College Sports
A ‘real-life Ted Lasso’ and a lawyer: Meet the MacDougalls, hockey’s father-son, coach-GM duo
“A real-life Ted Lasso.” That’s the best way Andrew Brewer can put Gardiner MacDougall. He’s a coach. He has the moustache. Even at 65, he has the infectious, undying energy. He can talk to, motivate and connect with people. He’s the ultimate recruiter. He can make anybody feel good about themselves. He’s humble. Like Lasso, […]
“A real-life Ted Lasso.”
That’s the best way Andrew Brewer can put Gardiner MacDougall.
He’s a coach. He has the moustache. Even at 65, he has the infectious, undying energy. He can talk to, motivate and connect with people. He’s the ultimate recruiter. He can make anybody feel good about themselves. He’s humble.
Like Lasso, he always has a joke lined up for a news conference. He’ll tell you about the two ladies in his team’s life, Lady Luck and Lady Mo’, and that you need to find Lady Luck before you find Lady Mo’ in the crowd. He shows up early at the rink every day to find them, he says.
He signs his texts with “GMac @ Mct” (short for Moncton) and starts or ends every conversation with a stranger with a genuine interest in what they do, where they’re from and who their family is.
According to those who’ve worked with him, he knows what his strengths and weaknesses are, doesn’t try to be the X’s and O’s guy and surrounds himself with people who do what he doesn’t.
“I have my efficiency chart. It’s 30 years old, way before analytics,” he said on a recent phone call, chuckling, not because he has any disdain for analytics but because he has aged himself again.
“My coaches do more video than I do.”
But there’s one thing MacDougall has on Lasso.
“He has had way more success,” Brewer said. “He’s better at winning.”
Winning seems to be all he does.
He became the winningest coach in Canadian university hockey history at the University of New Brunswick, where he captured nine national titles. Last year, in his final one at the helm of the UNB Varsity Red, he went 43-0. He then guided Canada to a perfect record at the U18 worlds, winning gold in a come-from-behind win against the USA. In 2022, when the Memorial Cup-host Saint John Sea Dogs fired their coach following a shocking first-round exit in the QMJHL playoffs, they asked MacDougall to fill in. He took over a team he’d never seen play and, in 39 days, turned them into Memorial Cup champs.
Brewer says the question was always, “Is the schtick going to work in junior?”
This year, MacDougall answered it, leaving his beloved Reds after 24 years to take over as head coach of the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats.
In his first season behind the bench, they won the QMJHL title, going 16-3 in the playoffs. On Friday, at the 2025 CHL Awards, he was named coach of the year.
This season, with another championship and another coaching award, was different, though: his son, Taylor, an up-and-coming mind in the game, was also the team’s general manager.
The combination?
“It has proven to be pretty powerful,” Brewer said.
Gardiner MacDougall is in a Tim Hortons drive-thru.
“Small iced cappuccino with chocolate milk and that’ll be all, thank you very much,” he says out of his car window.
He’s on his way home from another day at a hockey arena. It’s the week between the end of the regular season and his team’s four-round QMJHL playoff run. He’s going to win it, but he doesn’t know that yet.
He’s incapable of looking that far ahead. Gardiner is all about micro vision, his idea that if you have enough positive micro days that the macro takes care of itself.
But he can begin to reminisce on the late-career move he made from Fredericton and UNB to Moncton and the Wildcats.
UNB, Gardiner said, was his NHL when he got the job, and it stayed that way “’til the end” for him.
But his journey in Moncton “has been invigorating.”
It started with a call from Robert Irving, the team’s billionaire owner of New Brunswick’s Irving family, who owns Irving Oil, potato giant Cavendish Farms (of which Robert is the president) and the lumber business J.D. Irving (of which he’s the co-CEO).
Irving had known Gardiner for years, and after deciding not to renew the contract of his head coach, he reached out.
After an initial visit to the facilities to meet with Irving, Gardiner’s decision was on hold because he had to go to Finland for the U18s.
Irving was willing to wait.
“He’s a winner and his energy is second to none,” Irving said. “It just says that we’ve got a winner, someone who knows the game very well and knows how to bring players along, and develop them, and coach them to be successful on the ice and off the ice. And he just brings an exuberance to everything that he does and everyone around him that we’re here to win, and Gardiner’s going to be the man to do it.”
Gardiner eventually told him that if he took it, he’d want to be in charge of personnel and to have people he knew be a part of it.
He wasn’t thinking of his son when he said that, though. After calling Taylor on his way home to Fredericton and telling him that he’d have to look for a general manager because he didn’t want to play that role at this stage in his career, Taylor said, “Well, Dad, I’d be interested in that.”
