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Will the real Colorado College Please Skate Forward? Biggest Storylines Week 3: Puck Drop

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As we head from the second week to the third in men’s college hockey, plenty of storylines have begun to form across the country.

Yes, you might have heard that there's an early-season Frozen Four rematch this weekend, with reigning champion Denver hosting Michigan in a No. 1 vs. 2 matchup. The series is the headline event for the weekend, coming off last week's No. 1 vs. 2 in women's hockey, with Ohio State sweeping reigning champion Wisconsin.

But storylines are different and there many of them in college hockey, including two big major Hockey East injuries and some key matchups. Here's the rundown:

What Is Colorado College Actually Made Of?

After the thrashing Colorado College gave Massachusetts two weekends ago, the Tigers were revered as one of the premier teams in the country, moving up receiving votes in the preseason coaches' poll to No. 15. After a bye week where they took on the U.S. Under-18 National Team at home in a 4-1 victory, they’ve moved up to No. 12 in the nation, earning more and more respect in the early stages of the campaign.

They’ll head to Storrs, Conn., to face No. 17 UConn in a two-game weekend series. The Huskies began their season a week later than most, debuting in the Ice Breaker Tournament at home where they beat No. 17 Penn State 3-1 and lost to Bowling Green 5-2.

Against UMass, it was the Tigers’ energy and chemistry that played a massive part in their effort. However, UConn presents a more unique challenge. Under head coach Mike Cavanaugh, the Huskies brought back some of their elite talents, including Joey Muldowney and Owen Simpson.

Expect a physical and exciting series in Connecticut.

Injury Updates For Two Big Hockey East Names

Two negatives stained what was a fun and exciting second weekend of college hockey.

Merrimack’s Parker Lalonde went down after an aggressive open-ice hit in a game against New Hampshire. Wildcat forward Martins Lavinš drilled the sophomore to the ground, forcing him to exit the ice on a stretcher. Referees didn’t call a penalty on the play, but you could view the head movement on the replay that injured Lalonde.

He went to the hospital but doctors released him the next morning with a concussion, according to Warriors head coach Scott Borek. For a second, it felt like the situation would get a lot worse for Lalonde, but good signs are pointing towards a return in the coming weeks for the young Hockey East star.

In a game against Quinnipiac, Maine’s Chris Romaine was also drilled by the opposition, clearly knocking him out after a big first-period hit. Bobcat forward Alex Kostov made contact with the Black Bears defenseman after Romaine retreated to corral the puck. The hit gave Kostov a major penalty along with an understandable game misconduct.

According to the College Hockey News, Romaine was helped off the ice and didn’t need to go to the hospital, leaving him day-to-day; clearly a big relief for Maine hockey and its fans.

How Good Can Jack Musa Be This Season?

After 20 NHL teams inquired about the undrafted junior, and a number of teams offered him official documents to sign, Jack Musa decided to come back home to Amherst, Mass. to play his senior season. It came as a surprise to many of his teammates as well as the fanbase, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

After two games where he didn’t give the Minutemen much in a pair of losses to Colorado College, he didn’t wait much longer. When RIT came to town, Musa delivered. The captain tallied a last second assist, helping the puck reach Francesco Dell’Elce who tied the contest up with 0.5 seconds left to go into the game, and nonchalantly slotted home the one goal UMass notched in the shootout.

In night two of the weekend series against the Tigers, the Orange Park, Fla. native put everything out on full display. He totaled four assists on the night, finding four different goal scorers, including two beautiful connections with his newly-minted first line teammates Maxim Masse and Egor Barabanov.

Many of Musa’s teammates have put him in Hobey Baker discussions, and if the highly-touted senior stays producing these kinds of numbers, the Hobey isn’t out of reach.

