He was about 90 minutes from playing in the biggest game of his life.

But if Connor Hellebuyck was nervous, he was doing a fantastic job of hiding it.

It was March 29, 2012 and UMass Lowell was set to face perennial national power Wisconsin in an NCAA Tournament hockey game at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H.

The sun was shining and the 4:30 p.m. puck drop was approaching. Some 50 feet outside the arena, a group of River Hawk players, 8-10 or so, enjoyed a beautiful late afternoon day.

Positioned in a circle, the players took turns heading a soccer ball and trying to keep the ball from hitting the ground. They were laughing and right in the middle of the action was a smiling Hellebuyck.

When the game started, the unheralded freshman goaltender stymied the Badgers before a crowd of 8,049. By game’s end, the scoreboard read UMass Lowell 6, Wisconsin 1, and Hellebuyck had calmly turned aside 31 shots. The only shot that sailed past him came on a Wisconsin power play.

The next night, a larger crowd turned out. The majority of fans were supporting the University of New Hampshire. The Wildcat fans made plenty of noise, but Hellebuyck was unbeatable, turning aside 28 shots to pace UML to a 2-0 win and leading the River Hawks to their lone Frozen Four appearance in Pittsburgh.

On Thursday, now a seasoned professional, Hellebuyck learned he had been named the winner of the Hart Trophy as the MVP of the National Hockey League. Everyone who follows hockey knew he was a lock to win his third Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender.

But MVP? The best player in hockey? Wow, that’s heady stuff and quite the journey for Hellebuyck, who wasn’t a blue chip recruit when he committed to Norm Bazin and UMass Lowell.

Just a few seasons earlier, Bazin had inherited a program on thin ice. The River Hawks were coming off a nightmarish five-win season.

Hellebuyck produced two fantastic seasons at UML before turning pro and joining the Winnipeg Jets, the team that had drafted him.

As a UML freshman, Hellebuyck played in 24 games. He compiled a 20-3-0 record and posted eye-popping numbers of 1.37 (goals against average) and .952 (save percentage) and came within a bounce of the puck of leading UML to the national championship game.

In Pittsburgh, playing in the national semifinal, UML was outshot 47-18 by Yale, but Hellebuyck gave his team a chance, allowing the River Hawks to overcome a 2-0 deficit and force overtime. In OT, Yale pocketed the winner.

As a sophomore, Hellebuyck was again otherworldly, leading the River Hawks to the regional final and recording a 1.78 goals against average and .941 save percentage. He became the first recipient of the Mike Richter Award as the NCAA’s top goaltender. Somehow, however, he wasn’t even a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.

Hellebuyck opted to turn after his sophomore season. He continued his strong play in the American Hockey League and his success continued when he was called up the NHL by Winnipeg.

Winnipeg isn’t a destination for NHL stars. In fact, free agents rarely even contemplate playing there. But Hellebuyck is the major reason the Jets have been a more than respectable franchise and this season Hellebuyck guided the team to the most points in the league during the regular season.

In being named the Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy winner, Hellebuyck became a rare double winner. Goaltender is often described as the most important position in hockey, but rarely is a netminder a Hart finalist, never mind a winner.

To win the Hart Trophy this season, Hellebuyck beat out high-scoring forwards Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton) and Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), the other finalists. Offense sells and people love to see the likes of Draisaitl fill up nets with pucks.

Draisaitl and Kucherov will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame when their careers are over. They’re likely to be joined by a 6-foot-4 goaltender from Commerce, Mich., who accepted a scholarship offer from UMass Lowell when few schools were knocking down his door.

Draisaitl was drafted third overall. Kucherov was selected in the second round. They were supposed to be stars.

Hellebuyck? He was taken in the sixth round (130th overall) by Winnipeg in 2012. Hellebuyck had to grind away in the minors and prove himself before he was given a chance to play in the world’s best league.

The most valuable player in the planet’s best hockey league for the 2024-25 season was developed at UMass Lowell.

Think about the NHL’s top stars. Connor McDavid. Draisaitl. Kucherov. Nathan MacKinnon. Cale Makar. Sidney Crosby. Just to name a few. That’s a staggering amount of talent. And they were beaten out for the NHL’s top individual award by a guy who wasn’t guaranteed to play in college at the Division 1 level.

Pretty cool story.

The Broad College of Business announced a series of curriculum updates last week, including a transition from a Bachelor of Arts in Business to a Bachelor of Science in Business starting fall 2025.

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs Richard Spreng said that, after some analysis, administrators found that most business colleges across the country either grant a B.S. or a Bachelor of Business Administration, so they decided to make the change.

He said he’s not sure of the history of why MSU has been granting a B.A., but it never should have been the case. 

B.S. degrees are generally granted for degrees that require more quantitative analysis, and the new change “better reflects what the curriculum has always been,” he said.

Course updates

Spreng said the degree name is just a change in nomenclature. But in terms of curriculum, the college announced the introduction of four courses to the list of requirements: ITM 208, ITM 210, BUS 200 and BUS 400.

