Husky Hockey Time

"A Good Rivalry" = A Great Game

2011-11-17T17:55:00.001-06:00

GO HUSKIES!

This weekend the Huskies will face their long standing I-94 rival the University of Minnesota Gophers. If you have been following the Gophers thus far this season, to say they are doing very well is an understatement. Going into the weekend the Gophers are 7-1 WCHA, 10-2 overall and are coming off a split at Wisconsin. Meanwhile the Huskies are 3-2-1, 5-5-2 and are coming off a split at MSU-Mankato. This weekends games should be a big test for the Huskies and a great opportunity for them to prove that they are still strong despite the major losses of captains Drew LeBlanc and Mike Lee. Gophers Coach Don Lucia had this to say about the Huskies:

"We know that when we go to St. Cloud, the place is going to be packed and the students are excited. I am sure they will have a little high-fuel octane in their system when we get there. But that is what makes it fun. It is a good atmosphere. It is a good rivalry."

The Huskies will face the Gophers at the National Hockey Center on Friday night. Fans can watch the game on Fox Sports North. Saturday night the rivalry continues down at Mariucci. Because of the Wild game, you will have to find the game on an alternate channel (check here). Fans can expect a high-energy, exciting game so be sure to watch. Go Huskies!

Links:

Videos:

Center Ice Club Player of the Week Cory Thorson discussing the Huskies vs Gophers game

UND Video from a few weeks ago with the MacMillian brothers

Go Huskies!!!

Split Weekend at Mankato

2011-11-14T18:31:00.000-06:00

Huskies Get Split at Mankato

The St. Cloud State Huskies were only able to manage a split this weekend against the Mankato State Mavericks losing Friday night and winning Saturday. The Friday night loss marks the first loss for the Huskies on a Friday night this season. The Huskies powerplay was ineffective going 0-for-5. Goaile Ryan Faragher continued to look pretty good despite letting 4 goals in. Unfortunately, the Huskies took another five-minute major penalty. It was the sixth major penalty taken by the Huskies for the season, the third straight game that they have had one. The goal scorers for the Huskies were Brooks Bertsch (Sam Zabkowicz, Jared Festler) and Cory Thorson (Mitch MacMillan).

Read About the Game:

The Huskies came out determined Saturday night scoring 2 goals in the first 2 minutes and getting another one in the first period. The goal scorers for the Huskies were Cory Thorson (Jarrod Rabey, Mitch MacMillan), Ben Hanowski (Andrew Prochno), and David Eddy (Kevin Gravel, Hanowski). The win on Saturday night was the first WCHA Saturday win this season for the Huskies this season. The Huskies went scoreless on the powerplay (0-for-3) again Saturday night. The lack of senior captain Drew LeBlanc was very evident on special teams this weekend. Mankato outshot the Huskies 31-19 in the contest. The Huskies will need to improve its special teams, stay out of the box, and figure out how to get more shots on goal before meeting with the Gophers next weekend.

Read About the Game:

Down, Not Out

2011-11-10T19:19:00.002-06:00

Huskies are now without two of their three leaders. Down, but not out.

The Huskies came back Saturday night against the Wisconsin Badgers and ended up with a 3-3 tie and 3 out of 4 points on the weekend. The Huskies were up 3-1 until about the last 5 minutes of the third period. Unfortunately, penalties (which were fairly inconsistent all night) cost the Huskies the weekend sweep. The major story of the weekend though was senior captain Drew LeBlanc breaking his leg in two places after a bad fall into the boards. Now, with both Mike Lee and Drew LeBlanc out with injuries, two of the Huskies leaders and best players are out for what looks like at least until sometime in January, if not later. The Huskies are definitely in a tight spot, but the deep talent and the strong freshmen performances by goalie Ryan Faragher and defensemen Jarrod Rabey and Andrew Prochno should help.

This weekend the Huskies will head to Mankato to face the Mankato State University Mavericks. The Mavericks vs. SCSU series has always been one I enjoy and will be one of the opponents I will miss when the great shift in conferences happen in a couple of years. The Mavericks have not been great yet this year, but they have had a lot of early injuries. Last weekend they were able to beat a very hot Michigan Teah team. It should be a good series; however, I am hoping and expecting a Husky sweep.

Links:

Videos:

Go Huskies!!!

Huskies Beat Badgers

2011-11-05T14:34:00.002-05:00

Huskies Blast 7 Goals Past Badgers

The St. Cloud State Huskies beat the Wisconsin Badgers Friday night at the National Hockey Center 7-2. Special teams were awesome scoring 2 goals on the powerplay and 1 shorthanded goal while killing all 5 Wisconsin powerplays. Freshman defender Andrew Prochno continued his impressive play this season scoring a power play slapshot from the blueline. Junior forward David Eddy finally got his first (and second) goals of the season. Nic Dowd scored an awesome shorthanded breakaway goal. Captain Ben Hanowski looked great scoring 2 goals. Overall a great team effort with lots of contributions.

SCSU scoring looked like this:

1st Period:

Andrew Prochno (Cam Reid)
David Eddy (Nic Dowd)

2nd Period:

Cory Thorson (Mitch MacMillan, Tim Daly)
Eddy (Jared Festler, Sam Zabkowicz)

3rd Period:

Ben Hanowski (Cam Reid, Nick Jensen)
Nic Dowd (Nick Jensen)
Ben Hanowski (Drew LeBlanc, Kevin Gravel)

Notes from the Game:

Jared Feslter may be injured for tonight. If he is not in the lineup expect to see either freshmen Garrett Milan or Brooks Bertsch.
Freshman Tim Daly played in place of junior Taylor Johnson who as been out with pneumonia.
David Eddy received a game misconduct on what sounds like an accidental issue with his mask getting caught on a Wisconsin player.
Three stars of the game: 1. Eddy, 2. Dowd, 3. Hanowski.
Freshman goalie Ryan Faragher had 26 saves between the pipes going 2-2-0 on the season with a 2.03 GAA and a .935 save rate.
Drew LeBlanc is getting very close to 100 career points as a Husky. He now has 97 career points.

Links:

Videos:

Go Huskies!!!

Huskies outplay Sioux; PK costs Huskies the Sweep

2011-11-02T18:04:00.001-05:00

Freshman Ryan Faragher stops all 44 UND shots to win 4-0

It is always exciting when the St. Cloud State Huskies take on rival the UND Sioux. The Husky fan base got a big surprise Friday afternoon when we learned that #1 goalie Mike Lee did not make the trip to Grand Forks and is “for sure, out a couple of weeks” with an injury. Instead freshmen goaltender Ryan Faragher, who had previously only played one collegiate game and had not yet played in the WCHA, would be between the pipes against perennial hockey powerhouse UND. Faragher did not disappoint in his WCHA opener stopping all 44 UND shots, earning a shutout, on the way to a 4-0 Husky victory. The Huskies were badly outshot, but that was largely due to the fact the Huskies spent a good part of the night on the penalty kill. Although it is great the Huskies were able to kill the penalties Friday night, they will need to be more disciplined as the penalties could cost the Huskies games in the future (see Saturday night's game). The goal scorers for the Friday's game included: Jared Festler, Andrew Prochno, Sam Zabkowicz, Travis Novak.

Read about Friday's Game:

Video:

Unfortunately, the Huskies were not able to pull out the same impressive win on Saturday night. In the end it was the penalties that cost the Huskies the game as the Sioux scored 2 powerplay goals going 2-for-4 on the night. The Huskies showed a lot of strength in the third period by outshooting North Dakota by an impressive 12-6 margin. The lone goal scorer for the Huskies was Ben Hanowski. Freshman goalie Ryan Faragher had another very good night with 23 saves in the loss for SCSU.

Read about Saturday's Game:

Other Fun Stuff:

Faragher's awesome weekend earns him WCHA Rookie of the Week
Listen to this week in the WCHA
Listen to the Bob Motzko Show
Ryan Faragher is also the Center Ice Club player of the week
Student Ticket Pick-up for SCSU-UM Game Starts Nov. 14
Husky Player Profile - Drew LeBlanc
Movemver begins---Please donate generously ;)

A Look Ahead

The SCSU Huskies will return to the National Hockey Center on Friday, Nov. 4 (7:37 PM) and Saturday, Nov. 5 (7:07 PM) for games against the University of Wisconsin Badgers. The games will be televised live on Charter Cable Channel 87 in the St. Cloud area. The game on Nov. 5 will be televised live in the Twin Cities on Comcast Cable (channel 13 in St. Paul/channel 23 in Minneapolis). Wisconsin is coming off a split with UNO.

First WCHA Games - Huskies vs Sioux

2011-10-27T17:34:00.000-05:00

Huskies will play the Sioux this weekend at The Ralph

This weekend the Huskies will begin their WCHA play at the University of North Dakota. The UND vs SCSU rivalry has been pretty heated over the last few years. With the conference reshuffling in the next couple years, it is only likely that the rivalry will increase. The Huskies and the Sioux have a traveling trophy (The Challenge Cup) which is awarded to the team that collects the most points in the four regular-season games between the schools. Additionally, the Huskies and the Sioux have an annual event to provide an opportunity for fans of the University of North Dakota and St. Cloud State University to gather and celebrate the great sport of hockey as the connection between the two fan bases is among the best in college hockey. You can read more about the Challenge Cup and the annual social event at the link below:

UND/SCSU fan social set for Saturday, October 29th

The SCSU - UND Challenge Cup

Some things to consider about this weekend:

UND was swept last weekend by Wisconsin
SCSU put in 10 goals last weekend and earned 3 of 4 points
Mike Lee is on fire, 44 saves in his last game
The Huskies record isn't great at 2-3-1, but 1 of those losses was in OT and 2 of them came from Northern Michigan, who just last weekend beat the (former) #1 team Michigan
The Fighting Sioux record is also 2-3-1

All this is NOT to say that this weekend will be an easy weekend for the Huskies or to say that the Fighting Sioux are doing "bad". It is too early to tell if the Huskies or Fighting Sioux are "bad". I am saying that this should be a very good weekend with two teams that have had early highs and lows. This will be a good test for each team and both will be playing hard in Grand Forks come Friday and Saturday night. I fully believe that the Fighting Sioux are currently (and will be at the end of the season) one of the best teams in collegiate hockey. This is a great weekend for the Huskies to try and start claiming some WCHA points and start climbing up the national poll ratings.

Links:

SCSU Men's Hockey to Battle UND
SCSU's LeBlanc closing in on a milestone
Goon's Weekly Predictions 10-28-10-29 UND fans predict a UND sweep
Listen to the Bob Motzko Show from the Center Ice Club

About the Games:

Oct. 28, 2011: St. Cloud State at #12/13 North Dakota, 7:37 p.m.
Oct. 29, 2011: St. Cloud State at #12/13 North Dakota, 7:07 p.m.
Listen at http://www.1450knsi.com or http://www.kvsc.org
Watch on Fox College Sports Central, Charter Cable Channel 416, and DirecTV Channel 617

Video:

Drew LeBlanc on this weekend against North Dakota:

Husky alum Ryan Malone's pretty game winning goal:

Go Huskies!!!

