Huskies Blowout Badgers

Senior Night (and the whole weekend) a smashing success!

What a great weekend for the Huskies and its seniors this weekend. The Huskies finished off the last regular home series of the season with a sweep of the #13/14 Wisconsin Badgers. The Huskies dominated the Badger team all weekend long from start to finish and has (with this last weekend and the last couple weekends) shown people the talent that really does exist on this Husky team. On Friday night, the Huskies controlled the tempo for the first 30 minutes of play as they outshot the Badgers 26-15 in the first two periods. The first goal of the game came from SCSU forward Travis Novak. Not more than a couple minutes later, Husky forward Jordy Christian made the game 2-0. Another minute or so later, senior Garrett Roe scored bring the score to 3-0 where it would remain until the 3rd period. Wisconsin came out hard in the third period and scored within the opening seconds to bring the score to 3-1. Roe notched his second goal of the game with a pretty breakaway goal to bring the score up to 4-1. Wisconsin was luck to get another goal in during a powerplay opportunity to make the score 4-2 despite the dominating play of the Huskies. The Huskies had 35 shots in the contest compared to the Badgers 27. You can read more about the game here:

• Huskies Collect Big 4-2 Win Over #13/14 UW
• Huskies run with puck

Senior Garrett Roe puts two goals in Friday AND two in Saturday. WOW!

Dunn gets the job done in his first appearance in months.

On Saturday the Huskies continued to show the WCHA why they are the "dark horse" (according to INCH) team of the conference. The Huskies beat the Badgers on Senior Night to the tune of a 7-3 victory (should have been 7-1 but the last 30 seconds of the game the Huskies were already in celebration mode as they let 2 in). Garrett Roe opened the scoring in the first couple minutes of the first period. The Huskies would not score again until the second period when Travis Novak netted a goal.  Wisconsin then put one in to make it 2-1 as they tried to stay in the game. Senior Aaron Marvin put a goal in to make the score 3-1 at the end of the second period. Then the Huskies started loading them in during the final period. Roe added his 2nd for the night and his fourth for the weekend bring the score to 4-1. Senior Nick Oslund made it 5-1. Sophomore David Eddy (who has been hot during the Huskies comeback) scored to make it 6-1. Captain Aaron Marvin scored a shorthanded goal (his second goal of the night) to bring the score to 7-1. This should have been the final score on Saturday night; however, with less then 30 seconds remaining (and emotions running high-last home game/ senior night) the Huskies allowed Wisconsin to get two meaningless/ pity goals to bring the final score to 7-3. You can read more about the Huskies great game here:

• Huskies Sweep Badgers With 7-3 Win on Feb. 26
• Huskies erupt, bury Badgers
• Men’s hockey bottoms out after sweep by Huskies

Nick Jensen looking good in the 1960s retro jersey

Interesting things to ponder (from the CIC Twitter page)

• "SCSU MHKY has earned 8 of 12 points vs UMD, UND and WI all top 13 teams in 3 consecutive weeks. Now 19 in the PWR."
• "After 4 goals this past weekend, Senior Garrett Roe is 3 pts behind Jeff Saterdalen and 7 behind Ryan Lasch for the all time career pts record."
• "Freshmen Nick Jensen HAS to be a strong contender for WCHA all rookie team. Currently the 3rd top scoring DE in leage stats. Plays PK and PP also."
• "Drew LeBlanc is #7 in league pts and Garrett Roe close behind at #9. Cam Reid tied for 7th in WCHA rookie pts."
• "Monster weekend for Garrett Roe with 4 goals."
• "Workhorse defenseman, Nick Jensen and Oliver Lauridson both +4 for the weekend vs Wisconsin. How solid are these two." 

 Something I have been pondering:

Can St. Cloud State really be considered the "dark horse" team of the WCHA?*

*I mentioned earlier in this blog post as well as a previous blog post that Inside College Hockey refered to SCSU as the "dark horse" team of the WCHA.

The Huskies were predicted early in the season to be one of the top 3 teams in the WCHA. The fact that they play really good hockey should not be surprising. However, if you asked anyone before Christmas if they thought St. Cloud would be any kind of a threat during the post season, you probably would have been laughed at. So I can see an argument for this thing either way. 

Another thought, I have been following Husky Hockey for about 10 years. Almost annually, the Huskies are UNDER ranked in the preseason predictions. In my memory (and I am probably wrong somewhere) I can not think of a time when the Huskies UNDER achieved compared to what they "experts" say they are suppose to achieve in the preseason. I only remember the Huskies ever OVER achieving compared to preseason predictions. Obviously, this year went COMPLETELY the other way. Similarly,  the Huskies seem to annually UNDER achieve during the post-season. It has almost become a joke at how bad the Huskies do in the post-season. However, this year the Huskies are playing their best hockey at the end of the year. Could we be in for some post-season glory? 

Probably not, but if the Huskies keep playing this well....anything could happen.

