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St. Cloud State
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Western Michigan University
#4/5 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey on the road to Kalamazoo
1/13/2021 9:40:00 AM | Men's Hockey
The #6/7 St. Cloud State University men's hockey team (9-4-0, 9-4-0 NCHC) will continue its 2020-21 season with a pair of games at Western Michigan University (3-8-3, 3-8-3 NCHC) on Friday, Jan. 15 and Saturday, Jan. 16. The game on Jan. 15 is scheduled to start at 6:05 p.m. CT and the game on Jan. 16 will start at 6:35 p.m. CT Both games will be played in Kalamazoo, Mich. at WMU's Lawson Arena.
FOLLOW THE HUSKIES AT WMU:
RADIO: The River 96.7 FM
TV: CBS Sports Network (Saturday only)
VIDEO STREAM: NCHC.tv/scsu (Friday only)
LIVE STATS: WMU Live Stats
NOTES: SCSU Weekly Notes
HUSKIES HOCKEY HEADLINES:
FOLLOW THE HUSKIES THIS WEEKEND: SCSU fans can watch the Friday game at WMU online at NCHC.tv/scsu - this PPV online streaming service will also carry NCHC games throughout 2020-21. The Saturday game at WMU will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network.
LISTEN TO THE HUSKIES: All St. Cloud State games will be broadcast on The River 96.7 FM out of St. Cloud, Minn. Fans can listen online at river967.com - once again Jim Erickson will provide play-by-play of the games along with color commentary from SCSU All-American Dave Reichel.
IN THE POLLS: The Huskies were ranked #4 in the USCHO.com and #5 in the USA Hockey/USA Today men's hockey Division I polls this week. This marked the highest ranking of the 2020-21 season in both polls for the Huskies. The last time that SCSU was ranked this high in the USCHO.com poll was a #1 national ranking on March 25, 2019.
LAST YEAR: The Huskies posted a 13-15-6 overall record in 2019-20 and placed fifth in the always rugged NCHC with a 10-12-2 conference record. SCSU's season was ended early before the start of the NCHC playoffs due to the COVID 19 crisis. Of note, SCSU was 7-5-2 in its last 14 games of the season that included key wins over nationally ranked Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota and Denver - all were ranked among the nation's top 10 teams at the time.
BY THE NUMBERS: SCSU lost six players from its 2019-20 roster, which includes seniors Jack Ahcan, Jack Poehling, Nick Poehling, Clark Kuster and Jake Wahlin...SCSU will return a total of 21 players from its 2019-20 roster. This list of veterans includes six returning seniors, six juniors and nine sophomores...SCSU brings back 3 goalies, 7 defense and 11 forwards...SCSU newcomers include two defenseman and four forwards
SHUTOUT NOTES: SCSU's 1-0 shutout at UMD on Jan. 9 marked the first shutout for the Huskies on the road since a 5-0 win at UNO on Feb. 23, 2019, and it was the first shutout for SCSU since a 3-0 win vs. Miami at the HBNHC on Feb. 1, 2020. This was David Hrenak's 10th career shutout, which sets a new team record and moves him ahead of Scott Meyer, who had nine shutouts from 1996-01. The win helped SCSU gain a weekend sweep, which was the first sweep for the Huskies on the road since a pair of wins at Miami on Dec. 6-7, 2019.
OPPONENT NOTES:Â Western Michigan is led by seventh year head coach Andy Murray. A 10-year head coaching veteran in the NHL, Murray posted a 333-278-58-71 career record that included stints with the Los Angeles Kings (1999-2006) and the St. Louis Blues (2006-10). He also served as an assistant coach with Philadelphia, Minnesota (North Stars) and Winnipeg (Jets) during his pro coaching career..
- SCSU is 17-7-4 in the all-time series against WMU
- SCSU is 2-3-0 in the last five outings against WMU and SCSU is 7-2-3 in play against WMU at the Lawson Arena. Â
- On Dec. 1, SCSU opened the NCHC pod with a 4-3 win vs. WMU. Nick Perbix posted the GWG in the contest, while SCSU's other goals were added by Kevin Fitzgerald, Micah Miller and Kyler Kupka.
- SCSU lost a 2-1 match vs. WMU on Dec. 9 at the pod.
- Easton Brodzinski has notched 5g/5a in play vs. WMU during his collegiate career.
- David Hrenak is 5-2-0 in play vs. WMU during his career.
- SCSU lost its first two games ever in Kalamazoo with a pair of 6-2 setbacks on Jan. 24-25, 2020.