3-Point Weekend, Videos

2011-10-24T17:35:00.000-05:00

Lee was in top form Saturday night at the National Hockey Center

The Huskies finished their first weekend at home Saturday night with a 3-3 tie to take 3 out of 4 points from the weekend. The tie is largely in thanks to a phenomenal 44 save effort by Mike Lee. The 3 Husky goal scorers were Sophomore forward Cam Reid (with an assist from Drew LeBlanc), senior forward Jared Festler (with assists from Cam Reid and freshman defender Andrew Prochno), and lastly from sophomore forward Nic Dowd (with assists from junior forward David Eddy and junior forward Ben Hanowski). The Huskies will take on the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux next weekend in Grand Forks, ND for the Huskies first WCHA games of the season. Definitely and interesting way to start out WCHA play. On the bright side UND was swept by Wisconsin this last weekend proving the Sioux may not be as strong as predicted. Of course, on the other side, it means the Fighting Sioux will be hungry to prove themselves. More on that later....

Links:

Video:

Extras:

Special Teams Win Home Opener

2011-10-22T16:39:00.001-05:00

Huskies Win First Home Game of the '11-'12 Season!

The Husky home opener did not disappoint. The SCSU Huskies beat the UNH Wildcats 7-5 in an exciting, high-scoring game. The Huskies were 4-for-5 on the power play and had 37 shots on net. At two separate points in the contest the Huskies had 3-point leads. This was my first opportunity to see them play (on channel 13-Comcast in the Minneapolis area) and they looked pretty darn good. The team played with a lot of energy and a lot of players had great nights. Drew LeBlanc and Ben Hanowski each had four-point nights with 1g/3a apiece. Nick Jensen and Travis Novak also impressed with 1g/2a apiece and Cam Reid had 1g/1a. Other young players Cory Thorson (energy), Andrew Prochno (positioning, assist), and Jarrod Rabey (monster slap shot goal from the blueline) all were very impressive. Goaltender Mike Lee made 28 saves and looked good despite the 5 goals allowed. A couple of the UNH goals were made off bad bounces/deflections. Lee also had some nice times were he came out a bit and played the puck. Overall, a great way to start at home!

Links:

Video:

Extras:

He's transitioning to a backup role
TV's Rich is going back to college
SCSU alum Matt Cullen continues to impress with the Minnesota Wild. Scoring yet again in the shootout:

Tonight:
SCSU will return to the ice on Saturday, Oct. 22 with a 7:07 p.m. game against UNH at the NHC.

You can listen to the game on KNSI AM 1450 (www.1450knsi.com) or KVSC FM 88.1 (www.kvsc.org).

You can watch the game live on Charter Cable channel 87 in the St. Cloud area and it will be televised live on Comcast Channel 13 in St. Paul and Channel 23 in the Minneapolis market.

You can also follow along on the live blog at the SCSU Hockey homepage.

GO HUSKIES!!!

Home Opener This Weekend

2011-10-20T19:17:00.000-05:00

This weekend the Huskies will play their first home series of the hockey season against the University of New Hampshire. The Huskies have not faced the UNH Wildcats since 2003 when the Huskies were beat 5-2 in the NCAA DI Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass. The Wildcats are off to a 0-3 start this season. They are definitely a frustrated team right now, and that should not make things any easier for the Huskies this weekend.

"We had a lot of Grade A, quality scoring chances in that last game that we didn't put away. We've made some bad turnovers that have ended up in the back of our net. We've had poor puck management and we're not scoring. I think we're all a little frustrated that we're not scoring any goals. The remedy for that is that we're getting on a plane to travel." ~ UNH Coach Dick Umile

Coach Bob Motzko warns not take the Wildcats 0-3 slow start for granted.

"They're a perennial, one of the best teams in the country. It's a proud program. I think all of us learned a long time ago that you can't judge a lot by the early going. They outshot Boston College pretty good (40-25 in a 5-1 loss) the other night. I don't know what their ailments are, but nobody's feeling sorry for New Hampshire. There aren't many teams that have as many wins as that program in the last couple dozen years. They're a superb program. I'm looking forward to them coming in to St. Cloud and returning to see them out there in a year." ~ Coach Bob Motzko

Links:

Fun Stuff:

College Hockey, Inc. Contest SCSU Lee's helmet versus MSU's Cook's - Go vote for Lee
INCH - Recruiting Trail: Top 20 Defensemen SCSU Freshmen Andrew Prochno and Tim Daly made the list

Don't Hit the Panic Button Yet

2011-10-18T18:18:00.000-05:00

The Huskies were swept this weekend by the Northern Michigan Wildcats. On Saturday night the Huskies lost the the nonconference contest 3-2. The Wildcats came out strong and took a 2-0 lead over the Huskies in the first. The Huskies two goals came from freshman Joey Holka and senior forward Jared Festler with assists coming from sophomore Cory Thorson with freshman Jarrod Rabey and junior David Eddy with senior Drew LeBlanc respectively. Some bright spots in this slow start include:

Freshmen Jarrod Rabey now has 1g/2a in 2011-12 and owns a two-game scoring streak.
Senior forward Jared Festler has already posted his third goal of the season.
Senior Drew LeBlanc has 1g/4a for five points already.
Freshman Ryan Faragher had 23 saves in his first college hockey game.

Links:

Coach Bob Motzko has pointed out a couple of negative and positive sides of the Huskies play thus far this season:

"This is our fourth game now and there’s a common pattern there. We’re letting guys get in behind us. We’re not being responsible right now when we don’t have the puck."

"Our freshmen made some strides here the last two weeks. I’ve been throwing them in there and they’ve been fine. They’re chipping away getting some goals for us."

In this week's Bob Motzko's Radio Show, Coach Motzko was quick to point out that Husky fans should not be hitting the "panic button" yet. While I totally agree with this assessment of the season so far, I am also a little nervous. Motzko had this same attitude last season...all the way up until Christmas break. To his credit, he was absolutely correct that the Huskies were a better team than their record and were able to bounce back (second best team only to UND in the second half). Unfortunately, the wins came too late in the season for the Huskies. I trust Coach Motzko will be doing more this season to make sure the guys get more wins earlier in the season this year.

Center Ice Club:

The CIC Players of the Week are Senior forward Jared Festler and first-year defenseman Jarrod Rabey.
You can hear the Bob Motzko Radio Show at the CIC Homepage.

Bonus Stuff:

Kingsford’s Gravel making impact as sophomore with St. Cloud State hockey team

Huskies lose at NMU

2011-10-15T16:04:00.000-05:00

Huskies lose to the Wildcats

The Huskies were unable to come away with a win against Northern Michigan Friday night. The Huskies lost 5-2 in the battle. According to Coach Bob Motzko, the team looked pretty good, but the Wildcats were able to convert on the three mistakes the Huskies made.

"You’re not going to hear me say this many times after a 5-2 loss, but we were pretty good tonight. We were victimized a few times by our own mistakes. We made three mistakes and they scored on all three of them." ~Coach Motzko

Freshman defender Jarrod Rabey scored the first goal of the game and his first as a Husky. Assists on the play came from sophomore Cam Reid and senior Drew LeBlanc. The only other Husky to score was senior Jared Festler with assists from Drew LeBlanc and junior Ben Hanowski. Festler and LeBlanc are both on three-game point streaks.

Links

Today's Bonus:

Listen to the Bob Motzko Coach's Show

The National Hockey Center Zamboni---New Paint Job

St. Cloud at Northern Michigan

2011-10-14T18:27:00.000-05:00

Hey Folks! Not a whole lot of time this week, but some great stuff on the game this weekend against Northern Michigan. Should be a pretty exciting match up. Here is what USCHO.com had to say about it:

Tyler: "The Huskies have too many question marks to predict a sweep and the Wildcats were very close to leaving Madison with a sweep last weekend. This one will be a challenge for SCSU, but I think the Huskies earn a split on the U.P."

Brian: "SCSU coach Bob Motzko returns to the scene of his first win at the helm of the Huskies, a 3-2 OT win over NMU on Oct. 15, 2005, to split Motzko's debut series. After a season-opening 4-1 win over Alaska in the Kendall Hockey Classic at Anchorage, the Huskies coughed up a 2-0 third-period lead and lost 4-3 in overtime to Alaska-Anchorage. Similarly, the Wildcats left Madison with split after a pair of 3-2 contests after blowing 2-0 leads in each game. The Huskies lead the all-time series 21-15-1 but are just 6-12 at Marquette. It all boils down to a hard-earned split for each."

Video:

If you don't remember the Huskies scored one of the most important goals in Husky History against Northern Michigan, when the Huskies finally were able to win a game in the NCAA tournament

Interview with Coach Bob Motzko:

Links:

Other Goodies:

Oh...and Husky alum Matt Cullen continues to WOW with the Minnesota Wild. He has scored 3 goals in 4 games. Also, has scored 2 shootout goals in 2 attempts. For those with poor math skills, that is 5 goals in 4 games. WOW! Makes us all proud to say he is a Husky!

A Couple of Great NHL Goals by Husky Alums

2011-10-10T18:44:00.002-05:00

St. Cloud State alum Matt Cullen scored the first goal of the NHL season for the Minnesota Wild. Cullen's goal was also the fastest goal scored in the home opening game in Wild history. Check out this beauty!

Oh yeah...Cullen also scored the first and only goal of the Wild's second game as well:

Check out this assist from Andrew Gordon while playing with the Ducks in Sweden:

The NHL season has only just begun, but former Huskies are doing us proud!

Bad 3rd Period Leads to 4-3 OT Loss at UAA

2011-10-10T18:20:00.000-05:00

The Huskies lost their second game of the season against the University of Alaska-Anchorage at the Kendall Classic on Saturday night. The Huskies had a two goal lead going into the 3rd period. While this is very disappointing, this is the kind of thing that happens early in the season. For UAA, Mickey Spencer (now leading the nation in goals) was the difference maker. Spencer scored 3 of the 4 UAA goals. The University of Alaska-Anchorage ends up as the official Kendall Classic Tournament winner with their win against Clarkson and OT win over the Huskies. Despite not being crowned tournament winners, SCSU fans still have plenty to be proud of. The All Tournament team consisted of:

Matt Bailey, Alaska Annchorage
Colton Beck, Alaska Fairbanks
Jared Festler, St. Cloud State
Mike Lee, St. Cloud State
Travis Novak, St. Cloud State
Mark Pustin Alaska Anchorage

The Huskies have a lot to work on and this past weekend should be an important lesson for them.

"I liked us a lot early in the game, and this is a good lesson. We were in (Anchorage’s) building. It was their tournament and they turned up the intensity. We have to give them full credit for scratching back into it and putting the game away." ~Coach Motzko

One of the first things the Huskies will need to work on is shooting the puck. For the second straight night, the Huskies were outshot. St. Cloud State was outshot by the Seawolves 32-24 in the game. With the Huskies significant scoring threats, they need to start putting more goals on net. Here is your scoring for Saturday nights game:

1st Period:

SCSU – Travis Novak (Jared Festler, Nick Jensen) 5:12 (pp)

2nd Period:

None

3rd Period:

SCSU – Cam Reid (Drew LeBlanc, Taylor Johnson) 3:29 (pp)
UAA – Kwas (Brett Cameron, Mickey Spencer) 5:04
UAA – Spencer (Nalsund, Bailey), 12:28 (pp)
UAA – Spencer 3 (Cameron, Quinn Sproule)
SCSU – Festler 1 (Johnson), 19:17

Overtime:

UAA – Spencer 4 (Kwas, Cameron), 3:06

Read About It:

Go Huskies!!!