At the time, Gardiner thought it was intriguing and told Taylor, “OK, well I’ll let Mr. Irving know and you can go meet him and see where it goes,” knowing that the general manager would actually have more day-to-day dealings with Irving than him.
Taylor, 35, was working for Roy Sports Group (RSG). He was the agency’s legal counsel, handled all of the legal on their marketing side, did NHL contract research and preparation, recruited and scouted for them in the Maritimes and Quebec and was starting to negotiate deals. Allain Roy, the president and CEO of RSG, was grooming him to be one of the people to take over the agency at some point. “And he wasn’t very far from there,” Roy said.
Before being hired at RSG, he earned his Juris Doctor from UNB, his MBA from the Edinburgh School of Business, and played for five years in the QMJHL, five more years under his dad with the Reds, and briefly professionally in the ECHL with the Brampton Beast and EIHL with the Edinburgh Capitals.
Irving was immediately “attracted to the father-and-son tandem approach, knowing that they’ll be able to work very closely together and trust each other.”
After interviewing with Irving, Taylor was named the team’s general manager and director of hockey operations.
Taylor just hoped he could “be more useful to (Gardiner) as a GM than I was as a player.”
“That would be nice,” Taylor said, “and not a high bar.”
As a player, Gardiner said Taylor “totally bought in,” was a “terrific leader” and “played his role” on strong teams where he was often fighting for his spot.
As a manager, Taylor believes junior hockey’s “a beast of its own.” In pro, he says you can build around a particular vision for what a team should look like. In junior, you have to be more flexible.
From his dad, Taylor also knows how hard he works to build relationships with everyone in an organization, from players to rink staff.
Taylor and Gardiner MacDougall. (Daniel St. Louis / CHL)
Gardiner and Taylor both say they’ve found a yin and yang to their working relationship in the different strengths and experiences they have.
Gardiner grew up with three younger sisters in a Prince Edward Island community of a couple of hundred people called Bedeque. He started working on the farm and at the local hardware store at 12 and says his persistence, habits and love of community come from his old man.
His passion for coaching started with a passion for teaching as a physical educator in Norway House, Manitoba, more than 800 kilometers north of Winnipeg. He had a poster of Terry Fox, one of his heroes, in his office. “Enthusiasm is contagious, catch the fever,” it read.
“You always want to be enthusiastic,” he says. “I’ve always had energy, and you channel that.”
Gardiner says that goaltending (Kings prospect Carter George) and “a guy from the Yukon” (2026 NHL Draft sensation Gavin McKenna) won him gold at U18s, and William “Willie” Dufour won him that Memorial Cup in Saint John. He’d rather talk about being a product of the mentors he’s had (Clare Drake, Andy Murray, Dave King), the books he’s read and the people and places he comes from, than himself.
Taylor brought contacts with players, agents, scouts and executives from across the NHL and QMJHL. He knew the league and his contacts with prep schools and colleges across the United States had positioned them well for the NCAA’s opening of eligibility to QMJHL players. Through his time as an agent, he understands now just what players want, but what parents do.
When Taylor was playing junior, Gardiner joked that he was his best recruiter. Once, when Taylor was 16, he recruited a 20-year-old for his dad, who went on to become an All-Canadian, asking Gardiner to give him the phone during a recruitment call.
“He has done an amazing job,” Gardiner said. “You get a lot of opportunities through the years of going to pro, or major junior, or Europe, and at UNB I was the coach, I was the GM (and) you can look in the mirror and if you’re not doing well the coach can say to the GM ‘Get me better players’ and the GM can say ‘Coach, coach better’ and I had those discussions with the mirror for 24 years. So, to have Taylor, I can see the significance of him and the cohesion between your head coach and your general manager is so essential.”
Gardiner also said his son’s communication skills are “top notch.”
“People say simplicity is the ultimate source of sophistication, and I think he has just a great way — and part of it is working with the law — of getting to the facts,” Gardiner said.
Roy is in his 25th season in the agency business and has known Taylor since he was 12 years old because he used to run summer camps for prospects out of UNB. Taylor later became a client and lived with Marc Lavigne, one of Roy’s agents, in the Montreal area.
He called Taylor closer to family than a former employee. He describes Gardiner as “a guy with a lot of panache.”
After taking the job with Moncton, Gardiner gave Roy the hard MacDougall pitch for one of his clients earlier this year.
“He was like ‘You know what, Al, there was a kid once and I went to see him six times and you know what happened on the seventh time that I went to see him?’ And I was like ‘Let me guess, Gardiner, you got him to go to UNB?’ And he was like ‘Yep. I’m not going to give up,’” Roy remembered, laughing. “He just lets you know that he’s just going to keep coming at you, and I respect it.”
