ST. LOUIS — Ryan Greene had a difficult decision to make: the chance to turn pro or give it another shot at Boston University trying to chase a national championship for a third straight year.
Greene, a junior center, a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, was on the losing end the previous two seasons for the Terriers, losing to Minnesota, 6-2 in the 2023 Frozen Four semifinals, and 2-1 against eventual national champion Denver University last year in the semifinals.
The Terriers (24-13-2) finally broke through when they defeated Penn State 3-1 on Thursday at the 2025 Frozen Four semifinals at Enterprise Center, and will try for their sixth national championship when they play the Western Michigan Broncos (33-7-1) in the national championship game here on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2).
And Greene feels vindicated in his decision to come back to school for his junior season.
“It was an option (to turn pro), but I felt like the best thing for me was to come back and play another year,” Greene said. “Obviously losing those two Frozen Four games back-to-back years leaves a little bit of a sour taste in your mouth. You want to come back and have another kick at the can.”
Boston University, which has 14 NHL prospects on its roster compared to seven for Western Michigan, has the experience of playing on this stage and at this level. There will be extra incentive and motivation to push through on Saturday and win the program’s first title since 2009.
“The fact we were able to get over the hump and win that semifinal game and now we’re playing for a national championship, it’s the best possible scenario,” Greene said. “So really excited.”
Western Michigan is in its first Frozen Four and vying for the program’s first national championship after defeating defending champion Denver, 3-2 in double overtime, in the first semifinal on Thursday.
They played a dominant game and outshot the Denver 47-22, despite seeing their 2-0 third-period lead disappear.
“I thought that game was as advertised, a heavyweight battle,” Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “Obviously Denver has a championship pedigree and they weren’t going to go down easy. They pushed back in the third.
“But I thought our team responded with belief and execution in that overtime. And I thought we deserved the win in the overtime.”
In addition to Greene, Boston University NHL prospects include sophomore forward Shane LaChance (New Jersey Devils); sophomore forward Jack Harvey (Tampa Bay Lightning); senior forward Matt Copponi (Edmonton Oilers); senior forward Jack Hughes (Los Angeles Kings); freshman forward Cole Eiserman (New York Islanders); freshman forward Kamil Bednarik (Islanders); junior forward Devin Kaplan (Philadelphia Flyers); freshman forward Brandon Svoboda (San Jose Sharks); sophomore defenseman Gavin McCarthy (Buffalo Sabres); sophomore defenseman Tom Willander (Vancouver Canucks); sophomore defenseman Aiden Celebrini (Canucks), older brother of Sharks forward and No. 1 pick in 2024, Macklin Celebrini; freshman defenseman Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals), younger brother of Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson; and freshman goalie Mikhail Yegorov (Devils) were far and wide more than any of the Frozen Four teams this year who know what they’re up against on Saturday.
“They’ve had a terrific season. They’re a really good team,” Boston University coach Jay Pandolfo said. “They’re a heavy team. They play with structure. They want to get pucks behind you, play below the goal line. They have some bigger bodies. They’ll get to your net. So I think they’re a team that reminds me a little bit of Western (Michigan).
“… But this time of year, it’s really about making sure we’re playing our game and it’s about winning your battles. It’s about all the little things that go into winning hockey games. That’s what you need to do if you want to come out on top.”
Western Michigan’s NHL prospects include sophomore forward Alex Bump (Flyers); senior forward Matteo Costantini (Sabres); freshman forward Zach Nehring (Winnipeg Jets); senior forward Wyatt Schingoethe (Toronto Maple Leafs); freshman forward Ty Henricks (New York Rangers); freshman defenseman Joona Vaisanen (Pittsburgh Penguins), and freshman goalie Hampton Slukynsky (Los Angeles Kings), who will team up with older brother, sophomore forward Grant Slukynsky, after the elder transferred from Northern Michigan following his freshman season.
“It was a late departure I guess in the portal period of college hockey,” Grant Slukynsky said. “When our coach left Northern we decided to look elsewhere. The goal was for us to find a spot where we could play together.
“We had a Zoom call with the coaching staff here at Western. I’ve said it a lot, but from the moment we hopped on that Zoom call we knew we wanted to come to Western, seeing Western being in the NCAA Tournament in the last few years. And we wanted to be part of that group that got this team over the hump. Our goal is to — we’re not satisfied yet. Our goal is to get the job done tomorrow night.”
A task Ferschweiler, an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings from 2015-19, said will be difficult.
“I pre-scouted BU for years,” he said. “They were called the Boston Bruins. And their style of play is exactly what Boston did. Certainly coach Pandolfo has brought that style down. Somewhat unique to college. It’s pretty popular in the NHL. But there’s a lot of similarities there. We certainly have a good idea what they’re trying to accomplish. We’re going to try — we’ll put points of emphasis on what we try to do every day without trying to change our style of play at all.”
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