Golden Gopher men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko, along with USA Hockey, has named the coaching staff for the 2026 U.S. National Junior Team.

Greg Brown (Scituate, Mass./Boston College), Steve Miller (Sun Prairie, Wis./University of Minnesota), and Garrett Raboin (Detroit Lakes, Minn./Augustana University) have been named assistant coaches for the 2026 U.S. National Junior Team, it was announced today by USA Hockey. In addition, David Lassonde (Durham, N.H./USA Hockey) was tabbed goaltending coach and Jacob LeRoy (Dublin, Ohio/University of Minnesota) and Travis Winter (St. Cloud, Minn./Bemidji State University) were named video coaches.

The group will work with Motzko (Austin, Minn./University of Minnesota), who has previously been named head coach of the 2026 U.S. National Junior Team.

The U.S. enters the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship – which will be played in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Dec. 26, 2025 – Jan. 5, 2026 — having won gold in the previous two World Juniors. Ticket information is available here.

ABOUT BROWN
Greg Brown, a two-time Olympian as a player and the current head men’s ice hockey coach at Boston College, will serve as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Junior Team for the fourth time.

Brown has helped guide two U.S. National Junior Teams to medals, including gold in 2017 and bronze in 2018. He was also part of the staff of the 2014 squad that finished in fifth place.

A native of Scituate, Mass., Brown has served as head coach at BC the past three seasons, guiding the Eagle to two NCAA tournament appearances, including a spot in the 2024 national title game. The 2024 Spencer Penrose Award recipient as the top coach in NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey led Boston College to both the 2024 Hockey East regular-season and tournament championships.
Brown spent 14 seasons behind the bench for the Eagles from 2004-18 as part of former head coach Jerry York’s staff, helping BC earn national championships in 2008, 2010, and 2012. After eight seasons as an assistant coach, he was elevated to associate head coach following the 2012 NCAA title.

Brown’s coaching career has also included one season (2021-22) as bench boss of the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints and three campaigns (2018-21) as an assistant coach of the NHL’s New York Rangers.

Brown played collegiately at Boston College and went on to compete professionally for 13 seasons, including four campaigns in the NHL. He represented the United States at both the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Winter Games and also played on two U.S. National Junior Teams and three times was a part of the U.S. Men’s National Team at the world championship.

ABOUT MILLER
Steve Miller, associate head coach of the University of Minnesota men’s ice hockey team, has influenced significant success both at the collegiate level and on the world stage during his time behind the bench over parts of the last five decades.

Miller has served as an assistant coach for eight previous U.S. National Junior Teams, with six medals to his credit, including gold four times (2025, 2024, 2021, 2017), silver in 2019 and bronze in 2018.

Over his more than 35-year coaching career, which began at St. Mary’s University in 1988-89, and has included stops at Miami University, University of Denver, Providence College, Air Force Academy, Ohio State University, and today Minnesota, Miller has three NCAA national titles to his credit, along with numerous conference regular-season and post-season championships, and NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, native – who was honored with the American Hockey Coaches Association Terry Flanagan Award in 2009 recognizing an assistant coach’s career body of work — has coached or recruited more than 25 players who are currently playing in the NHL.

ABOUT RABOIN
Garrett Raboin will enter his third season as the head men’s ice hockey coach at Augustana University in 2025-26. He will serve as an assistant coach of the U.S. National Junior Team for the third straight year.

Prior to arriving at Augustana, Raboin spent four seasons as an assistant men’s ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota, highlighted by helping the Gophers to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2023. During his time with at Minnesota, the Gophers won the Big Ten championship in 2022, and made NCAA Tournament appearances (2021, 2022, 2023).

Prior to joining the Gophers, Raboin spent six seasons as an assistant men’s ice hockey coach at his alma mater, St. Cloud State University, and helped guide the Huskies to five trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a spot in the 2013 Frozen Four, along with three NCHC regular-season championships.

As a player, Raboin was a two-time All-WCHA selection and led St. Cloud State to three NCAA Tournament berths. He went on to play professionally in Europe for two seasons.

ABOUT LASSONDE
David Lassonde, the national goaltending coach for USA Hockey, has more than 35 years of coaching experience over parts of five decades, including time behind the bench for 16 international events.

Most recently, Lassonde was part of the coaching staff that helped the U.S. to a bronze medal in the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship. In addition, he was part of the staff of the gold medal-winning U.S. National Junior Team at both the 2025 and 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships.