Meanwhile, Taylor was described as “very smart” and “a little bit more softly spoken.”
“I think (Taylor) will rise through the ranks of pro hockey very quickly,” Roy said. “I think there’s a bit of a misconception in the pro sports world that you can’t be a good person and be a good manager, and I think he’s that guy that will help break that trend. He puts the individual first, but he’s not afraid to make tough decisions, not afraid to have tough conversations.”
In that way, Taylor reminds him of Hockey Hall of Famer Cliff Fletcher, who famously never had a negative conversation with someone (whether firing, trading or releasing someone) unless he could have it in person.
“That has always stuck with me because I’m like ‘man, do I see the opposite a lot in this world now — people just afraid to communicate because of what’s going to come afterwards (which is more communication),’” Roy said. “Taylor’s a great communicator, I think he thinks the game very well, he uses advanced stats but does not hide behind them.”
When Taylor first told Roy about the job, though, Roy had an honest conversation with him.
“How’s it going to be with your dad?” he asked. He knew that Irving was “a pretty intense individual,” too. But he also knew that Taylor would navigate it all. And after continuing to work with him in a different way this year because he has “quite a few kids” on the Wildcats, Roy has seen both of them do just that.
“It’s a hell of a start,” Roy said. “If their record was reversed, maybe it would be a different conversation.”
Father and son are both thankful for what this last year has given them.
“We’re wildly fortunate to have this opportunity. It has been a privilege,” Taylor said. “There have been plenty of ups and downs, and there will be many more, but the one thing with him leading the charge is that there’s always a lot of buy-in, and it starts with his passion and enthusiasm for the process.”
Added Gardiner of working with his son, for a rare moment losing the words that have always come so freely: “It’s been tremendous.”
In the Memorial Cup’s tournament-opening news conference, Gardiner sat at the podium, cracked his jokes, and said, “If you’d told me 13 months ago that this may be happening with your son, I don’t know if even Hollywood could write that script.”
A few short days later, as he took the podium following a 3-1 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers, Gardiner didn’t have a joke to tell.
Instead, he said that about 20 minutes prior to puck drop, Taylor had gotten a call from the RCMP telling him that Pat Buckley, his father-in-law, had been golfing in Rimouski after driving up to the Memorial Cup from Fredericton that day, and had died from a heart attack.
“It’s certainly a devastating loss. It’s the hardest game I’ve ever had to coach,” Gardiner said, catching his breath. “Pat Buckley was an unbelievable sportsman, a top-notch golfer, a former university hockey player. He was a second father to my son. They bonded like no other.”
In a moment of loss and grief, Gardiner was there for his son. All year, he’d asked his players to embrace one of his many mantras: F.O.E. (Family Over Everything). Now he was practicing what he’d preached, his humanity on full display.
Everyone who knows him has a story about that humanity, because he has made so many feel like family along the way.
The way Brewer’s goes, he was a university student at UNB who’d done a marketing project about how the Reds could sell more tickets. As part of the project, he’d made a commemorative video of the national championship they’d just won in 2007. His girlfriend at the time, now his wife, was working for the athletic department and showed the video to her boss, who showed it to Gardiner, who asked if he could play it at their ring ceremony.
Time passed, Brewer graduated and took a job in government when another call came from Gardiner. He asked him if he could make another video for the start of their new season and told him that he wanted to start using this new video program called Stiva that some NHL clubs were using, but didn’t know how, and wondered if he’d be interested in helping with it.
Brewer said yes and became his video coach. Seven years after Gardiner gave him his first job in hockey, Brewer was an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In between, Gardiner helped him get his first video coaching job with Hockey Canada. Last summer, when he brought the U18 trophy home to Fredericton, Gardiner invited Brewer to the house to celebrate.
Brewer isn’t the only one with a story like that, either. Lucas Madill and Ryan Hamilton, two sports psychiatrists who work with Hockey Canada now, were disciples of Gardiner’s.
“I mean, I was a university student coming in and getting involved with a past national champion and big program and he made me feel welcome, he gave me a voice, he gave me an opportunity to be a part of the program, and then gave me more and more opportunity,” Brewer said.
Sea Dogs president Trevor Georgie has his own stories from the 39 days he spent with Gardiner en route to their Memorial Cup together. Like Brewer, he’ll tell you of the immediate bond he formed with Travis Crickard, who was an assistant coach on that team and is now their head coach and general manager, and how Gardiner helped Crickard land his first Hockey Canada job as an assistant on his staff at U18s.
He’ll also tell you how “devastated” his team was when they lost in the first round that year, and how one by one, Gardiner turned each player’s psyche around and got them to believe again.
