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Capitals College Credits: Mitchell Gibson Remains Undefeated, Brent Johnson Scores First Of The Season

Diane Doyle
Screen cap: Harvard Men’s Hockey

The college hockey season has been off and running for about a month and a half now, so it’s a good time to check in on the Capitals’ student-athletes to see how their seasons are going.

The Capitals’ six prospects playing at the collegiate level for the 2022-23 season include Ryan Chesley, David Gucciardi, Brent Johnson, Joaquim Lemay, Mitchell Gibson, and Chase Clark. Gibson and Clark are goaltenders while the other four are defensemen.

[Note: As a rule, the link to the schedule for each college includes links to the box scores and game recaps of each completed game.]

Ryan Chesley — Defenseman

Chesley, whom the Capitals drafted in the second round of the 2022 NHL Entry draft with the 37th pick overall, is currently a freshman at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Going into November, the Minnesota Golden Gophers were 5-3-0 overall and 1-1-0 within their conference.

Photo: University of Minnesota Athletics

The Gophers played two home games against Notre Dame on November 4 and November 5, winning the first game 4-1 and winning the second game 3-0.  Chesley was kept off the scoresheet in both of those games.

The Penn State Nittany Lions came to Minnesota for the weekend of November 10 and 11. The Gophers lost 4-2 on November 10 but came back to beat the Lions 3-1 on Veterans’ Day. Chesley was once again kept off the scoresheet in both games.

For the season, Chesley has no goals and two assists, has a Plus/Minus rating of +6, has taken 11 shots on goal and has blocked 25 shots.

The Gophers record is 8-4-0 overall, while their record in the Big 10 is 4-2-0. Their next opponent is the Michigan Wolverines at Ann Arbor for the weekend of November 17-18. Click here for the Golden Gophers schedule.

David Gucciardi — Defenseman

Gucciardi, drafted by the Capitals in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft with the 213th pick overall, is a defenseman playing for the Michigan State Spartans. Two of his teammates are Cole and Christian Krygier, the twin sons of former Capitals player Todd Krygier, who both also play defense.

Going into November, the Spartans were 4-3-1 overall and 0-1-1 within their conference.

The Spartans played two games at home against the University of Wisconsin Badgers on November 4 and November 5. They won 5-0 on November 4, with Gucciardi being kept off the scoresheet.

The Spartans won 5-1 on November 5. Gucciardi had an assist on the team’s second goal, which Jagger Joshua scored at 4:40. The goal staked the team to a 2-0 lead. Joshua knocked down a blast from David Gucciardi in the high slot and beat goalie Kyle McClellan. This was Gucciardi’s first assist of the season.

The Spartans played the Ohio State Buckeyes on November 10 and 11, winning 4-2 on November 10 and winning 4-3 on November 11. Gucciardi was kept off the scoresheet in both of those games.

For the season, Gucciardi has two goals and one assist, a Plus/Minus rating of +4, and has blocked 11 shots.

The Spartans’ overall record is 8-3-1, while their record in the Big 10 is 4-1-1. Their next opponent is the Penn State Nittany Lions, who they go on the road to play on November 17 and 18. The Spartans close out the month of November on the road when they travel to Oxford, Ohio to play Miami of Ohio. Click here for the Golden Gophers schedule.

Brent Johnson — Defenseman

Brent Johnson, drafted by the Capitals in the third round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, is a sophomore at North Dakota.

Photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

Going into November, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks were 3-3-1.

On November 4 and 5, the Hawks faced fellow Capitals defensive prospect, Joaquim Lemay, and the University of Nebraska-Omaha in Omaha. The Hawks won 4-1 on November 4. On November 5, Omaha won in the shootout. Johnson was kept off the scoresheet in both games.

On November 11 and 12, North Dakota played the University of Denver. They lost to Denver on November 11. Johnson had no goals or assists and took one penalty.

On November 12, North Dakota played Denver and lost 6-3. Johnson scored the team’s third goal at 13:41 of the third period, which made the score 5-3. This was his first goal of the season. Johnson also took a penalty.

The announcement of the goal on social media.

For the season, Johnson has one goal and three assists, a Plus/Minus rating of +3, and has blocked 7 shots.

The Fighting Hawks’ record is 4-5-2 overall, while their record in their conference (National Collegiate Hockey Conference) is 1-2-1. The Hawks play Miami of Ohio at home on November 18 and 19 and close out the month at Bemidji on November 25 and 26. Click here for the Fighting Hawks Hockey Schedule.

Joaquim Lemay – Defenseman

Lemay, drafted by the Capitals in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft with the 119th pick overall, is a freshman at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. One of his teammates is Jakub Pivonka, the son of former Capital, Michal Pivonka.

Going into November, the Mavericks were 4-3-1.

On November 4 and 5, the Mavericks played the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at home.  Omaha lost 4-1 on November 4, but battled North Dakota to a 3-3 tie and shootout win on November 5. Lemay was kept off the scoresheet and took one minor penalty in each of the games.

The Mavericks played the University of Minnesota Duluth on the road on November 11 and 12. On November 11, the Mavericks won 3-2. Lemay had an assist on a goal by Ty Mueller at 1:13 of the third period on a power play. The goal tied the game.

The Mavericks lost 3-2 in Overtime on November 12. Lemay was kept off the scoresheet in the game.

For the season, Lemay has one goal and four assists, a Plus/Minus rating of +1, and has blocked 6 shots.

The Mavericks record is 5-5-2 overall, while their record within their conference (National Collegiate Hockey Conference) is 1-2-1. They next face the University of Denver on the road on November 25 and 26. Click here for the Mavericks’ Hockey schedule.

Mitchell Gibson – Goaltender

Going into November, the Harvard Crimson were 2-0 with Gibson having a record of 1-0.

Gibson was in goal against Yale University on November 5, a 4-0 victory, where he made 10 saves. He made six of those saves during the third period while the team was on the penalty kill.

On November 11, Harvard beat Rensselaer, 3-2 in Overtime. Gibson was in goal and made 18 saves out of 20 shots.

Harvard ran their winning streak to seven consecutive games as they beat New Hampshire 3-1 on the road. Gibson made 27 saves and improved his record to 4-0.  Game highlights can be found here.

For the season, Gibson is 4-0-0 with a 1.24 GAA, which is second-best in the NCAA, and has a save percentage of .936, which is 5th-best in the NCAA.

Harvard is 7-0-0 for the first time since the 1988-89 season when it started the season 15-0-0. Their next games are against the University of Michigan Wolverines on the weekend of November 25 and 26. The Crimson schedule can be found here.

Chase Clark — Goaltender

Chase Clark, drafted by the Capitals in the sixth round (#183 overall) of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, is a freshman at Quinnipiac University.

The Quinnipiac Bobcats were 3-1-2 going into November. Clark appeared in two games, getting minuscule action in each, and did not figure into any decisions.

With no game action in November, his only appearances were the two relief appearances he made in October. He is a backup to Yaniv Perets who has appeared as a goaltender in every game thus far this season. Quinnipiac has had a great month so far, winning all their games. Their record is now 7-1-2.

Next on their schedule are two games against the Princeton Tigers on November 18 and 19 in Princeton, New Jersey. Click here for the Bobcats’ schedule.

Summary

The 2022-23 season is now in full swing, with most of the Capitals college prospects seeing steady action. Four of the six prospects play for teams now ranked in the NCAA’s current top-20.

By Diane Doyle

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