The Huskies unbeaten streak is snapped at 7 games as they lose to Mankato State University Saturday night. Friday night the Huskies and the Mavericks played in an exciting game that resulted in a 3-3 tie. Drew LeBlanc stayed hot by opening the scoring on Friday night. The Mavericks quickly evened things up 1-1. Husky forward Jared Festler added a goal in before the end of the first period to make the score 2-1 at the end of the first. Garrett Roe's assist on the Festler goal was his 105th career assist. Roe now owns the assist team record, beating Ryan Lasch's ('06-'10) 104 career assists. (Congratulations Garrett Roe!) Early in the second, the Mavericks added two goals to make the score 3-2 in favor of MSU. Drew LeBlanc scored the game-tying goal at 13:16 of the second period making it 3-3. Both goalies then shut out the offense for the rest of the night. You can read more about the game here:
Video from 1st star of the night Drew LeBlanc and Jared Feslter:
Additionally, Philadelphia Flyer star player (and former St. Cloud State and Sioux Falls Stampede player) Andreas Nodl was at the game Friday night. You can read more here and see the video below:
On Saturday, the Huskies looked to keep their unbeaten streak going and revive their winning ways. However, things did not work out the way they should have. The Mavericks dominated the Huskies, winning 6-2 Saturday night. Aaron Marvin and Cam Reid were the only two goal scorers for SCSU. Goalie Mike Lee was pulled about half way through as Dan Dunn took over for him. You can read more about the game here:
All I can say is that the time is now for the Huskies to come back and prove they have some great hockey left in them. It is going to be tough and the spotlight will be on senior players like Garrett Roe, Aaron Marvin, and Brett Barta. Time to shine guys!
Spotlight is on senior leadership to take the Huskies to the playoffs!
SCSU's Mike Lee makes the save against the MSU Mavericks!
Welcome to this game day edition of Husky Hockey Time. The Huskies will be at home Friday and Saturday night at the always exciting National Hockey Center to face off against instate rival Mankato State University. I expect these games to be very hard fought. I also expect a Husky Hockeysweep. However, here is what other folks are saying:
"Dan: To me, this is the most exciting series of the weekend. The Huskies have quietly won six in a row and are just one point back of home ice in the WCHA race. SCSU has done a fine job feasting on bad teams, showing the offense many thought they would when the season started, while finally handing the goaltending job over to Mike Lee full time. He has responded by allowing just three goals over the last four games. Looking at the standings, one would say Minnesota State is another bad team. But the Mavericks have played much better than their record says they have. Over the last two weeks, they've gone 0-3-1 but all four games were one-goal games. And while MSU is in 11th place in the conference, the Mavs are just one game under .500 and are 8-5-1 over their last 14 games. ... Split
"Eye: Most exciting series Dan, really? One team is in eighth place, the other in 11th. The Mavs have played everybody tough. Their five losses have been to DU (one game), North Dakota (two) and Wisconsin (two). Ex-Gophers Mike Dorr is 4-3-7 in his last eight games and is MSU's second-leading scorer (8-9-17). But the Huskies have more hot players; forwards Garrett Roe, Drew LeBlanc and Cam Reid all have six-game scoring streaks. And, yes, SCSU is 6-0-0 in those games. Then there is winger Dave Eddy, just back off academic ineligibility. He has three goals and three assists in four games. Wow. Teams are 2-2-1 in last five games, 4-4-2 in last 10 but ... Huskies sweep
"Last weekend the Mavericks were swept by the Badgers in Madison and the Huskies swept the Beavers in Bemidji.
The Huskies are on a roll in 2011 they ended 2010 by winning the Florida College Classic. SCSU is riding a six game winning streak, heading into this in-state rivalry games. The Mavericks are win less in their last four games (0-3-1), and those losses were by one goal. MSUM has gone on four game streaks this season, for better (two 4 game winning) and for worse (two 4 game win less), for what it’s worth. Are the Huskies finally turning into the team everyone thought they were going to be to start the season? SCSU has a rough slate of games after this weekend to end the season (@UNO, @UMD, UND, UW, and @DU). The Huskies are now back into the race for home ice, and getting over the hump isn’t going to be easy. SPLIT"
"Theresa: If, as Tyler said in his column this week, the Huskies are working on on-ice success to distract from off-ice issues, it’s been working. They haven’t lost since Dec. 11 and look to be finally becoming the team we thought they should be this year. The Mavericks, on the other hand, have slipped recently and although most of their losses have been close (one-goal), they’re still not finding ways to win. Therefore, Huskies, you have restored my faith. SCSU sweep.