Huskies Win 1st Game of the Season; SCSU 4-UAF 1

2011-10-08T10:10:00.000-05:00

Huskies Beat the Nanooks 4-1 in Season Opener

The Huskies started this season off right with a win over the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks. The Huskies beat the Nanooks 4-1 in the season opener. Despite being pleased with the win, Huskies coach Bob Motzko said, "We made a load of a mistakes". One of those mistakes is failing to shoot the puck. The Huskies were outshot by the Nanooks 24-15. I don't think the Huskies registered a shot on goal until half way through the third period. In that same time period the Nanooks had put 7 or 8 on Mike Lee. The Huskies will have to shoot the puck more and NOT let up if they are going to have this same type of success against WCHA teams. Some of the good news includes Mike Lee's strong performance in net. It doesn't seem like the off-season surgery has slowed him down any. I've hear that good things happen when goal-scoreers score. That most certainly happened during this game with Dowd, Novak, Hanowski, and LeBlanc all netting a goal. The scoring looked like this:

1st Period:

SCSU — Nic Dowd 1 (Jared Festler, Jarrod Rabey) 9:30

UAF — Cody Kunyk 1 (Aaron Gens) 13:38 (pp)

2nd Period:

SCSU — Travis Novak 1 (unassisted) 9:59

SCSU — Ben Hanowski 1 (unassisted) 12:14

3rd Period:

SCSU — Drew LeBlanc 1 (Festler) 17:18 (en)

The Huskies will return to action tonight against WCHA opponent University of Alaska-Anchorage in the Kendall Classic finale. The game starts at 10:07 PM (CST) and can be seen at the UAA Seawolves website at www.goseawolves.com

Links:

Go Huskies!!!

Let the Hockey Begin: Kendall Classic

2011-10-07T17:14:00.000-05:00

Huskies will begin the 2011-2012 season this weekend at the Kendall Classic in Anchorage, Alaska. On Friday, Oct. 7th the St. Cloud State Huskies will face the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks at 8:07 PM (CT). The Huskies will then play host the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves at 10:07 PM (CT) on Saturday, Oct. 8th.

Follow the Game:

Things to Read:

Prediction:

My prediction is that St. Cloud will come away from this tournament with wins on both Friday and Saturday night. It is always hard to predict early games because we have not really seen how good teams are yet. To add to the prognostication problems, these are non-conference, exhibition games so the teams will likely not be rolling their "normal" lines and be playing different goalies. Irregardless, the Huskies should be able to come away from this trip with their first wins of the season.

For Fun:

Go Huskies!!!

Get Caught Up on some Husky Hockey

2011-10-06T18:53:00.000-05:00

Mike Lee's New Goalie Helmet

Get caught up on Husky Hockey before the season begins. Here are some of the best recent articles out there. Be sure to check them out:

Go Huskies!!!

'11-'12 WCHA Blogger Poll Official Results

2011-10-04T17:43:00.000-05:00

Well folks...here are the official results of the 2011-2012 WCHA Blogger Poll:
(P.S. You can find my ballot here)

Team

Denver (10) 196
Colorado College (4) 179
North Dakota (2) 175
Nebraska-Omaha 141
Minnesota-Duluth (1) 140
Minnesota 124.5
Wisconsin 100
St. Cloud State 92
Alaska-Anchorage 68.5
Bemidji State 52
Michigan Tech 30
Minnesota State-Mankato 28

All-Conference Team (15 Voters):
F - Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College
F - Jason Zucker, Denver
F - Jack Connolly, Minnesota-Duluth
D - Justin Schultz, Wisconsin
D - Ben Blood, North Dakota
G - Aaron Dell, North Dakota

Player of the Year:
Jason Zucker, Denver (9)
Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College (8)

Rookie of the Year:
Rocco Grimaldi, North Dakota (14)
Jayson Megna, Nebraska-Omaha (1)
Joey LaLeggia, Denver (1)
Josh Archibald, Nebraska-Omaha (1)

Defenseman of the Year (16 Voters):
Justin Schultz, Wisconsin (11)
Ben Blood, North Dakota (4)
Nick Jensen, St. Cloud State (1)

Breakout Player of the Year (16 Voters):
Beau Bennett, Denver (2)
JT Brown, Minnesota-Duluth (2)
Zach Budish, Minnesota (2)
10 Other Players Received 1 Vote

So Husky Hockey fans we are back to being under ranked in the preseason. Hopefully this will work as motivation and the Huskies will have a phenomenal year.

What do you think of the results???

Go Huskies!

Video of SCSUs Move to the NCHC

2011-10-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

Check out a couple of good videos by UTVS regarding the Huskies move to the NCHC:

'11-'12 WCHA Blogger Poll

2011-10-03T19:37:00.000-05:00

My votes for the 2011-2012 WCHA Blogger Poll:

Team Standings

Denver University
University of North Dakota
Colorado College
St. Cloud State University
University of Minnesota-Duluth
University of Nebraska-Omaha
University of Minnesota
University of Wisconsin
University of Alaska-Anchorage
Minnesota State University
Bemidji State
Michigan Tech University

All Conference:

F- Jack Connolly (UMD)

F- Jaden Schwartz (CC)

F- Jason Zucker (DU)

D- Ben Blood (UND)

D- Nick Jensen (SCSU)

G- Mike Lee (SCSU)

Player Awards:

Player of the Year - Jason Zucker (DU)

Rookie of the Year - Rocco Grimaldi (CC)

Defenseman of the Year - Nick Jensen (SCSU)

Breakout Player of the Year - Ben Hanowski (SCSU)

St. Cloud State Thoughts:

Let's get this out of the way first...last year was a disappointment. The Huskies were picked by most to be one of the top (if not the top) team in the WCHA. Instead the Huskies were only able to finish the year at number nine. Why then do I still keep the Huskies at number 4??? The only reason the Huskies finished below expectations was because an UNBELIEVABLY BAD start. Keep this in mind...looking only at the second half of the season, the Huskies were the second best team in the WCHA (only UND had a better 2nd half record). Coming into the WCHA playoffs nearly everyone believed the Huskies would beat eventual Frozen Four winner UMD. The truth is, the last 2-3 months of the 2010-2011 college hockey season, St. Cloud State was one of the best teams in the nation. The Huskies have a lot of great players returning like Mike Lee, Drew LeBlanc, Ben Hanowski, and wonderful newcomers like Nick Oliver, Andrew Prochno, and Garrett Milan. This year will be better. I expect the Huskies to go back to the usual---being underrated in the preseason and finishing the year a good 2-4 spots ahead of most peoples preseason predictions.

I will post the final 2011-2012 WCHA Blogger Poll results when they come in.

Go Huskies!

St. Cloud State Joins The National

2011-09-22T19:14:00.000-05:00

The National 'Just Got Tougher' with the addition of SCSU

St. Cloud State made an historic announcement today formally excepting an invitation to join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (aka "The National"...formerly the "Super Conference). Some good quotes from today's announcement:

“We are delighted to join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. We believe that the conference’s strength of play and commitment to college hockey and student athletes is strong and deep and we look forward to an exciting future with The National.” ~President Earl Potter

"We’re going into one competitive hockey league with some great hockey programs." ~Coach Bob Motzko

"I spent 32 years in the WCHA as a player, assistant coach, head coach and athletic director. When you look at it, there’s a certain tenderness and sadness that what transpired happened. But it is what it is. It happened. You can’t change what happened. As an institution, the trick is to look forward and to see what’s in the best interest of the institution and the community." ~Special Adviser Gino Gasparini

"...on behalf of the entire association, we want to take this time to wish the Huskies and their men’s hockey program all the best in the future. St. Cloud State has been a valued and productive member of the WCHA." ~WCHA commissioner Bruce M. McLeod

"Speaking from our program's perspective, the addition of St. Cloud State and Western Michigan allows us to continue a healthy and competitive rivalry with St. Cloud State, and we look forward to building the same type of rivalry with Western Michigan. The addition of St. Cloud State, with its proximity to the Twin Cities area where we have so many alums, also allows our great fans to continue to experience and enhance a rivalry that is only a short distance away." ~ UND Coach Dave Hakstol

Today is indeed a great and historic day for Husky Hockey. By joining the NCHC the Huskies will be playing in arguably the best hockey conference with the best hockey programs in the country. We can expect the Huskies to prosper for many years to come.

Links:

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St. Cloud State Hockey Welcomed into the 'Premier College Hockey Conference'

2011-09-21T20:01:00.002-05:00

The National College Hockey Conference has extended invitations to Western Michigan and St. Cloud State today. Brian Faison, director of athletics at North Dakota and spokesperson for The National's Athletic Directors Committee had this to say about the invitation:

"After a thorough and deliberate evaluation process, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference is delighted to extend invitations to St. Cloud State and Western Michigan to become members of what we believe will be the premier college hockey conference in the United States."

Furthermore, Faison said:

"Both universities fit perfectly with the established goals of our conference membership. Their programs are highly competitive and produce quality student-athletes. Each institution has made significant commitments to the continued success of their hockey programs and they are both located in tradition-rich hockey states. St. Cloud State and Western Michigan, with their passionate fans, will add a great deal to The National and we look forward to welcoming them."

The comments Faison made about St. Cloud State being "highly competitive", producing "quality student athletes", commitment to the "success of their hockey programs" and "passionate fans" are all things I mentioned in my last blog post on why Husky fans should not give up hope on SCSU joining the NCHC.

"It is possible that SCSU could join with the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). St. Cloud State's program is the best remaining team in the CCHA and WCHA (arguably even better than some of the teams that have already joined the NCHC) and the NCHC will be looking to get to that magic 8 team conference."

As excited as I am that the NCHC has realized the strength and dedication of the St. Cloud State hockey program, the reality of the NCHC is that its founding WCHA members (UND, DU, CC, UNO, UMD) should not have left the WCHA in the first place. The WCHA could have, and arguably should have, just added Miami and Western Michigan. There were, and are, problems with the WCHA but the formation of the NCHC was not the appropriate reaction.

St. Cloud State plans on announcing its decision about the invitation to join the NCHC at a media conference scheduled for 1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22 in St. Cloud. It is expected that St. Cloud will formally announce its decision to join the NCHC at the conference given that Brian Faison, President Earl Potter, Coach Bob Motzko, and Gino Gasparini will all be in attendance at tomorrow's press conference.

The acceptance of the St. Cloud State hockey program into the NCHC is a great thing for St. Cloud hockey. We will remain a member of the "premier college hockey conference in the United States" as we transition from the WCHA to the NCHC. St. Cloud will benefit by playing with what is likely to become the strongest conference, possible greater TV exposure, and better recruits who want to play in the NCHC. The passionate Husky fan base will be energized to see their team play and compete with the best teams in the nation. The NCHC is a good thing for Husky hockey.

However, the NCHC is not a great thing for the history and tradition of the WCHA. It is disappointing to see such a great thing lose its prominence in collegiate hockey.

Links:

Go Huskies!!!

Time is Not to Retreat or Back Down, but to Thrive and to Prosper

2011-08-13T14:38:00.005-05:00

Among the Elite
St. Cloud State has a GREAT hockey program and IS a GREAT hockey school. You know what has changed about that statement from last April till today....nothing. Granted, the world of collegiate hockey is changing, and changing in a big way. However, that does not mean that St. Cloud State's hockey program is not still among the elite. I know some of our current rivals might disagree that St. Cloud is among the elite. They may believe that the only thing we had going for us was the fact we were apart of the best, most elite conference. Gopher fans are likely to say SCSU players are Gopher rejects playing for St. Cloud only because they wanted to play in MN but could not get into the UofM. (Side note: two of this years top 10 MN Mr. Hockey finalists chose to play for St. Cloud, one chose the UofM). UND fans will say that SCSU took away their logo and nickname. Although, some (within the former administration, not the hockey program) at SCSU had a moral objection to the Fighting Sioux nickname, the NCAA took away your nickname, not us. Regardless of these opinions and regardless of the conference St. Cloud State plays in, we are an elite hockey program and will remain so.