Before naming Gardiner interim head coach for that Memorial Cup, Georgie interviewed multiple coaches. Gardiner was the only one without NHL experience. But Gardiner “was really special.”
Waiting to hear back, Gardiner texted Georgie, “It’s a great day to be a Sea Dog.”
On their first walk through the dressing room, Gardiner talked to himself and said something along the lines of “I think I can capture their hearts in here.”
His first day on the job, Georgie remembers the office was still waking up, with everyone grabbing teas and coffees, and “Gardiner had already done like 10 kilometers and a million pushups and it was like ‘OK!’”
“He genuinely has that seize the day personality. That’s just his way,” Georgie said. “He is not letting a day go by. He is enjoying every minute. It’s from the second he wakes up. It’s really, really incredible.”
Though they’re now rivals within the league, Georgie and Taylor are also close friends. Several of Taylor’s clients at RSG were on that Sea Dogs team. They know each other’s families and are both young fathers (Taylor has two kids, 4 and almost 1).
There’s one thing that Georgie says everyone will say about the MacDougalls.
“They’re really great people,” he said.
“They deserve to do really well.”
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos: Daniel St. Louis / CHL)
College Sports
Aben Earns Spot on AHCA/Krampade All-American Scholars List
Story Links EASTON, Mass. (July 3, 2025) – Freshman forward Zach Aben of the Stonehill men’s ice hockey program has been named to the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Krampade All-American Scholars List, as announced by the organization last week. To qualify for the honor, student-athletes must have achieved a 3.75 GPA or higher […]
EASTON, Mass. (July 3, 2025) – Freshman forward Zach Aben of the Stonehill men’s ice hockey program has been named to the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Krampade All-American Scholars List, as announced by the organization last week.
To qualify for the honor, student-athletes must have achieved a 3.75 GPA or higher in each semester of the academic year and appeared in at least 40% of their team’s games. Exceptions were made for injured players and backup goaltenders. Schools must also be AHCA members to be eligible.
Aben, a sports management major and two-time Dean’s List honoree, earned his first AHCA Scholar recognition after posting a stellar 3.94 cumulative GPA during his freshman year. On the ice, he appeared in 30 games and recorded 11 points on four goals and seven assists—leading all Stonehill freshmen in scoring. He was also one of just two Skyhawks to net a shorthanded goal, joining recent graduate Henri Schreifels, who scored short-handed against Union.
Stonehill wrapped up the 2024-25 campaign with a program-record 12 victories, a 10-win improvement from the previous season. The Skyhawks went 7-7 at home and notched 10 wins against Division I opponents—up from just one a year prior. On the road, Stonehill secured five Division I victories, including wins over Merrimack, Lake Superior State, UMass Lowell, and LIU, setting a new program benchmark for road success.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
College Sports
Former SCSU captain Jimmy Schuldt signs 2-year, 2-way deal with Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced on Tuesday, July 1 that the club has agreed to terms with defenseman Jimmy Schuldt on a two-year, two-way contract. Schuldt, 30, appeared in eight games for the San Jose Sharks in 2024-25, recording four shots on goal and averaging 13:47 of time on ice. He also skated […]
Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced on Tuesday, July 1 that the club has agreed to terms with defenseman Jimmy Schuldt on a two-year, two-way contract.
Schuldt, 30, appeared in eight games for the San Jose Sharks in 2024-25, recording four shots on goal and averaging 13:47 of time on ice. He also skated in 64 games for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, 15 assists, 21 points, 34 penalty minutes and was a plus-22, while serving as the team’s captain.
The 6-foot-1, 203-pound Schuldt has played in nine career NHL games, split between the Vegas Golden Knights and Sharks, registering one assist, five shots on goal, and averaging 14:35 of time on ice.
He has also appeared in 354 career AHL games, split between the Chicago Wolves (2019-20), Henderson Silver Knights (2020-21), Rochester Americans (2021-22), Coachella Valley Firebirds (2022-24) and Barracuda, collecting 129 points (36-93-129), 222 penalty minutes and is a plus-70. The Minnetonka native has also played 65 career Calder Cup Playoff games, adding 19 points (9-10-19), 16 penalty minutes, and a plus-23 rating.
Schuldt was originally signed by the Vegas Golden Knights as an undrafted free agent on April 3, 2019.
Schuldt played for St. Cloud State from 2015-19. He is the program’s career leader in goals by a defenseman (38) and points by a defenseman (118). He is also tied for second in career assists by a defenseman (80) and played in a school-record 156 straight games.
Among all SCSU players, he is tied for 12th in career assists, 23rd in points and tied for 11th in career games.