He served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team at the 2023 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship where Team USA won gold and was also on the coaching staff for the silver medal-winning U18 squad in 2022 as well as the 2024 team.

The Durham, New Hampshire, native also served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Team at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games; four other U.S. National Junior Teams, including the silver medal-winning 2019 squad and gold medal-winning 2013 team; the 2015 championship-winning U.S. Under-17 Select Team; and the U.S. Under-18 Select Team that finished second at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.

Lassonde boasts a 32-year NCAA Division I men’s hockey coaching career that includes stops at Dartmouth College, University of Denver, University of New Hampshire, Miami University and University of Wisconsin with 20 NCAA Tournament berths, including five appearances in the Men’s Frozen Four. He was honored with the American Hockey Coaches Association Terry Flanagan Award in 2007 recognizing an assistant coach’s career body of work.

ABOUT LEROY
Jacob LeRoy, director of hockey operations for the University of Minnesota’s men’s ice hockey team, is serving on the staff of the U.S. National Junior Team for the first time.

The Dublin, Ohio, native joined the Golden Gophers staff ahead of the 2021-22 season, aiding Minnesota to back-to-back Big Ten regular-season championships in his first two seasons with the program. In his four seasons with the Gophers, Minnesota has made four NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the NCAA Frozen Four and a spot in the 2023 national championship game.

LeRoy spent four years as a student assistant of hockey operations at Ohio State University prior to joining Minnesota. The Buckeyes earned two NCAA Tournament berths during his time with the team, including a run to the 2018 Frozen Four.

ABOUT WINTER
Travis Winter, associate head coach of the Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team, is serving on the staff of the U.S. National Junior Team for the first time.

The St. Cloud, Minnesota, native has been part of the Beavers coaching staff for the last 11 campaigns, including the first eight as assistant coach and the last three as associate head coach.

Previous to his time at BSU, he was the head coach and director of hockey operations for the Aberdeen Wings of the NAHL for one season (2013-14). Prior to that, he spent parts of four seasons (2009-10 to 2012-13) serving as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

Winter was also a volunteer coach for the Saint Johns University (Minn.) men’s ice hockey program in 2009 and served on the coaching staff of the USA Hockey Selection 15 National Camp in 2010.

As player, Winter was a four-year letterwinner (2005-09) for Bemidji State where as a senior he served as captain and helped the Beavers to the program’s first-ever Frozen Four appearance in 2009.

(info courtesy of USA Hockey)

COLORADO SPRINGS — Two former St. Cloud residents are among the six assistant coaches named for the 2026 U.S. National Junior Team on Wednesday, June 25.

The six coaches are Greg Brown (Scituate, Mass./Boston College), Steve Miller (Sun Prairie, Wis./University of Minnesota) and Garrett Raboin (Detroit Lakes/Augustana University) have been named assistant coaches, David Lassonde (Durham, N.H./USA Hockey) was named goaltending coach and Jacob LeRoy (Dublin, Ohio/University of Minnesota) and Travis Winter (St. Cloud/Bemidji State University) were named video coaches.

The group will work with former St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko (Austin/University of Minnesota) who was previously named head coach of the 2026 U.S. National Junior Team.

The U.S. enters the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, which will be played from Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The Americans have won the last two gold medals in the tournament. Ticket information is available

here.

Contributed / USA Hockey

Raboin will enter his third season as the head men’s ice hockey coach at Augustana University in 2025-26. He will serve as an assistant coach of the U.S. National Junior Team for the third straight year.

Prior to arriving at Augustana, Raboin spent four seasons as an assistant men’s ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota, highlighted by helping the Gophers to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2023. During his time with at Minnesota, the Gophers won the Big Ten championship in 2022, and made NCAA Tournament appearances (2021, 2022, 2023).

Prior to joining the Gophers, Raboin spent six seasons as an assistant men’s ice hockey coach at his alma mater, St. Cloud State University. He helped guide the Huskies to five trips to the NCAA tournament, including a spot in the 2013 Frozen Four, along with three NCHC regular-season championships.

As a player, Raboin was a two-time All-WCHA selection and led St. Cloud State to three NCAA Tournament berths. He went on to play professionally in Europe for two seasons.