Rich Tradition and History
I once heard that the best predictor of future outcomes is past performance; and St. Cloud has a rich past.

Players
St. Cloud, has and does produce top notch hockey players. Whether you look at a player like Bret Hedican (17 year NHL vet, Stanley Cup winner, US Olympic teams, etc...), or current players like Matt Cullen, Ryan Malone, Matt Hendricks, or new players like Andreas Nodl and Oliver Lauridsen, St. Cloud produces not only great players, but great people. (If you have not already, please check out Bret Hedican's charitable organization Always Dream Foundation and Matt Cullen's charitable organization Cully's Kids). The ability to produce hard-working, talented players is the hallmark of elite college hockey programs.

Coaching
St. Cloud State started its journey into Div. I with coaching legend Herb Brooks. Coach Brooks presence at St. Cloud State brought the hockey program instant credibility. Coach Brooks also was instrumental in getting the National Hockey Center. Following Brooks, was Coach Craig Dahl who lead the Huskies for nearly two decades and helped the Huskies get their first WCHA Final Five Championship. After Coach Dahl retired, former SCSU player Bob Motzko took over as head coach. In six years, Coach Motzko has already guided the Huskies to four WCHA Final Five appearances (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010), and three NCAA Division I tournament appearances in 2007, 2008 and 2010. St. Cloud State coaches are also highly sought after by many hockey programs as seen this year with former assistant coach Eric Rudd being selected as CC's assistant coach (possibly as a precursor to him taking over as head coach when Scott Owns retires) and former goalie coach Mike Ayers being named goalie coach for the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. Great coaches help create great players.

Facilites
The National Hockey Center is an awesome place for a hockey game. It's atmosphere is among the nations best. St. Cloud State fills it's arena (annually the buildings average attendance has over 100% capacity--again among the nations highest fill capacity). It's concrete walls...not so great. However, at one time the building itself was also among the best. Once touted for being the first arena to have two Olympic sheets of ice under one roof, it was a thing of beauty. Twenty+ years later, it is time for a facelift. The National Hockey Center should have over $30 million worth of improvements over the next two years. Once it does, the NHC will not only have the atmosphere and fan base of one of the best collegiate hockey arenas in the country, but also the look.

On to the Future
The future is still very much in the air for the Huskies. Right now, all signs point to the Huskies continuing to play in the WCHA. It is possible that SCSU could join with the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). St. Cloud State's program is the best remaining team in the CCHA and WCHA (arguably even better than some of the teams that have already joined the NCHC) and the NCHC will be looking to get to that magic 8 team conference. Past confrontations with former SCSU administrators and hockey powerhouse UND seem to be the popular answer as to why SCSU isn't already in the NCHC. Not sure how true that is, and I am fairly sure UND will want the strongest conference possible (which one would think includes SCSU). The benefit for SCSU to join the NCHC would be playing with what is likely to become the strongest conference, possible greater TV exposure, and better recruits who want to play in the NCHC. All those things point to more money. However, if SCSU remains in the WCHA (no matter how it is configured), is likely to be the best team and a top contender every year. Which would bring more wins, more conference championships, and more NCAA appearances/championships. This could inevitably also lead to better recruiting. Again, all those things point to more money. Not that money is what I want college hockey to be all about, but given why this whole shift started (greed) we cannot ignore the significance of bringing in lots of money has.

The point of this post and (all of these pictures and links) is to remind Husky fans everywhere that no matter what happens Husky Hockey will continue. In my humble opinion, not only will it continue, but it will grow stronger. I am not saying that this major shift in collegiate hockey isn't a big deal....because it is. I am not saying SCSU should just sit by and watch what happens...they are not. I am saying that I trust St. Cloud State will be able to thrive and prosper in whatever conference it ends up in and will remain a great team to cheer for and see some great hockey players and games.

GO HUSKIES!

St. Cloud State will say 'No' to "Super League"

2011-07-08T14:42:00.000-05:00

Just in...

According to the St. Cloud Times, St. Cloud State University will say 'No' to any offer to joining the new proposed "Super League". SCSU President Earl H. Potter III said today that, "We expected to be in conversations about being in a new league. But as we looked at it ... we intended to say ‘no.’ " Potter also stated, "We intend to stay in the WCHA and a take a leadership role to continue the legacy of the WCHA." Gino Gasparini, SCSU's special athletics adviser, will attend a meeting next week of representatives of the remaining WCHA schools to continue discussions about the conference’s future.
You can read more of the article here: SCSU won't join hockey super league

Quick Couple Thoughts:

Good for St. Cloud State trying to save the legacy that is the WCHA.
SCSU will likely be the undoubted leader of the WCHA and will be poised to help the nations best, most winning conference continue.
Two years from now, it is very likely the the WCHA will lose its supremacy in college hockey and St. Cloud and the rest of the member schools will have a difficult time (but not impossible) job of keeping it highly competitive.
With these new, upcoming confrence changes will new rivlaries start to develop over the next 2 years? I could see some new/ stronger rivalries with Mankato and Bemidji developing.
St. Cloud should have greater opportunities for conference titles and NCAA appearances in the new WCHA.
I sure hope St. Cloud, Potter, and Gasparini know what they are doing. I think this is a risky move to automatically say "No" to the "Super Conference" (before even being asked into it) but sometimes a risky move is a right one. I could see this being one of the first decisions in this mess to be made in the best interest of hockey instead of just what is best of a single team.

More to come later...

Go Huskies!!!

Super Conference? What has become of the WCHA?

2011-07-08T10:54:00.000-05:00

WCHA: Just got abandoned...

The Story

A lot has happened in college hockey in the last couple days and, unfortunately, it has not been in the best interest of hockey. The WCHA as we know it (the best conference in the nation) may soon cease to exist. It has been known for awhile that the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin were leaving the WCHA for the more lucrative Big 10 Conference. Many, if not most, still believed that the WCHA, with its remaining members, would still be one of the best (if not still the best) conference in the nation as long as we stuck together. Apparently, that was not enough for some WCHA member schools. Rumored to be led by WCHA schools University of Denver and University of North Dakota, the formation of a new "Super Conference" has begun. This new "Super Conference" would consist of member schools North Dakota, Denver, Colorado College, Nebraska-Omaha, Minnesota-Duluth, and Miami (Ohio). Additionally, Notre Dame and an eighth team (possibly St. Cloud State or Western Michigan) could be added this summer. This leaves the so-called “leftover schools" (which I find condescending) St. Cloud State, Minnesota State, Bemidji State, Alaska-Anchorage and Michigan Tech in a difficult situation. No matter how this turns out, it is a dark day in college hockey and for the power-house WCHA.

The Links

Tons of interesting articles and blogs have been written about this new "Super League" and what it means. See some of them below:

What it means for St. Cloud State

St. Cloud could be left with the other five WCHA teams, that leaves them one short of an autobid into NCAA tournament. It is likely that the WCHA would need to find at least one more member. That member could be Notre Dame.
The CCHA and the WCHA could band together forming a conference that looks like this:

Alaska
Alaska-Anchorage
Bemidji State
Bowling Green
Ferris State
Lake Superior State
Michigan Tech
Minnesota State
Northern Michigan
St. Cloud State

In the above conference, St. Cloud would be likely the best team. This means more chances at conference titles and NCAA appearances. (Possibly the one positive thing).
There is going to be a real economical impact. St. Cloud is in the process of a $30+ million arena renovation. With its major fan support, SCSU has been able to charge between $25-40 per game for conference games last year. Those days would likely be gone...even the best hockey fan is not likely to pay $40 to see Ferris State in these economic times. *Side Note: St. Cloud State Hockey is the only sport to make money for St. Cloud State University. What impact will this have on the University as a whole?
Part of St. Cloud's recruiting success is based on being in a top league. If St. Cloud does not remain in the top league it may have a hard time recruiting top players (despite the arena renovations, passionate fans, great coaching, etc...)
If Notre Dame joins the "Super Conference", St. Cloud could join as the 8th member. According to USCHO.com, St. Cloud has higher attendance than "Super Conference" members Minnesota-Duluth, Denver, and Miami. (St. Cloud also has higher attendance than Notre Dame or Western Michigan). Out of ALL "Super League" Teams St. Cloud has the highest capacity percent.
With St. Cloud's recent hire of Gino Gasparini (of UND fame) as special adviser to our hockey program, you can bet St. Cloud will at least get strong consideration for the new "Super League".

The Conclusion

A lot of fingers could be pointed at "who is to blame" for the collapase of the WCHA (the conference that has the most impressive list of national scale accomplishments of any other sport). You could blame Penn State for starting a hockey program, the Big 10 Conference for taking great hockey programs from their existing conferences, Denver University and University of North Dakota for perusing this new league, the WCHA for poor leadership, or probably a handful of other people. However, at the end of the day, the root of this problem is greed. Greed is what has caused this to happen, and as of yet, I do not think there is a solution. Whatever happens I hope St. Cloud continues, "protecting the interests of St. Cloud State while considering the well-being of college hockey as a whole" and that "St. Cloud State will be a leader in whatever conference it finds itself in after realignment runs its course" (as stated in Rumors swirl about WCHA).

Stay tuned for future developments...

Go Huskies!!!

One Man Brute Squad

2011-05-24T16:03:00.000-05:00

Go Blolts and Go Malone!

Dedicated, huge, dependable, intense, courageous, warrior, horse, physical, one of our best players, power forward, and my personal favorite: One man brute squad.

What do all these terms have in common? They have all been used recently to describe the play of former St. Cloud State Husky Ryan Malone.

Ryan Malone and the Tampa Bay Lightning are in the Eastern Conference Playoffs hoping to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. The play of Ryan Malone is one of the major contributing factors to the Lightnings on going success. Malone has had limited playing time this year due to injury, allowing him only to play in 54 regular season games. Head coach Guy Boucher, "suggested it was no coincidence that Tampa Bay was 32-22 in games Malone played and 14-14 when he was out of the lineup in the regular season." With all of this success, there have been some great articles written about Ryan Malone over the last month or so.

The article, "Lightning Sparked from the Cloud", published by the NHLPA, discusses Malone's development from St. Cloud State to the Tampa Bay Lightning both as a player and as a person. The article goes on to discuss how Malone would be able to come up big in clutch moments, his intensity on the ice, and someone who worked his tail off while playing for the St. Cloud State Huskies. Even more importantly, the article talks about Malone's character off the ice as someone who donates to charitable causes and a friend to everyone he meets. The article also has some great quotes from St. Cloud State long-time Hockey Equipment Manager Jeremiah Minkel.
P.S. Love the title of the article...incorporating both the Tampa Bay Lighting and St. Cloud State Huskies.

Published in the St. Petersburg Times, the article, "Ryan Malone shakes off bumps, bruises as Tampa Bay Lightning prepares to battle Boston Bruins in East final" also has some flattering things to say about Ryan Malone. This article discusses the tough style of play Malone brings to Tampa Bay. Some great quotes include:

"Malone is the one-man brute squad: the guy who stands his ground near the crease and waits for pucks and punches."

"'I don't know if the guy knows what pain is, to be honest with you,' said coach Guy Boucher. 'He's very courageous going to the net and blocking shots, being first on the puck and getting hit hard to make the play happen. That's his trademark. That's who he is. And certainly a lot of our players take a lot from that.'"

"Before the year started, I heard all kinds of things about how this guy is a warrior. And through the big games this year, I saw it. And in the playoffs he's just been incredible."

