St. Cloud State
Minnesota State University - Mankato
Players Mentioned
#5/7 Huskies open season at MSU-Mankato on Oct. 14-15
10/11/2016 8:45:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The #5/7 St. Cloud State University men's hockey team will open its 2016-17 regular season on Friday, Oct. 14 (7:07 p.m.) and Saturday, Oct. 15 (7:07 p.m.) with games at #14/RV MSU-Mankato Both games will be played at the Verizon Wireless Center in downtown Mankato, Minn.
WATCH THE HUSKIES: The games at Mankato will be televised on Charter Cable channels 826 HD/191on the MSU Sports Network.
LIVE STATS FROM MANKATO: Follow live stats for the games at Mankato at http://www.sidearmstats.com/mnsu/mhockey/
LIVE ON THE RADIO: Listen to all SCSU men's hockey games at home and away during 2016-17 on REV 96.7 FM (www.rev967.com). Jim Erickson will provide the play-by-play along with color commentary by SCSU All-American Dave Reichel.
TEAM NOTES (PDF) - Complete press release for SCSU vs. MSU
NOTES AND NEWS FROM THE HUSKIES
TOP TEAM: The Huskies earned a #5 ranking in this week's USA Today/USA Hockey Division I poll and they were ranked #7 in this week's USCHO.com poll released on Oct. 10.
TV TIME: Select SCSU home games in 2016-17 will be televised live on the SCSU Sports Network (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). Twin Cities sports media personality Jim Rich and former NHL and Husky standout Mark Parrish will call the games this season for Husky Productions. Special thanks to Brian Stanley and Austin Tema and the rest of the award winning Husky Productions staff for providing top quality programming throughout the season for SCSU fans. Select NCHC games featuring SCSU will be televised on the CBS Sports Network. Selected games will also be televised nationally on Fox Sports North, Fox College Sports and the American Sports Network. Please check you local guide for the channel location of CBS Sports, Fox Sports and ASN.
FEELING A DRAFT: SCSU recruit Dennis Cholowski, who played with Chilliwack in the BCHL during the 2015-16 season, was picked #20 in the 2016 NHL draft in June 2016 by the Detroit Red Wings. Cholowski becomes the first played in team history to be selected in the first round of the NHL draft. SCSU's previous top pick was Matt Cullen, who was picked in the second round of the 1996 NHL draft by Anaheim...freshman forward Mikey Eyssimont was also selected 142nd in the NHL draft by the Los Angeles Kings in 2016. Eyssimont scored 14 goals, 19 assists and 33 points for the Huskies as a freshman. Eyssimont and Cholowski become the 61st and 62nd players from SCSU selected in the NHL draft since 1986. NHL draft picks on the team in 2016-17 will be Ben Storm (COL), Will Borgen (BUF), Judd Peterson (BUF), Eyssimont (LAK) and Cholowski (DET).
OLD RIVALS: Former rivals in the WCHA, St. Cloud State leads the longtime series against the Mavericks by a 28-15-7 margin at the NCAA DI level (since 1993). Prior to the DI era, the Mavericks owned a 45-29-6 lead in the series during the DII/III era that started in 1969-70... Last year, the Huskies charted a 4-0 and 3-0 sweep against Minnesota State at the HBNHC on Oct. 16-17, 2015. SCSU also gained a 5-4 victory over the Mavericks on Jan. 30 in the first round game at the North Star Cup in St. Paul, Minn... SCSU sophomore forward Mikey Eyssimont scored two goals and one assist in the Huskies' 5-4 victory over MSU on Jan. 30 at the Xcel Energy Center. In 2015-16, Eyssimont ended his rookie season with five goals and two assists in games played at the Xcel Energy Center.
MORE ON THE MAVS: The Huskies will return to Mankato for games for the first time since a two-game sweep against the Mavericks on Oct. 26-27, 2012. The Huskies won both of those games by the score of 5-1. SCSU is 5-3-2 in the last 10 games and 3-2-0 in the last five outings played in Mankato. Overall, SCSU is 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings against the Mavericks and 5-0-0 in the last five meetings against MSU...MSU was ranked #14 in this week's USCHO.com poll and it received votes in the USA Hockey poll.
START THE SEASON: SCSU is 13-14-2 in regular season openers since the Huskies moved to the NCAA Division I level in 1987-88. SCSU is 6-5-1 in regular season openers during the Bob Motzko era since 2005-06.
WINNING WAYS: The Huskies have charted five consecutive seasons above the .500 mark since 2011-12, and they have only been below the .500 mark once since 2005-06. The Huskies have 20-plus games seven times since 2005-06 and they tied a team record with 31 victories in 2015-16 under the direction of head coach Bob Motzko.
REGINA WARM-UP: The Huskies opened their 2016-17 season on Oct. 2 with a 6-2 exhibition victory over Regina at the HBNHC. Goals in the contest for the Huskies were posted by Patrick Newell, Ryan Papa, Mikey Eyssimont, Judd Peterson, Robby Jackson and Daniel Tedesco. Of note, Minnesota State also gained a 5-3 win over Regina this season on Oct. 1 in Mankato, Minn. Jeff Smith was the goalie of record with three saves in the first period, while David Zevnik and Zach Driscoll also played one period apiece in the game.
BACK FOR MORE: Judd Peterson is the Huskies top returing goal producer with 20 career goals to his credit. Next on the list is Blake Winiecki with 17 career goals and then Mikey Eyssimont with 14 goals during his rookie year at SCSU...Niklas Nevalainen is SCSU's top returning point producer with 38 career points in three seasons on the blueline. Winiecki has 34 career points and Eyssimont has 33 point as a Husky. Nevalainen is the top returning player with 34 career assists to his credit.
GOPHERS ON THE HORIZON: The Huskies will continue their 2016-17 season on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22 with a home-home series against rival University of Minnesota. On Oct. 21, SCSU will play a 7 p.m. game at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. The Huskies will complete the series with a 7:07 p.m. game against the Gophers at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. on Oct. 22. For complete ticket information on the game in St. Cloud, please visit www.scsutickets.com or call 1-877-SCSUTIX. Both games will be televised on Fox Sports North Plus and also broadcast live on REV 96.7 FM.
TICKETS? - www.scsutickets.com