Contributed / USA Hockey

Winter, associate head coach of the Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team,

is serving on the staff of the U.S. National Junior Team for the first time.

The St. Cloud native has been part of the Beavers coaching staff for the last 11 seasons, including the first eight as assistant coach and the last three as associate head coach.

Previous to his time at BSU, he was the head coach and director of hockey operations for the Aberdeen Wings of the NAHL for one season (2013-14). Prior to that, he spent parts of four seasons (2009-13) serving as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

Winter was also a volunteer coach for the Saint Johns University men’s ice hockey program in 2009 and served on the coaching staff of the USA Hockey Selection 15 National Camp in 2010.

As player, Winter was a four-year letterwinner (2005-09) for Bemidji State where as a senior he served as captain and helped the Beavers to the program’s first Frozen Four appearance in 2009.

NCAA Tournament expansion is a three-word profanity for most college basketball fans. However, they aren’t the ones cashing the big checks. Power players within college athletics want even bigger checks, which has put the subject at the forefront for years.

Despite significant pushback from the general public, NCAA Tournament expansion talks have persisted. Now, it’s one step closer to becoming a reality.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports that we will know “in the next few weeks” if the NCAA elects to expand the men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments for the 2026 season. There is no clear consensus on exactly how many teams will be added to the NCAA Tournament field, but 76 teams feels more likely than 72.

What exactly will that look like? The NCAA Tournament will double its preliminary games from the “First Four” to the “First Eight.” Instead of just two games on Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton before the first round begins, we will get four total play-in games on each night. The other pod of games will be at a location outside of the Eastern Time Zone.

The NCAA Tournament is the largest revenue generator for the four-letter entity. This is a way to make more money from their broadcast partners to redistribute to power conference schools, who are looking for more revenue in the revenue-sharing era.

In an ideal world, this would give more opportunities for mid-major programs that win their conference in the regular season, but are upset in the conference tournament. We aren’t too naive to believe that will be the case. This will most likely pave the way for bubble teams from power conferences to play their way into the round of 64. Even though it disgraces the bracket we love, let’s be honest, getting more March Madness games isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Pro Sports Gambling for NCAA Athletes

Almost 20 years ago, I had to sit through “Don’t Bet On It” seminars from the NCAA before participating in AAU events. That was long before sports gambling became legalized and ubiquitous in American sports culture. Betting on sports you play in is still frowned upon, but is it so wrong to bet on sports you will not be playing in?

The NCAA Division I Council has drafted a proposal that could be finalized today that will allow student-athletes, staffers, and coaches to bet on professional sports games.

It seems fair. Why shouldn’t a college basketball player be able to make a $10 parlay on an NFL Sunday? For years, many coaches played the ponies regularly because it was their only avenue to gamble on sports. That restriction may soon be lifted.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2025

35 NCAA Schools Have Players in Central Scouting Rankings

The present and future of college hockey will take center stage this week at the NHL Draft in Los Angeles, with more than 100 current and committed NCAA Division I players listed in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings.

Twelve active college hockey players were among those ranked by Central Scouting, including potential top-five pick James Hagens. The Boston College forward from Hauppauge, New York, enjoyed a terrific freshman season, collecting 11 goals and 37 points in 37 games, and was ranked No. 3 among North American skaters.

Other rising sophomores ranked inside the top 25 of North American skaters included Wisconsin defenseman Logan Hensler (12), Boston University defenseman Sascha Boumedienne (18), Arizona State forward Cullen Potter (22), and Michigan forward Will Horcoff (24).

In all, 35 different schools had at least one current player or recruit ranked by Central Scouting.

Last season at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas, 57 players with NCAA ties were selected, including nine first-round picks. Boston University forward Macklin Celebrini and Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov were taken with the first two picks by San Jose and Chicago, respectively.

The 2025 NHL Draft takes place Friday, June 27, and Saturday, June 28, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The first round is on Friday, followed by rounds two through seven on Saturday.

For more NCAA-related storylines ahead of this year’s draft, including the complete list of current or committed college hockey players on Central Scouting’s final rankings, visit College Hockey Inc.’s 2025 NHL Draft Guide.

BOSTON – Highlighted by a two-game home series against Michigan State and a pair of home games against Boston College, the Boston University men’s ice hockey team announced its 2025-26 schedule on Wednesday.

