No. 7 Huskies to host CC at high noon Saturday

ST. CLOUD, MINN. - No, it's not a typo. It's not a reference to an old time Western. It's real. It's a thing, and it's happening. The No. 7 ranked St. Cloud State University men's hockey team is hosting Colorado College at 12 p.m. in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Saturday, February 20.

It has been many moons since the Huskies played before 4 p.m. on their own home ice, but that is exactly what will happen on Saturday. The game itself is a make up game from the NCHC pod, as COVID delayed the Tigers arrival in Omaha, forcing them to miss their first week of games. In fact, you could call this an entire make up weekend for Colorado College, as the team is scheduled to face No. 8 Minnesota-Duluth on Thursday before taking on No. 7 St. Cloud State.

Puck drop for Saturday's contest is scheduled for 12 p.m. in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. At this time, St. Cloud State is allowing family members of the home and visiting teams to attend sporting events at a limit of 150 people. All communications and protocols will be sent from the University to attending family members no later than 24 hours prior to competition.

Fans who cannot physically sit in the stands can follow the Huskies in a multitude of ways, as both games will stream on KVSC 88.1 and The River 96.7. Video footage will be available on NCHC.tv and Fox9+ this weekend, and as always, live stats will be available at www.scsuhuskies.com.

Here are the five things to know before this Saturday's contest:

81-38-15 - St. Cloud State will honor eight seniors Saturday afternoon: Seamus Donohus (North Oaks, Minn. / Michigan Tech), Luke Jaycox (Warroad, Lincoln), Tyler Anderson (Winnipeg, Manitoba / Glenlawn Collegiate), Will Hammer (St. Cloud, Minn. / Cathedral), Jared Cockrell (Kents Hill, Maine / Colgate), Easton Brodzinski (Blaine, Minn. / Green Bay), Kevin Fitzgerald (Hinsdale, Ill. / Aberdeen) and David Hrenak (Provazksa Bystrica, Slovakia / Green Bay). In four seasons, these eight seniors have compiled an overall record of 81-38-15 with two appearances in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and NCAA Tournament. As freshman and sophomores, they led the Huskies to the No. 1 ranking in the nation and helped St. Cloud State earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament back-to-back season.

189 - Those eight seniors have been prolific scorers, even the defenseman. In four seasons, they've wracked up a combined 189 points with 91 goals and 98 assists. Brodzinski leads the way in all three categories thanks to his 50 goals, 43 assists and 93 points. Fitzgerald is second in terms of offensive scoring, as he's wracked up 27 goals and 34 assists for 61 points. Jaycox is the highest scoring defender in the class, as he's recorded seven goals and nine assists for 16 points.

Note: Donohue and Cockrell's numbers were only counted for their career at St. Cloud State.

2 - Brodzinski's family lineage is pretty impressive. The senior former is the son of former Husky Mike Brodzinski, who was a two-time All-American for St. Cloud State in 1986 and 1987. His uncle Steve and brother Jonny additionally played collegiate hockey for the Huskies, with the latter being none for his wicked slap slot. Jonny tallied 112 points in his St. Cloud State career while Easton stands at 93 after this past weekend's series at Miami.

59 - A key player in the Huskies success is none other than senior netminder Hrenak. Since his first season with St. Cloud State, the Los Angeles Kings draft pick has appeared in 105 games with 101 starts, compiling a career record of 59-30-10. Currently, Hrenak ranks second all-time in career games played (105) and career wins (59), ranks third in career saves (2427) and holds the school record for career shutouts (10).

5/6 - While the seniors have guided the Huskies in scoring the last few games, Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland / Aberdeen) has also been on fire as of late. The sophomore forward has scored in five of St. Cloud State's last six games and is currently riding a four-game scoring streak. In the Huskies series against Miami, Krannila recorded his eight goal and assist of the season, bringing his 2020-21 point total to 16. He currently ranks second on the team in goals and leads St. Cloud State in +/- at +12.