Tyler:MSU has lost close games to good teams because it can’t finish off scoring opportunities and the Mavericks are going against a hot goalie for the second week in a row in Mike Lee. Those pucks are going to have have to slip by eventually, though. Split."
"The Mavericks are coming off of being swept at Wisconsin last weekend while the Huskies are riding high on a six game winning streak. Mankato is a beatable team, but you're going to have to work your butt off to do so. They'll outwork you all day long in the offensive zone and throw some goals in the back of the net, but they'll let a lot in the net too. And, for some reason, they are having a horrible WCHA season again. They're 4-11-3 in the WCHA and 6-0-2 in non-conference play. The Huskies, on the other hand, are playing some of their best hockey right now. They've won four league games in a row, but those games have been played against Bemidji and Tech, teams they should be beating anyway. A sweep here would be huge for the Huskies and is much needed to get them back into this thing. If the Huskies sweep and CC and Minny split, the Huskies will find themselves all alone in 6th place. I think the Huskies are playing some of their best hockey right now, so I have to go with the hot team here. Huskies sweep 4-3, 3-2"
By my count, that makes 3 in favor of a split this weekend and 4 in favor of a Husky Sweep. If the Huskies do beat this very hard working Mavericks team, the Huskies will be 8-0 since Christmas break. If you were not able to tell (by the fact I am no longer the only person predicting Husky sweeps) two of the largest college hockey sites gave recognition to the Huskies turnaround:
Goalie -- Mike Lee 9-7-1, 2.67 GAA, .907 save percentage
Travis Novak
If you are wondering way Novak is not on the roster it is because he is still injured from a hit he took last week in Bemidji. You can read more about that here.
History (recent)
The Huskies have some pretty recent history with the Mavericks that is worth noting. Last year during the first round of the WCHA playoffs, these two teams met at the National Hockey Center. The playoff matchup went to three games. Each were decided by one goal and two went to overtime, including the third game (the Huskies eventually went to the WCHA Championship game). Drew Leblanc scored the Huskies game winning goal that sent them to the WCHA Final Five. Here is that video:
Over at NHL.com today, I saw a couple of pretty goals by both St. Cloud State alum Matt Hendricks and Mankato State University alum David Backes. As the Huskies will be playing the Mavericks this week, I thought it would be a great idea to share them with you:
In my last blog post, in which I previewed the SCSU vs BSU series, I included several predictions for the weekend which all stated that the best St. Cloud could do is get a split (I predicted a SCSU sweep). In a great performance this weekend, the Huskies proved the naysayers wrong and got another WCHA sweep for its 6th straight win. The Huskies have now gone unbeaten since the Christmas break.
On Friday night, the Huskies and Beavers played a very defensive game. The score was 0-0 after the first period. Both SCSU (Nick Jensen) and BSU (Matt Read) were able to score during the second period, again leaving to the locker rooms all tied up. The teams went for another scoreless period in the third to end regulation at 1-1. The game winning goal came from freshmen forward Nic Dowd with only 28.5 seconds left in overtime! The final score was 2-1, which gave St. Cloud State its fifth straight victory since Christmas. Unfortunately, junior wing Travis Novak was hurt during the game after taking a bad hit from Bemidji State's Darcy Findlay. Novak has a "mid section" injury and did not come back to play Friday night or Saturday night. He may be able to return next weekend. You can read more about this game at the sites below:
Saturday nights game had an entirely different outcome for St. Cloud State as they demolished Bemidji 5-1. Senior forward Garrett Roe, freshman forward Cam Reid, and sophomore forward David Eddy all scored during the first period (actually all during the first 10 minutes) to end out the first period 3-0. SCSU continued its offensive attack in the second period with goals from junior forward Jordy Christian and Eddy's second goal of the night. The score was 5-0 late in the second before BSU broke the SCSU shutout with a power play goal by Jamie McQueen. The score to start the third was 5-1. In the final period the Huskies outshot BSU 10-2 with the final score ending at 5-1. With this victory the Huskies have now gone 6-0 since Christmas. You can read more about the game at the sites below:
The Huskies will return to action this weekend at the National Hockey Center to play 11th place Mankato. It is another "must-sweep" series for the Huskies. If they continue to play as well as they have, the Huskies have a great chance at extending their winning streak to 8.
