#7 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey to host #6 Omaha on Dec. 4-5

The #7 St. Cloud State University men's hockey team (11-3-0, 5-1-0 NCHC) will play a weekend series at home against #6 ranked Omaha (11-2-1, 3-2-1 NCHC) on Friday, Dec. 4 and Saturday, Dec. 5. The game on Dec. 4 will begin at 7:37 p.m. and the game on Dec. 5 will begin at 7:07 p.m. Both games will be played at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (5,159 cap./200x100) in St. Cloud, Minn.

TICKETS: Great seats are still available for the weekend series against Omaha. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.scsutickets.com or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX. You can also stop by the SCSU Athletic Ticket Office in the HBNHC during regular business hours and purchase your tickets in person. SCSU hockey tickets are the perfect holiday gift giving idea.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES THIS WEEKEND: The SCSU-Omaha games will be aired live on KCML FM 99.9 (www.lite999.com) and on KVSC FM 88.1 (www.kvsc.org) this weekend.

WATCH THE HUSKIES: The SCSU-Omaha games on Dec. 4-5 will be televised live on the SCSU Sports Network (Charter 426/823, Comcast/Xfinity 999).

LIVE VIDEO STREAM: Fans can also watch the games this weekend on the NCHC.tv/scsu video stream. This is a pay per view online service.

LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/stcloudstate/mhockey/

SCSU WEEKLY TEAM NOTES / OMAHA WEEKLY TEAM NOTES

ANNUAL TEDDY BEAR TOSS: St. Cloud State's annual Teddy Bear Toss will take place during intermission at the SCSU-Omaha men's hockey game on Dec. 5. Fans are encouraged to bring a new or gently used Teddy Bear or stuffed animal to the game to throw on the ice during the intermission. All items collected will then be donated to the Toys for Tots program in the St. Cloud area.

UGLY SWEATER CONTEST: Start digging through your closets! Fans are encouraged to wear their ugliest holiday sweater to the upcoming SCSU-Omaha men's hockey game on Saturday, Dec. 5 at the HBNHC to participate in an Ugly Sweater contest. Anyone wearing an "ugly sweater" to the game will receive a 25% off coupon for Ragstock. For complete ticket information on this, or any home game, please visit www.scsutickets.com or call 1-877-SCSUTIX.

PHOTOS WITH SANTA: Santa Claus will make an apperance in the lobby of the HBNHC before the game on Dec. 4. Fans will have a chance to get their photo with Santa

POLL POSITION: SCSU was ranked #7 in the USCHO.com and 7th in the USA Today/USA Hockey DI national polls this week....SCSU has been ranked among the nation's top 20 teams in every poll so far this season.

SWEEP AT UM: The Huskies are fresh from their first weekend sweep at Mariucci Arena with a 3-2 win on Nov. 27 and a 7-4 win on Nov. 29 at non-conference rival Minnesota. David Morley, Jimmy Murray and Joey Benik all had goals in the 3-2 victory on Nov. 27, while netminder Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves to gain the win. SCSU outshot the Gophers 28-26 in the game and the Huskies were 2-3 on the power play...on Nov. 29, Blake Winiecki and Judd Peterson each charted two goals in the 7-4 win for the Huskies at Minnesota. Kalle Kossila, Patrick Russell and David Morley also had goals in the win that featured four power play goals for the Huskies. Lindgren made 29 saves on the way to his 10th win in 2015-16.

GOAL LEADER: Judd Peterson moved into the team's goal scoring lead with a pair of power play goals in the 7-4 win at Minnesota on Nov. 29. A sophomore from Duluth, Minn., Peterson now has nine goals this season and 13 goals in his two years with the Huskies. He is a draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres and Peterson currently ranks 14th in the nation with 0.64 goals per game this season.

ADVANTAGE SCSU: SCSU notched six power play goals in the two games at Minnesota. SCSU has notched a power play in the last six consecutive games, which includes a total of 14 power play goals during that six game stretch. The Huskies now rank third in the nation on the power play at 29.8 percent (17/57).

