ECH Regular Season Preview: Our Picks
written By Alex Berger - October 5th, 2023With just days away before the start of the regular season, everyone has their projections for how the upcoming year is going to play out. From who's winning individual hardware to who's winning it all, every college hockey fan can feel passionate about projections before the puck drops.
With that, a handful of us here at ECH are putting pens to paper with our picks for the 2023-'24 season. There's nothing else on the line except pride, but trust us when we say we'll be able to look back on these takes and get to prove who called the upcoming season the best. In this article you'll find our picks on everything from conference winners to the national champion, and from the Hobey Baker to the Patty Kazmaier. Once you've gone through our analysis, make sure to let us hear your picks on social media as well!
-- James Murray, Co-Founder of ECH:
National Champion: Boston College
Frozen Four Teams: Boston College, Boston University, Minnesota, and North Dakota
Hobey Baker Winner: Jimmy Snuggerud
Patty Kazmaier Winner: Caroline Harvey
Mike Richter Winner: Blake Pietila
Atlantic Hockey Champions: (Regular/Postseason): Canisius/Canisius
Big Ten Champions: Michigan State/Minnesota
CCHA Champions: Michigan Tech/Northern Michigan
ECAC Champions: Cornell/Cornell
Hockey East Champions: Boston College/Boston University
NCHC Champions: North Dakota/St. Cloud
"I think Minnesota, Boston University, and Boston College have the deepest teams this year with a lot of high end skill which will lead them to the Frozen Four in St. Paul. North Dakota has some work to do to get to the Frozen Four but definitely has the skill and coaching to get there.
I’m picking Jimmy Snuggerud to win the Hobey after an outstanding freshman season. He has one of the best shots in college hockey with his quick release and natural scoring ability. I expect Snuggerud to sign with the Blues as soon as the season is over.
My Mike Richter award winner this year is Blake Pietila. Being on a strong defensive team that should win the CCHA gives Blake a good opportunity to be the best goalie in the nation. with his low GAA and high save percentage. With Pietila’s skill and proven track record I think he’ll be the best goalie in the nation this season."
-- Connor Thelemann, Co-Founder of ECH:
National Champion: Boston University
Frozen Four Teams: Boston College, Boston University, Minnesota, and Minnesota-Duluth
Hobey Baker Winner: Lane Hutson
Patty Kazmaier Winner: Caroline Harvey
Mike Richter Winner: Blake Pietila
Atlantic Hockey Champions: (Regular/Postseason): Canisius/Canisius
Big Ten Champions: Minnesota/Michigan State
CCHA Champions: Michigan Tech/Michigan Tech
ECAC Champions: Quinnipiac/Cornell
Hockey East Champions: Boston University/Boston College
NCHC Champions: North Dakota/Minnesota-Duluth
“Some might say I’m just a biased UMD fan who is blindly putting faith into one of the best college hockey coaches to ever grace the game year after year. And you could be partially correct, as I have the Bulldogs making the Frozen Four this season but to be fair: the boys are loaded. Year two of Ben Steeves joined with Dominic James and a healthy Blake Biondi should be electric up front, not to mention we have two solid goalies to take us to the promise land.
Joining the Dogs at the Xcel Energy Center will be another home favorite, the Minnesota Golden Gophers. I still cannot believe they aren’t the defending National Champions, but they have more than a good chance at making that right this year. Sure they lost a lot of NHL caliber talent, but look at how much they still have on the roster. If Oliver Moore is half as good as he is expected to be, he and Snuggerud alone will terrorize the Big Ten. Then they still have consistent veteran scorers like Pitlick and Brodzinski, Koster and Mittelstadt at the point, and Justen Close on his revenge tour.
The only thing that can stop a Minnesota team from running show at the Frozen Four… is a lot of guys from Boston. Specifically the Terriers, I just don’t see them losing this year at all. They will have arguably the two best skaters on each end of the ice with Celebrini and Hutson, and are just a deep team with NCAA Tournament experience and a very underrated coach. I like BC to prove a lot of doubters wrong and make the Frozen Four despite how young that core is, but ultimately, I like BU to run the table in the end with Lane Hutson bringing home extra hardware as the 2024 Hobey Baker.
Other Picks - I think Blake Pietila is a lock to be the Mike Richter this season, the guy is a shutout machine and Michigan Tech should win the CCHA comfortably. Also I’ll be honest, I think the Patty Kazmaier is a complete toss-up and I wish Daryl Watts was still an option to choose. But for my money, I think Wisconsin had numerous players that could’ve won this award last year and Caroline Harvey put up ridiculous numbers from the blueline as a Freshman. If the trend stays with defensemen getting the honors, I think she has as good of chance as any at winning it this year.”