Mike Lee has now been named SCSU's starting goalie!
The St. Cloud State Huskies will be visiting the brand new Sanford Center to face off against the Bemidji State Beavers on Friday night at 7:37 p.m. and Saturday at 7:07 p.m. This promises to be a good and important series. The Huskies are on a 4-0 streak coming after the Christmas break and the Beavers are 4-1-1 streak since the Christmas break. Both streaking teams are looking to get important wins while chasing the ever-important home-playoff race. During the first series these two teams had in the fall the Huskies took 3 points winning Friday night at the National Hockey Center 6-3 and then lost 3-2 in overtime during Saturday nights game. According to Bemidji State head coach (and former St. Cloud State assistant Coach '93-'99) Tom Serratore:
"St. Cloud State is a dangerous team and they’ve been a dangerous team all year. They were a little inconsistent in the first half of the year but they’ve pulled it together in the second half. They are playing up to their potential and playing up to their preseason ranking."
You can listen to Serratore discuss the series here:
You can read more about the series at the following links:
"SCSU is the most disappointing, underachieving team in the league so far this year. They received a first place vote in the coaches poll and were picked to finish no lower than third. It was a very rough first half of the season, then came the FL College Hockey Classic. The Huskies managed their first weekend sweep of the season, then turned around the following weekend and swept Tech at home. Of course, there was plenty of drama in between. That's all over now, though, and it's time for the Huskies to play like the team people thought they were. Mike Lee has been officially named the number one goalie, so the rotation is officially over now. The Huskies are playing well, and they'll need a strong team performance and a big performance between the pipes if they want to beat the Beavers this weekend in Bemidji. I could see an SCSU sweep, but I'm going the safe route again. Split. BSU wins Friday 4-3, SCSU wins Saturday 4-1"
"Theresa- Both teams are riding mini hot streaks right now (BSU two games; SCSU four) and both teams really need this weekend in terms of points. If Bemidji sweeps, they’re right back in the thick of things and would be tied with idle Minnesota. The Huskies, well, they’re only a point behind the Beavers so you can do the math. Needless to say, this series is vital for both teams. The question is, who comes out on top? These two teams split last time they met and I think that’s realistically what’ll happen this time, as well. SCSU Friday, BSU Saturday.
Tyler- The Huskies have made Mike Lee their No. 1 goaltender and he’s won four straight games with a goals against average of 1.73 and a .935 save percentage and BSU is near the bottom of the league offensively with only 37 goals in 16 WCHA games. SCSU also has only 16 goals in league play and Lee can’t win on his own. Split."
"The Huskies hosted the Beavers earlier this season in St. Cloud and the Huskies took 3-points from them on the weekend. Now the Beavers look to return the favor in Bemidji this weekend. These two are currently separated by one point in the standings with BSU in the lead, but the Huskies have two games in hand. The Huskies need to start some type of second half run, if they want to try and salvage their season. The Beavers are in the midst of a good run going 4-1-1 in their last six and the Huskies are on a 4 game winning streak. SPLIT"
So we have 4 predictions for a "Split" weekend. However, I am going with the 4 game winning streak, the newly dedicated top goalie Mike Lee, and my favorite team---Huskies Sweep!
The Lines (Forwards): Reid-Roe-Eddy
Festler-LeBlanc-Dowd
Hanowski-Marvin-Novak
MacMillan-Christian-Volpei
The Lines (Defense):
Lauridsen-Johnson
Barta-Gravel
Zabkowicz-Jensen
The Lines (Goalies):
Mike Lee
Dan Dunn
It looks like David Eddy will make his way back into the line-up. I am a little surprised to see him on the top line right away. I liked Hanowski with Reid and Roe. I look forward to seeing how this line works out tonight and if Coach Motzko will keep this line-up for Saturday.