He is one of the school’s most honored players. In 2019, he was a top three finalist for the Hobey Baker Award after having 10 goals, 35 points and was a plus-24 in 39 games. In 2018, he was a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker after having 10 goals, 38 points and was a plus-19 in 40 games.
He was a two-time West First Team All-American, a two-time All-NCHC First Team pick, was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team in 2016. In 2019, he was named the NCHC’s Best Defensive Defenseman and Player of the Year.
He was also a four-time NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete and is one of two players in SCSU’s NCAA Division I era to be named a captain for three years (Spencer Meier, 2020-23).
In 2014-15, he was named to the All-USHL Third Team with the Omaha Lancers after having 13 goals, 39 points and being a plus-13 in 59 games.
Before playing juniors, Schuldt was a three-year letterwinner at Minnetonka High School before graduating in 2013.
College Sports
Clemson Facing NIL Pressure in Battle for Five-Star DL Bryce Perry-Wright
Clemson Facing NIL Pressure in Battle for Five-Star DL Bryce Perry-Wright originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Clemson may be in danger of losing its grip on one of the top defensive prospects in the 2026 recruiting class. Bryce Perry-Wright, a five-star defensive lineman out of Buford, Georgia, is set to make his college commitment on […]
Clemson Facing NIL Pressure in Battle for Five-Star DL Bryce Perry-Wright originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Clemson may be in danger of losing its grip on one of the top defensive prospects in the 2026 recruiting class. Bryce Perry-Wright, a five-star defensive lineman out of Buford, Georgia, is set to make his college commitment on July 5—and what once looked like a strong lead for the Tigers now feels far less secure.
Advertisement
For months, Clemson appeared to be in prime position to land Perry-Wright. The Tigers were the unanimous Crystal Ball pick on 247Sports, and their geographic advantage was undeniable.
Clemson’s campus sits just over an hour from Perry-Wright’s hometown—far closer than Texas A&M, Miami, or Texas, each requiring double-digit-hour drives. That proximity, along with Clemson’s defensive tradition, made the Tigers a logical favorite.
But the SEC is making a late push. Texas A&M, in particular, has surged into the picture thanks to rising momentum and the backing of one of recruiting’s most respected voices. Rivals analyst Steve Wiltfong, known for his 91% accuracy rate on predictions, now projects Perry-Wright to land with Mike Elko and the Aggies.
Advertisement
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney during his 2025 football camp in Clemson, S.C.© Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network South Carolina / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
This shift comes just days after On3’s Pete Nakos made waves by saying, “There is more fake cash being thrown around right now than there was four years ago.” And now, word of Texas A&M making a serious move for Bryce Perry-Wright? The timing feels more than coincidental.
It wasn’t long ago that Perry-Wright was projected to choose Clemson. Then came the delay in his commitment date. And now—just days before the announcement—he’s been Crystal Balled to Texas A&M.
Can’t beat that Texas oil money.
Clemson’s staff has invested significant time into this recruitment, eyeing Perry-Wright as a potential difference-maker in the trenches. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound disruptor posted 57 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, nine sacks, and 17 quarterback hurries last season while helping Buford High reach the Georgia 7A state semifinals.
Advertisement
His high motor, elite get-off, and ability to shoot gaps have drawn comparisons to past Clemson greats.
But with Perry-Wright’s decision set for Saturday—broadcast live on 247Sports YouTube and CBS Sports HQ—there’s increasing uncertainty in Tiger Town. If Texas A&M closes the deal, Clemson could find itself reassessing how it holds off late SEC surges for top-tier defensive linemen, especially in the talent-rich state of Georgia.
This recruitment might not be over until the ink is dry. But for now, the Tigers’ once-comfortable lead appears to be fading fast.
Related: Former Clemson Star Spencer Strider One of Few Braves Starters Left After Latest Injury News
Related: Clemson Facing NIL Test as New Threat Emerges for 5-Star LB Tyler Atkinson
Related: FSU QB’s Trash Talk Gives Clemson Major Motivation for November Showdown
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
College Sports
At development camp, Wild prospect Ryder Ritchie ponders his hockey future – Twin Cities
After a few days golfing, go-karting, working out and meeting — but not skating — with players he hopes will be future Minnesota Wild teammates, forward prospect Ryder Ritchie is headed home to British Columbia and will soon figure out where he’s playing next season. On a Medicine Hat team that finished second in the […]
After a few days golfing, go-karting, working out and meeting — but not skating — with players he hopes will be future Minnesota Wild teammates, forward prospect Ryder Ritchie is headed home to British Columbia and will soon figure out where he’s playing next season.
