#5 Huskies to open 2016 with games against Arizona State and U.S. NTDP

The #5 St. Cloud State University men's hockey team (14-4-0, 8-2-0 NCHC) will play a weekend series at home against Arizona State University (5-12-0) on Friday, Jan. 1 and Saturday, Jan. 2. The Friday game will begin at 7:37 p.m. and the second game of the series at SCSU's Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (5,371 cap./200x100) will begin at 7:07 p.m. Arizona State is in its first season of NCAA Division I hockey and this marks the first time these two teams have played each other.

TIME CHANGE ON JAN. 3: The Huskies will complete the first weekend of 2016 with an exhibition game against the U.S. National Team Development Program U18 squad on Sunday, Jan. 3. The game will be played the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center and game time is now slated for 4:07 p.m. The game was orginally slated to begin at 7:07 p.m.

TICKETS: www.scsutickets.com or call 1-877-SCSUTIX (or 320-308-2137)

LISTEN: KCML FM 99.9 (www.lite999.com) or KVSC FM 88.1 (www.kvsc.org)

WATCH: SCSU Sports Network - Charter Cable 426/823 and Comcast Xfinity 999

LIVE STREAM: NCHC.tv/scsu

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

TEAM NOTES: SCSU Weekly Notes (PDF)

HUSKIES HEADLINES:

POLL POSITION: SCSU was ranked #5 in the USCHO.com and 5th 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.

TICKETS: SCSU hockey tickets make the perfect holiday gift giving idea for your favorite SCSU fans. Great tickets are available for all remaining home games in 2015-16. 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.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES THIS WEEKEND: The SCSU-ASU and the SCSU-NTDP games will be aired live on KCML FM 99.9 (www.lite999.com) with Dan Terhaar, Dave Reichel and Zach Halverson making the call from the HBNHC. The games will also be aired live on KVSC FM 88.1 (www.kvsc.org).

WATCH THE HUSKIES: The games this weekend will be televised live on the SCSU Sports Network on Charter Cable channel 823 HD/426 in the St. Cloud area and on Charter markets throughout the region (check your local cable provider for details). The games will also be televised on Comcast Cable channel 999 in the Twin Cities. Twin Cities sports media personality Jim Rich and former NHL and Husky standout Mark Parrish call the games this season for Husky Productions. Special thanks to Brian Stanley, Katie Halter, Taylor Budge, Jeremy Klein and the rest of the award winning Husky Productions staff for providing top quality programming throughout the season for SCSU fans.

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.

SWEEP AT DU: The St. Cloud State men's hockey team scored its first series sweep at Denver since the 1997-98 season with a pair of wins on Dec. 11-12. The Huskies opened the weekend with a 5-2 victory on Dec. 11 and returned to the win column on Dec. 12 with a 6-2 victory at Denver.

GREAT START: St. Cloud State now owns a 14-4-0, 8-2-0 NCHC record in 2015-16. This is the best start for the Huskies since beginning the 2001-02 season with a 15-2-1 record.

100-POINT CLUB: SCSU senior David Morley joined the Huskies' 100-point club on Dec. 11 with his goal in the win at Denver. Morley now has 101 career points, which includes 45 goals and 56 assists in 127 games played at SCSU. He is the 28th player in SCSU's Division I history to score 100 career points.

HAT TRICK: Senior forward Kalle Kossila enjoyed a sterling weekend of play at Denver. On Dec. 11, Kossila had two goals and he then capped the weekend with three goals in the win on Dec. 12. This was Kossila's second career hat trick for the Huskies. Kossila ranks 14th in the team career records with 122 points (42g/80a). He is the 10th SCSU player to score 80 assists during his career. He was named the NCHC Offensive Player of the Week on Dec. 14.

GWG UPDATE: Joey Benik notched both game winning goals at Denver on Dec. 11-12 to boost his season total to five. He currently ranks second in the country with five game winners. He has already tied the team record for most game winners in a season with five, and he now has nine GWGs in his career at SCSU. Benik leads the team with 11 goals this season and he needs just four more points to join SCSU's 100-point club. In four years with the Huskies, Benik has posted 47 goals and 49 assists in 114 games played.

NCAA LEADER: The Huskies have outscored their opponents 77-38 this season. SCSU ranks fourth in the nation with an average of 4.28 goals per game this season. The Huskies currently lead all Division I teams in 2015-16 with 77 goals scored. On defense, SCSU ranks 11th in the nation with a goals allowed average of 2.11 per game in 2015-16. SCSU's scoring margin this season ranks second in the nation at +2.17 per game. On the power play, SCSU continues to shine with a 19-of-66 conversion rate. SCSU's power play rate of 28.8 percent ranks second in the nation this season.

SENIOR SUCCESS: SCSU's senior class is leading the way in 2015-16. The SCSU's top four point scorers this season are all seniors and this group include Kalle Kossila (8g/15a), David Morley (8g/12a), Jimmy Murray (6g/13a) and Joey Benik (11g/7a). You can also add Ethan Prow to the group, who ranks sixth on the team with 17 points (2g/15a) this winter. In total, these five seniors have scored 97 of the Huskies' 219 points scored this year.

TOP DOGS: Kossila leads SCSU this season with 23 points and 15 assists. He ranks 11th in the nation with 0.83 assists per game, while teammate Ethan Prow ranks fourth in the country with 1.07 assists per game this season. Prow also has 15 assists this season and ranks second in the nation among DI blueliners with 1.21 points per game (2g/15a). He also leads the nation's DI defenseman with 15 assists this year. Prow was named the NCHC Defensive Player of the Week on Dec. 14.

GREAT GOALIE: Junior goalie Charlie Lindgren lowered his goals against average to 2.03 this season with the wins at DU. He has 13 victories to his credit this season (13-4-0) and a .925 save percentage. In his career, Lindgren owns a 34-24-2 record. He ranks ninth in the career charts with 34 wins and 10th in the career charts at SCSU with 1,490 saves in three seasons. Lindgren's seven career shutouts ranks second in the team recordbook.

SCSU NOTES AND NEWS: Jimmy Murray had a standout trip to Denver. On Dec. 11, Murray had two assists and he completed the trip with a career game-high of three assists on Dec. 12. On the season, Murray ranks third on the squad with 19 points (6g/13a)...Kalle Kossila ranks 17th in the nation with an average of 1.28 ppg this season...Judd Peterson ranks 14th in the country with an average of 0.63 goals per game this season...Charlie Lindgren ranks third in the nation with 4 shutouts this season...SCSU is the third least penalized team in the nation with an average of just 7.2 penalty minutes per game this year.

ON DECK: SCSU will return home on Jan. 8-9 for games against Colorado College. The game on Jan. 8 is scheduled to be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network. Visit www.scsutickets.com for details.