"'He's been a horse his whole career,' Stamkos said. 'And that's the kind of guy you need.'"

Finally, from NHL.com, the article, "Malone paying the price for Lightning", goes into detail about Malone's role and willingness to get physical with the imposing Boston captain Zdeno Chara. The Bruins lost their physical edge in Game 4 of the series allowing the Lightning to score five unanswered goals. Malone played a big part on the game-winning goal as he intercepted a pass through the middle of the ice by Lucic and then carried it toward the Boston net along the right wing. He then sent the puck toward the cage and it ended up on Gagne’s stick to put Tampa Bay up 4-3.

All this attention and accolades are well deserved and I hope to see more of them when the Lightning beat Boston and head to the Stanley Cup Finals. Wouldn't it be great to get another St. Cloud State Husky alumni on the Cup?

Go Bolts and Go Ryan Malone!

Husky Hockey Contributions to HBO's 24/7

2011-04-26T16:33:00.000-05:00

Other than the currently ongoing NHL Stanly Cup Playoffs, the biggest ticket item for the NHL is the Winter Classic. This year the Winter Classic was held in Pittsburgh featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. Perhaps the biggest thing about this years Winter Classic game was not even the game itself; but, a 4-part series that HBO produced chronicling the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals leading up to the 2011 NHL Winter Classic. The episodes gave viewers a close-up, behind-the-scenes look into the lives of these hockey players and into the NHL locker rooms. Husky Hockey fans will most fondly recall the episodes that included some fights from SCSU alum Matt Hendricks and SCSU alum Andrew Gordon's first NHL goal (on Martin Brodeur nonetheless). However, there was a third SCSU alum that needs to be recognized for his work in this groundbreaking series and that is Mike Oliver who served not as on "on-air" talent, but as one of HBO's producers. Below are a couple of video interviews between Husky alums Matt Hendricks, Mike Oliver, and Mike Doyle.

SCSU alum Matt Hendricks during HBO 24/7 interview

SCSU alum Andrew Gordon scoring his 1st NHL goal during HBO 24/7

Congratulations to each of these Husky alums in making HBO's Pens-Caps 24/7 series such a huge success and for making St. Cloud State proud!

St. Cloud Adds Another

2011-04-14T18:10:00.001-05:00

St. Cloud State has added another 2011 Mr. Hockey Finalist when Jonathan Brodzinski decided to commit to SCSU. Brodzinski played his high school hockey at Blaine where he lead the team with 60 points (31 goals, 29 assists) in 30 games helping the Bengals reach the Minnesota Class 2A state tournament for the sixth straight year. After the state tournament, Brodzinski joined the Fargo Force of the USHL and scored five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in 10 games. The Fargo Force has many St. Cloud State ties including Husky recruit Nick Oliver, goaltender Mike Lee, and new assistant coach Steve Johnson.

Jonathan Brodzinski and Husky recruit Garrett Hendrickson were two of the top 10 finalist for the 2011 Mr. Hockey Award given annually to Minnesota’s top high school player.

You can read more about this at:

I am very excited that St. Cloud continues to bring in some of the top prospects. It shows that the program continues to head in the right direction.

Go Huskies!

And then there was one...

2011-04-08T16:15:00.000-05:00

Go Huskies...Urrr...I guess for now Go Bulldogs

After UND's surprise loss to the University of Michigan, the WCHA has one lone survivor in the Frozen Four National Championship game...the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. Despite the Bulldogs ending the St. Cloud State Huskies season this year, I implore all Husky fans to cheer on our WCHA colleague and hope for a UMD win on Saturday night. It is time to bring the National Championship back where it belongs (in the WCHA) and really who wants to see the WCHA get embarrassed on the national stage like last year (thanks Wisconsin). Despite every part of me disliking the Fighting Sioux (naturally) I was really hoping for an all WCHA championship game and am disappointed that they will not be there. Irregardless, both UMD and UND have had spectacular seasons and have represented our conference well. Below are some links for your reading enjoyment:

Husky Hockey Stuff: (after all...that is what you are really here for)

After some concerns about who would step into being Mike Lee's back up for next year, we are provided with some answers. Ryan Faragher of the North American Hockey League's Bismark Bobcats will be coming to St. Cloud State. During the 2010-2011 season he recorded a 2.44 GAA, and a .918 save percent. During the 2009-2010 season he recorded a 2.17 GAA, and a .921 save percentage. That should be good enough to back up Mike Lee in the WCHA. Who knows...maybe he could even challenge Lee for the starting job? (I kinda doubt it though)
Here is a good look at some future Huskies: "A look at some future Huskies"
Eric Rud, a former assistant coach at St. Cloud State, looks to be one of the finalist for the head coaching position at Michigan Tech. Rud has done an outstanding job as the head coach of the Green Bay Gamblers (USHL).
Some updates on the National Hockey Center. I am hoping the first phase of construction happens soon! "SCSU National Hockey Center renovations anticipate changes"

More off season stuff to come in the future. Some ideas include:

An open letter to Coach Bob Motzko
An open letter to John "Gino" Gasparini
A further look into prospects
More information on the construction/ addition to the National Hockey Center
Any other ideas? Let me know in the comments

Go Huskies!

Former Husky Matt Cullen Joins Minnesota's Elite

2011-04-01T15:33:00.001-05:00

Former Husky Matt Cullen Joins Minnesota's Elite

Former St. Cloud State Husky Hockey standout, Matt Cullen joined an elite group of Minnesotan's during Thursday's Minnesota Wild vs. Edmonton Oilers game. Matt Cullen joined only 7 other Minnesota players to have reached 500 career points in the NHL. The list of Minnesota players with over 500 career points include:

Phil Housley (1,232)
Neal Broten (923)
Dave Christian (773)
Reed Larson (685)
Jamie Langenbrunner (637)
Aaron Broten (515)
Joel Otto (508)
Matt Cullen (500)

You can see the highlight of his beautiful assist tipped in by Antti Miettinen:

Way to make the Huskies proud Matt!

GO HUSKIES!!!

What's Next?...Goalie Edition

2011-03-29T16:50:00.000-05:00

One of the first things Coach Motzko and company need to secure during this off-season is sign a quality back-up goaltender for Mike Lee. Dan Dunn was not spectacular this year, but he did great things for us last year ('09-'10) and by all accounts was a fine back-up behind sophomore Mike Lee this year ('10-'11). Mike Lee really started to find his stride during the second half and put up some pretty nice numbers (.922 save percentage and 2.41 GAA in 19 games) and is likely to be our number one net-minder for the 2011-2012 season. That doesn't mean that SCSU can rely on him for all things in all situations. Goalies like Lee need strong competition and will likely have better performance if another goalie might be able to challenge him for his job. As it currently stands, SCSU has commitments from seven forwards, five defensemen, and ZERO goalies. So what does the talent pool look like? I choose to take a peek at the available USHL goalies as that is the league I am most familiar with and the league from which SCSU picked up SCSU greats like Bobby Goepfert ('01-'02 USHL Goalie of the Year) and Mike Lee ('08-'09 USHL Goalie of the Year).

Available USHL Goalies (w/ decent stats):

OMA- John Keeney- GAA= 2.27, SV%= .917
OMA- Todd Mathews- GAA=2.29, SV%=.916
TRI- Scott Diebold- GAA=2.50, SV%=.920
LIN- Kevin Murdock- GAA=2.88, SV%=.909
DUB- Jackson Teichroeb- GAA=2.63, SV%=.901

If I did my fact-checking correctly, these are the top 5 USHL goalies (depending on which stats you are looking at) that do not currently have a college commitment. What do you think of these potential goalies? Should SCSU reach out to any of them for next season? What other goalies need to be considered from the USHL or other leagues?

Of the decisions that the St. Cloud State hockey program needs to make this summer, this is one of the decisions that I am most anxious about. I guess only time will tell.

Go Huskies!

NCAA and Frozen Four thoughts

2011-03-28T17:11:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the season I had every expectation that St. Cloud State would make it to the NCAA's and I had a good feeling that this "could be the year" that the Huskies made their Frozen Four debut. However, we all know that this season did not turn out as planned. Despite the unceremonious conclusion to the Huskies hockey season, there is still a reason to finish off watching the rest of the NCAA tournament and the Frozen Four. Our WCHA conference once again displayed its dominance over collegiate hockey by sending UMD, CC, UNO, DU, and UND to the NCAA tournament. This becomes even more significant considering all of the noise being made about UofM and UW leaving for the the Big 10 Conference. Based on this year (which has been arguably a little fluky...look at the under-performance of SCSU and the over-performance of UAA) one may come to the conclusion that the WCHA does not need the UofM or UW to remain as the top conference in collegiate hockey. Programs like UMD, CC, UNO, DU, UND, SCSU, and even BSU, MSU, and UAA still make for a heck of a competitive conference (sorry MTU...maybe next year you will be considered as "competitive"). All this aside, I want to say congratulations to the WCHA conference teams that went to the NCAA tournament.

Of the 5 WCHA teams that made it to the NCAA tournament 2 have made it to the Frozen Four. UND made their way into the Frozen Four with dominating victories over RPI and Denver. I got to watch part of the UND vs. DU game and thought that the Fighting Sioux looked near unstoppable. UMD made their way into the Frozen Four with victories over Union and Yale. Congratulations UND and UMD! The other two teams joining UND and UMD in this years Frozen Four is Notre Dame and Michigan. Even though UMD knocked out the Huskies in the WCHA 1st round playoffs and UND is a major Husky hockey rival (and I would never cheer for either of these two teams during the regular season) I encourage all Husky fans to support the WCHA and its remaining members in the Frozen Four. Though you may not like it, these teams are still our colleagues and we should support any WCHA teams winning the national championship. Be sure to be following bloggers Goon's World and Running with the Dogs for the latest news and updates about our WCHA teams in the Frozen Four.

University of North Dakota and University of Minnesota-Duluth I wish you the best of luck at the Frozen Four!

*Just a little video reminder about the hope and dream that was the 2010-2011 hockey season:

Sulking Over...Back at Last

2011-03-25T17:07:00.000-05:00

Mike Lee- CIC Player of the Year!

The 2010-2011 Husky Hockey season is over. Some may say it came way too soon, others would say (based on how the team as performed this year) it could not come soon enough. It is true that this year has been a struggle for Husky fans everywhere. The first half of the season was dismal at its best. However, the Huskies stepped up their game after Christmas rising to the point of having the second best "post-Christmas" record in the WCHA. Only league leading (and eventual MacNaughton and Broadmoor Cup winners) North Dakota was higher, grabbing two more points than St. Cloud. All of this second-half success for the Huskies only made their eventual defeat in the first round of the WCHA playoffs hurt so much more. The Huskies, and in particular Mike Lee, put on an outstanding performance during the final game that saw UMD win in a triple OT. Sophomore goalie Mike Lee made an incredible 60 save performance for SCSU. His save total is the most by a Husky goalie since Bobby Goepfert had 67 saves in another triple OT WCHA playoff game against UMD in 2007. Despite this terrible loss, I also felt quite proud of Husky fans. While following the St. Cloud State Live Blog for this last game I found that there were fans watching the Live Blog from:

Minnesota (Roseau, Warroad, St. Cloud, Minneapolis, Woodbury to name a few)
Colorado
Washington, D.C.
Oregon
California
Tennessee
Thiland
Sweeden

And these were only the Husky fans that were following the game from this specific blog who commented where they were from. This list does not include those who were on this blog but didn't say where they were from, those who may have been watching the game on the Internet, or following the game through KVSC radio, or those following the game through anther site (like USCHO, WCHA, CHN, etc...). Needless to say I am proud of Husky fans supporting our team nation and worldwide.