On a Medicine Hat team that finished second in the Memorial Cup, which crowns the champion of Canadian major junior hockey, Ritchie averaged better than a point a game. Amazingly, that was only good for third offensively for the Tigers, who were led by Gavin McKenna’s 129 points in 56 games — which is why McKenna is the early consensus for the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL entry draft.
Ritchie, picked in the second round by the Wild in 2024, spoke to reporters at the team’s annual Development Camp at TRIA Rink on Wednesday. He said despite reports that he has committed to Boston University, he is still working on a final decision.
“I’m still kind of looking at my options,” he said.
Ritchie, who turns 19 in August, said he has not set a deadline for a final decision on his 2025-26 hockey destination. He has spent the past three years in the Western Hockey League.
“I just haven’t made up my mind yet,” Ritchie said. “I think I’ve still got to kind of think things through and talk to my family.
Ritchie’s father, Byron, played more than 300 NHL games for a quartet of teams, and played pro hockey in Europe before retiring in 2017.
A year ago at this time, American college hockey would not have been an option for Ritchie, as players in Canadian major junior hockey were considered professionals by the NCAA and were therefore ineligible. But a lawsuit and a rules change handed down in November 2024 has opened college hockey to players in the three Canadian major junior leagues.
Before he started playing major junior for Prince Albert in 2022, Ritchie took a look at his college options, taking official visits to schools such as Michigan and Wisconsin. Since the 2024 ruling, that world is again an option on his road that he and the Wild hope will eventually land him in St. Paul.
“I tried not to think about it until after the year, because I was focusing on trying to win a championship, so I think that’s kind of why I’m still in the deciding factor right now, and trying to figure out what I want to do,” Ritchie said. “It’s obviously appealing. A lot of guys are leaving, so it’s going to be a tough decision.”
McKenna is reportedly weighing his college options, as well, considering an offer from Penn State, and visiting the Michigan State campus earlier this week to meet with the Spartans’ coaches.
The three-day Development Camp for the Wild took a different route in 2025, with just 15 players invited and no on-ice work. Instead the players did off-ice workouts, video study, seminars about nutrition and social media, and had fun away from the rink at a go-kart track, a golf course and an escape room.
Most agreed it was a fun break from the on-ice work that is usually a part of the summer get-together.
“Obviously, everyone likes to skate. That’s what we do. We’re hockey players,” said Wild prospect Riley Heidt, who played major junior last season for Prince George. “But it’s good to get in the gym and kind of focus on that stuff, too, especially earlier in the summer.”
Defenseman Theodor Hallquisth and forward Adam Benak, picked by the Wild in last weekend’s NHL Draft, were both camp participants, making their first visits to Minnesota.
More free agent moves
The Wild addressed some depth needs on Wednesday, signing a half-dozen free agents who likely to play the bulk of their time in Iowa. Among their moves:
– They inked a one-year entry-level contract for good-sized forward Bradley Marek, who played 50 games for the Iowa Wild last season, and is a former CCHA rookie of the year at Ferris State.
– Goalie depth was handled with the addition of Cal Petersen, an Iowa native who starred at Notre Dame a decade ago and has played in more than 100 NHL games for the Kings and Flyers. He signed a one-year contract.
– Forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel signed a one-year contract after the Albertan played 22 games for the Sabres and Rangers last season. He has more than 300 NHL games on his resume.
– Ben Gleason signed a one-year contract following 36 games in the AHL last season in the Edmonton and Philadelphia systems. His only NHL experience is four games with Dallas in 2018-19.
– Defenseman Matt Kierstad, who is originally from Elk River and played collegiately at North Dakota, signed with the Wild for two years after spending last season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers. He has played in 39 career NHL games with the Florida Panthers.
– Veteran forward Tyler Pitlick, who played prep hockey at Centennial and a season at Minnesota State, Mankato, signed a two-year contract with the Wild. He has logged more than 400 games for eight different NHL teams over the past dozen seasons.
College Sports
Program-Record Seven Skyhawks Named AHCA/Krampade All-American Scholars
Story Links EASTON, Mass. (July 3, 2025) – A program-record seven members of the Stonehill College women’s ice hockey team have been named to the 2024-25 American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Krampade All-American Scholars List, as announced by the organization on Wednesday afternoon. To qualify for the honor, student-athletes must have achieved […]
EASTON, Mass. (July 3, 2025) – A program-record seven members of the Stonehill College women’s ice hockey team have been named to the 2024-25 American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Krampade All-American Scholars List, as announced by the organization on Wednesday afternoon.
To qualify for the honor, student-athletes must have achieved a 3.75 GPA or higher in each semester of the academic year and appeared in at least 40% of their team’s games. Exceptions were made for injured players and backup goaltenders. Schools must also be AHCA members to be eligible.