I think that is all you need to know about for this weekends match up between the Bemidji State Beavers and the St. Cloud State Huskies. Let's hope I can prove everyone else wrong, and the Huskies get a sweep.
Today I read a story over at PuckDaddy.com titled, "Battling disease, young fan and family sell house to follow team". The story is that of 11-year old Zack Bennett from Albany, NY and his passion for the AHL's Albany River Rats (now the Charlotte Checkers) and and his fight with Neurofibromatosis. This disease causes Zach to have soft-tissue tumors grow throughout his body, resulting in 21 surgeries for Zach which included the amputation of both his legs. Zach's passion for his team was so strong that his family decided to move to Charlotte, NC when the Albany River Rats announced the team was moving to Charlotte to become the Charlotte Checkers. The Bennett's family decision was not entirely hockey based (Charlotte is home to Neurofibromatosis specialists) but this child's and families passion are clearly evident. When the team was still in Albany, players became close to Zach visiting him often in the hospital and giving him the nickname "Bug". During a recent game, the Checkers helped the Bennett family raise money through a portion of the ticket sales, a raffle, and a jersey auction. In all, the team raised $20,000 for the Bennetts. Additionally, the team flew the Zach and the rest of the Bennett family out to Charlotte for a five-day, all-expenses paid trip to see the team play. This experience was chronicled on a series of videos which you can see below:
Former St. Cloud State Husky players Casey Borer and Tim Conboy have been some of the River Rats/ Checkers that have played a part in this touching relationship between fan and team. From a November 2010 article title, Long-distance friendships, Casey Borer had this to say:
"It's really a unique situation where we get to help improve someone's life."
"When we came back, they were the first ones to greet us. It's more than hockey and it doesn't stop because we're four states away."
According to the article, Tim Conboy texts mother Danielle Bennett for updates on "Bug" and that...
"'Bug' treasures an NHL stick Conboy used during his 12-game stint with the Hurricanes last season. Conboy presented the stick to "Bug" during one of their talks."
What a great and heart-moving story. Thank you to the Albany River Rats/ Charlotte Checkers for all the work they have done and continue to do to help Zach. A special thanks also to Casey Borer and Tim Conboy for their contributions to the Bennett family and for representing the Huskies well.
Today I read over at the "Up North Sports Resort" blog about the Bemidji State Beavers and where they find themselves in the second-half of the always competitive WCHA hockey season. Reading this blog post (Bemidji State men’s hockey team returns home this week on a roll), I couldn't help but to notice the similarities between the BSU and SCSU hockey teams. Take a look:
"The Bemidji State men’s hockey team is coming home this weekend on a roll and are unbeaten in five of the last six games."
While the Huskies have won four of their last six, they have won their last four straight and most would consider them "on a roll" (although it be a small one right now).
"The Beavers are 7-3-1 over the last 11 games and 4-1-1 since the start of the second half. That record is a complete turnaround from the first 11 games where the Beavers were 2-8-1."
While the Huskies "turnaround" has yet to be proven as dramatic, the second half has already shown to be much better for the Huskies than the first half. (The last 4 game before Christmas the Huskies were 0-4, the first four games after Christmas the Huskies are 4-0). If the Huskies can continue to do well, their turnaround has the potential to be one of the best turnarounds in Husky Hockey history (granted a lot of games need to be played- and won-before that can be determined).
"The biggest change was breaking up the then top line of Ian Lowe, Matt Read and Jordan George, which played together as BSU’s top line through the previous season."
Husky fans have been used to changing lineups. (Some has been very intentional, some has been a necessity as players "have left the program"). However, some of our lines have begun to become more solidified and some team chemistry has resulted. The top two forward lines (Hanowski-Roe-Reid and Festler-LeBlanc-Dowd) have looked great recently.