"We didn't want to peak in November and do nothing in March."- Garrett Roe (after this weekend with Wisconsin.


GO HUSKIES!!! 

Huskies vs. Badgers Preview (and the hiring of GINO!)

Let's Go HUSKIES!

Let's take a look at our Husky vs Badger showdown for this weekend in the last regular season homegame:

Predictions:

Goon's World

"Two weeks ago the Badgers looked to have a lock on a home ice spot. But getting only one point in their last four games has hurt them badly, not only in the WCHA standings but the PairWise too. The Huskies have played well as of late going 1-1-2 against UMD and UND the past two weekends. SCSU can continue their climb and sink the Badgers this weekend, if, they can pull off a sweep at the National Hockey Center. It appears these teams are heading in opposite directions now, SCSU going up, UW going down. The Badgers are 5-5-2 away from home this year and the Huskies are a dismal 4-8-4 at home. The Badger’s can ill afford to get swept this weekend. If that happens the Kohl Center might see a protest or two, just like the Wisconsin capitol building. It appears that both teams might be circling the panic button. SCSU has nothing to lose, and UW is getting desperate, so this series could have some good action. SPLIT "

WCHA Blog

"The Huskies and Badgers are both coming off of one point weekends when both teams needed two or better. The Badgers are the better team here and the Huskies are just too up and down each week. However, if they're able to play the Badgers how they played the Sioux last weekend, the Huskies could walk away with three or four points easily. It'll be interesting to see which team shows up. The Huskies are in desperation mode if they want to try and grab home ice. It is looking like that's going to be impossible to do, though, as they're currently four points out of sixth with four games left. The teams in front of them have easier schedules, too. (The Huskies travel to Denver to close the season out.) The Badgers are fighting to hold on to fifth right now, so expect them to come out with some fire. I think Bucky gets the best of Blizzard this weekend in both games. I sure do hope I'm wrong, though.
Badgers sweep 4-3, 5-2"

USCHO.com

Theresa: "In which you have a series where both teams are trying to stop skids (UW four games, SCSU three). After putting together a nice run, it could be possible that the young Badgers are finally running out of gas. As for the Huskies, it’s just been a tough year overall for them. For this series, one could look to the Badgers as they’re not out of the home ice race yet as well as the fact that SCSU is pretty awful at home this season. As much as a tie is probably guaranteed with the way the Huskies have been playing lately, I’ll gamble and say both teams will end their winless streaks and call a split — SCSU Friday, UW Saturday."

Tyler: "Both teams are struggling right now. Defense has been Wisconsin’s mainstay all season but the Badgers have given up 16 goals in the past four games, causing Scott Gudmandson to sit Saturday’s game. The Huskies, who have been offensively challenged all season, will earn a split if they can bust out of the slump or if Wisconsin has more trouble in the defensive zone. Split."

Sixty Minutes. No Alibi. No Regrets.

"The Badgers are fighting for their NCAA tournament lives right and they know it. Wisconsin is the better team but you know in this league that anything can happen. I think Wisconsin comes out firing on Friday night and get the win and St. Cloud manages a split on Saturday night which is senior night for the Huskies.

Friday Night: Wisconsin 5, St. Cloud 3
Saturday Night: Wisconsin 3, St. Cloud 3"

Goal Gophers

Peter:  "Wisconsin has been taking some lumps lately 0-3-1 in their last 4 games. They are a very average team on the road 5-6-1. SCSU is another head scratcher, they have burned me a lot this year. They stink at home 4-8-4 but have been playing tough the last 2 series against UMD and UND going 1-1-2. I being a SCSU grad and not liking most everything about our eastern neighbors am going to -- even though I think Wisconsin is the better squad -- go with a ... Split"

Roman: "The Badgers, only a couple weeks ago, seemed to be cruising toward a home ice spot and an NCAA tournament at-large bit. Now both seem to be slipping away. UW has thrived on beating unranked teams with losing records. SCSU fits that description but the Huskies took three points from UMD two weekends ago and last weekend had a tie with North Dakota. Sophomore David Eddy, ineligible the first semester, has been a spark the past 12 games with six goals and six assists. ... Huskies sweep"

Looks like a lot of people are going with a split. Those that are not, are giving Wisconsin the advantage. I am going to be the odd-ball then (with Roman...this may be a first) and say that the Huskies will sweep Wisconsin. The Badgers have not been playing well lately. On the other hand, the Huskies have been playing at their best all year with some great, hard-fought games against UMD and UND. If the Huskies (and the Badgers) keep with their games (as of late) the Huskies should have a chance for a sweep on the last regular season games at the NHC.