Puck Drop: Friday, October 16, 2026

Arizona State named Dave Hakstol the second men’s hockey coach in program history, and there was no interim tag involved. ASU bought out the contract of Greg Powers, who had been placed on administrated leave due to rising public pressure following the collapse and hospitalization of sophomore transfer defenseman Matthew Mayich, who has been on life support since a Aug. 20 workout led by a former Green Beret. Hakstol, 58, was previously the head coach at North Dakota, and led his teams to the NCAA Tournament all 11 season there (2004-15). He left to be the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. Former North Dakota defenseman Matt Greene has signed on to be an assistant coach, and Hakstol’s son plays for Arizona State's club team. For more check out Arizona State Sun Devils On SI.

Day one pic.twitter.com/1MGmRjAqi1
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) October 15, 2026

The Minnesota-UMD series was a turning point for both programs last season, but this year's matchup in Duluth has a different feel to it as as Hobey Bakey winner MaxPlante won’t suit up for the second straight week due to a lower-body injury. Without himt him the Bulldogs took an overtime loss and tied at Augustana.

Prize prospects Oscar Hemming and Dean Letourneau both scored goals as Boston College shut out St. Cloud State 4-0. For more see Boston College Eagles On SI.

After sweeping Wisconsin last week, to move up to No.1 in the rankings for the first time in the regular season since the 2023-24 season, new No. 1 Ohio has a showdown with No. 3 at Ridder Arena. Ohio State has won four of its last five meetings against the Gophers, but this will be the first meeting with Greg "Boom" May as Minnesota's head coach after three seasons as the associate head coach. What new wrinkles might Minnesota have at home?

Five more players were added to the U.S. Collegiate Selects team that will compete in the 2026 Spengler Cup in Switzerland in December: Michigan forwards Michael Hage and Jayden Perron, Minnesota forward Brodie Ziemer, Minnesota Duluth forward Zam Plante and Quinnipiac defenseman Elliott Groenewold. Plante was on last year's team that reached the championship game.

Forwards Jacob Quillan (Quinnipiac) and Brandon Buhr (Union) were traded by Toronto Maple Leafs to the Vancouver Canucks for forward Aatu Raty, who has played in 118 career NHL games. Both collegiate players signed as an undrafted free agent.

Remember Brady Tkachuk (Boston University) having a national hat trick on Tuesday night? He had another one Thursday.

🎩 Brady Tkachuk has scored a natural hat trick in back-to-back games, this time scoring all 3 #FlaPanthers goals including the OT winner from 2-0 down. pic.twitter.com/dFigCpnwCD
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) October 16, 2026

College Hockey Scores

MEN
Non-Conference
No. 16 Boston College 4, St. Cloud State 0
Miami 7, Robert Morris 1
No. 15 Augustana 2, Omaha 1
Air Force 4, Lindenwood 2

WOMEN
Non-Conference
New Hampshire 3, St. Lawrence 1

Today’s College Hockey Schedule

MEN
Hockey East
Northeastern at No. 19 Massachusetts, 7 p.m. ET
No. 11 Boston University at Vermont, 7 p.m. ET

Non-Conference
Lake Superior at Alaska-Anchorage, 6 p.m. AT
New Hampshire at Colgate, 7 p.m. ET
No. 12 Colorado College at No. 17 Connecticut, 7 p.m. ET
No. 2 Michigan at No. 1 Denver, 7 p.m. MT
Minnesota State at Merrimack, 7 p.m. ET
Ohio State at Sacred Heart, 7 p.m. ET
No. 7 Providence at Union, 7 p.m. ET
Notre Dame at No. 6 Western Michigan, 7 p.m. ET
No. 8 Quinnipiac at Penn State, 7 p.m. ET
Canisius at Clarkson, 7 p.m. ET
Long Island at RPI, 7 p.m. ET
Lindenwood at Air Force, 7 p.m. MT
Niagara at No. 18 Bowling Green, 7 p.m. ET
Alaska at Michigan Tech, 7 p.m. ET
No. 20 Minnesota at No. 9 Minnesota Duluth, 7 p.m. CT
Bentley at No. 4 North Dakota, 7 p.m. CT
Stonehill at Northern Michigan, 7 p.m. ET
Arizona State at UMass Lowell, 7:15 ET

