It’s the first real weekend for NCAA Division One Men’s Hockey and the New York Ranger prospects did not disappoint. There are just eleven North American prospects this season which is the smallest number of prospects the Rangers have had in an exceptionally long time.
But some things have not changed, and it starts with junior center Noah Laba of 12th-ranked Colorado College. The leading scorer on last season’s team got himself off to a good start with a 1-1-2 performance including the game-winning goal just twenty-one seconds into the overtime period as the Tigers held off Rasmus Larsson’s Northern Michigan Wildcats 4-3 in non-conference action.
Why wait? Here is your game-winning goal courtesy of the Tigers twitter feed:
21 seconds into OT, that’s all it took to remind us how special Noah Laba is😆#CCTigers pic.twitter.com/JxdLhlKGVw
— CC Hockey (@CCTigerHKY) October 12, 2024
Seriously now, just how good Laba is going to be this season? Technically one could say this was an unassisted goal as Laba picks up the loose puck in his defensive end and takes it untouched for the game-winning goal. If you liked the first view how about another one?
Watching this on repeat for the rest of the night📺
This team, this player, never relents. #CCTigers pic.twitter.com/psYYY6SWFw
— CC Hockey (@CCTigerHKY) October 12, 2024
Wash, rinse, and repeat as last season Laba had seven game-winners so expect plenty more this season. Laba was also credited with a primary assist on the Tigers second goal of the game. Got to love Laba’s vision on this play as he he found linemate Gleb Veremyev with a blind drop off pass that Veremyev cashed in.
Link, Laba, Gleb.
You. Love. 2. C. It.#CCTigers pic.twitter.com/6oZ4Mc1GIA
— CC Hockey (@CCTigerHKY) October 12, 2024
It looked as if Laba had a second goal in the game but it turned out that he had hit the crossbar with his shot and upon video review, the shot stayed out. But overall Laba with a 1-1-2 night on six shots and a +3 along with going 16-7 on his faceoffs.
For Northern Michigan, freshman defenseman Rasmus Larsson made his NCAA debut for the Wildcats and he didn’t play badly. The Wildcats used Larsson on the left side of the third pair defense pairing.
Larsson picked the only assist on the Wildcats second goal of the game. Larsson was also credited with two shots and hopefully we will get to see the offense that was missing last year.
Ty Henricks made his NCAA debut for the 17th-ranked Western Michigan Broncos a nice one with his first NCAA goal as the Broncos defeated the Ferris State Bulldogs 4-1 in non-conference play. This was a very dominating performance by WMU as the out shot the Bulldogs 44-18.
Henricks got on the scoresheet with an even-strength goal in the third period which put his Broncos up 3-1.
Henricks adds one to the board! pic.twitter.com/YNhXDPth6N
— WMU Hockey (@WMUHockey) October 12, 2024
Henricks made the play to keep possession of the puck in the offensive zone, he then took the puck directly to the net and beat the Ferris State goalie clean. Henricks is a 6’5 195 left wing/power forward who the Rangers selected in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL Entry draft.
Henricks was the third-line left wing, he was 1-0-1 on one shot with a +1.
Gabe Perreault had an assist while teammate Drew Fortescue was scoreless as the second-ranked Boston College Eagles shut out fourth-ranked Michigan State 3-0 in non-conference play. It was the season opener for the Eagles who could not have asked for a tougher way to start their season.
Perreault’s assist came on the Eagle’s third goal as Perreault showed why he is one of the top playmakers in all of college hockey. On the play teammate Ryan Leonard found Perreault for a pass and Perreault found Oskar Jevik on the right side of the goal for a shot and goal.
Perreault was 0-1-1 on four shots with a +1 while Fortescue who opened his sophomore season on the left side of the first defensive pairing was not credited with any shots but was a +2.
Brody Lamb had a primary assist as his fifth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers had no trouble defeating the Air Force Falcons 7-1 in the opening round of the Ice Breaker Tournament. Lamb who was the third line right wing was credited with the primary assist on Minnesota’s fifth goal.
Lamb was 0-1-1 on one shot with a +1. The junior right wing needs to push his way up the depth chart if he wants that Rangers contract. Have seen that Lamb has the skill set but what has remained missing has been the consistency and at time there have been questions about his desire.
Minnesota will face Nebraska-Omaha in the finals of the Ice-Breaker tournament on Saturday.
Raoul Boilard was scoreless was a good 10-5 on his faceoffs as his Baie-Comeau Drakkar lost to the Quebec Remparts 2-1 in QMJHL play.
