in fewer than 40 games.

Hockey Quote of the Day

"To me, the most impressive thing was her competitiveness. With her, once you got to know her, and once you got to work with her and really find out about her identity, to me, that's the No. 1 thing that sticks out."
Mark Johnson on Brianna Decker

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We'll Leave You With This ...

For generations, Minnesota hockey has shaped champions, communities and the State of Hockey itself…it’s time our stories have a home.

📍We are thrilled to announce the #mnhhof will be built in... pic.twitter.com/tQTXlZBBKO
— Minnesota Hockey Hall of Fame (@mnhhof) December 17, 2025