East coast trip for #1 ranked Huskies set for Dec. 29-30

The #1 ranked St. Cloud State University men's hockey team (12-2-1, 7-2-1 NCHC) will play at non-conference rival Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. on Dec. 29-30, 2017. Both games out east will begin at 7:00 p.m. (ET) at Princeton's historic Hobey Baker Memorial Rink.

SCSU HOCKEY CENTRAL

RADIO: The River 96.7 FM (www.river967.com)

VIDEO STREAM: http://www.ivyleaguenetwork.com/

LIVE STATS: Princeton's Live Stats

SCSU NOTES: SCSU-PRINCETON Notes

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES IN 2017-18 ON THE RADIO: SCSU fans will be able to listen to the games on 96.7 FM The River (www.river967.com) with Jim Erickson on the call...fans will be able to watch the games from Princeton on the web at: www.ivyleaguenetwork.com

WATCH THE HUSKIES: Fans can watch SCSU games in 2017-18 on the web through NCHC.tv. Check out the options for this PPV service by visiting NCHC.tv/scsu

IN THE POLLS: The Huskies received a #1 ranking in the 2017-18 USA TODAY/USA Hockey Division I poll on Dec. 11. SCSU also gained a #1 ranking in the USCHO.com poll this week...St. Cloud State was picked as the #2 team in the 2017-18 preseason NCHC poll. Of note, the Huskies received votes in the final USCHO.com poll of 2016-17.

TOUGH SCHEDULE: SCSU owns an 8-2-1 record against nationally ranked teams (top 20 at the time SCSU played opponent) this season, which includes victories over North Dakota, Omaha, Minnesota State Mankato, Boston College and Minnesota Duluth..

SUPER START: SCSU's 12-2-1 start is the best 15-game start to a season since the Huskies went 13-1-1 to open the 2001-02 season.

HOCKEY DAY MINNESOTA: The city of St. Cloud will host the 2018 Hockey Day Minnesota on Jan. 20. This day celebrates the sport of hockey in the state of Minnesota and it will include a weekend of fun activities in St. Cloud. On Jan. 19, the SCSU Men's and Women's Hockey Alumni teams will be playing a game on the outdoor rink, which will be set up at Eastman Park on the shores of Lake George in St. Cloud. On Jan. 20, the SCSU women's hockey team will play UMD at the outdoor rink at 1 p.m., while the SCSU-Minnesota State game at 5 p.m. will be played back at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center and featured on Fox Sports North Plus. The day will also include high school games at the outdoor rink along with a concert and fan activities. For complete details, please visit scsuhuskies.com/HockeyDayMinnesota

GREAT GIFT IDEA: SCSU hockey tickets are the perfect holiday gift idea for your favorite Huskies fans. To order tickets online, please visit www.scsutickets.com or call 1-877-SCSUTIX.

USA, USA: SCSU head coach Bob Motzko and Director of Hockey Operations/Video Coordinator Matt Chapman will not be with the team at Princeton since they are currently working with Team USA at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships in Buffalo, N.Y. Motzko will once again serve as head coach for Team USA at the World Juniors and Chapman will serve as the team's video coach. SCSU sophomore forward Ryan Poehling has also made the third round of cuts for Team USA in 2018. He hopes to be on the final roster for Team USA, which will compete at the World Juniors from Dec. 26-Jan. 5...On the topic of the World Juniors, SCSU freshman goalie David Hrenak is on the preliminary roster for the Slovakia National Junior Team, which will also compete at the upcoming 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships in Buffalo, N.Y. Another SCSU connection to the upcoming World Juniors is SCSU athletic communications graduate assistant Ryan Evans, who will be serving as a social media coordinator for the tournament during its run in Buffalo, N.Y.

ON A ROLL: Rookie forward Kevin Fitzgerald owns a five game point scoring streak headed into the games at Princeton. Fitzgerald has only been held off the scoresheet four times this season and have five points in the last five games played for SCSU. He is the team's leading freshman scorer with 11 points (4g/7a).

LEADING THE PACK: Defenseman and post-season honors candidate Jimmy Schuldt leads the Huskies with 14 assists and 19 points. He also owns an impressive +22 rating on the plus/minus this season at the SCSU...Overall, the Huskies have enjoyed a talent rich team in 2017-18. A total of seven SCSU players have charted 10 or more points this season and seven or more have scored five or more goals this season...Junior Robby Jackson has scored seven goals this season to lead the Huskies, while Mikey Eyssimont and Jack Poehling rank second on the team with six goals apiece.

IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS: SCSU leads the nation in scoring this season with an average of 4.27 goals per game. Of note, Princeton ranks fifth in the nation at 3.50 goals per game...On defense, SCSU ranks fourth in the nation at 2.07 goals allowed per game. SCSU also ranks first with the nation's best scoring margin at 2.20 this season...On special teams, SCSU ranks sixth in the nation on the power play at 25.7 percent (18/70) and 20th on the penalty kill at 82.8 percent (48/58)...SCSU sits atop the NCAA leaderboard with a winning rate of 83.3 percent (12-2-1) in 2017-18.

IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS II: Jimmy Schuldt paces all NCAA DI blueliners this season with a scoring average of 1.27 ppg. He ranks fifth in the nation among all DI players with .93 assists per game (14)...Rookie netminder David Hrenak currently ranks second in the nation with a save percentage of .947 (198 saves), while junior goalie Jeff Smith ranks sixth in the nation with a .928 save rate (245 saves )..SCSU goalie tandem also ranks high in th goals against category this winter. Hrenak ranks fourth in the nation at 1.82 and Smith ranks 12th with a 2.10 GAA in 2017-18. Both Hrenak and Smith rank third in the country with a .833 winning rate.

GREAT START: SCSU is 9-0-1 at home this season and 3-2-0 in games played on the road. The Huskies have scored five-or-more goals in a game nine times this season. The Huskies have allowed five-or-more goals only once this season. SCSU has already notched three shutouts this season and have allowed one goal or less in seven games this season.

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING: SCSU is tracking to enjoy recordbreaking numbers in 2017-18. After 15 games, SCSU owns a 12-2-1 record which ranks second in team history behind a 13-1-1 start in 2001-02. In 2015-16, when the Huskies set a team record with 31 wins, SCSU started the year with a 12-3-0 record after 15 games...With a scoring average of 4.27 goals per game in 2017-18, the Huskies are on pace to make a run at breaking the team's season scoring record of 4.26 goals per game set in 2001-02 and 2015-16. The Huskies have already scored 64 goals this season, while the team record of 179 goals was scored during the 2001-02 season.

IVY LEAGUE FACT: SCSU is 16-3-1 in games played against Ivy League schools since moving to the NCAA DI level in 1987-88. Those Ivy League schools include Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale

FROZEN FACEOFF: Never too soon to make plans for the 2018 NCHC Frozen Faceoff at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Mar. 16-17. Visit nchchockey.com for details.

BLOCKED UP: Jimmy Schuldt leads the club with 41 blocked shots this season. Jack Ahcan is second with 27 blocks, while Will Borgen and Jon Lizotte have 25 blocks each. In the recent 3-1 win vs. North Dakota on Dec. 9, the Huskies amassed an amazing 30 blocked shots in the contest and blocked 36 percent of the shots taken in the game by UND. Schuldt led the team with eight blocks, while Lizotte had five.

ON DECK: The Huskies will return home on Jan. 6 for a 6:30 p.m. game against non-conference foe the University of Minnesota. SCSU will complete the home-home series at Minnesota on Jan. 7. The game on Jan. 6 will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.