Former Husky Mike Doyle gives us his Three Keys to the Game vs. UW Feb. 25:

1. Stay Out of the Sin Bin
2. Shut Down Shultz
3. Get to the Goalie

Husky Hockey Lines courtesy of the St. Cloud Times:

Ben Hanowski-Garrett Roe-David Eddy
Jared Festler-Aaron Marvin-Travis Novak
Cam Reid-Drew LaBlanc-Nic Dowd
Mitch MacMillan-Jordy Christian-Nick Oslund

Oliver Lauridsen-Nick Jensen
Kevin Gravel-Taylor Johnson
Sam Zabkowicz-Brett Barta

Mike Lee

If you want to check out the Badger line-up click here.

For Your Listening Pleasure:

• Check out this week's Inside College Hockey Podcast.  There were several comments that Husky fans will find interesting. First, about our opponent Wisconsin this week, the commentators said that the Badgers looked "terrible" against the UofM. They also said that Wisconsin tends to play at or below the level of their opponent. The podcast commentators said that St. Cloud is the "dark horse" team of the WCHA- meaning that St. Cloud could be the winner that no one saw coming. They also mentioned that St. Cloud is, "...shapping up as the team nobody wants to face in the first round of the WCHA playoffs." Those are some pretty nice statements!
• Also, Coach Bob Motzko was a guest on Sirrus Radio NHL Home Ice. You can hear him talking about the team here.
• You can hear Coach Bob Motzko talking about last weekend's games against UND and this weekend's games against UW from KVSC.

Let me introduce SPECIAL ADVISER John "Gino" Gasparini:

Well, I can not believe that this is coming so late in this blog but there has been some GOOD (honestly, probably great) news coming from the SCSU athletic program only a day after announcing the retirement of St. Cloud State Director of Athletics Morris Kurtz. SCSU President Earl Potter today announced that legendary hockey coach John “Gino” Gasparini has been appointed special adviser to the president for athletics starting March 1. Gino was a longtime coach for the UND Fighting Sioux and went on to lead the United States Hockey League. He has a proven track record of success in almost everything that he has done. Gasparini has an in-depth of understanding in the hockey world with a high reputation and very valuable connections. Gino is being hired to focus on issues like the Division I hockey program, the expansion and redevelopment of the National Hockey and Event Center (NHEC), the anticipated changes in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), fan, donor and sponsor experience and the connection between Husky athletics and the community. Gasparini's contract is with the university (for now) is six months, although extensions to his contract are possible. It does not sound like Gasparini has any intentions of becoming the new Athletic Director, but he will be involved in finding SCSU's new AD. Gasparini will be watching the Huskies beat the Badgers this weekend at the NHC. You can read more about this news here:

• SCSU hires Gasparini as special adviser for athletics
• John "Gino" Gasparini named special advisor to the president for athletics

Other Links:

• "In a search for consistency" is a good article about the improvment and the play of forward Ben Hanowski.
• Check out my previous blog for details on all the great things happening during this weekends match-up. 

GO HUSKIES!!!!!

Wednesday Notes Going Into Badger Weekend

The Huskies will face the UW Badgers in the final regular season home-series of the year

Today I have several interesting links for your Husky Hockey enjoyment:

• First off, we will be playing the Wisconsin Badgers this week. The Huskies have a recent love/ hate relationship with the Badgers. The Huskies dominated the Badgers last season in the Final Five with exceptional play from goalie Mike Lee. Only to have the Badgers exact their revenge on the Huskies preventing the Huskies from making it into the NCAA Frozen Four last year. Ouch! You can read a preview of this weekends game from the blog Sixty Minutes, No Alibis, No Regrets.
• The Sixty Minutes blog also had some nice things to say about Husky forward David Eddy. 
• The latest Bob Motzko Show is available from the Center Ice Club. It was interesting to hear the coach talk about some of the suspect refereeing and the team deserving a much better fate against UND. Both of which were topics covered in my last blog.
• Speaking of which, goalie Mike Lee is the CIC Player of the Week after Stopping 60 of 65 SOG for a  .92 SV% vs UND.
• This weekend will be the last regular season home game of the year. As such, there will be many exciting things going on at the National Hockey Center.
• Friday night, SCSU Athletics will be drawing the lucky winner of the 2010 Arctic Cat Prowler Raffle.
• Also on Friday, the CIC has arranged to have noted hockey writer John Gilbert present to autograph his Herb Brooks book.
• Saturday night will be senior night. There will be a special salute to the 2010-2011 SCSU Seniors (Brett Barta, Dan Dunn, Aaron Marvin, Nick Oslund, Nic Rioux, Garrett Roe and Brian Volpei).
• Also on Saturday night, the Huskies will be wearing a retro-jersey. Fans will be able to purchase a one-of-a-kind, game-worn Husky sweater during a silent auction.