Exhibition
Maryville at Yale, 7 p.m. ET

WOMEN
AHA
Lindenwood at No. 5 Penn State, 2 p.m. ET
Syracuse at Robert Morris, 7 p.m. ET

NEWHA
Long Island at Sacred Heart, 2 p.m. ET
Post at Stonehill, 5 p.m. ET
Assumption at Saint Anselm, 6 p.m. ET

WCHA
No 1 Ohio State at No. 3 Minnesota, 6 p.m. CT
No. 10 St. Cloud State at St. Thomas, 6 p.m. CT
No. 12 Minnesota Duluth at Bemidji State, 6 p.m. CT
Minnesota State at No. 2 Wisconsin, 7 p.m. CT

Non-Conference
St. Lawrence at New Hampshire, 11 a.m. ET
Franklin Pierce at Clarkson, 3 p.m. ET
Maine at Rensselaer, 3 p.m. ET
No. 9 Colgate at Boston University, 6 p.m. ET
No. 15 Vermont at No. 14 Cornell, 6 p.m. ET
Harvard at Holy Cross, 6 p.m. ET
Union at Delaware, 6 p.m. ET
No. 8 Connecticut at Princeton, 6 p.m. ET
No. 6 Northeastern at No. 4 Quinnipiac, 6 p.m. ET
Brown at RIT, 6 p.m. ET
Saint Michael's at Dartmouth, 7 p.m. ET

This Date in Hockey History

October 16, 1946: Gordie Howe, 18, made his debut with the Deroit Reed Wings and scored his first NHL goal during a 3-3 tie with Toronto. He initially wore No. 17 and didn’t switch to No. 9 until the following season.

October 16, 1949: Colorado College center Bob Collyard was born in Hibbing, Minn.

October 16, 1967: Michigan State right wing Joe Murphy was born in London, Ontario.

October 16, 1974: Maine left wing Paul Kariya was born in Vancouver. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017.

October 16, 1976: The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Robert Ridder, William Cleary and John Mayasich.

October 16, 1982: Phil Housley, a Team USA staple for more than 20 years, scored his first NHL goal. The star of the game, though, was Gil Perreault, who had a hat trick and two assists as the Buffalo Sabres won at Washington, 9-2.

October 16, 1982: The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame enshrined Calvin Marvin and William Stewart.

October 16, 1985: Alaska Anchorage forward Jay Beagle was born in Calgary, Alberta. He went on to play 14 seasons in the NHL.

October 16, 1987: Former UMD defenseman Tom Kurvers was traded by the New Jersey Devils for Toronto’s first-round selection in the 1991 NHL Draft. The Devils eventually used the pick to select Scott Niedermayer.

October 16, 2001: Former Colorado College right wing Toby Petersen, who played 15 season as a professional despite being type-one diabetic, scored a hat trick in a 5-2 victory for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Ottawa Senators.

October 16, 2003: Former Vermont right wing Martin St. Louis and Jason Cullimore scored 25 seconds apart and former Minnesota defenseman Ben Clymer notched three assist to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.

October 16, 2007: Former Miami center Rondy Robitaille signed a one-year contract with the Ottawa Senators, his ninth NHL team. He continued to play in other leagues through the 2013-14 season, but last with HC Donbass of the Kontinental Hockey League.

October 16. 2021: Former Boston University center Mike Sullivan notched coaching win No. 253 to set a franchise record as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2.

Hockey Quote of the Day

“Hullie's a lot like a garbage can. You step on the pedal with your foot and the top opens up.”
Wayne Gretzky on Brett Hull (UMD)

We'll Leave You With This ...

HOME OPENER WIN 👏#RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/eyDVdqtsBY
— Miami Hockey (@MiamiOH_Hockey) October 16, 2026

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