St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies men's ice hockey

The St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies men's ice hockey team represents the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) in NCAA Division I ice hockey.

St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies men's ice hockey
Current season
University	University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
Conference	CCHA
First season	1920–21
Head coach	Enrico Blasi 4th season, 29–75–5 (.289)
Assistant coaches	Leon Hayward Cory Laylin
Arena	St. Thomas Ice Arena Saint Paul, Minnesota
Colors	Purple and gray^[1]
NCAA Tournament Frozen Four
DIII: 2000, 2005
NCAA Tournament appearances
DIII: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2020
Conference Tournament championships
MIAC: 1986, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2020
Conference regular season championships
MIAC: 1923, 1934, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018

History

St. Thomas is one of the oldest ice hockey programs in the nation, predating even Minnesota, having played their first varsity game in the 1920–21 season. That year St. Thomas, along with six other small Minnesota colleges, formed the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and began playing one another in many sports. Over the course of the first sixty five years, St. Thomas was one of the better teams in the conference but it became the leading program once Terry Skrypek arrived in 1987. In his 23 years with the program, Skrypek won 13 conference championships, 9 conference tournament titles and reached the NCAA Division III championship game twice.^[2]

In 2019 the MIAC took the unprecedented step of removing St. Thomas from its membership because of concerns about “athletic competitive parity.”^[3] Because the removal affected all sports and was effective at the end of the 2020–21 season, St. Thomas had time to decide what it would do next. The men's ice hockey program was given the green light to jump directly to the Division I level in July 2020.^[4] Before the end of the month, the seven teams who had previously announced their intention to restart the CCHA with the 2021–22 season voted unanimously to accept the Tommies as the eighth member of the conference.^[5]

In 2023, St. Thomas announced plans for the new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, with the team planned to begin playing its home games there in the fall of 2025.^[6]

Season-by-season results

Main article: List of St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies men's ice hockey seasons

Source:^[2]

Head coaches

As of completion of the 2023–24 season

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1920–1921	Harold Dudley	1	6–1–0	.857
1921–1923, 1925–1926	Joe Brandy	3	19–9–0	.679
1923–1924	Dave Hayes	1	8–2–0	.800
1924–1925	Bill Houle	1	1–0–1	.750
1926–1927	Willard Faulk	1	5–9–0	.357
1927–1928	John O'Halloran	1	4–5–3	.458
1928–1930	Matt Coogan	2	15–13–0	.536
1930–1932	Frank Penas	2	7–7–4	.500
1932–1933	Joe Boland	1	7–3–0	.700
1933–1935	Frank Halder	2	6–6–1	.500
1935–1937	Frank Klingberg	2	12–10–3	.540
1937–1939	Leo McGuire	2	13–7–2	.636
1939–1942	Wee Walsh	3	18–3–3	.813
1946–1948	Tom Cunningham	2	20–9–0	.690
1948–1951, 1952–1955	Bill Funk	6	66–19–11	.745
1951–1952	Norm Robertson	1	7–3–0	.700
1955–1959	Ken Staples	4	38–19–0	.667
1959–1962	Don Saatzer	3	19–14–0	.576
1962–1963	Tom Martinson	1	11–4–1	.719
1963–1970	Joe Flood	7	57–53–4	.518
1970–1982	Gus Schwartz	12	150–150–5	.500
1982–1987	Terry Abram	5	105–45–2	.697
1987–2010	Terry Skrypek	23	415–194–45	.669
2010–2021	Jeff Boeser	11	160–81–33	.644
2021–Present	Enrico Blasi	3	29–75–5	.289
Totals	26 coaches	100 Seasons	1198–741–123	.611

Current roster

As of September 18, 2023.^[7]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		James Marooney	Graduate	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-08-16	Chaska, Minnesota	Ohio State (Big Ten)	—
3		Lucas Wahlin	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2001-05-03	Woodbury, Minnesota	Lincoln (NAHL)	—
4		Cole Miller	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-08-27	Littleton, Colorado	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
5		Matthew Gleason	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-09-20	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Colorado College (NCHC)	—
6		Jake Ratzlaff	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	2001-12-31	Rosemount, Minnesota	Madison (USHL)	—
8		Cameron Recchi	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-05-24	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
10		Mason Poolman	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	1998-01-28	East Grand Forks, Minnesota	Penticton (BCHL)	—
11		Ryan O'Neill	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-02-25	Roseville, Minnesota	St. Cloud (NAHL)	—
12		Tim Piechowski	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2000-12-08	Eden Prairie, Minnesota	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
13		Noah Prokop	Graduate	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	204 lb (93 kg)	2000-01-15	Highlands Ranch, Colorado	Colorado College (NCHC)	—
14		Jase Sofo	Freshman	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-06-25	Sylvania, Ohio	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
15		Quinton Pepper	Sophomore	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2002-01-31	London, Ontario	Steinbach (MJHL)	—
16		Luke Manning	Graduate	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-04-13	Stillwater, Minnesota	Air Force (AHA)	—
17		Jake Braccini	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2001-07-02	Hanover, Minnesota	Muskegon (USHL)	—
18		Ethan Gauer	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-12-23	Farmington, Minnesota	Bemidji State (WCHA)	—
19		Luc Laylin	Sophomore	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-12-30	St. Michael, Minnesota	Prince George (BCHL)	—
20		Cooper Gay	Sophomore	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2002-03-15	Edina, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
21		Carson Peters	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-10-28	Medina, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
22		Mack Byers	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-02-08	Long Lake, Minnesota	Northern Michigan (CCHA)	—
24		Grant Docter	Junior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2000-12-06	Golden Valley, Minnesota	Michigan Tech (CCHA)	—
25		Liam Malmquist	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2000-10-08	Edina, Minnesota	Wisconsin (Big Ten)	—
27		Ryder Donovan	Graduate	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	2000-10-04	Duluth, Minnesota	Wisconsin (Big Ten)	VGK, 110th overall 2019
28		Braidan Simmons-Fischer	Sophomore	D	6' 7" (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	2002-01-26	Detroit, Michigan	Austin (NAHL)	—
29		J. D. Metz	Freshman	F/D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2002-10-24	Mahtomedi, Minnesota	New Mexico (NAHL)	—
30		Jake Sibell	Junior	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-01-03	Isanti, Minnesota	Niagara (AHA)	—
31		Aaron Trotter	Sophomore	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-04-07	Victoria, British Columbia	Prince George (BCHL)	—
39		Maximilian Prazma	Freshman	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-01-12	Calgary, Alberta	Calgary (AJHL)	—
42		Tobias Abrahamsson	Freshman	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	214 lb (97 kg)	2003-08-30	Jönköping, Sweden	HV71 J20 (J20 Nationell)	—

Awards and honors

CCHA

Individual awards

All-conference teams

Second Team All-CCHA

• 2023–24: Lucas Wahlin, F

References

1. "Athletic Brand Standards – The University of St. Thomas". March 3, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
2. "St. Thomas Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
3. "D-III Powerhouse St. Thomas Is Getting Kicked Out of Its Conference Because It's Too Good at Sports". Sports Illustrated. May 22, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
4. "At the rink, it's 'Tommie Time,' as St. Thomas moves hockey programs to Division I". Duluth News Tribune. July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
5. "St. Thomas men's team moves to Division I, will join new CCHA for 2021-22 season". USCHO.com. July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
6. Wald, Jeff (17 January 2023). "St. Thomas announces plans for hockey, basketball arena starting in 2025". FOX 9. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
7. "2023-24 Men's Hockey Roster". St. Thomas Tommies. Retrieved September 18, 2023.

External links

• Official Home Page