The ITM courses, Information Systems and Algorithmic Thinking for Business and Business Analytics respectively, are replacing CSE 102 and ITM 209, two technical courses previously required for the degree. The changes were made in favor of courses designed more for business students, Spreng said.

The new requirements are the same amount of credits, only it now integrates the Python and Excel skills taught in the CSE class with a business-oriented curriculum as opposed to a computer science course.

CSE 102 was also previously a requirement to be accepted into the College of Business, so the change in curriculum brings it in-house, Spreng said.

Teagan Dixon, the instructor for the ITM courses, is enthusiastic about the courses.

She said that, through talking with students over the years, she’s found that they often have a disconnect in their understanding about why they’re taking a Python course as a business student, namely in how that is going to be applicable in their jobs.

By teaching the content in an ITM course, she said she’s able to more clearly relate the subject to other business topics. 

She also hopes to help students use generative AI to assist them with tasks.

“I think that students need to learn to use it, not as a crutch, but as a tool that’s going to empower them to do more,” she said. “And I think if we can get them to learn how to do that, it’ll be extraordinarily powerful in the marketplace for our students when they’re competing against other business schools to get jobs.”

More broadly, Spreng said Broad is looking to integrate AI into various courses as opposed to having one standalone course on the subject. 

Another course, BUS 200: Foundations of Business: Cross-Functional Perspectives and Practices, is a new three-credit introductory course designed to help students get a baseline understanding of various fields in business. 

Spreng said that, while graduating students tend to be very knowledgeable about subjects in their major, they tend not to fully understand how various fields work in tandem with each other.

He also said the course is designed to provide information to students on careers in their chosen fields. 

BUS 400: Preparing for Professional Success: Transitioning from University to Career, is a new one-credit course being introduced that is designed to help graduates transition from student life to professional life.

Spreng said the course follows feedback from alumni and employers who have said that students need more socialization in the professional world.

Outside requirements

In addition to their course requirements, the new curriculum updates have both added and taken away additional requirements for the College of Business.

Students are no longer required to take nine credits of courses outside the business college, of which Spreng said that the university-required general education courses students take already provide the holistic education the nine credits were meant to provide.

He said this gives students more flexibility when choosing business courses to take.

Additionally, the business college is also revising the integrative, non-curricular requirement for students. Over the course of their undergraduate years, students now have to accrue points in one of six pillars: global mindset, entrepreneurial mindset, philanthropic mindset, strategic leadership, culture and community and ethical mindset.

Spreng said Points are earned by attending certain lectures or doing certain asynchronous tasks, all of which are tracked through an app.

“These are mostly things that we’re already doing. It’s just encouraging students to take advantage of some of those [opportunities],” he said.

Where Lightning’s Victor Hedman Finished In Norris Trophy VotingThe final voting results for the Norris Trophy were released on June 11, and without much surprise, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar won the award. The 26-year-old had an incredible season with the Avs, scoring a career-high 30 goals and recording 90 points in 80 games.

Jack Nicklaus is one of the most famous golf stars in history thanks to his record 18 major titles wins, but he is worried about the future thanks to the rise of NIL

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus criticized the NCAA for failing to “control” NIL which threatens to engulf college sports.

In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled to allow non-scholarship earned income for athletes across every division of college sports based on their name, image, and likeness, opening the door for student-athletes to make millions. However, it has proved to be divisive; major programs can essentially just pay for the best high school talent, while there’s also the transfer portal.

Nicklaus – who offered advice to Tiger Woods’ son Charlie recently – enjoyed a storied collegiate career. Playing for Ohio State, he clinched two U.S. Amateur victories in 1959 and 1961, as well as the NCAA Championship in 1961.

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Given Nicklaus’ status as a champion and legend in both college and the pros, he is uniquely positioned to dissect the impact of NIL and how players might be impacted going forward. The 18-time major champion is not a fan of NIL and is concerned money may dilute true passion for the game.

“Do I like [NIL]? No,” Nicklaus told reporters at Oakmont. “I do not like what’s going on in college athletics today.

“I don’t think a lot of people like what’s going on particularly. I think the athletes like it.

“Most of your scholarship athletes are athletes who could not take a job. They’re sponsored by the school paying for their education, which I think is great, but athletes have never been able to receive any money where they can go home for a weekend or take a girl out on a date or they couldn’t have a job while they were working. That’s part of their deal.

“I don’t like that part of it. I think athletes should get a stipend of some kind. I don’t know how much. I think that probably depends on what the situation is.

“But I don’t like the idea that you’ve got the best team money can buy. I don’t like that. I don’t like that part of it.”

The 18-time major champion added: “We’re all caught up into it. All the colleges are caught up into it. I don’t think they can figure out a way to get out of it. I hope they do.

“NCAA evidently has not been able to control it. I think it’s a shame. You see guys today that could go play a fifth year of college football and make more money than if they decide to go into the draft. I don’t think that’s really the right way to see things happen.

“I don’t fault them. I fault the system.”

For both Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller, US Open venue Oakmont will always be a huge part of their legacies.

Nicklaus was just 22 years old when he beat Arnold Palmer in a playoff at the 1962 tournament to claim the first of his record 18 Major titles.