BU will play 19 home games, including two exhibitions and a season-opening seven-game homestand, at Agganis Arena. Fans can purchase season tickets by clicking here; individual tickets will go on sale at a later date.

The Terriers will open the 2025-26 slate on Oct. 4 when they welcome LIU to Agganis Arena in the first-ever matchup between the two schools. BU will then host RPI in an exhibition game the following day before a two-game set with Colgate on Oct. 10-11. Michigan State will then visit Agganis for a weekend series on Oct. 17-18. The Spartans are one of eight NCAA Tournament teams from last year that BU will face this season.

BU will close its homestand by opening a home-and-home series with UConn on Oct. 25 before traveling to Maine for two tilts on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. A home-and-home set with Merrimack (Nov. 7-8) follows before a non-conference contest at Quinnipiac on Nov. 15 and a me-and-home series with Northeastern (Nov. 21-22).

As previously announced, BU and Cornell will travel to New York City for the 10th edition of Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 29. Fans can purchase tickets to that event by clicking here. The Terriers will then begin December with a pair of home games against Vermont (Dec. 5-6).

BU will fittingly be Northeastern’s opponent in the final hockey game to be played at Matthews Arena, as the Terriers visit their old home on Dec. 13. Known then as Boston Arena, Matthews was the Terriers’ home until 1971 when Walter Brown Arena opened.

The Terriers will welcome Simon Fraser back to Agganis for an exhibition on Jan. 3. A trip to Harvard (Jan. 12) is sandwiched between home-and-home weekends against UMass (Jan. 9-10) and UMass Lowell (Jan. 16-17). BU will then head to Providence on Jan. 23 before the Friars come to Agganis the next night.

The 300th Battle of Comm. Ave. will take place in Boston, either on the second night of the 73rd Dunkin’ Men’s Beanpot at TD Garden or at Agganis Arena on Feb. 27. BU bested BC, 4-1, in the 2024 title game to claim the program’s 32nd Beanpot. BU and BC will meet for the 299th time at Agganis on Jan. 30, with the Terriers traveling to Chestnut Hill on Feb. 28.

BU will open its Beanpot title defense against Northeastern on Feb. 2 before hosting Maine on Feb. 6. A home-and-home series with New Hampshire on Feb. 13-14 precedes the aforementioned weekend set with BC, while the regular season is scheduled to conclude on March 7 at UMass Lowell.

All home and Hockey East games will be broadcast on ESPN+, as will the Terriers’ trips to Quinnipiac and Harvard. Game times will be announced at a later date.

Holy Cross student-athletes continued to raise the bar for academic excellence during the Spring 2025 semester, with a department semester grade-point average of 3.43 during the term — the highest department GPA on record. 

The mark bests the previous high set last semester, when Crusader student-athletes averaged a 3.40. 

This is also the second consecutive semester in which every Holy Cross team has recorded a 3.0 GPA or better; last semester was the first time since 2016 that every Holy Cross team recorded a GPA above 3.0 during a single semester (excluding a COVID-impacted Spring 2020). 

Additionally, 14 teams finished with a 3.5 GPA or better. The women’s tennis team had a 3.79 GPA to lead all programs; the men’s soccer team (3.66) had the highest GPA of any men’s team. 

For 30 consecutive semesters, Holy Cross student-athletes have averaged above a 3.1 GPA. 

In total, 577 student-athletes had a 3.0 or better; 371 posted a 3.5 or above while 55 student-athletes recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA during the semester. 

Seventeen Holy Cross programs achieved a perfect score of 1,000 in the NCAA’s academic performance standard, the Academic Progress Rate (APR), that was released in May, which is tied for third in the nation. According to the Graduation Success Rate Report released last November by the NCAA, Holy Cross’ athletic teams tied for sixth in the nation with an overall graduation rate of 98 percent. This marks the 18th consecutive year in which the Crusaders have posted a Graduation Success Rate of at least 97 percent.

ABOUT HOLY CROSS 

The College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts — the second-largest city in New England  — is among the nation’s leading liberal arts institutions. A highly selective, four-year, exclusively undergraduate college of 3,100 students, Holy Cross is renowned for offering a rigorous, personalized education in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition. Holy Cross is one of a select group of colleges that meets 100% of each admitted student’s demonstrated financial need. Holy Cross has made a positive impact in society since its founding in 1843 by graduating students who distinguish themselves as thoughtful leaders in business, professional and civic life.

FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 

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