-- Isaac Miller, ECH Videographer:
National Champion: Michigan
Frozen Four Teams: Boston College, Cornell, Michigan, and North Dakota
Hobey Baker Winner: Cutter Gauthier
Patty Kazmaier Winner: Lacy Eden
Mike Richter Winner: Jake Barcewski
Atlantic Hockey Champions: (Regular/Postseason): RIT/Canisius
Big Ten Champions: Michigan/Minnesota
CCHA Champions: Michigan Tech/Northern Michigan
ECAC Champions: Quinnipiac/Cornell
Hockey East Champions: Boston Univeristy/Boston College
NCHC Champions: North Dakota/Denver
"Michigan, with a strong incoming transfer class, including Jake Barcewski, Marshall Warren, and Josh Eernessie as standouts in addition to a strong core that features many NHL prospects, will be a force to be reckoned with again this season. With this in mind, North Dakota is poised for a big season with their incoming transfer class as well, including one of the best goaltenders in the NCHC in Persson, who will lead the team all the way to the Frozen Four in St. Paul.
BC is also poised for a big year, and in my opinion as the best player in hockey for the upcoming season in Cutter Gauthier, not to mention the studs that are coming into that program including Smith etc. The last but certainly not least team to make my frozen four is Cornell, who possess a solid core and one of the most slept on players in the nation in Nick Desantis, who put up 20 points in his freshman campaign and is poised to light up the ECAC once again."
-- Alex Berger, ECH Lead Writer:
National Champion: Minnesota
Frozen Four Teams: Boston University, Minnesota, North Dakota, and St. Cloud State
Hobey Baker Winner: Lane Hutson
Patty Kazmaier Winner: Abbey Murphy
Mike Richter Winner: Blake Pietila
Atlantic Hockey Champions: (Regular/Postseason): RIT/American International
Big Ten Champions: Minnesota/Minnesota
CCHA Champions: Michigan Tech/Michigan Tech
ECAC Champions: Quinnipiac/Quinnipiac
Hockey East Champions: Boston University/Boston University
NCHC Champions: St. Cloud State/North Dakota
"As a North Dakota fan, it pains me to pick Minnesota as the national champion this year. Could this be just some sort of emotional hedging? Possibly. But I truly think that the Golden Gophers have the pieces (and the storyline) to go all the way this year. Sophomore forward Jimmy Snuggerud is just one of two returning 50-point scorers in all of college hockey, and graduate senior Justen Close is one of the top returning goaltenders in the country, choosing to return for a fifth season after posting a 2.02 GAA and .927 SV% in 2022. Yes, the Gophers lost a lot of talent this summer, but they’re still returning one of the most talented cores in college hockey (including Bryce Brodzinski, Mike Koster, Jaxon Nelsonm and more). Plus they’ll have “home-ice advantage” at the Frozen Four in St. Paul this April.
As for my other picks; Lane Hutson, Abbey Murphy, and Blake Pietila are, in my opinion, the most talented returning players for those respective awards this season. Pretty easy to pencil them in for the hardware this year. And for the Frozen Four, don’t sleep on St. Cloud State. They nearly beat a juggernaut Minnesota team in the Midwest Regional Final last season, and only got better."
-- Ariana Ottrando, ECH Writer:
National Champion: Michigan
Frozen Four Teams: Boston University, Michigan, Minnesota State, and Western Michigan
Hobey Baker Winner: Lane Hutson
Patty Kazmaier Winner: Gwyneth Philips
Mike Richter Winner: Justen Close
Atlantic Hockey Champions: (Regular/Postseason): RIT/RIT
Big Ten Champions: Michigan/Michigan
CCHA Champions: Minnesota State/Minnesota State
ECAC Champions: Quinnipiac/Quinnipiac
Hockey East Champions: Boston University/Boston College
NCHC Champions: St. Cloud State/Western Michigan
"With stacked teams in their prime, Boston University and Michigan are strong contenders to make the Frozen Four for their second and third consecutive times, respectively. Standout returners and reliable goaltending always make out for long NCAA Tournament runs, and Western Michigan and Minnesota State also fall into those categories with very likely NCAA appearances and potential spots for the final four. I landed on Michigan for the 2024 national champion due to their explosive offensive core, new starting goaltender in Canisius transfer Jacob Barczewski, and 2023 regular season conference title win over Minnesota.