• Former Husky Mike Doyle has a good post about disallowed goals. Very fitting with last weekends disallowed goals extravaganza. 
• Also from Mike Doyle is a good piece on freshman Nic Dowd. You can see the video below:

• St. Cloud State Director of Athletics Morris Kurtz announced today that he will retire from his position June 30, 2012. Husky Hockey fans will most fondly remember Kurtz for the hiring of U.S. Coaching Legend Herb Brooks as head coach of men’s hockey, the building of the National Hockey Center and the elevation of Husky Hockey to Division I. Patty Brooks, the widow of Herb Brooks had this to say:

"Morris and Herbie worked really well together. Both were able to realize their dreams. At the time John Mariucci was quite ill and he and Herbie shared a vision that whenever possible they would promote new hockey programs and expand opportunities for Minnesota players. I always felt Morris also had that vision to expand programs at St. Cloud State"

• In the newest edition of "Where are they Now?" we learn about Husky alum Joe Motzko:

• Good news for Husky Alum Matt Hendricks. Today Hendricks was given a 2-year extension with the Washington Capitals worth $1.6 million.

Go Huskies!!!

Fighting Sioux Recap

Roe and the Huskies deserved a better fate against UND

The Huskies played well, but didn't reap the rewards this weekend against the Sioux. After going down 2-0 in the first period the Huskies dug themselves a pretty good sized hole against the "best team in the nation." However, the Huskies rallied with goals from David Eddy, Drew LeBlanc, and Ben Hanowski to make it 3-2 with under 10 left in the 3rd. Unfortunately, the Sioux clawed their way back to tie it up 3-3 with about 3 minutes left in the game. Mike Lee did a great job. Neither team was able to seal the deal in OT. The Sioux remain winless at the NHC on a Friday night for well over a decade. We really should have won this game. You can read more about the game here:

• Huskies' comeback forces tie vs. Sioux
• Huskies Skate to 3-3 Tie Against #2 UND

Saturday night the two teams battled again. The score was tied 1-1 after the 1st and tied 2-2 after the second. UND put the lone goal of the third period in to win the game 3-2. However, there was some highly suspect refereeing going on. During the second period alone their were three (yes THREE) Husky hockey goals that were reviewed. The first 2 the refs determined were NOT goals and then finally allowed the third goal to be allowed by David Eddy (Barta scored the first goal). Needless to I was one of the many people who were not impressed with the WCHA refs. I did not see the game, but was on the St. Cloud State Live Chat during the game. From what I understand the Huskies should have left the 2nd period up at least 3-2 if not 4-2. In any case, the Huskies played a really good weekend against the top team in the nation and deserved a better outcome. Coach Motzko said it best, "We can’t be happier with how our guys prepared and this weekend and came in to play. I don’t mean that as a consolation (prize). We stayed on top of it and we played good hockey." You can read more about the game here:

• Huskies fight hard but denied the win
• North Dakota Gains 3-2 Win Over Huskies

With only two weekends of play left and the Huskies facing Wisconsin and Denver it is looking more like the Huskies may be on the road during the first round of the WCHA playoffs. However, after SCSU's showing at Duluth and the high calibur play this weekend against UND I doubt many WCHA teams would look forward to facing this St. Cloud State team in the first round.  The Huskies still have a great chance of going to the Final Five (and in my humble opinion...doing well at the Final Five).

Check out this video featuring Husky favorites Mike Lee and Aaron Marvin about the Roseau vs. Warroad Rivalry:



Alumni Note:

Former St. Cloud State Husky Matt Cullen will be playing on the Minnesota Wild's top line tonight since Mikko Koivu is out. While I hate to see Koivu out and wish that he can come back to play soon (to lead the Wild to the Stanley Cup of course) I am glad to see a Husky Alum leading the top line in the State of Hockey. Go Wild! (Good Job Cully!)

Go Huskies!

Let the Fight Begin...Huskies vs. Fighting Sioux

Go Huskies!

Today's game day blog has a TON of stuff to cover. Let's begin with the predictions...

Goon's World

"Last weekend the Sioux swept the UAA Seawolves in Grand Forks and the Huskies took 3-points from the UMD Bulldogs in Duluth.

These teams met in early December with the Sioux sweeping that series, 3-1 and 6-2 in Grand Forks. The Huskies got their first win over a top half of the league team last weekend. This year SCSU has not lived up to preseason expectations, they started off this year’s campaign ranked #4 and have slid since then. Home ice for the first round is still possible, but not likely, since they need to make up 3 points and play UW and DU after this weekend. The Sioux have officially locked up a home ice spot and are now looking to put a lock on the league’s top spot. UND has an easier schedule then SCSU does down the stretch, the Sioux host BSU and travel to MTU to end the season. The Huskies have squandered a pair of 3-goal leads in two of their past three games. The Sioux will need to continue their style of play this weekend to grab more points. SIOUX 3-POINTS"

Goal Gophers

Chris:..."Old Charley. He pretended he was enjoying his stay in the Red River Valley, but you know dang well he was on the next phone screaming at his agent for booking him anywhere north of St. Louis. Roman has established the Sioux (are they still the “Fighting Sioux?”) as the team to beat down the stretch, and who am I to argue? The Huskies will steal one this weekend, though, for a ... Split"