St. Cloud State will play Bemidji at the new Sanford Center Friday (1/21) at 7:37 p.m. and Saturday (1/22) at 7:07 p.m. The games are very important as both teams work towards getting a home-ice for the playoffs. Additionally, the Huskies will look to get sweeps against Bemidji this weekend and Mankato next weekend before playing top teams (UNO, UMD, UND, UW, and DU) to finish the season. The Huskies have a very tough road ahead of them and they need to start playing some great Husky hockey here.
With the Huskies having this weekend off there is little Husky Hockey news to talk about. However, here are a couple Husky Hockey items to get you through the day.
SCSU Wins FL Tournament Video:
AHL All-Star Game:
Former Husky Andrew Gordon
Former St. Cloud State Husky Andrew Gordon will be a starter at the AHL All-Star game. Gordon has 18 goals and 18 assists in 31 games with the Hershey Bears. He also played in eight games with the Washington Capitals this season and has one goal, one assist. You can read more about it below:
St. Cloud State Gets First WCHA Sweep of the Season!
St. Cloud State continued its winning ways this weekend sweeping the Michigan Tech Huskies. In winning this game, St. Cloud has now won the last 4 games and is situated at #8 in the WCHA standings. Despite this being far from our #1-3 (in the WCHA) expectations, the Huskies have made noticeable improvements already in the 2nd half of the season. In the Friday night game, SCSU had a season best 43 shots on goal and Mike Lee recorded his first shutout of the season beating MTU 3-0. The Huskies got goals from junior wing Jared Festler, sophomore wing Ben Hanowski and freshman wing Cam Reid. Additionally, senior Garrett Roe had two assists to give him 101 assists in his career. He is the third St. Cloud State player in the Division I era to reach that milestone. You can read more about Friday nights game below:
On Saturday night the Huskies continued to dominate ("the other"- MTU) Huskies. Nic Dowd, Jared Festler, Nick Jensen, Garrett Roe, and Drew LeBlanc all had goals in route to a 5-1 SCSU victory. Mike Lee played well again, allowing MTU only one goal (power play goal) in 24 shots. St. Cloud continued to do better at taking shots than its first half average of 25.3 shots on goal by registering 39 shot on goal Saturday night. There was a scary moment, though when senior center Garrett Roe went down after making knee on knee contact. Roe had to be helped from the ice and did not play the rest of the game; however, Coach Motzko, "...think(s) he’s fine". You can read more about Saturdays game below:
The Huskies will have next week off before returning to play January 21 and 22 at Bemidji. On January 28 and 29 the Huskies will return home to the NHC to play Minnesota State- Mankato. Both the Bemidji and Mankato series will be very important for the Huskies to win as they face a tough road during the month of February and early March (UNO, UMD, UND, UW, DU). St. Cloud State has the toughest second-half schedule of any WCHA team so it is all the more important for the Huskies to beat Bemidji and Mankato.
Other News:
Please check out this week's Bob Motzko Show. For the first time, in a long time, there is a lot of positive things to talk about.
There is finally some closure on the FL Classic Tournament issues. SCSU President Earl H. Potter III has now spoken with the St. Cloud Times. Some quotes:
"Tony Mosey and Chris Hepp left the team after both broke curfew in an incident in Florida that involved a third player and alcohol consumption."
"Potter said in an interview with the Times that Mosey and Hepp already were 'walking on thin ice' at the time of the Florida trip because of previous behavioral problems."
"Rumors circulated that a Husky player had been hospitalized in Florida for an off-ice incident. Pat Dolce, public affairs specialist for the Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, Fla., confirmed Monday that a Huskies player was seen in the emergency room of a Lee Memorial Health System hospital and was discharged."
"The reason he was seen (at the hospital) was not overconsumption of alcohol"
"It was guys who were out having a good time and they didn’t want to quit"
"Potter said that there were no injuries and there were no laws broken."
"'I’m proud of my coaches. I’m proud of my athletic director,' Potter said. 'We had a couple young men, who are seniors and should have known better, and they crossed the line.'"
I wish Chris Hepp (with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL) and Tony Mosey (with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL) the best. However, I am not sad to see them go and believe the team will be better without their presence.