Regarding individual awards, I think Lane Hutson has Hobey Baker in the bag if his second season is anything like his first. As a freshman and only defenseman among the 2023 finalists, the numbers are all that more impressive. In similar fashion to Hutson, Gywneth Philips was a top-10 finalist for Patty Kazmaier last season, and only one of two goaltenders on the list. Between the 2023 titles of Hockey East and national goaltender of the year, I'd be surprised if Philips doesn't come away with Kazmaier this time around. And for Mike Richter, I have to go with Justen Close who finished last season with a 2.02 GAA, .927 SV%, six shutouts, and 26 wins -- all of which ranked in the top four nationally."
-- Joey Sofo, College Hockey Legend:
National Champion: Boston University
Frozen Four Teams: Boston University, Michigan Tech, North Dakota
Hobey Baker Winner: Lane Hutson
Patty Kazmaier Winner: Danielle Serdachny
Mike Richter Winner: Ryan Bischel
Atlantic Hockey Champions (Regular/Postseason): Sacred Heart/Sacred Heart
Big Ten Champions: Michigan/Michigan
CCHA Champions: Michigan Tech/Michigan Tech
ECAC Champions: Quinnipiac/Quinnipiac
Hockey East Champions: Boston University/Boston University
NCHC Champions: North Dakota/North Dakota
-- Austin Plevy, ECH Insider:
National Champion: Quinnipiac
Frozen Four Teams: Boston College, Boston University, St. Cloud State, and Quinnipiac
Hobey Baker Winner: Riese Gaber
Patty Kazmaier Winner: Casey O'Brien
Mike Richter Winner: Ludvig Persson
Atlantic Hockey Champions: (Regular/Postseason): Sacred Heart/Sacred Heart
Big Ten Champions: Penn State/Michigan State
CCHA Champions: Minnesota State/Northern Michigan
ECAC Champions: Quinnipiac/Quinnipiac
Hockey East Champions: Northeastern/Northeastern
NCHC Champions: Western Michigan/North Dakota
-- Dan Jackson, ECH Insider:
National Champion: Boston University
Frozen Four Teams: Boston University, Denver, Michigan, Michigan Tech
Hobey Baker Winner: Lane Hutson
Patty Kazmaier Winner: Abbey Murphy
Mike Richter Winner: Blake Pietila
Atlantic Hockey Champions: (Regular/Postseason): RIT/AIC
Big Ten Champions: Minnesota/Michigan
CCHA Champions: Michigan Tech/Michigan Tech
ECAC Champions: Quinnipiac/Cornell
Hockey East Champions: Boston University/Merrimack
NCHC Champions: Denver/North Dakota
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If you've been keeping track of our separate picks, you might be seeing a trend in terms of how our ECH crew is projecting the season to go. We've compiled all of our picks below to make it easier to see our projections.
Now to be clear, this is not who ECH is backing to win this season these awards this season, just a bit of fun to see who has the best analysis, and for fans to see an "unbiased" look at some of the expectations for their given teams this year. Please note that applicable ties are broken by other corresponding picks (i.e. National Champion and Frozen Four teams) and vice versa, and that not every pick was made by every person above. Also, make sure to check out the conference polls and analysis for every team in our other articles throughout the week!
- National Champion: Boston University (3 Votes)
Others Receiving Votes: Michigan (2), Boston College (1), Minnesota (1), and Quinnipiac (1)
- Frozen Four Teams: Boston University (7), Boston College (4), North Dakota (4) and Michigan (3)
Others Receiving Votes: Minnesota (3), Michigan Tech (2), St. Cloud State (2), Cornell (1), Quinnipiac (2), Denver (1), Minnesota-Duluth (1), Minnesota-State Mankato (1), and Western Michigan (1)
- Hobey Baker Award: Lane Hutson (5 votes)
Others Receiving Votes: Cutter Gauthier (2) and Jimmy Snuggerud (1), and Riese Gaber (1).
- Patty Kazmaier Award: Abbey Murphy/Caroline Harvey (2 votes each)
Others Receiving Votes: Gwyneth Phillips (1), Casey O’Brien (1), Danielle Serdachny (1), and Lacy Eden (1).
- Mike Richter Award: Blake Pietila (4 votes)
Others Receiving Votes: Jake Barcewski (1), Justen Close (1), Ryan Bischel (1), and Ludvig Persson (1).