To read more about the end of the season please check out these two fantastic links:

Husky Hockey News

Former Husky Joe Motzko has received a 1-yr contract extension with ERC Ingolstadt of the DEL.
Defenseman Oliver Lauridsen has chosen not to return to St. Cloud State next year in signing an entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. This means that he will not have the chance to play with SCSU recruit and brother Markus Lauridsen. You can read more about his reaction here.
After only a couple games Lauridsen is already done for the year with the Flyer AHL affiliate Adirondack Phantoms with a dislocated shoulder. Check out this hit and ensuing fit that took place AFTER Lauridsen had dislocated his shoulder:

Former Husky Tony Mosey is also done with his team the ECHL FL Everblades. However, Mosey is gone not because of an injury, but because the team released him.
Former Husky Captain Aaron Marvin has been signed amateur tryout contract with the Calgary Flames.
Goalie Mike Lee was selected by the Center Ice Club as Player of the Year. In the second half, Lee had a .922 save percentage and 2.41 GAA in 19 games.
Check out Husky alum Andreas Nodl's recent goal against the Washington Capitals:

More to come later...

Go Huskies!!!

The Underdog with the Upperhand- Playoff Time

2011-03-11T12:34:00.001-06:00

Let's hope St. Cloud continues its winning ways

The WCHA Playoffs begin tonight when the St. Cloud State Huskies will be visiting the the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs at the new AMSOIL Arena. Despite the UMD Bulldogs ending the season in the #4 position in the WCHA and the Huskies claiming the #9 position, the Huskies have a better "post-Christmas" record and took 3 of 4 points from UMD back in February (including an 8-2 smack down). What does this all mean? Most likely nothing. It is a brand new season and both teams will be fighting tooth-and-nail to make it to the Final Five. However, here is what the experts are saying:

Predictions:

St. Cloud Times

"No. 9 St. Cloud State at No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth — The Huskies are 10-5-3 in the second half, while the Bulldogs are 8-6-3. Minnesota-Duluth moved into the AMSOIL Arena, but it has yet to become a dominant place for the Bulldogs. Minnesota-Duluth is 3-4-2 at AMSOIL, which includes a 7-2 loss and 3-3 tie with the Huskies. The Bulldogs are not the most physical team in the WCHA, which plays into the Huskies’ favor. Prediction: St. Cloud State in three."

USCHO.com

"Theresa: This is a tricky, tricky series in my mind. Earlier in the year, the pick would be a no brainer. Now, however? The Bulldogs have been stumbling a bit down the stretch while the Huskies are one of the hottest teams in college hockey. That being said, UMD gets the edge for overall consistency while SCSU has been, as I said earlier this season, consistently inconsistent. Who do I go for? Short playoff formats favor the streaky: I’m going with SCSU (probably in three)."

Goal Gophers

Chris: "The year Tech beat CC in the playoffs, I happened to be at a first-round series between UMD and St. Cloud State and I told then-Huskies beat writer Mike Killeen that if Tech pulled off the upset, I would walk across the National Hockey Center ice stark naked. I had no intention of actually doing it, because everyone knows I’m all talk and no action, but oddly enough in the past few years I have been on that campus when no one was around and thought about actually sneaking into the building and doing it, just in case when the Great Scorer comes to mark against my name, he marks not whether I won or lost but how I played the game. I didn’t, natch, because I’d screw it up somehow and get arrested or something, and that’s all I need, more bad publicity. Back to hockey. The St. Clouds beat the UMDs bad a couple of weeks ago, so you can throw out the record book, as the kids say. I’ll go with the ... Bulldogs take the series at home, losing 3-2, winning 4-2 and then taking a five-overtime thriller 6-5 on Sunday evening"

Roman: "Seems it has been a couple years since I've seen St. Cloud State. The Gophers split with SCSU in late October. Know much more about UMD. They can score. This Mike Connolly have five goals -- in one game -- against the U of M. Jack Connolly and Justin Fontaine find the net a lot, too. But the Amsoil Arena has not proved to be much of a home team edge this season. 'Dogs should try to move this series to the DECC. ... Being a contrarian Huskies win 4-2, 3-5, 2-1 overtime."

Goon's World

"In early February the Huskies invaded Amsoil Arena and beat the Bulldogs 8-2 and tied in the rematch 3-3. SCSU is 5-2-2 in their last 9 games with loses to UND and DU, not too shabby. The Bulldogs are 2-4-2 in their last 8 games with wins over UNO and MSUM. This series has upset written all over it. SCSU is playing its best hockey of the year and are looking like the team that was picked to finish in the top 3 to start the year. The Bulldogs seem to be sliding into the playoffs. UMD needs to get back on track if they want to secure a bid to the NCAA tournament, which would include winning their first round playoff series. The Huskies still have hopes of making the NCAA tournament, but they need to win this series and do some damage in St. Paul to get in. Looking at the stats UMD has not last a league game when they were ahead after the 1st period, same goes for their 2nd period. The Huskies need to get a lead or be tied after the 1st and 2nd if they want to win, according to the stats. This could be the most interesting series this weekend, in my opinion.
SCSU in 3"

WCHA Blog

"The Huskies are coming off a well-played weekend at Denver where they split with the Pioneers. Prior to that they swept Wisconsin at St. Cloud in embarrassing fashion if you're a Badger fan. The Huskies are playing well right now, but started out the month horribly. They're 4-4-2 since the start of February.
Duluth is coming off a split with Omaha last weekend, and dropped three of four points at CC the prior week. Duluth is 3-4-3 in February and is not playing well right now.
For me, this is the match-up I wanted most. The Gophers don't lose at home in the playoffs, and we had no luck vs. CC earlier this season. Surprisingly, the Huskies lead the overall series against UMD 54-36-7, and are on a 4-0-2 run against the Dogs since Jan. '09. Things change though. Statistically, the teams look fairly even. The Dogs have three high scoring forwards, but the Huskies are putting some goals up now, too. Special teams will probably be the key in this one, and the Huskies special teams are playing well right now. I wouldn't be surprised to see Duluth take this in three, but I'm really impressed with this St. Cloud team right now.
Huskies advance to the Final Five in three games.
Huskies win Friday 3-1
Bulldogs win Saturday 4-2
Huskies win Sunday 3-2"

College Hockey News

"The matchup: After struggling early on, St. Cloud State has seemed to find itself down the stretch. The Huskies have lost just twice over its last eight games — a pair of 3-2 losses to the top two teams in the WCHA. Included in that run is a series at Amsoil Arena against the Bulldogs, where SCSU took three of four points, including an 8-2 win Feb. 11. That series started a downward spiral for UMD, which has won just two of its last eight. The Bulldogs are at their best when their penalty kill is working. In their last five wins, they have shut out teams with the man advantage. In their last five losses, opponents have scores nine power play goals.
Our take: With the above statistic in mind, the Huskies have scored a power-play goal in each of their last three games. The Bulldogs are a pretty good team 5-on-5, so if SCSU is going to pull the upset, they will need to find a way to take advantage of the UMD penalty kill. St. Cloud went 4-of-10 on the power play in February — the teams' only meeting of the season.
Pick: HUSKIES IN THREE"

It looks like all (well almost all) the experts are picking St. Cloud State (as the "underdog") to come out with the wins and advance to the Final Five. Should be a very exciting and closely matched game though. I am also picking St. Cloud State to win in 3 games.

Final total:

St. Cloud Advances= 7
Duluth Advances= 1

Lines:
Hanowski- Roe- Eddy
Festler- Marvin- Novak
Reid- LeBlanc- Dowd
MacMillian- Christian- Oslund

Lauridsen- Jensen
Gravel- Johnson
Zabkowicz- Barta

Lee

Other Links:

"SCSU hopes to be cut above UM-D"- Discusses the upcoming games against UMD.
"A key 2nd-half return for SCSU"- Talks about the importance of getting David Eddy into the lineup. Also mentions that ADD may be behind some of his early academic struggles at SCSU.
"WCHA men's hockey 1st-round playoff pairings; team records before and after Christmas"- Looks at team records before and after Christmas. The Huskies were ranked #11 before Christmas and ranked #2 for best record after Christmas. Only league-leading UND had a better record after Christmas.

A video to make you smile:

GO HUSKIES!!!!

Calm before the storm

2011-03-10T17:47:00.001-06:00

Defensive Player of the Week Mike Lee waits to take on the Bulldogs

Right now it feels like the calm before the storm as the Huskies wait and prepare to burst into Duluth this weekend for what will prove to be an awesome series and smashing defeat of the Bulldogs. Until then, here are a couple links for your reading pleasure:

The WCHA has announced its yearly awards. The "big ones" going to:

Matt Frattin (UND) as Player of the Year
Chay Genoway (UND) as Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year
Justin Schultz (UW) as WCHA Defensive Player of the Year
Jason Zucker (DU) as WCHA Rookie of the Year
Aaron Dell (UND) as WCHA Goaltending Champion
Dean Blais (UNO) as WCHA Coach of the Year.

Representing the St. Cloud State Huskies, Drew LeBlanc was on the WCHA Third Team. Personally, I believe Garrett Roe should have also made the Third Team and Nick Jensen should have definitely made it to the All-Rookie Team. But, I am admittedly more than a little biased.
It is being reported that this weekends match-up between the Huskies and the Bulldogs will not be aired locally in St. Cloud. I have heard that it may be available on the B2 Network/ America One Live pay-per view online video streaming service. Currently, however, there is no sign of the games being broadcast there either. Sorry Husky fans.
Also, take a look at Mick Hatten's latest blog. You can see that since Christmas, the Huskies have the second highest record. Only the league leading Fighting Sioux have done better since Christmas than the Huskies (however, the Huskies have played with a tougher schedule). I won't necessarily call it the "turn around of the century" yet, but a couple more wins this weekend and at the Final Five, and I think we have ourselves a very interesting story.
Hatten has also reported that right wing freshman Nic Dowd has been practicing with the team and is expected to return to the line-up this weekend in Duluth. Dowd suffered an upper body injury in the first period of the second game against Wisconsin and did not play last weekend at Denver.

Go Huskies!!!

Info on SCSU vs. UMD playoff games and more

2011-03-08T17:22:00.000-06:00

Go Huskies!

Here is some quick information on the UMD vs. SCSU WCHA Playoff games this weekend:

Radisson Hotel Duluth Harborview - Group Rate $84 + tax

Standard Double Room (includes complimentary continental breakfast)

Please call the hotel directly at 218-727-8981 and ask for the "Center Ice Club" rate

Check-in Time: 3:00 PM

Cut off Deadline: 3/10

KVSC will be covering the games this weekend.
Since Christmas, SCSU has won 10 games, tied 3 games, and loss 5 games. They have played teams like Miami, UNO, UMD, UND, UW, DU in that time span.
Only slightly worse, UMD has won 9 games, tied 3 games, and loss 6 games. They have played teams like UW, UofM, SCSU, and UNO.
St. Cloud has won 1 more game than UMD since Christmas, but has done so with a more difficult schedule.
In the only match up of the year, St. Cloud beat UMD 8-2 and then tied UMD 3-3.

Other Stuff:

The Coach Bob Motzko show is now available on the CIC webpage. In the show you will hear about St. Cloud's last games at Denver, the hiring of Gino Gasparini, and about the upcoming WCHA playoffs in Duluth. Coach Motzko pointed out the many people in Duluth may be in the Twin Cities for the HS tournament so there should be plenty of room for Husky supporters to come to the new AMSOIL Arena. Make sure to be there!
The Center Ice Club player of the week is Ben Hanowski. Hanowski had two goals this weekend against Denver.
Goalie Mike Lee is the WCHA defensive player of the week. Good Job!
Former Husky Mark Parrish will be back playing in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres.

