It was a night of mixed results for those New York Ranger prospects playing NCAA hockey. A couple of prospects saw their teams win their league tournaments and earn the automatic bids that go with them.
One prospect saw his team lose in his league final but their numbers were so good that they too will earn an invite to the NCAA tournament. But one prospect is going to see his team miss out on earning an NCAA invite by 0.0004 percentage points not because the team that passed them had a better year but because of a system that has been in a major need of change for over a decade now.
Gabe Perreault had a 1-2-3 night as his top-ranked Boston College Eagle spanked second-ranked Boston University 6-2 in the Hockey East final and win the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Boston College will head to the NCAA Tournament as the clear top seed in the tournament and honestly the favorite to win the tournament.
This one was over pretty quick as Boston College jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a power play goal just 5:46 into the game. Gabe Perreault would earn his first point on the Eagles second goal, also a power play goal at 8:37 when he spotted linemate Will Smith cross ice on the rush and Smith cashed it in for his second goal of the game.
In the second period with the score at 2-1 and time winding down, Boston College cashed in their third power play goal when Perreault this time with a beauty of a pass from one side of the slot to the other hitting Cutter Gauthier for the goal and a 3-1 Boston College lead.
In the third period after Boston College had increased their lead to 4-1, it was Perreault’s turn to score as he scored into a wide open net from a nice feed from Cutter Gauthier for a power play goal and Perreault’s 18th goal of the season to make it 5-1.
Leno and Cut each tally their second assists of the night as Gabe finishes the job 😤
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💻 https://t.co/5s2DsDrbpC pic.twitter.com/ueX1oZqOn7— BC Men’s Hockey (@BC_MHockey) March 24, 2024
Boston College would score once more on the power play as they go on to win 6-2. Give Boston College major credit as they went four for five on their power plays to turn this one into a rout. What can you say about Gabe Perreault who after missing five games comes back to go 3-4-7 in 24 hours.
Perreault was 1-2-3 on two shots to improve his season totals to 18-39-57 in 32 games. He extends his goal scoring streak to four games (five goals) and his point scoring streak to 18 games (15-22-37). The forgotten prospect Drew Fortescue was scoreless with a plus one but he was sent to the showers early with a roughing minor and misconduct at 18:36.
Now if form holds then Boston College will wind up playing in the Providence Rhode Island regional against RIT the champs of the Atlantic League. They try to limit travel costs and even though there is another regional in Springfield Mass, Boston College by rights has earned the right to play in the closest regional to their home.
Hank Kempf has taken a bunch of grief for his perceived lack of offensive talent but in the finals of the ECAC tournament, Kempf had a two assist game to help his team earn a 3-1 win over St. Lawrence to win the ECAC tournament and the automatic invite that goes with it. Kempf had the secondary assists on the first and third goals of the game for his team. It was the second time in Kempf’s NCAA career that he had a two assist game and it helped Cornell win the ECAC tournament for a ECAC record 13th time.
Kempf improves to 1-7-8 which matches his career best set as a freshman in 2021-2022. Now Cornell is expected to earn the last number three seed in the tournament because they finished 12th in the Pairwise.
The Cinderella-ish story for Victor Mancini and his 11th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks came to an end when they fell to the Denver Pioneers in the finals of the NCHC tournament. Mancini was scoreless as the Mavericks lost for only the second time in the NCHC playoffs. The good news is Omaha is a lock for an at-large invite to the NCAA tournament as most likely a third seed playing at the Sioux Falls S.D. regional which they are hosting.
The Mavericks remain a very dangerous team to play against so don’t be surprised if they don’t make some more noise before their season ends. The bad news if you believe the math is that their loss cost fellow NCHC team Noah Laba and his Colorado College Tigers their spot in the NCAA tournament.
Unless you are into punishment I ask that you take my word that the Pairwise is an outdated method of selecting teams for the NCAA. If not then please read this well put together explanation from my friends at the College Hockey News. In my eyes it rewards teams for losing and for the most part punishes schools who play either in a much tougher conference or play a tougher non-conference schedule,
I prefer the College Hockey News’s KRACH system which if you compare the two rewards the team in an objective and honest manner. Using Pairwise you will see that UMass the school that gave you Zac Jones, Mollie Walker, and yours truly gets in as the last at-large.(I wanted to point this out so nobody thinks my being a Rangers prospect writer colored my judgment here)
If you use KRACH then Colorado College gets in as the 11th seed. UMass is my alma mater but nothing bothers me more than seeing a team that didn’t really beat anyone get an invite. UMass against potential NCAA teams was 1-8-1-1-1 while Colorado College was 11-9-0-1 against teams also headed to the tournament.
Yet Colorado College doesn’t get the invite and that is wrong. As for Noah Laba, pretty much the second half I felt he was ready to turn professional. He clearly had a major breakthrough and improved in every part of his game.
The Rangers really could use him as he would be their best faceoff center in Hartford just by showing up. That said Laba is very loyal to Kris Mayotte the coach who recruited him to Colorado College and I could see him wanting to remain there for another year (if his teammates do) to make up for this crime.
This is a win-win for the Rangers as if Laba stays then they get a free year of development out of him and after next season he just might be able to jump directly to the Rangers. If he decides to turn pro now and leave school, then Laba will walk into Hartford and become their best faceoff center just by showing up.
The Rest of The Ranger Prospects
Maxim Barbashev finished his regular season with a scoreless performance against the Quebec Remparts as his Rimouski Oceanic spanked them 7-3 in QMJHL play. Barbashev took zero shots with a -1 and one hit as he finished his regular season with a 14-21-35 in 59 games.
It is very hard to see the Rangers offering Barbashev a entry-level contract as he never got going this season. As an “Import” player who would be an overage player it is hard to see him playing in the QMJHL next season since he would count twice as both “Import” and “Overage”.
Rimouski will open the QMJHL playoffs as the fifth seed in the QMJHL Eastern Conference and they will face fourth-seeded Cape Breton.
Rasmus Larsson was scoreless on one shot as his Green Bay Gamblers were beaten by the Dubuque Fighting Saints 6-2 in USHL action. With a game in hand Green Bay holds a one-point lead for second place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference.
Second place is important in the USHL as the top two finishers in each conference gets a bye in the first round of their playoffs.
Ty Henricks had an assist as his Muskegon Lumberjacks defeated the Sioux City Musketeers 6-3 in USHL to pull within one point of Green Bay for second place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. Henricks had the primary assist on Muskegon’s fifth goal for his 11th assist of the season and his 27th overall point.