Roman: "The Sioux have clinched home ice, now they want to win the MacNaughton Cup which goes to the regular-season champion. They have a one point lead, a three-game win streak and a hot, hot player. Jason Gregoire, since returning from an injury, has eight games. No wonder Dave Hakstol said he did backflips when he heard Gregoire was healthy again. The Huskies are coming off an impressive three-point weekend at UMD, but finish with a brutal sked: NoDak, Wisconsin and Denver. The Sioux swept SCSU 3-1, 6-2 at the Ralph earlier. ... UND sweep"

WCHA Blog

"I'm not sure where to start on this one. The Huskies and Sioux have some bad blood between each other dating back to last year. However, I feel that we should be back to normal now. The Sioux are a tremendous team and the Huskies have been up and down at best this season. The Huskies do have a lot of talent that, when they decide to play, are one of the tougher teams to beat. It doesn't seem to matter where these two teams meet, the Sioux almost always dominate the show. Unless the Huskies find something deep down inside, they're not going to come away with anything.
Sioux sweep 4-2, 4-3"

USCHO.com

Theresa: "This has developed into a nice little rivalry over the past two years and should prove to be an interesting weekend. Despite injuries, the Sioux have been rolling along just fine (as coach Dave Hakstol has said, they’re not technically short-handed). The Huskies, meanwhile, may have found their stride at the perfect time in the season. I believe home ice is a stretch for them (don’t quote me on that), but, like BSU above, they can make their league positioning a lot more favorable. As a result, I believe we’ll see a split — SCSU Friday, UND Saturday."

Tyler: "UND’s key injuries (Genoway and Kristo) make it a little more of an even playing field with the series played in St. Cloud. This is probably the last bump in the road for the Sioux before they end the season with Bemidji State and Michigan Tech. Meanwhile, centers Garrett Roe and Drew LeBlanc are finally making strides for SCSU. Split."

It looks like the general consensus is that this weekend will be a split and I am inclined to agree. If past performance is any indicator of future results then a betting man would choose St. Cloud to win Friday night (Sioux are 0-7-3 on Friday night at the NHC since 1998) and the Sioux to win Saturday. I guess we will see if the teams stay true to form.

Former Husky Mike Doyle gives us his Three Keys to the Game vs. UND Feb. 18:

1. Fierce Forecheck
2. Flatten Frattin
3. Faceoff Focus

The Husky Hockey Lines (courtesy of St. Cloud Times)

Hanowski- Roe- Eddy
Festler- Marvin- Novak
Reid- LeBlanc- Dowd
MacMillan- Christian- Oslund


Lauridsen- Jensen
Gravel- Barta
Zabkowicz- Johnson


Lee- Dun

Other Important Game Day Links:

• "A rocky campaign"- talks about the struggles of the St. Cloud State Hockey team this season despite its preseason aspirations for WCHA dominance. The article has a couple good Coach Motzko quotes including, “For us, it’s all about the playoffs."
• SiouxSports.com- "Weekend Preview: UND vs. St. Cloud State"- Again, more discussion of St. Cloud not living up to its standards or expections and some good stats and numbers on both teams. 
• Each year the Huskies and the Sioux fight for the Challenge Cup. The Cup is awarded to the school that wins the majority of the games during the 4 regular season match-ups between these two rivals. Some good history and information about the cup can be found in this article, "UND/SCSU Challenge Cup"
• You can find some more stats and numbers about these two teams coming into this weekends games in this article, "Border Battle comes with playoff implications for Minnesota, Wisconsin"
• Previous reports, said that the Fighting Sioux would be wearing their "lucky" black third jerseys. However, according to another source, the Huskies have asked to wear their black jerseys this weekend and will be showing them off this weekend.
• The St. Cloud Times recently published an article titled, "He's adding up to key role at SCSU" about Jared Festler and his improving play with the Huskies.

GO HUSKIES!!!

....and bring home the Cup!!!


(....well at least get a sweep so we can share the Cup with the Sioux)

SCSU/ UND Challenge Cup

SCSU vs. UND Alumni Edition

Husky Alum Matt Cullen!

How fitting with the SCSU vs. UND game coming this weekend?

Yesterday when the Minnesota Wild played against the Chicago Blackhawks on national TV, audiences got to see a couple of the most illustrious alumni from St. Cloud State (Matt Cullen/ MN Wild) and the University of North Dakota (Jonathan Toews/ CHI Blackhawks). As my wife is from Illinois and I am from South Dakota (South Dakotans generally cheer for MN based sports team...for obvious reasons) we were a house divided. I was really hoping the Wild would get the win, as nearly every Western Conference team is fighting tooth and nail for points; however, Toews and the Blackhawks ended up with the win 3-1. Luckily for Husky fans, we do have some bragging rights in that Matt Cullen scored the Wild's lone goal on a pretty play from Jared Spurgeon while Toews was held off the board. Don't get me wrong, because of my wife's team of choice I am cheering for the Blackhawks on every other night that they are not playing the Wild and I am a fan of Jonathan Toews (in fact I have a new Toews jersey from of my in-laws). The Minnesota Wild needs to get back some of their winning ways soon if they want to make the push for the playoffs. You can see the video recap here:




By the way, if you had not heard, Matt Cullen and John Madden has been named alternate captains for the remainder of the season for the Wild.