Go Huskies!

Last Regular Series Recap

2011-03-07T17:12:00.000-06:00

Captain Aaron Marvin celebrates his GWG Friday night at Denver

The Huskies concluded the regular season with an away game split with the University of Denver. The Huskies and Pioneers battled out two very close games. Friday night the Huskies beat Denver 3-2. Senior defender Brett Barta scored the first goal during the first period giving the Huskies the early lead 1-0. Not much later, Denver tied the game up at 1-1. However, before the 1st period would end, the Huskies took the lead to 2-1 with a goal from sophomore Ben Hanowski. The second period would go by scoreless; however, DU would tie things up 2-2 early in the third. Senior captain Aaron Marvin tallied the game winning goal with less than 2 minutes left in the third to give the Huskies the 3-2 victory. You can read more about the game here:

On Saturday, we would see another hard fought game. Denver scored the lone first period goal. The Huskies came out stronger in the second and freshman defender Kevin Gravel scored a late period goal to make it 1-1. The goal was Gravel's first of the year. Denver then fought back with and even-strength and short-handed goal to make the score 3-1 with less than 7 minutes left to play. Sophomore Ben Hanowski scored his second goal of the weekend with under 3 minutes to play to make it 3-2. The Huskies were unable to get the late game tying goal. For a team that struggled early this season to get pucks to the net, the Huskies outshot the Pioneers 35-33. Despite the loss, the hard-fought effort by the Huskies was probably good preparation for the conference finals. You can read more at:

WCHA Playoffs:

The Huskies will be playing the University of Minnesota-Duluth for the 1st round of the WCHA playoffs. The Huskies have played UMD twice this year, both times at the new AMSOIL Arena. The Huskies dominated the Bulldogs on Friday, February 11th to the tune of an 8-2 victory. On Saturday, the Huskies and Bulldogs skated to a 3-3 tie. The Huskies have played well in new arenas this season going 3-0-1 at the new UMD and BSU arenas. However, now that it is playoff time that really does not matter. The Huskies will have to just play their best because any loss at this point (almost) means the end of the season. To view the whole WCHA playoff lineup click here. I will bring you more on this playoff series later this week.

Check out (most of) this season's home goals:

Go Huskies!

St. Cloud State vs. Denver. Go Huskies!

2011-03-04T16:32:00.003-06:00

SCSU and DU will fight it out this weekend in the last regular season match-up

This weekend will be the last regular season games of the 2010-2011 season. The Huskies will be playing against the University of Denver. Despite being the number two team in the conference right now the Denver have gone an unimpressive 2-2 in the last four games against UNO and MTU (yes I said MTU). There is a lot riding on this weekends games. If DU sweeps SCSU and MTU sweeps UND (highly unlikely) DU could possibly be co-champions of the MacNaughton Cup for regular-season champions. Conversely, with a sweep at Denver and the right circumstances (Colorado College and Wisconsin split, or, if either of those two sweep, then Minnesota lose twice at Bemidji) St. Cloud could get one of the final home-ice playoff spots. So this is a big game for both clubs.

Predictions:

USCHO.com

Theresa: "Another time two teams meet for the first time all season! SCSU has been fairly inconsistent all season (and highly frustrating for Husky fans), but has played arguably some of their best hockey in the last few weeks. The Pioneers, on the other hand, may quite possibly be falling apart — splits in their last four weekends. Plus, it’s never good when your coach still says there are things to really work on this late in the season. Is it possible Denver peaked too early (again)? All shall be revealed soon enough, of course. As for this weekend, I think a split is probably the most likely result, given both teams right now. SCSU Friday, DU Saturday."

Tyler: "Denver is up and down just like it was at the end of the regular season last year and SCSU has caught the Pioneers at the right time. The Huskies are playing their best hockey since the holidays, scoring like they should be and have proven they’re able to skate with any team in any arena. SCSU desperately needed a leader when one of its assistant captains was dismissed/left the team and Drew LeBlanc has been that guy. The junior has 18 points in the 14 games since the New Year. Split."

Goal Gophers

Roman: "Pios were only 4-4 in Feb., maybe they are saving their strength for the playoffs. Spilt with Michigan Tech (really) and UNO past two weekend. DU has wins over 10 WCHA opponents, SCSU could become 11. DU has split with SCSU on its last four visits to the Mile High City. The Huskies are coming off a dominating sweep of Wisconsin. Garrett Roe is one of SCSU's hottest players with five goals and six assists last month... Split"

Goon's World

"Last weekend the Huskies swept the UW Badgers in St. Cloud and the Pioneers split with the UNO Mavericks in Omaha.

The Huskies have been mushing their way up standings in 2011. Unfortunately their horrible first half has them sunk into a bottom half finish. They Huskies are heating up at the right time of the year and are not a team people want to see in the first round of the playoffs. The Pioneers have stumbled a bit, but are back home at Magness Arena where they are an impressive 13-3-2 overall this season. The Huskies are 5-6-1 this season away from the National Hockey Center. (They are going to update/renovate the NHC using $31M to do so, I can’t wait to see a new upgraded NHC.) The Pioneers are just about a shoe-in for the NCAA tourney, and the Huskies still have a chance too. DU has talent and is at home, so I don’t think they’ll get swept, but do they have the instinct to finish off teams? SPLIT"

WCHA Blog

"The Huskies are one of the hottest teams in the league right now, but Denver is a pretty good team, too. Home-ice advantage and senior night will probably play into this, but the Huskies are fighting for that final home-ice spot in the playoffs, so desperation by the Huskies could come into play here. I think the Huskies will give a great effort, but things just won't line up for them.
Split. Huskies win Friday 3-2, Denver wins Saturday 4-2"

Looks like all the "cool kids" are picking a split for this weekend. As I did last weekend (which turned out GREAT) I am going to pick a St. Cloud State Sweep. The Huskies are hungry and looking to play.

Lines: (from SC Times)

Hanowski- Roe- Eddy
Thorson- Marvin- Novak
Festler- LeBlanc- Reid
MacMillian- Christian- Oslund

Lauridsen- Jensen
Gravel- Johnson
Zabkowicz- Barta

Lee

*Nic Dowd will likely miss his first game of the season. He should be able to return no later than the first round of WCHA playoffs.

WCHA Playoffs

Speaking of the first round of the WCHA playoffs, both the WCHA Blog and Goal Gophers have prognosticated that St. Cloud will be playing at the University of Minnesota for the first round. Although, this will bring a great rivalry and be particularily entertaining, much like the Huskies the Gophers have been playing well as of late. Also, the Huskies have never won a WCHA playoff game at Mariucci.

Other Important Links:

Continuing to dominate the weekly awards, Garrett Roe has also been named as the first star of the week last week by USCHO.com
Also, the St. Cloud Times wrote a nice piece on senior Garrett Roe titled,"Roe plays the only way he knows".
WCHA.com has a good article about the Huskies visiting Denver this weekend titled, "Resurgent Huskies challenge Denver".
Here is some more information on the 2011-2012 Husky Schedule.

From The Other Side:
*Here are some posts from the popular DU blog, "Lets Go DU"

Here you can see DU fans recognizing the national (actually international) celebrity status and notoriety of the National Hockey Center in the popular TempurPedic ad.
Apparently DU has troubles with fan support so Coach Gwozdecky has ordered more. Not sure why a team that is ranked number 2 in the WCHA would have problems with fan support?
The Charlie Sheen craziness has hit Denver.
Finally, a "code red" has been issued at Magness Arena. The video was so well done that I had to include it on my blog. Good job to whoever did this video!

Well there you have it folks. It is sure to be a fun and exciting weekend as the regular season comes to its conclusion. I look forward to sharing the good details of the Huskies success against Denver and our top 6 finish in the league with you on Monday.

GO HUSKIES!!!!!!

St. Cloud State is the Team of the Week (and other notes)

2011-03-03T17:44:00.000-06:00

Good Job Team!

The St. Cloud State Huskies have been named the Team of the Week by College Hockey News. This comes after Garrett Roe received several individual accolades for his play this weekend. Some great quotes from the article include:

"...the Huskies have played some of their strongest hockey of the season over the last three weeks — and following their dominant sweep of the Badgers over the weekend..."

"...if the Huskies continue to score like they did against Wisconsin, there is a good chance SCSU can make a deep run in the WCHA playoffs..."

"SCSU's series at Magness Arena also has national implications. Victories could move the Huskies even closer to the at-large bubble in the Pairwise, where they currently sit in a tie for 19th with in-state rival Minnesota."

"St. Cloud is among the hottest teams in the league. Perhaps most impressive is the quality of opponent during that stretch, however."

Other Notes:

After a bad hit in the first period in Saturday night's game against Wisconsin, freshmen sensation Nic Dowd may not be playing this weekend. Coach Motzko said, "If this was the playoffs, he'd play. This might be a decision where we play it cautionary for this weekend." Tough news for the Huskies who are going to need everyone contributing to get the wins they need from Denver.
Check out Mick Hatten's blog for more information on Dowd as well as our first preliminary look into next seasons schedule.
You can check out some good stuff on the importance of this weeks final regular season games in an article titled, "A PWR tour of WCHA teams".
You can check out a preview of the DU vs. SCSU game at the Denver Athletics website.
Former SCSU goalie Jase Weslosky has joined former SCSU goalie Bobby Goepfert with the Florida Everblades.
Fellow Husky blogger and former Husky player Mike Doyle has a good post titled, "Viewer comments on the SCSU vs. UW broadcast". Please read it. It demonstrates both the complete idiocy of some fans around the WCHA as well as the dignity of Mike Doyle in his response. Great post from a great blog.

Go Huskies!

Garrett Roe...The Hat Trick of Weekly Accolades

2011-03-01T17:07:00.000-06:00

Garrett Roe's Awesome Weekend!

Senior Garrett Roe has been a phenomenal player during his time at St. Cloud State. Don't believe me? Take a look at some All-Time Ranking stats below:

Assists: 1st (111)
Shots on goal: 1st (463)
Shots per game: 1st (3.05)
Assists per game: 2nd (0.73)
Points: 3rd (176)
Points per game: 4th (1.16)
Game-winning goals: t-4th (11)
Power-play goals: t-4th (26)
Goals: 7th (65)
Games played: 9th (152)

I could go on, but I won't. At the beginning of the season Garrett Roe was being discussed as a probable Hobey Baker candidate as one of the top players in the WCHA and in Division I collegiate hockey. Unfortunately, Roe and the rest of the Huskies had a real late start to their season and were vastly under-performing. However, as of late, Roe and the Huskies have been doing MUCH better. Garrett Roe demonstrated this weekend why he is still one of the best college hockey players around. Roe scored a total of four goals this past weekend against Wisconsin. Two goals and the game winner on Friday (2/25) and two more goals and the game winner on Saturday (2/26). His play was enough to earn him several weekly player awards. This week Garrett Roe is the Inside College Hockey Player of the Week, the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week, and the Center Ice Club Player of the Week. You can read more about them below:

From Coach Bob Motzko:

"If we’re going to make any noise in the playoffs, we need Garrett Roe scoring. We know what he can do."

Congratulations to senior Garrett Roe!

