NCAA hockey fans got a lot of bang for their buck in 2024. Night after night, the college game has consistently been fast, entertaining and competitive, including more top NHL prospects than ever before.
Here are 10 of the most notable stories from the college game in 2024.
10 crowns for Denver
The University of Denver became the first school to reach double figures in NCAA national championships when it won its 10th by defeating Boston College 2-0 in front of 18,694 fans at Xcel Center in Minneapolis on April 13.
Denver goalie Matt Davis turned in a big-game performance for the ages with 35 saves. Jared Wright and Reiger Lorenz provided the goals.
Coached by David Carle, Denver finished with a record of 32-9-3, following championships in 2022, also under Carle, in 2017 under Jim Montgomery, now the coach of the St. Louis Blues, and in 2004 and 2005 with George Gwozdecky behind the bench. Denver also won national titles in 1958, 1960, 1961, 1968 and 1969.
NCAA opens door to CHL players
The NCAA’s decision in November to make Canadian Hockey League players eligible for U.S. college hockey as of Aug. 1, 2025, set the stage for a seismic shift in the way NCAA teams recruit and put together rosters and will change the development path for many young players.
The expectation is the availability of high-caliber players from the CHL will promote parity and raise the level of play in the NCAA. Already, schools have landed verbal commitments for next season from players in the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League.
Celebrini wins the Hobey
The youngest player in Division 1 in 2023-24, 17-year-old Macklin Celebrini of Boston University took home the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s best player.
The freshman center had a dazzling season, finishing third in the nation in scoring with 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) in 38 games.
The San Jose Sharks made him the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and he’s off to an excellent start as an NHL rookie with San Jose.
Forward Cutter Gauthier of Boston College, now playing for the Anaheim Ducks, and forward Jackson Blake of North Dakota, a rookie with the Carolina Hurricanes, were the other finalists.
More high NCAA draft picks
It was another good year for collegiate players in the NHL Draft.
Celebrini was the No. 1 pick by the Sharks at Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28, followed by defenseman Artem Levshunov of Michigan State to the Chicago Blackhawks at No. 2.
Seven other 2024 first-rounders, each a freshman, are playing college hockey. Overall, 233 NHL draft picks are skating in the NCAA this season, according to College Hockey, Inc.
Schafer, Jackson to step down
Two all-time college coaching greats, Mike Schafer of Cornell and Jeff Jackson of Notre Dame, each announced in June this would be his last season.
Schafer, 62, has led Cornell to the NCAA Tournament 14 times in 29 seasons, including a trip to the Frozen Four in 2003, and is the winningest coach in school history with 547 victories.
Jackson, 69, won NCAA championships as head coach at Lake Superior State in 1992 and 1994. His 413 wins are the most in Notre Dame history and he has taken the school to the national tournament 12 times with four trips to the Frozen Four and two appearances in the national championship game.
Casey Jones, a former Cornell captain, will replace Schafer next season. Brock Sheahan, a Notre Dame alum, will succeed Jackson.
McClellan wins the Richter
Kyle McClellan became the first Wisconsin goalie to win the Mike Richter Award. The award, named for former Wisconsin great Mike Richter, has been given each April since 2014 to the top goaltender in Division I.
McClellan, a 25-year-old senior who played two seasons at Mercyhurst College before transferring to Wisconsin, led the nation with a .931 save percentage and seven shutouts. His 1.94 goals-against average was second and he was fourth with 24 wins.
The other two finalists were freshman Jacob Fowler of Boston College and junior Kaidan Mbereko of Colorado College.
McClellan signed a one-year contract with Iowa, the Minnesota Wild's American Hockey League affiliate, on April 8.
Clock ticking on Matthews Arena
News broke in April that Northeastern plans to replace historic Matthews Arena in Boston with a new 290,000 square-foot facility on the same site. There’s no timeline yet for when construction will begin.
Matthews Arena, originally named Boston Arena, opened in 1910.
The first professional hockey games in Boston were played there in 1911 between the Montreal Wanderers and Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey Association.
It was the first home of the Boston Bruins, who played there from 1924-28. The Beanpot started out at Boston Arena in 1952 before moving to Boston Garden. The World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers played games at the arena from 1972-74.
For all the beans
Gunnarwolfe Fontaine is a name that will be remembered forever around the Northeastern hockey program.
The senior forward earned tournament MVP honors as Northeastern took home its ninth championship in the 71st Beanpot, the annual battle for Boston bragging rights, with a 4-3 overtime win against Boston University on Feb. 12.
In the title game, Fontaine scored the winner with 28.6 seconds left in overtime. In the semifinals Feb. 5, Fontaine scored 33 seconds into extra time as Northeastern advanced to the final with a 3-2 win against Harvard.
AIC dropping to Division II
American International College of Springfield, Mass., surprised the college hockey world when it announced in November it would drop down to Division II in hockey as of the end of the current season.
Financial considerations are believed to be the reason for the move.
Under coach Eric Lang, AIC has been one of the top programs in Atlantic Hockey in recent seasons and has made the NCAA tournament three times since 2019. AIC upset No. 1 seed St. Cloud State in the West Regional in Fargo, N.D., in 2019.
The school started playing hockey in 1948 and moved up to Division I in 1998.
Arizona State steps up
After playing as a Division 1 independent since 2015-16, Arizona State dropped the puck on its first games as a member of the powerhouse National Collegiate Hockey Conference with two games at Colorado College on Nov. 8 and 9.
They’ve held their own in the first half of the season with a record of 8-7-1. They are third in the NCHC with a 5-3 record, including a two-game sweep at defending national champion Denver on Nov. 22 and 23.