Bonus Alumni News:

Husky alum, Andreas Nodl does it all...he scores and he saves for the Philadelphia Flyers:




Go Huskies!

...Heading Into Fighting Sioux Weekend

Here are a couple links and notes about this weekends match up against rival Fighting Sioux:

• According to Goon's World the Fighting Sioux will wear their alternate black jerseys. I remember reading somewhere that the Sioux do pretty well wearing black. If you have any stats on this post them in the comments please.
• According to the Grand Forks Herald in an article title, "UND Fighting Sioux hockey: A lengthy drought on Friday nights", the Sioux have not won a game at the National Hockey Center on a Friday night in well over a decade. Let's hope we continue that streak eh?
• From the CIC twitter page: The annual UND/ SCSU pregame social will be held at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites (Legends bar) in St. Cloud from 4:00-6:00 PM Saturday. Food and Prizes will be given away. This is a great tradition between some of the most passionate fan bases in collegiate hockey so if you are available make sure you stop by. 
• Speaking of the Center Ice Club, the Bob Motzko Coaches Show is now available.
• The Center Ice Club player of the week was Oliver Lauridson for his +3 rating and 3 assists against UMD.
• Also earning an award this week was freshmen Nick Jensen. Jensen is the WCHA Rookie of the Week. Also nominated was Mike Lee for Defensive Player of the Week and Jared Festler for Offensive Player of the Week. 
• Mick Hatten at the St. Cloud Times has some interesting notes from last weekend. Included are the fact that representatives from the Pittsburgh Penguins were on hand for Friday night's 8-2 Huskies win where Hanowski had two goals and an assist in the game. Also some good stuff on the improvement of special teams and the teams leading scorers in the second half. 
• St. Cloud State University will salute Hockey Weekend Across America on Feb. 18-19, as the Huskies will play host to the University of North Dakota in WCHA men's hockey action at the National Hockey Center.
• On Saturday, Feb. 26 when the Huskies host the University of Wisconsin Badgers at the NHC, SCSU will be wearing special "throwback" jerseys from the mid-1960s. This will be an excellent opportunity for Husky fans to purchase a one-of-a-kind, game-worn Husky sweater.   For more information on the silent auction, please call Scott Schreiner at 320-308-2293.

Sweet Retro Sweaters!

Some videos for you!






GO HUSKIES!!!!

A Good Weekend!

The St. Cloud State Huskies had a good weekend destroying the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs Friday night and getting a tie on Saturday. In Friday nights slaughter of the Bulldogs, Nick Oslund, Nick Jensen, Jared Festler, Ben Hanowski, Mitch MacMillan, Nic Dowd, Drew LeBlanc all notched a goal. Additionally, several Huskies had multi-point nights and Roe (3A), Jensen (1g/2a), Lauridsen (3a) and Hanowski (2g/1a) all had 3 points in the game. This is the offensively deep and talented team that we heard so much about in the preseason. The win snapped a three-game losing skid for the Huskies. You can read more about the game here:

• Huskies blast Bulldogs, 8-2
• Huskies Stun #3 Minnesota Duluth, 8-2
• St. Cloud dominates No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth, 8–2

You can see a video from the night here:



On Saturday the Huskies brought back the same intensity they displayed on Saturday. Jared Festler and Travis Novak both put a goal in during the first period. Aaron Marvin came in strong right away in the second period by lighting the lamp just 23 seconds in, making the score 3-0 Huskies. Unfortunatly, the Bulldogs fought back to make the final score 3-3. (At least the didn't completely blow a 3 goal lead like last weekend). During the INCH podcast this week, the Saturday game was discussed as whether the tie feels like a win or a loss. The commentators said that this tie would feel like a major win for the Bulldogs after Friday night and going down 3 goals early on Saturday night. However, taking 3 points away from the Bulldogs this weekend, would you say the tie felt like a loss for the Huskies? Because of the awesome play Friday and the 3 goal lead Saturday I would say the tie kind of feels like a loss for Husky fans; however, taking 3 points from the Bulldogs does not seem like a bad weekend to me. You can read more about the games here:

• Huskies Bring Back Three Points from UMD
• Huskies hang on to tie Bulldogs
• Hendrickson goal caps Minnesota-Duluth rally in tie with St. Cloud

Other News and Notes:

• The Huskies will play rival the University of North Dakota this weekend. You can read a little about the ticket information here and about TV viewing here. (I will have more on this series later this week).
• According to the KVSC twitter page, there may have been an incident with Aaron Marvin slashing Jack Connolly this weekend. (I did not see it, so I will refrain from commenting on whether it warrants disciplinary action or not). With Marvin's history with UND there could be added controversy if he does not get any kind of game suspension and plays the Sioux this weekend.
• Former Husky goaltender Jase Weslosky is heading to the AHL team Toronto Marlies.
• This weeks INCH podcast also said that St. Cloud State has been "incredibly" better during the second half of the season and would be a "team you would not want to face" in the first round of the WCHA conference playoffs. 