Of the 349 NCAA Division I women recognized nationally, 55 hailed from the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance (NEWHA), including student-athletes from Post (14), Sacred Heart (11), Long Island (9), Assumption (8), Stonehill (7), and Saint Michael’s (6).
Stonehill’s honorees include juniors Mia Kenmore, Hannah Squires, and Brianna Walkom, who each earned the honor for the third straight year. They were joined by classmate Bailey Feeney and sophomore Makenna Slocum, both receiving the recognition for a second time. First-time selections include recent graduate Sarah Taylar and rookie goaltender Alexsa Caron.
Kenmore, a management major, earned her third AHCA/Krampade Scholar distinction after posting a perfect 4.0 GPA during the 2024-25 academic year. A Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society inductee, she has played in 105 career games, recording 12 points (5G, 7A), including a highlight-reel shorthanded goal against then-No. 12 Penn State.
Walkom, also a three-time honoree, recorded consecutive 4.0 GPA semesters while majoring in biology. On the ice, she finished the 2024-25 campaign second on the team in faceoff win percentage (54.3%) and ranked fourth in total faceoff wins (153). A consistent contributor, she has appeared in 114 games over three seasons, tallying 25 points (6G, 19A). Walkom is also a three-time NEWHA All-Academic Team selection and a member of the inaugural Stonehill Chi Alpha Sigma induction class.
Squires, a biology major with a 3.96 GPA, also received her third AHCA honor. She was named to the NEWHA All-Academic Team for the third time and has skated in 93 games, contributing two goals and five assists as a steady presence on the blue line.
Feeney, a biology major and 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® At-Large Team honoree, earned her second AHCA Scholar honor with a 3.80 cumulative GPA. On the ice, she was named All-NEWHA Second Team and ranked second in the conference in scoring with 25 points (11G, 14A), including eight multi-point games. Feeney helped anchor Stonehill’s power play, which led the NEWHA (21.1%) and ranked 12th nationally.
Slocum, named to the NEWHA All-Sportswomanship Team, earned her second consecutive honor after posting a 3.81 GPA. The sophomore forward has appeared in 74 career games, including all 38 this season, totaling eight points (4G, 4A) while ranking as one of the least penalized players on the team.
Caron, who holds Stonehill single-season records for saves (1,141) and shutouts (4), achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA in her first year while earning AHCA/Krampade Scholar honors. The rookie goaltender made history as the first Skyhawk netminder to earn All-NEWHA recognition and was named NEWHA Goaltender of the Week six times. She posted a .943 save percentage, 10 conference wins, and set a program single-game saves record with 61 against Ohio State at the 2024 Women’s Ice Breaker Tournament.
Taylar, a neuroscience major and Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society inductee, earned the academic distinction for the first time after maintaining a GPA above 3.75 in both semesters. She concluded her collegiate career with 112 games played, tallying 11 points (3G, 8A) and registering 70 blocked shots.
Stonehill concluded the 2024-25 season with a 14-19-5 overall record and a 13-10-5 mark in NEWHA play to earn the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. Despite falling to Saint Anselm in the quarterfinal round, the Skyhawks ranked among the top three in the league in several statistical categories, including shot attempts (1,225), power-play goals (20), saves (1,224), and penalty kill percentage (86.7%).
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
College Sports
UMaine women’s ice hockey program bringing in 8 freshmen
The University of Maine women’s ice hockey team is bringing in eight freshmen as the Black Bears look to improve upon last year’s 11-21-3 campaign. Fourth-year head coach Molly Engstrom has four defensemen and four forwards joining the program. “It’s going to be a good class,” said Engstrom, who expects her freshmen to be impactful […]
The University of Maine women’s ice hockey team is bringing in eight freshmen as the Black Bears look to improve upon last year’s 11-21-3 campaign.
Fourth-year head coach Molly Engstrom has four defensemen and four forwards joining the program.
“It’s going to be a good class,” said Engstrom, who expects her freshmen to be impactful and contribute right away.
One of the four defensemen, Lulu Rucinski, is from Orono but it’s Orono, Minnesota, not Maine.
The other three defensemen are Paige Fong from Pickering, Ontario, Sade Sandilands from Carstairs, Alberta and Camille Dubuc from Edina, Minn. Dubuc will be a redshirt next season.
The forwards are Isabelle Michaud from Drummond, New Brunswick, Mackenzie Podewell from
Wheaton, Illinois, Darragh Browne from Oakville, Ontario, and Ali Altiman from Thamesville, Ontario.
Engstrom said they wanted to bring in players who could help the team “get better overall” with goal scorers being at the top of the priority list.