MOST GOALS IN NCAA DI HOCKEY: On offense, SCSU ranks third in the nation with a scoring average of 4.29 goals per game. With 60 goals to their credit, the Huskies have currently scored more goals this season than any team in DI hockey... On defense, SCSU has been pretty darn good too. The Huskies currently rank eighth in the nation with a goals against average of 1.86 goals allowed per game. SCSU's scoring margin of 2.43 per game ranks third in the nation... SCSU has tallied 30 goals over its last five games for a scoring average of 6.00 goals per game.

CENTRAL MINNESOTA NICE: A tradition at SCSU over the past few seasons, the Huskies rank among the top teams in the NCAA for least amount of penalties. The Huskies currently rank 56th (out of 60 teams) with a penalty minute average of 7.8 per game.

THE STREAK: Senior forward David Morley brings a five-game point streak into the weekend series against Omaha. Morley has carded 12 points in the last five games. He currently has a team leading 17 points this year and only needs two more points to join SCSU's 100-point club. In 123 games played at SCSU, Morley now has 44 goals and 54 assists.

CLOSING IN: Senior forward Joey Benik is also closing in on membership in SCSU's elite 100-point club. Benik now has 92 career points (44g/48a) as a Husky. He paces the Huskies this winter with four power play goals and three game winners.

GOALIE NOTES: Junior Charlie Lindgren owns a 10-3-0 record this season along with a 1.88 GAA and a .931 save rate this winter. He now has a 31-23-2 career record at SCSU. Lindgren ranks 10th in the team records for goalie victories behind Mike Lee, who had 32 wins from 2009-12. Brian Leitza is the all-time win leader with 66 from 1994-98. Lindgren also has 1,403 career saves, which ranks 10th in the team records behind Dean Weasler, who had 1,839 saves from 1998-02. Leitza is the all-time save leader with 3,500 from 1994-98.

RANDOM NOTES: SCSU hockey tickets make the perfect holiday gift idea. For complete information on tickets for any upcoming home games, please call 1-877-SCSUTIX or visit www.scsutickets.com...SCSU is 7-1-0 this season when it scores on the power play...SCSU is 5-0-0 when Joey Benik scores a goal this season... In the last six games played at the HBNHC against Omaha, the Huskies own a 5-1-0 record. In the all-time series, SCSU owns a 9-2-1 record at home against Omaha... The Huskies are 5-3-0 against top 20 nationally ranked teams this season. Omaha is currently ranked #6 in the nation, while the Huskies are ranked #7.

ALL ABOUT THE SCSU-OMAHA SERIES: Dean Blais is in his seventh season as the head coach at Omaha...the Mavericks are ranked #6 in the nation this week and own an 11-2-1, 3-2-1 NCHC record this year...last year, the Huskies scored a 2-1 (2 OT) and 3-1 series sweep in the first round of the NCHC playoffs at Omaha on Mar. 13-15, 2015. This provided SCSU with their first trip to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff...the Huskies own a current four-game win streak against Omaha. Last year the HBNHC, SCSU posted a 4-3 and 2-0 series sweep over the Mavs on Feb. 20-21, 2015...SCSU is 4-1-0 in the last five games and 6-4 in the last 10 games of this series...SCSU is 9-2-1 in action against Omaha at the HBNHC since the series opened on Jan. 9, 1998 with a 2-1 victory in St. Cloud for the Huskies...the last time Omaha won a game in St. Cloud was a 6-5 victory on Dec. 7, 2012...in contrast, SCSU is 3-6-1 in games played at Omaha...the Huskies will also play games at Omaha this season on Feb. 19-20, 2016...Jake Guentzel leads Omaha with 8g/14a and 22 points, while Austin Ortega has 12 goals and 18 points...Evan Weninger is 8-1-0 in the nets with a 1.91 GAA and a .948 save rate, while Kirk Thompson is 3-1-1 with a 2.98 GAA and a .893 save rate for Omaha this season.

ON DECK: SCSU will travel to Denver for a pair of NCHC games on Dec. 11-12. SCSU will return home on Jan. 1-2 for games against Arizona State and an exhibition game vs. the USA NTDP U18 squad on Jan. 3 at the HBNHC. Visit www.scsutickets.com for details.