Other Stuff

This week's Bob Motzko Coaches Show is now available at the CIC webpage.
The WCHA recently released an article about WCHA playoff scenarios. According to the site:

"St. Cloud State gets home ice if: they sweep Denver and UW gets exactly three points, OR they sweep Denver, UW gets 0, 1, or 4 points, Minnesota gets 0 points, and St. Cloud State’s final goal differential in league play (goals for minus goals against) is greater than Minnesota’s."

USCHO.com released an article titled, "The improtance of defeating TUCs in the PairWise system". The article had this to say in relation to SCSU:

"St. Cloud State is the one team BSU can affect if it loses its TUC status. The Huskies are 3–1 against the Beavers this season with a .4677 winning percentage against TUCs and that would drop to .4259.
The reality is all signs point to BSU’s RPI falling below .5000. The Beavers would likely have to get, at least, a split with Minnesota and then win its playoff series to remain a TUC.
Five of SCSU’s comparison wins (Dartmouth, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Ferris State and Alaska) rely heavily on winning percentage vs. TUCs and the Huskies will likely lose all five without their record against BSU.
Three or four points for SCSU this weekend in Denver could help turn some comparisons and move the Huskies up the PWR, but BSU’s imminent falling out of the TUCs would bring SCSU right back down. A Denver sweep would most likely get the Pioneers into the top four in the PWR."

However, Coach Motzko has said on numerous occassions that because of our poor play early in the season, the Huskies are not looking at the numbers or the computers this year. They just know they have to win every game they can. Period.
USCHO.com also did an article on the hiring of "Gino" Gasparini. Check it out here, "St. Cloud State hires Gasparini as special advisor"

And finally, a video I came across today about the extrordinary work that Husky Productions does to broadcast Husky games. Thanks Husky Productions!

Go Huskies!

Huskies Blowout Badgers

2011-02-28T16:51:00.000-06:00

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:

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:

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!)

2011-02-25T16:37:00.000-06:00

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:

Stay Out of the Sin Bin
Shut Down Shultz
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:

Wednesday Notes Going Into Badger Weekend

2011-02-23T16:51:00.000-06:00

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

2011-02-22T17:28:00.000-06:00

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:

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:

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

2011-02-18T16:11:00.002-06:00

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:

Fierce Forecheck
Flatten Frattin
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

2011-02-17T17:49:00.002-06:00

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

2011-02-16T17:48:00.000-06:00

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!

2011-02-15T17:42:00.001-06:00

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:

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:

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...

2011-02-10T19:23:00.000-06:00

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:

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

2011-02-04T13:25:00.001-06:00

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.

Snapped at Seven

2011-01-31T16:44:00.000-06:00

Mavericks trample Huskies after going 7 unbeaten

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!

GO HUSKIES!

Game Day-MSU @ SCSU

2011-01-28T16:52:00.000-06:00

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 Hockey sweep. However, here is what other folks are saying:

Goal Gophers:

"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

Goon's World:

"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"

USCHO.com

"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."

WCHA Blog

"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:

Read "St. Cloud State Making Its Move" over at Inside College Hockey.
Read "Victories help St. Cloud State put focus back on the ice" over at US College Hockey Online.

Mike Doyle's Three Keys to the Game: (click the link to read more)

Defensive Transition
Special Teams
Goals from Grinders

Lines:

LW                                                   C                                       RW
23-Cam Reid                            9-Garrett Roe                        22-David Eddy
GP-23 7-12-19 21-PM +12         GP-24 5-17-22 28-PM +2         GP-4 3-3-6 0-PM +5

11-Jared Festler                      19-Drew LeBlanc                     26-Nic Dowd
GP-24 8-4-12 2-PM +2              GP-24 8-21-29 12-PM +4        GP-24 4-11-15 28-PM +7

10-Ben Hanowski                     17-Aaron Marvin                     21-Brian Volpei
GP-23 8-3-11 8-PM -5              GP-23 4-5-9 10-PM -6            GP-17 1-3-4 4-PM -5

28-Mitch MacMillan                  13-Jordy Christian                   16-Nick Oslund
GP-17 3-1-4 8-PM -4               GP-17 1-1-2 6-PM -6               GP-17 1-1-2 4-PM -2

D                                                 D
25-Oliver Lauridsen                 4-Taylor Johnson
GP-23 1-4-5 37-PM +1            GP-21 2-4-6 32-PM -5

7-Kevin Gravel                      6-Brett Barta
GP-22 0-3-3 2-PM -1             GP-24 1-9-10 4-PM +3

3-Sam Zabkowicz                 14-Nick Jensen
GP-9 0-2-2 2-PM -2              GP-24 4-8-12 10-PM -4

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:

Other Husky News:

SCSU 'Grillmaster' gets things cooking
SCSU appears on PairWise Rankings radar, receives votes on USCHO.com poll
Blaine’s Matt Hendricks: Of feeling capital with the Washington Capitals
Shout out to Don in Philadelphia who apparently supports St. Cloud State hockey by wearing a SCSU Husky jersey with Nodl on the back to Flyers games.
Husky Mag has finally uploaded some Husky Hockey videos. I will be putting them in this blog soon, but to check them out now click here.

GO HUSKIES!

A couple nice goals and other links

2011-01-25T17:03:00.001-06:00

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:

Also, here are a couple other links to check out:

Go Huskies!

Proved 'em wrong- 6 straight victory!

2011-01-24T12:18:00.001-06:00

Mike Lee continues his strong performance

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:

Cam Reid celebrates his first period goal

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:

David Eddy is all smiles after scoring two

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.

Go Huskies!

SCSU @ BSU Preview

2011-01-21T15:57:00.003-06:00

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:

The Keys to the Game:

Former Husky Mike Doyle's 3 keys to the game (SCSU Three Keys to the Weekend vs. BSU Jan. 21-22)

Thrice Is Nice- BSU is 9-1-2 when they hold opponents to two goals or fewer, SCSU is 9-1-1 when scoring 3 or more.
General Lee- Mike Lee has recently been officially named as SCSU's number one goaltender. Time for him to shine.
First Frame- Huskies have been outscored 28-16 in the first period this season. This needs to change.

The Predictions:

WCHA Blog-

"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"

USCHO.com-

"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."

Goon's World-

"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.

GO HUSKIES!

A Touching Story

2011-01-20T16:44:00.000-06:00

Zach Bennett

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.

Casey Borer (far left)

FL Tournament and AHL All-Star

2011-01-12T15:16:00.000-06:00

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 1st WCHA Sweep!

2011-01-11T16:24:00.000-06:00

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:

Post Game Friday night video:

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:

Post Game Saturday night video:

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.
Nic Dowd is selected as the WCHA Rookie of the Week. Dowd won Rookie of the Week last week as well.
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.

Go Huskies!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

2011-01-07T16:11:00.001-06:00

Nic Dowd named Tournament MVP

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.

Predictions:

Goal Gophers= SCSU Sweeps
WCHA Blog= SCSU Sweeps
USCHO= Theresa- SCSU Friday, MTU Saturday and Tyler- SCSU Sweeps
Goon's World= Split

Keys to the Game:

SCSU Three Keys to the Game vs. Michigan Tech Jan. 7

Lines for tonight:

LW                             C                                  RW
23-Cam Reid            9-Garrett Roe                  10-Ben Hanowski

11-Jared Festler       19-Drew LeBlanc              26-Nic Dowd

13-Jordy Christian     17-Aaron Marvin             12-Travis Novak

28-Mitch MacMillan    16-Nick Oslund               21-Brian Volpei

D                                  D
25-Oliver Lauridsen        4-Taylor Johnson

7-Kevin Gravel              6-Brett Barta

3-Sam Zabkowicz          14-Nick Jensen

Goalie -- Mike Lee. This will be Lee's third straight start.

Nic Dowd's Great Week:

Stampede Player/ SCSU Recrit Shatters Puck!

2011-01-06T16:13:00.000-06:00

Go Herd!

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:

Websites (to name a few):

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.

Go Huskies!

Can't Win For Losing...

2011-01-05T17:06:00.001-06:00

Former Alternate Captain Chris Hepp

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.

Hepp Gone!

2011-01-04T18:11:00.000-06:00

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 am sure more will be coming soon.

SCSU Players Shine During HBO Pens-Caps 24/7 Series

2011-01-04T16:51:00.003-06:00

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.

HBO Pens-Caps 24/7

I highly recommend watching these shows. The last episode will air Wednesday on HBO (probably on YouTube shortly after).

Way to go St. Cloud State alums Matt Hendricks and Andrew Gordon in representing St. Cloud State Hockey!

Huskies Christmas Miracle!

2011-01-02T17:56:00.000-06:00

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:

The Huskies had a couple of awesome games and now they need to bring that same effort and determination back to Minnesota and to the WCHA.

GO HUSKIES!!!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-17T11:38:00.000-06:00

I will be away from the blog for a couple of weeks during the Christmas and New Years holidays. From Husky Hockey Time, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you are able to spend it will friends and family.

Here are a couple of Christmas related videos for your enjoyment:

I'll be back in 2011 for some more great Husky Hockey and hopefully an awesome turn-around second-half of the season.

Husky Hockey Time

"A Good Rivalry" = A Great Game

Split Weekend at Mankato

Down, Not Out

Huskies Beat Badgers

Huskies outplay Sioux; PK costs Huskies the Sweep

First WCHA Games - Huskies vs Sioux

3-Point Weekend, Videos

Special Teams Win Home Opener

Home Opener This Weekend

Don't Hit the Panic Button Yet

Huskies lose at NMU

St. Cloud at Northern Michigan

A Couple of Great NHL Goals by Husky Alums

Bad 3rd Period Leads to 4-3 OT Loss at UAA

Huskies Win 1st Game of the Season; SCSU 4-UAF 1

Let the Hockey Begin: Kendall Classic

Get Caught Up on some Husky Hockey

'11-'12 WCHA Blogger Poll Official Results

Video of SCSUs Move to the NCHC

'11-'12 WCHA Blogger Poll

St. Cloud State Joins The National

St. Cloud State Hockey Welcomed into the 'Premier College Hockey Conference'

Time is Not to Retreat or Back Down, but to Thrive and to Prosper

St. Cloud State will say 'No' to "Super League"

Super Conference? What has become of the WCHA?

One Man Brute Squad

Husky Hockey Contributions to HBO's 24/7

St. Cloud Adds Another

And then there was one...

Former Husky Matt Cullen Joins Minnesota's Elite

What's Next?...Goalie Edition

NCAA and Frozen Four thoughts

Sulking Over...Back at Last

The Underdog with the Upperhand- Playoff Time

Calm before the storm

Info on SCSU vs. UMD playoff games and more

Last Regular Series Recap

St. Cloud State vs. Denver. Go Huskies!

St. Cloud State is the Team of the Week (and other notes)

Garrett Roe...The Hat Trick of Weekly Accolades

Huskies Blowout Badgers

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

Wednesday Notes Going Into Badger Weekend

Fighting Sioux Recap

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

SCSU vs. UND Alumni Edition

...Heading Into Fighting Sioux Weekend

A Good Weekend!

I've Gotta Feeling...

Mavs Part Two

Snapped at Seven

Game Day-MSU @ SCSU

A couple nice goals and other links

Proved 'em wrong- 6 straight victory!

SCSU @ BSU Preview

A Touching Story

Similar Stories...

FL Tournament and AHL All-Star

St. Cloud State Gets 1st WCHA Sweep!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Stampede Player/ SCSU Recrit Shatters Puck!

Can't Win For Losing...

Hepp Gone!

SCSU Players Shine During HBO Pens-Caps 24/7 Series

Huskies Christmas Miracle!

Merry Christmas!