If you are a Husky Hockey fan you may be feeling a bit like the famous Charles Dickens novel "A Tale of Two Cities". Going into Christmas break, the Huskies had lost 4 straight and in doing so were swept twice by WCHA opponents. The future looked bleak and there was much mourning over what had once promised to be one of the best years yet. Then (in what was penned as a Christmas Miracle) bringing hope to Husky fans everywhere, SCSU beat both Cornell and Miami (FINALLY!) in route to winning the Florida College Hockey Classic Tournament. The season finally had hope and the team looked to have turned a corner. To add to this excitement, two former St. Cloud State hockey players were getting some prominent air time on HBO's Road to the Winter Classic series as members of the Washington Capitals. There was a lot to be proud of as Husky Hockey fans. Then in a flash, that pride turned to embarrassment as the Huskies lost 3 players and rumors of off-ice misconduct during the Florida tournament buzzed around the Internet. The Huskies looked to be beaten down again. However, a surprise incident brought some amount of pride back to the Huskies when Husky recruit Andrew Proncho gained national attention when he split a hockey puck in two while playing with the Sioux Falls Stampede. If you are anything like me, you probably feel like you have been on a roller coaster of emotion the past feel weeks. The next turn for the Huskies will be a big one. Which brings me to this weekend when the SCSU Huskies will face the MTU Huskies. Michigan Tech has not won a game at the National Hockey Center in over 14 years (only UAA has a longer streak, having lost every game at the NHC for over 20 years). The Huskies will look to keep that streak alive this weekend and get its first WCHA sweep of the year. Furthermore, MTU has not won a game since mid-October. This is a must win/ must sweep for the Huskies. Anything else would be considered another major blow to this program.
Some good/ fun news (literally national news) for Husky Hockey fans today coming out the the USHL after a rough past 48 hours. Andrew Prochno, a Sioux Falls Stampede (my hometown team) defensemen, shot a puck so hard that he split the puck in two. I first got word of this last night through the Sioux Falls Stampede Facebook page and then saw it again this morning on CNN Headline News. Since then, this story has made its way everywhere from WCHA blog sites, to Puckdaddy.com, and all the way to NHL.com. To make things better, Proncho is a St. Cloud State recruit! Not that this undoes any of the bad stuff SCSU has been hit with the last couple of days, but it does provide some relief knowing that an SCSU recruit is already making national headlines. You can see some photos, the video, and some additional websites below:
Way to go Andrew Prochno on bringing pride to both the Sioux Falls Stampede and the St. Cloud State Huskies! Your newsworthy goal could not come at a better time for the SCSU hockey program.
The Husky Hockey team just can not seem to get anything right this season. Coming off the years biggest win (beating Miami/ winning the FCHC tournament) the Huskies face one of their biggest downfalls. The Huskies will be starting 2011 without defensemen Chris Hepp (signed pro contract), Tony Mosey (violated team rules---again!), and freshmen Bryce Johnson (return to juniors). Johnson had only played in 3 games this season, so it is likely his absence will not hurt the team. However, Hepp was an alternate captain and was a veteran for the team on the blueline and Mosey one of our top scorers last year and scored the game-winning goal in the second OT of SCSU’s first NCAA tournament win last year. There absence is likely to be felt. Additionally, these departures are surrounded by rumors and allegations of improper conduct involving drinking. It is also rumored (unconfirmed) that David Eddy, who had just returned to the SCSU line-up after sitting out for academic probation, may also be suspended for 2-4 games. The Internet and blog sites have been buzzing the last 24 hours about this. Below is a collection of websites to read more about the situation:
I am extremely disheartened with the conduct of these players if these allegations are true (some likely are-Mosey dismissal because of team rule violation). I struggle to understand why players do not take an opportunity like playing D1 hockey for a program like St. Cloud State more seriously. It will be interesting to see how the team reacts to adversity like this. I could see it making them self-destruct (even more than they already have) or they could rally around one another and really do something great. I hope it is the latter.
