ST. LOUIS — LOVE.
It’s the one word on the back of Mikhail Yegorov’s helmet — beneath his ‘M.Y.’ logo and between the skylines of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The goaltender used to put his name in the same spot, but this year he opted for something different, something that defines why he plays hockey. It was borne out of a quote in his goalie coach’s room in Omaha.
“Without love to the game itself, you can’t go there and stop the puck at the speed of like 90 miles per hour, and to go through all the ups and downs,” Yegorov said. “You need love to do that.”
But love isn’t reserved for hockey alone — it’s an all-encompassing word that covers his family and everybody he knows.
There’s one more decal on the back of Yegorov’s helmet: the 2025 Frozen Four logo.
He sat in the Boston University locker room in the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, spinning a roll of tape around his fingers as his eyes drifted around. The night before, the freshman saved 32 of 33 shots to edge out Penn State in the Frozen Four Semifinals. Now, in less than 24 hours, Yegorov will skate out for the National Championship in what will be the biggest game of his young career.
But three months ago, Yegorov wasn’t rostered on the BU men’s hockey team. Instead, he was about 400 miles northwest of where he sat now as the starting goaltender for the USHL’s Omaha Lancers, amid what would become a 30-game losing streak.
Yegorov, a second-round pick for the New Jersey Devils in 2024, was a beacon for the Lancers, owning a .912 save percentage and 3.12 goals-against average despite a 3-12-3 record. In one game on Dec. 31 last year, he recorded 66 saves against the Lincoln Stars to set a franchise record.
On the other side of the Mississippi, some 1,400 miles away, the Boston University men’s hockey team also found themselves in a rut — albeit one far less degrading.
The goaltending was far from BU’s biggest concern, but giving up an average of 3.41 goals per game in the first half of the season wouldn’t cut it down the stretch. This included a span in late-October to early-November where BU gave up five or more goals in five of seven games.
The Terriers were a team with title potential without the buy-in to match. The skill was there. The experience was too. But they needed something, or someone, to pull it all together.
They needed a change.
***
After Yegorov received the call from BU head coach Jay Pandolfo, he couldn’t trek straight to Boston. Rather, the freshman would spend five days in the Bahamas.
He wasn’t on vacation — although he enjoyed the beach, pools and food in his spare time — but was traveling to an appointment for his student visa. The Bahamas was the closest location and soonest appointment to Yegorov.
“I can’t complain about going to the Bahamas in the middle of winter, you know?” Yegorov joked. “It was a little sad because it was just on my own. Like, usually you go to vacation with your family, but I was on my own.”
Finally, Yegorov made his way up to BU — a school he takes pride in not only for its hockey pedigree but also for its academic reputation. Yegorov is studying economics and math and hopes to one day finish that education.
“Education was always important for me, and it’s gained from my parents, and they kind of taught me that,” he said. “It was important for me to get to school with a really good education.”
Even at the Frozen Four, with the National Championship looming, Yegorov was worried about a discussion post for his hospitality class.
“I actually have one due today. I’ll do it online,” Yegorov said, remembering the assignment. “I have to do it today.”
Moving to a new city to play for an entirely new team while beginning studies at a high-level university levies obvious challenges. But Yegorov gives all the credit to his teammates.
In his first team dinner, Yegorov didn’t know anyone. Then, co-captain Shane Lachance asked the new guy to sit next to him at the table.
“They treat me as I was part of their team for four years,” Yegorov said. “I was a little surprised with that, because I’m like weird Russian just came here and but now they treat me like I’m actually their good friend.”
***
BU announced Yegorov on Jan. 21. Four days later, the newest member of the team would start his first collegiate game at a sold-out Conte Forum against No. 1 Boston College.
The Terriers had just lost to the Eagles 6-2 the previous night, and Pandolfo found the change the team was looking for.
“We wanted to strengthen the goaltender position in the first half. We just felt like we needed some help there, and we thought he could come in and compete for the starting job,” Pandolfo said. “We gave him an opportunity, and he really never looked back.”
About 40 minutes before his debut, the lanky 6-foot-5 freshman skated onto the ice. But what appeared to be a rookie lap enacted a penalty found in the annals of the NCAA rule book — the visiting team isn’t allowed to enter the ice until there is 37:50 left until puck drop, leading to a two-minute minor for delaying the game.
“He was very apologetic about going on the ice early there, and not even close to his fault at all,” Pandolfo said.
It’s not everyday you start a game, especially one of college hockey’s biggest rivalry games, on the penalty kill. It only took 24 seconds for the lethal BC offense to score the game-winning goal.
Yegorov had no issues shaking it off. He shut out the Eagles throughout the rest of the contest, making 23 saves en route to a 2-0 loss.
“My start of the game was also pretty funny,” Yegorov said about the penalty. “After the goal, I was like, ‘Okay, this was a goal, and we’re actually playing hockey now.’”
Two weeks later, Yegorov had the chance to exact revenge on an even bigger stage. The Terriers had a date with the Eagles in the Beanpot Championship game on Feb. 10.
With TD Garden’s lights beaming down on Yegorov, he stopped 40 shots from the Eagles and surrendered only one goal. In what Yegorov called his favorite moment of the season, he helped bring the Beanpot to BU and won the Eberly Award with an impressive .971 save percentage, the third-highest mark in tournament history.
Since then, Yegorov has taken the college hockey world by storm. He ingratiated himself with the Dog Pound by running and jumping into boards after home wins — a tradition inherited from fellow goaltender Mathieu Caron.
“I was like, why not? It’s pretty cool. It’s college,” he said. “College sports is all about this connection between fans and people on the ice, because we’re all in one school under one name.”
Teammates and Terrier fans were quick to bestow “Big Mike” on the goaltender — a nickname approved by Yegorov. In Omaha, he was called “The Moscow Monster,” with teammates donning hoodies with the nickname.
Down the stretch, he’s proven indispensable during BU’s run to the National Championship. Yegorov’s large frame and rebound control make him tough to beat, and Pandolfo has emphasized the confidence he brings to the crease every game.
Despite being a freshman, Yegorov is unfazed by the big games — whether the stage is a sold-out Conte Forum, the Beanpot, NCAA Regionals or the Frozen Four.
“There’s no one I’d rather have back there than him,” Sascha Boumedienne said. “Ever since we’ve gotten him, I feel like we’ve gotten a security and a confidence, a different boost of confidence at the back end, where we know he’s there.”
When Cornell exploded during overtime of the Regional finals, Yegorov staved each attempt. When Penn State made a desperate push in the third period, lasering shot after shot at Yegorov, he stood calm and confident.
“He’s unreal. He’s been the backbone of our team since he got here,” Cole Hutson said. “You can probably tell already he’s an unbelievable kid and just a guy you want to be around.”
He doesn’t just help the team on the ice — Yegorov is rarely found without a smile. Pandolfo called his personality “infectious,” and his teammates struggle to keep a straight face in press conferences.
During the Blue Carpet ceremony prior to the Frozen Four semifinals, Yegorov was the only player with a grin on his face as his teammates walked past the cameras with stone-cold scowls.
“He just brings energy everywhere, and you’ll never catch him without a smile,” Boumedienne said. “He brightens everyone else’s days.”
Soon, Yegorov and the BU hockey team will compete against Western Michigan for the program’s sixth national title and a chance to be entrenched in history — a prospect the goaltender calls “kind of unbelievable.”
With lights at their brightest, all the goaltender needs is love.
“Goaltending is all about love,” Yegorov said. “It’s just one word that kind of gets everything together.”
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