“We need a high end forward and we’re getting much closer to that,” said Engstrom, whose Black Bears managed to score only 65 goals in 35 games a year ago.
And they have lost players who combined to score 23 of them.
Michaud could be one of the answers to their goal scoring problems as she is coming off a season at Standstead College where she scored 29 goals and assisted on 34 more for 63 points in 66 games. Stanstead College is a boarding high school in Quebec.
“She has a nice touch on the puck,” said Engstrom. “She was one of the leading scorers on her team and in that league last year. Darragh Browne should bring some speed for us.”
Altiman had 13 goals and eight assists in 40 games for the London Devilettes in the Ontario Women’s Hockey League.
Podewell highlighted her senior year by scoring three goals and adding an assist in four games during the USA Under 19 nationals.
She played for the Chicago Mission.
Browne notched nine goals and 18 assists in 37 games for the Burlington Barracudas in the OWHL.
The incoming defensemen also have offensive components in their games.
Rucinski racked up 15 goals and 24 assists for 39 points in 25 games for Benilde-St. Margaret’s prep school in Minnesota.
Fong had six goals and 14 assists in 41 games for the Whitby Wolves in the OWHL. Sandilands had four goals and 18 assists in 40 games for Etobicoke Dolphins in the OWHL
Dubuc tallied five goals and 14 assists in 26 games for Edina High School.
“Sade was with the Canadian U-18 national team last summer, Lulu has been in the development program for USA Hockey, and Paige is a big, skilled defenseman,” said Engstrom.
Engstrom noted that she may have one of the biggest defense corps in the country with all but one of her blue-liners standing at least 5-foot-7. Junior Sophia Johnson is 5-foot-11 and Fong is 5-10.
Engstrom pointed out that the Black Bears finished strong a year ago, going 3-1-2 in their last six games including an impressive performance in a 4-3 loss at third seed Boston College in the Hockey East quarterfinals, and that they are looking to build on that this coming season.
Fashion on the Fairway – How Golf Has Gone Viral for Gen‑Z
Leon Bibb: Cleveland’s NYSP impacts youth with sports and education
3 More Athletes Appeal NCAA NIL Settlement To 9th Circ.
Supreme Court will take up a Idaho case about transgender student athletes | News
Watch future Cougar Jane Hedengren receive Gatorade National Track and Field Player of the Year award – Deseret News
U.S. Girls U19 National Team Rolls Past Peru at 2025 World Championship
Tripleheader Ohio Weekend Ahead for Great Lakes Super Sprints – Speedway Digest
Noah Penda is the 32nd pick of the 2025 NBA Draft!
Ray Allen and Leroy Arrington on Being a Youth Sports Dad, Organizing Events at the ESPN Wide World of Sports and Life After the NBA – SportsTravel
Justice Department charges 4 North Koreans with posing as IT workers to steal US companies’ money – Deltaplex News
FSU softball has been eerily quiet in the transfer portal since the season ended
Minor League roundup, 7/2
David Sexton – Assistant Coach, Cross Country/Track & Field – Men’s Cross Country Coaches
IHRA and Official Broadcast Partner SPEED SPORT 1 Announce Production and Broadcast Plans
Pure Kick Returns to Chicago Street Course with Blood Orange Flavor and Harley Giveaway – Speedway Digest
has always dreamed in Mercurial. Now his initials are on the boots.
The new Kyl…
Portal Update – Basketball and Gymnastics Take Hits
Former South Carolina center Nick Pringle commits to Arkansas basketball, John Calipari
Deputies investigating incident that caused panic at Pace youth sports complex
This is poetry in motion.
-
College Sports3 weeks agoIU basketball recruiting
-
Social Media3 weeks agoPune Athletes Make Global Mark at IRONMAN Hamburg and Brazil 2025
-
Health3 weeks agoGymnast MyKayla Skinner Claims Simone Biles 'Belittled and Ostracized' Her amid Riley …
-
Motorsports3 weeks agoNASCAR Race Today: Mexico City start times, schedule and how to watch live on TV
-
Motorsports3 weeks agoNASCAR in Mexico City: Where to watch, start time, stream, lineup, race preview for inaugural Viva Mexico 250
-
College Sports7 days agoWAC to Rebrand to UAC, Add Five New Members in 2026
-
High School Sports3 weeks agoNew Bedford top stories
-
Health3 weeks agoChicago Sky receive unfortunate reaction to 'mental health' statement with Angel Reese
-
College Sports3 weeks agoLivvy Dunne honors boyfriend Paul Skenes with twist on LSU jersey
-
Health3 weeks agoKyrie Irving's Strong Message Amid Men's Mental Health Awareness Month