- Current SCSU men's hockey associate head coach Dave Shyiak previously served as an associate head coach at Western Michigan under Andy Murray before joining the staff at SCSU in 2020. Shyiak was at WMU from 2014-20.
LAST RESULTS: SCSU scored a weekend sweep at Minnesota Duluth with a 4-3 win on Jan. 8 and a 1-0 OT victory on Jan. 9. To open the series, SCSU charged to a early 2-0 lead on Jan. 8 with goals by Jami Krannila and Chase Brand. UMD replied with three unanswered goals in the second period before Nolan Walker evened the tally at 3-3 with his goal at 18:59 of the second. In the third period, Kevin Fitzgerald notched the GWG at 2:29 with assists from Luke Jaycox and Ondreji Trejabal. David Hrenak had 27 saves in the contest to gain the win...on Jan. 9, SCSU posted a 1-0 shutout that was highlighted by 28 saves from Hrenak and a GWG in the OT session by Nick Perbix at 3:58 of the 3x3 session. SCSU is now 2-2 in overtime games this season and all of those games have been decided with a goal scored during the 3x3 OT period. Â
TEAM LEADERS: Veeti Miettinen currently leads SCSU with seven goals and 14 points in 13 games played this season. Nick Perbix leads SCSU with eight assists and is second on the team with 13 points (5g/8a). Miettinen leads the team with four power play goals and Easton Brodzinski is second with three PPGs this year. Of note, Sam Hentges paces the club with 44 shots on goal and Brodzinski is second with 43 shots on target this winter. Brodzinski ranks 13th in the team records with 345 career shots on net.
GWG NOTEBOOK:- Kevin Fitzgerald and Nick Perbix both had game winners for the Huskies at UMD on Jan. 8-9. The pair both lead the team this season with two game winning goals apiece. Fitzgerald now has five game winning goals scored during his career at St. Cloud State University, and Perbix has four GWG as a Husky.
STREAK STOPPED: Veeti Miettinen saw his team season-high five game goal scoring streak halted on Jan. 8 at UMD. He did have an assist in the game, which moved his point streak to six games before being held off the scoresheet on Jan. 9. Miettinen ranks sixth in the nation and first in the NCHC among first year players with a scoring rate of 1.08 ppg. Miettinen has been scoreless in only five games this season.
OVERTIME FACTS: SCSU is 2-2 in games that have gone to overtime this season. In all four of those games, the 3x3 OT session has resulted in a goal that decided the game's outcome. In comparison, SCSU played in 10 overtime games during the 2019-20 season and only four of those games were decided with a goal scored during the first OT session. The remainder of the games ended up as tie games.
ASSIST PLEASE: David Hrenak posted his first collegiate point with his assist on the Nick Perbix game winner on Jan. 9. As senior and a draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, Hrenak is the first SCSU goalie to gain a point since Jeff Smith had an assist vs. Northern Michigan on Oct. 20, 2018...here are some more Hrenak facts to enjoy - he now has 2,277 saves and that ranks 3rd in the team records behind Brian Leitza (3,500) and Ryan Faragher (2,501)...Hrenak has 56 career wins, which ranks 2nd behind Leitza's team record 66 career wins...Hrenak also has nine career ties, which ranks second in the team record along with Mike Lee. Bobby Goepfert is the team's all-time tie leader with 11 from 2005-07. Â
FIRST PLACE HUSKIES: SCSU currently sits atop the NCHC standings with 27 points, while UND is in second place with 26 points and UMD is in third with 21 points. Omaha (19), Denver (15), Miami (15), Colorado College (14) and Western Michigan (13) complete the league's standings this week. SCSU has won the NCHC regular season title in 2014, 2018 and 2019.
FIRST GOAL IN 2020-21: Sophomore Chase Brand posted his first goal of the season during the Huskies' 4-3 win vs. UMD on Jan. 8. Brand now has scored six goals and eight assists during his career. In 2020-21, Brand has one goal and one assist in 10 games played.
MORE NOTES: Luke Jaycox broke a eight-game point scoring drought on Jan. 8 with his assist vs. UMD. On the season, Jaycox has two assists for the Huskies and 7g/8a during his career.
NEXT UP: SCSU will be back at the HBNHC on Jan. 22-23 for a pair of home games against NCHC rival Miami. At this point, spectators will not be allowed into the arena to watch the games due to the COVID pandemic. Fans can watch these games on NCHC.tv/scsu and also on FOX9+.
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