I do not have many details yet; however, it looks like Senior defenseman (and alternate captain) Chris Hepp has officially left the St. Cloud State hockey program. He will be moving to the professional ranks playing for the Idaho Steelheads in the ECHL. Read about it:
I do not have HBO. However, when I heard about the HBO special Pens-Caps 24/7 series I was almost prompted to get it. This 4-part series chronicles the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals leading up to the 2011 NHL Winter Classic. I was not able to watch the episodes until I recently found episodes 1-3 on YouTube (those links will be on the bottom). The episodes gives viewers a close-up, behind-the-scenes look into the lives of these hockey players and into the NHL locker rooms. Much of what we see is the Pens on an incredible game-winning streak and the Caps on a game-losing streak. Even as die-hard of a hockey fan as I am, I almost found this HBO series as entertaining (or possibly even more entertaining) than the actual Winter Classic hockey game itself. Husky Hockey fans should be pleased to know that a couple of our own Husky Hockey alums got some great air time on the show. Both former St. Cloud State players Matt Hendricks and Andrew Gordon where highlighted in this HBO series.
Matt Hendricks was highlighted during a couple of fights, but will be most remembered by the HBO audience from his look after a fight during a Caps/ Rangers game. In talking about the fight, Matt said:
"It comes down to having a job and making a career. I think it all started last year when I went into training camp. The season before that, I had a really good camp, had some goals, and still got sent down to the minors. I got called up for four games throughout the year, but it wasn't enough. I needed to figure out a way to make the opening night roster. And talking to a good friend of mine, he said 'You've got to fight.' He said, 'If you don't do it, someone else will,' and I kind of stick by that motto now."
Former St. Cloud State Player Matt Hendricks
Andrew Gordon was also called up from the Capitals AHL affiliate Hersey Bears. Andrew was lucky enough to have his first ever NHL goal captured by HBO cameras. He also scored his first NHL goal on (probable Hall of Fame) goaltender Martin Brodeur. You can see the goal below:
Former St. Cloud State Player Andrew Gordon scores 1st NHL goal
You can read a story a story about Gordon's goal here.
Florida College Hockey Classic Tournament Champions!
The Huskies have been very busy and (thankfully) very successful since the last time I was able to blog. The Huskies went into the Florida College Hockey Classic tournament after losing 4 games straight to WCHA opponents Colorado College and the University of North Dakota. Their season was looking bleak at best. The Husky Hockey team had left us Husky faithful anxious, worried, and confused at the terrible play we had witnessed from them. However, like a Christmas miracle, the results of the Florida College Hockey Classic tournament has given Husky fans a reason to maintain hope. For the first time, the Huskies have gained top honors at the FCHC and will be bringing home the Ned Harkness Cup. The Huskies started their winning ways in a come-from-behind, 4-3 OT victory over Cornell. SCSU freshman forward Cam Reid scored the OT winner assisted by junior forward Drew LeBlanc. The OT game winning goal was Reid's second goal of the game. Other goals came from sophomores Ben Hanowski and David Eddy (who was playing in his first game of the season). The game was certianly a hard fought effort as the Huskies were down 0-3 well into the second period of the game. The grit and determination shown at this game is exactly what the Huskies will need in order to turn around this season. To read more about this game read:
Also, be sure to check out this video of Reid's OT game winner:
The Huskies then progressed onto the championship game against #6 Miami. Referring to the game, Fighting Sioux blogger Goon said, "this is a statement game for the Huskies tomorrow night..." (you can read more about the lack of WCHA success against Miami here). I agree that this was a statement game for the Huskies and the statement the Huskies made was "We can play great Husky Hockey!". Freshmen Nic Dowd scored the game winning goal in the 4-3 contest and also had 2 assists on the night. For his efforts, Dowd was awarded the tournament's Shawn Walsh Award that is presented to the tournament MVP each year at the FCHC. Also scoring during the game were Huskies Oliver Lauridsen, Garrett Roe (SHG), and Drew LeBlanc. Unlike the previous game, it was our opponents that nearly had a come-from-behind victory. The Huskies had a 4-1 lead early in the third; however, the Redhawks were able to put 2 more goals in the net in the final period making the final score 4-3. Goalie Mike Lee stood on his head making 31 saves in the game (including 15 saves in the 3rd period alone) to prevent a Miami comeback. Huskies Dowd, Lee, LeBlanc and Barta were all named to the All-Tournament team. You can read more about the games here:
