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

Not to be confused with St. Thomas (New Brunswick) 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 5th season, 48–89–9 (.360)
Assistant coaches	Karl Goehring Leon Hayward Cory Laylin
Arena	Lee and Penny Anderson 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 champions
WIHA: 1984 MIAC: 1986, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2020
Conference regular season champions
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]

Before the 2021–22 season, St. Thomas hired Rico Blasi to be their new head coach and bring them into their Division I era. The Tommies' first few seasons in Division I were rough, with the team only managing three wins in their first year. The Tommies would take their first step forward in the 2023–24 season, finishing 2nd in the CCHA, though they would be upset in the first round by 7th-seeded Lake Superior State. In the 2024–25 season, the Tommies finished with their first winning record in Division I, making it all the way to the CCHA Tournament Championship, before losing 2–4 to Minnesota State. In the 2025–26 season, St. Thomas will open the new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, replacing their current venue, St. Thomas Ice Arena, one of the smallest rinks in Division I hockey at the time. The arena will officially host its first hockey game on October 24, 2025, against Providence.^[6] Additionally, the 2025–26 season marks the Tommies' first season of full Division I eligibility, and the Tommies last season in the CCHA, before departing for the NCHC in the 2026–27 season.^[6][7]

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 2024–25 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	4	48–89–9	.360
Totals	26 coaches	101 Seasons	1,217–755–128	.610

Current roster

As of August 31, 2024.^[8]

No.	Nat.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
3		Lucas Wahlin (C)	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2001-05-03	Woodbury, Minnesota	Lincoln Stars (NAHL)	—
4		Cole Miller	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-08-27	Littleton, Colorado	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)	—
5		Matthew Gleason (A)	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-09-20	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Colorado College (NCHC)	—
6		Jake Ratzlaff	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	2002-06-23	Rosemount, Minnesota	Madison Capitols (USHL)	—
7		Chase Foley	Senior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	167 lb (76 kg)	2000-02-17	Mendota Heights, Minnesota	Colorado College (NCHC)	—
8		Caige Sterzer	Junior	F	6' 5" (1.96 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	2000-08-20	Kimberley, British Columbia	Lindenwood (NCAA)	—
9		Casy Laylin	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2004-01-09	St. Michael, Minnesota	Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)	—
10		Mason Poolman	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	2002-01-31	East Grand Forks, Minnesota	Penticton Vees (BCHL)	—
11		Ryan O'Neill	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-02-25	Roseville, Minnesota	St. Cloud Norsemen (NAHL)	—
12		Alexander Tell	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2004-03-18	Linköping, Sweden	Linköping J20 (J20 Nationell)	—
13		Ray Christy	Graduate	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-09-15	St. Paul, Minnesota	Colorado College (NCHC)	—
14		Jase Sofo	Sophomore	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-06-25	Sylvania, Ohio	Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL)	—
15		Quinton Pepper	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2002-01-31	London, Ontario	Steinbach Pistons (MJHL)	—
16		Ethan Elias	Freshman	D	5' 8" (1.73 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2003-04-03	Maple Grove, Minnesota	Madison Capitols (USHL)	—
17		Jake Braccini	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2001-07-02	Hanover, Minnesota	Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)	—
18		Ethan Gauer (A)	Graduate	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-12-23	Farmington, Minnesota	Bemidji State (WCHA)	—
19		Luc Laylin	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-12-30	St. Michael, Minnesota	Prince George Spruce Kings (BCHL)	—
20		Cooper Gay (A)	Junior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2002-03-15	Edina, Minnesota	Fargo Force (USHL)	—
21		Carson Peters	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-10-28	Medina, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)	—
24		Grant Docter	Senior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2000-12-06	Golden Valley, Minnesota	Michigan Tech (CCHA)	—
25		Liam Malmquist	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2000-10-08	Edina, Minnesota	Wisconsin (Big Ten)	—
26		Chase Cheslock	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2004-10-25	Rogers, Minnesota	Omaha Lancers (USHL)	NJD, 154th overall 2023
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		Nick Mikan	Freshman	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	229 lb (104 kg)	2004-03-31	Edina, Minnesota	Vernon Vipers (BCHL)	—
29		J. D. Metz	Sophomore	F/D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2002-10-24	Mahtomedi, Minnesota	New Mexico Ice Wolves (NAHL)	—
30		Jake Sibell	Senior	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-01-03	Isanti, Minnesota	Niagara (AHA)	—
31		Aaron Trotter	Junior	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-04-07	Victoria, British Columbia	Prince George Spruce Kings (BCHL)	—
39		Maximilian Prazma	Sophomore	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-01-12	Calgary, Alberta	Calgary Canucks (AJHL)	—
46		Tobias Abrahamsson	Sophomore	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

First Team All-CCHA

• 2024–25: Liam Malmquist, F; Lucas Wahlin, F

Second Team All-CCHA

• 2023–24: Lucas Wahlin, F
• 2024–25: Chase Foley, D

Tommies in the NHL

St. Thomas has yet to have an alumnus reach the NHL.^[9]