A pair of Calgary Flames college prospects will be playing for at least a little bit longer.
On Sunday, it was announced that the University of Massachusetts (home of Aydar Suniev) and Penn State University (home of Arsenii Sergeev) will be participating in the NCAA’s Division I men’s national championship tournament.
UMass has been placed in the Fargo region and will play Minnesota on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. MT in the regional semi-final. If they advance, they’ll play the winner of Western Michigan and Minnesota State on Saturday.
Penn State has been placed in the Allentown region and will play Maine on Friday at 6:30 p.m. MT in the regional semi-final. If they advance, they’ll play the winner of UConn and Quinnipiac on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Suniev is a left shot winger in his sophomore season with UMass. He was a third-round pick by the Flames in 2023, selected with the pick acquired in the Tyler Toffoli trade with New Jersey – the Flames also received Yegor Sharangovich. An offensive standout with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees in his draft year, Suniev has developed into a really valuable, versatile winger for UMass. He has 18 goals and 36 points for the Minutemen so far this season.
UMass lost in the Hockey East conference’s quarterfinal round to Boston University, but qualified for the national tournament as one of 10 at-large teams. They were tied for 10th in the pairwise rankings, the method the NCAA uses to fill out the tournament around the conference champions.
The 22-year-old Sergeev is a goaltender in his junior season with Penn State (after spending two seasons with UConn). He was a seventh-round pick by the Flames in 2021, another late-round goaltender selected by the club. After two seasons splitting duties at UConn, Sergeev was handed the reins at Penn State and has found a nice groove. Heck, since returning from an injury in early January he’s been one of college hockey’s top goaltenders.
Penn State lost in the Big 10 conference’s semi-final round to Ohio State, but also qualified for the national tournament as an at-large team. They were 13th in the pairwise rankings.
The winners of each of the four regional brackets will advance to the Frozen Four, which takes place Apr. 10 & 12 in St. Louis.
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