Believe it or not, the college hockey season will soon reach its climax.
The contenders for conference and NCAA tournament positions have begun to emerge, as the games get bigger.
At this time of the year, many freshmen have established themselves and many already-established stars have broken out to vault their teams up the local and national picture. This week’s watch list focuses on the latter group.
Here are a half-dozen players who are breaking out for Division 1 men’s teams in New England as the final full month of the regular season opens:
Matt Brown
Boston University
Brown is an undrafted senior who transferred to the Terriers from UMass Lowell at the start of the 2021-22 season. He's driven the offense for a BU team that leads the Hockey East standings following a home-and-home sweep of archrival Boston College. The Wood Ridge, N.J., native has blown past his career highs in each stat line with 10 goals, a conference-leading 35 points, and his second-in-the-nation assist total of 24. Brown, who has recorded a point in 19 of his 25 games and has three different four-point efforts this season, averages just over three shots on goal per game and boasts a plus-13 rating.
Victor Ostman
Maine
The junior from Sweden has put together his best season as a Black Bear by far, more than doubling his career win total with a 10-8-1 record and posting a .922 save percentage that ranks fourth in Hockey East. Ostman shut out ranked Quinnipiac in October before winning six straight starts from late November through earlier this month. His most prolific effort came this past weekend as he stopped 81 of the 83 shots Providence landed on net, including a 52-save shutout Saturday — his fourth shutout of the season.
Jacob Quillan
Quinnipiac
While sophomore classmate Collin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.) has paced the team in scoring (14 goals, 36 points), Quillan certainly qualifies for a breakout in his own right after he scored just two goals and nine points during his entire rookie season for the Bobcats. The Salisbury School product has piled up 11 goals and 23 points while skating on a top unit that includes the Union transfer Graf and freshman Sam Lipkin, who represented the U.S. at World Juniors last month. Quillan matched his freshman year goal total in three separate games this season as Quinnipiac climbed to the top of the national rankings two weeks ago and just won its second straight Connecticut Ice title.
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Jordan Biro
American International
Biro is a newcomer to the New England scene after spending his first two seasons at Colorado College, but he has been a welcome addition to a Yellow Jackets offense to supplement league-leading senior Blake Bennett. While Bennett has potted 16 goals and 25 points, Biro has a mirroring line with 16 assists and ranks in a tie for second in Atlantic Hockey with the same point total. His most recent production has come against Hockey East foes UMass Lowell and Vermont. The 5-foot-8, 160-pounder brings a scoring punch and has provided a veteran presence to a lineup that lost its second through eighth-leading scorers from last season.
Isac Jonsson
UMass Lowell
Jonsson has been a steady force on the UMass Lowell defense corps since he arrived on campus last season, but his offensive game climbed to another level as he turned from a freshman to a sophomore. The Swedish sophomore has already matched his 10-assist total from a year ago while adding his first five career goals through the first 25 games. After lighting the lamp on Oct. 1, Jonsson has scored goals in four of his last seven games including back-to-back in a Hockey East sweep of New Hampshire earlier in January. Norm Bazin’s teams are always built from the net out, and Jonsson has helped make this year no exception.
HARVARD: How Henry Thrun has turned into a do-it-all defenseman for the Crimson
Taige Harding
Providence
A former third-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, Harding joined the Friars as a mid-semester enrollee from the AJHL last January and has risen up the lineup during his first full year in college. The 6-foot-7 defenseman is playing a big role at both ends while playing on the second pair behind senior captain Max Crozier, who has also seen his offensive game blossom as well. Harding has logged 14 points in 27 games, including a two-goal, three-point Jan. 14 effort at Merrimack that doubled his season goal total. Harding has also made an impact on the power play, where he has scored two of his four career goals.
