WAKEFIELD, Mass. - A total of 70 alumni of the Hockey East Association will start the 2019-20 season on National Hockey League rosters, setting the bar for the most alumni on NHL rosters on opening night for the eighth season in a row. The number is nearly one third of the 227 NCAA alumni on NHL rosters to begin the season. A full list of players can be found in the attached release.
Hockey East alumni on NHL rosters to start the season represent 10 different schools. Boston University sends 16 players for opening night, while Boston College boasts 14, and Massachusetts claims eight NHL players. Providence boasts seven alumni, Maine and Northeastern each send six, while UMass Lowell is represented by five alumni, New Hampshire claims four, and Vermont sends one. Additionally, three former Notre Dame skaters who spent time in Hockey East also appear on NHL rosters.
Only nine players who played college hockey in 2018-19 were named to NHL rosters and five of those players skated in Hockey East. They include Boston University's Dante Fabbro (Coquitlam, B.C./Nashville) and Bobo Carpenter (North Reading, Mass./NYI), Maine's Chase Pearson (Alpharetta, Ga./Detroit), and Massachusetts' Cale Makar (Calgary, Alta./Colorado) and Mario Ferraro (King City, Ont./San Jose) who will all start 2019-20 at the game's highest level.
Hockey East alumni are featured on 28 of 31 NHL teams.
The 2018-19 season was a banner year for Hockey East, one that saw a total of 96 Hockey East alumni play in the NHL, more than any other college hockey conference. That number is 16 more than the second place league and nearly double the next-closest conference.
Hockey East also enters 2019-20 after a record showing at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft with 27 current players and recruits selected, representing seven of the 11 Hockey East member schools. Hockey East's 27 selections were the most of any college hockey conference in a draft that saw 71 NCAA players and recruits chosen, the most since 2007.
Boston University led all NCAA schools with eight selections in the 2019 draft, while Boston College boasted five, including a record three in the first round. Providence had four players taken, while UConn and Massachusetts each had three and UMass Lowell and Northeastern had two.
The 2018-19 college hockey season was also a success for Hockey East, one that saw the league capture the Spencer Penrose Coach of the Year Award (Greg Carvel, Massachusetts), the Hobey Baker Award (Cale Makar, Massachusetts), the Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year Award (Joel Farabee, Boston Univers
ity), and the Mike Richter National Goaltender of the Year Award (Cayden Primeau, Northeastern.) ABOUT HOCKEY EAST: The Hockey East Association is an 11-team Division I college men's hockey conference founded in 1984 and a 10-team Division I women's league which began play in 2002-03. The men's league has won nine NCAA championships in the past 26 years including Providence College in 2015 at TD Garden in Boston. Since 1999, Hockey East has won seven NCAA Championships with 16 NCAA Championship Game appearances, while placing 27 teams in the Frozen Four and 71 teams in the NCAA Tournament during that time. Overall, Hockey East has sent 115 teams to the NCAA Tournament since its inaugural season, more than any other conference in that span.