For another reason...

Another reason this weekend was good was that I attended a St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild game Friday night (I currently live in Memphis, TN). The game was awesome with the Wild winning in a 9-round shootout. See video below:



Go Huskies!

I've Gotta Feeling...

Mike Lee had a great 81 saves last weekend and is the CIC Player of the Week

According to Coach Bob Motzko if you are a Husky coach, player, or fan the feeling you've got is frustration. The Huskies lost twice this last weekend to the University of Nebraska-Omaha. On Friday night, the Mavs got 3 goals in about 2 minutes (literally 101 seconds) during the second period.  Other than those 101 seconds, the Huskies played a pretty good game that ended 3-0. On Saturday night, it was the Huskies who tallied 3 goals in one period, getting 3 goals in the first period. However, the Mavs fought their way back to earn the win 4-3. The Center Ice Club Twitter page "twitted" it best saying:

"4 goal comeback by UNO ices Huskies 4-3 in Omaha. Very, very frustrating loss for SCSU. 55-25 SOG UNO. This was a killer folks."

Here are your weekend re-cap links:

• SCSU Falls 3-0 at Nebraska Omaha
• Huskies suffer defeat vs. Omaha
• SCSU Falls 4-3 at UNO
• Rallying Mavs sweep the Huskies
• Men's Hockey Swept by UNO

This weekend the Huskies will go up to Duluth to face the Bulldogs in the brand new Amsoil Arena. UMD has been red hot this season and the Huskies will need to have some phenomenal play to get the sweep we so desperately need.

Here is what Goon's World had to say about this weekends match up:

"Last weekend the Huskies were swept by the UNO Mavericks in Omaha and the Bulldogs got 3-points against the Gophers in Duluth.

The Bulldogs are slowly breaking in their new Amsoil Arena, they are 2-2-1 in their new home and are 9-3-1 overall at home this season. The Huskies are 4-6-0 overall away from the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud (3-1-0 at neutral sites). The Huskies need help if they want to host a first round playoff game, which is a long shot when looking at the schedule they face. SCSU had high hopes to start the season, and most coaches and the media thought that SCSU would be a MacNaughton Cup contender this season. Now they can play spoiler role. By getting some points over the last month they can try and avoid a bottom 3 finish and avoid playing the “big boys” in the first round. The Bulldogs will get home, barring some type of historic meltdown. UMD is a puck possession team, so if SCSU wants to win, they need to play keep-away with the Bulldogs. UMD’s weakness appears to be their defensive zone coverage, followed by their net minders. The Huskies need to exploit these aspects if they want some points. SPLIT."

Some good insight here as to what the Huskies will need to do in order to get some points this weekend.

Other Notes:

• Husky recruit Garrett Hendrickson is a top 10 finalist for the Mr. Hockey award.
• Goalie Mike Lee is Center Ice Club "Player of the Week" after stopping 81 SOG vs UNO last weekend. Also listen to the Bob Motzko Coaches Show at the Center Ice Club.
• Husky Alum Ryan Malone could be out for two months. This is tough news for the Tampa Bay Lightning as they were having a great season thus far.
• Husky Alum Matt Cullen set up two goals for his second two-helper game of the season, and his eighth and nine points in the last eight games during the Minnesota Wild's last game against the CO Avalanche. Quote from Wild.com:

"It felt like Matt Cullen was out there for 60 minutes tonight. He set up two goals for his second two-helper game of the season, and his eighth and nine points in the last eight games. All night, he was hitting his teammates with passes right on the tape. He couldn’t miss, and that was huge on Madden’s game-winner. Cullen danced in the offensive zone and then put a dart onto the stick. 
He could have had one of his own on a third period power play. A tipped shot was kicked to the side of the cage. Cullen, showing no signs of being hampered by the lower body injury that sidelined him for a game, raced to the puck and fired a shot off the post. 
He didn’t score, but he did provide a huge boost to the lineup, which certainly missed him in Phoenix." 

• Oliver Lauridsen was recently featured in the St. Cloud Times in an article titled, "SCSU's Oliver Lauridsen: A big deal on the blue line". 

Well, I think that is it for now. I will be away from my computer for the next couple days. I will be back next week with recaps from the SCSU vs. UMD games.

GO HUSKIES!!

