If you have gone to, watched, or listened to a BGSU hockey game since the turn of the new year, you’ll have witnessed the “Hot Stoeve” phenomenon around BG’s goaltender, senior Christian Stoever.
Any successful hockey team has its goalie as a centerpiece; it is impossible to win consistently without a good one. While the winning of head coach Dennis Williams’ team hasn’t been as consistent as it could be, Stoever has taken over as the bright spot of the team for about two months.
“To be a really good goalie,” says Williams, “you must make the saves that are expected of you and mix in the highlight reel ones. He’s really been doing that for us.”
Stoever has held onto 238 saves since the start of 2025 in seven games played, an average of 34 saves per game, the highest in the CCHA amidst only 13 goals allowed. His 4-1-2 record, though tremendous, doesn’t even reflect how well he has played given a loss and a tie came in games he gave up only one goal apiece.
The Northville, Mich. native has quickly appeared in the national rank as well, reaching seventh in goals against average (1.72), second in save percentage (.948), and tied for sixth in goalie winning percentage (.773). Along with Minnesota State’s Alex Tracy and Augustana’s Josh Kotai, the CCHA now has three of the top 10 goalies in the country playing every week.
There is an argument to be made that Stoever may be one of the most on-fire players in the NCAA over the last month. He has held off 29 of 33 advantages for the opposition, stood on his head through two overtime penalty kills (forcing two shootouts), and gave up three goals in four games against the top two offenses in the CCHA.
His sensationalistic play extends beyond the stat sheet while making windmill, stick-less, screened, redirected, shoelace, prone, and acrobatic saves, stopping more than a few game-winning goals for opponents in crunch time. As he earns the phrase, “Caution: Hot Stoeve,” the Slater Family Ice Arena elevates to the “Madhouse on Mercer” when “Stoeve” turns on the burners and starts to cook late in games.
“Stoeve has been great, super fun to watch,” says BGSU hockey fan Zach Brandewie. He keeps the team in games consistently. Any time you can give up a total of two or three goals in a weekend it speaks to the goalie you have in net.”
In two games against Augustana, Bowling Green scored only one goal. Yet the biggest wall of energy in the series was not only for right-winger Seth Fyten’s first goal of the season but for Stoever’s unbelievable one-and-a-half minutes of penalty kill goaltending that shut the Vikings out of overtime.
That’s how impressive his play has been.