Mavs Part Two

The Huskies will need to refocus for this weekend against the Mavs

Last weekend when the Huskies played the Mavericks (Mankato) the team walked away with less than the desired result. The Huskies only come away from the weekend with 1 point after getting a tie Friday night and losing Saturday. The Huskies will need to play much better this weekend against the Mavericks (Omaha) in order to remain hopeful for home-ice come playoffs. Despite St. Cloud's loss to Mankato, it is Omaha that comes into this weekend hanging their heads low after an embarrassing non-conference loss to Alabama-Huntsville. UNO had a 59-17 shot advantage in regulation; however, the score ended at 2-1 in favor of Alabama. This win was only their fourth victory of the season. Needless to say, both the Huskies and the Mavericks will be coming into this weekend with something to prove. In the only other meeting these two teams had with each other this year, the Mavs took three of four points in the series at the National Hockey Center. With both teams hungry, I am predicting a split. However, I do not think a sweep is out of range for either team.

What They're Saying:

Goal Gophers

"Kevin:  How many times have you heard the annoying radio replay of Holy Cross beating Minnesota in overtime in the 2006 NCAAs? About a bazillion if you listen to KFAN. My guess is the Alabama-Huntsville radio folks used the same restraint in last Saturday's overtime win in Omaha. The Red Mavs might still be reeling from that punch in the gut and being 2-5-1 the last eight. Hermantown's Drew LeBlanc has the Huskies percolating in the second half, 6-1-1 the last eight. Motzko versus Blais looks like ... SPLITSVILLE

Roman: The Huskies had a seven game unbeaten string (6-0-1) snapped by a 6-2 loss to Minnesota State last Saturday. Forward Dave Eddy (3-4-7) has points in last six games. UNO split with lowly Alabama-Huntsville, winning 4-0, then losing 2-1 in OT last weekend despite 59 shots. That's Gophers-like. Six of UNO's 10 freshmen have at least 10 points and coach Dean Blais (296-141-41) is closing in on 300 wins. UNO beat SCSU 3-0 and tied the Huskies 4-4 in mid-November. ... UNO SWEEP"

WCHA Hockey Blog

The Huskies are coming off an embarrassing game at home against Mankato and the Mavs are coming off an embarrassing OT loss at home to Huntsville. The Huskies played Omaha evenly in their last meeting, and they are playing better now than the last time these two teams met (last weekend excluded). The Mavericks have come back down to earth since their hot start, and are looking very beatable.
Split. Huskies win Friday 3-2, Omaha wins Saturday 4-1

USCHO.com

"Theresa: Both teams are coming into this weekend slightly reeling from the last time they hit the ice. SCSU managed only one point from MSU while the Mavericks surprisingly split with Alabama-Huntsville. Obviously both teams will be looking for a little redemption. These teams are also, in a way, on opposite trajectories right now. SCSU’s stock is rising compared to earlier this year while UNO’s is falling. In the Huskies’ first trip to the Qwest Center, I think we’ll see a split — UNO Friday, SCSU Saturday.

Tyler: The Mavericks are not happy about Saturday’s loss to Alabama-Huntsville  and after one goal on a 59-shot night, UNO will make the most of its opportunities from now on. SCSU was hot going into last week but played completely lackluster at home against MSU. Saturday’s loss for UNO was a fluke, especially with Terry Broadhurst’s offensive abilities back in the lineup. UNO sweeps this one, putting the Mavericks back in the NCAA playoff picture and in contention for a home playoff series."

Goon's World

"Last weekend the Huskies got 1-point against the MSUM Mavericks in St. Cloud and the UNO Mavericks split with the UAH Chargers in Omaha.

The Huskies were riding a six game win streak until last weekend. SCSU fans are hoping that was just a blip, and then can get back on track this weekend against the other Mavericks. These teams met in St. Cloud back in mid November with UNO grabbing 3-points that weekend. The Mavericks started the season red hot, but have cooled their heels in 2011. The Huskies have done better this half, after a few players were let go from the team. I kind of wonder if it was those players affecting the others, like one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Anyway they’re playing like everyone thought they would be playing the whole season. One thing for sure is there will be lots of red, white, and black at the Qwest Center this weekend. SPLIT"

That makes the total 2=UNO Sweep, 0=Huskies Sweep, and 5=Split. 

Other Links

• Mavs aim for another finishing kick- Story about this weekend's games
• Some comments on the SCSU/Nebraska-Omaha men's hockey series, a note on coverage this weekend
• Strong Gravel solid for SCSU- Good story on Freshmen Kevin Gravel
• Center Ice Club- Garrett Roe is player of the week and Coach Bob Motzko Show
• Perseverance pays dividends for Hendricks- Great story on NHL.com about Husky alum Matt Hendricks
• New Blade makes quick impact- Tony Mosey drama continues....(ugh)

Video from last time:



GO HUSKIES!