No. 6/8 men's hockey opens Frozen Faceoff against CC

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - It seems like only yesterday the St. Cloud State University men's hockey team was headed to Kalamzaoo, Michigan for the opening round of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) playoffs only to have the entire tournament, and the entire sports community, shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Flash forward exactly 365 days. Despite the seemingly grand obstacles at the beginning of the season, the Huskies returned to the playoffs, albeit in a different form than previous seasons. As the No. 2 seed, St. Cloud State will open the NCHC Frozen Faceoff on Friday with a 2:37 p.m. puck drop against No. 7 Colorado College in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Due to the pandemic, the NCHC Frozen Faceoff looks a little different in 2020-21. There won't be a three-game, first round series in 2020-21 with the winner advancing to the Frozen Faceoff at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Rather, the entire tournament will be single elimination and take place at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota, home to No. 1 seed North Dakota.

The Huskies earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament thanks to their 4-3 overtime win over rival Minnesota-Duluth on March 6. Should St. Cloud State defeat Colorado College on Friday, the team will face either the No. 3 Bulldogs or No. 6 Western Michigan in the semifinal, set to take place at either 3:06 p.m. or 8:06 p.m. on Monday, March 15. The winner of that game will then advance to Tuesday's championship game.

A select number of single-session tickets are still available for Friday's contest, though fans will need to follow the Ralph's COVID-19 protocols, which includes wearing a mask at all times in the arena. Additionally, live stats will be available for fans who cannot attend in person, and all four quarterfinals will stream on NCHC.tv. Jim Erickson and Dave Reichel will also provide excellent play-by-play and color commentary on 96.7 The River.

Fans are also invited to join in the pre-game festivities by tuning into the Husky Faceoff powered by the SCSU Alumni Association. The event will air live at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 13 on both the SCSU Athletics Youtube Channel and NCHC.tv and will feature appearances by Brett Larson, Robby Jackson and Katie Emmer. Additionally, fans will have the chance to win prizes and St. Cloud State men's hockey swag throughout the show and are encouraged to follow the team on Twitter (@SCSUHUSKIES_MH) for the most up to date information, both on the Husky Faceoff and NCHC Frozen Faceoff action.

Here are the five things to know before Friday's quarterfinal showdown with Colorado College:

2-0 - St. Cloud State will serve as the No. 2 seed in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, as the team closed the 2020-21 regular season with an overall record of 15-9-0 with a 15-9-0 mark in NCHC play. The Huskies first round opponent will be none other than the Tigers, a team they beat handily on February 20 by a score of 4-0. In fact, St. Cloud State was 2-0 in its two meetings with Colorado College this season, though the team needed a furious comeback to beat its opponent 4-3 in the pod. After falling behind 3-1 in the first period, the Huskies rallied with two goals in the third before Sam Hentges (New Brighton, Minn. / Tri-City) scored the game-winner at 1:37 in OT.

10-13-23 - Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland / Kiekko-Espoo U20) put up some pretty impressive numbers in his rookie season with St. Cloud State. The Maple Leafs draft pick closed the 2020-21 season with a team-leading 23 points thanks to his 10 goals and 13 assists and was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team and earned Second Team All-Conference honors earlier this week. Miettinen led all conference first years in points (23) and assists (13) at the end of the regular season and ranked second in goals (10) and total shots (65). Perhaps more impressive? Miettinen ranked top-5 in the entire conference in scoring (23 points) and power play goals (5) at the end of 2020-21, was a four-time NCHC weekly award recipient and did not commit a single penalty during the year.

2 - Miettinen wasn't the only Husky honored by the NCHC this week. Nick Perbix (Elk River, Minn./ Omaha) also earned Second Team All-Conference honors, while senior forward Kevin Fitzgerald (Hinsdale, Ill. / Aberdeen) was named the NCHC Sportsmanship Award recipient Tuesday afternoon. As a junior, Perbix was one of the top scoring defenseman in the conference, tallying 19 points with five goals and a team-leading 14 assists. Those numbers ranked 11th amongst all skaters in the NCHC and seconds amongst all defensemen in the conference. Additionally, Perbix ranked sixth in the conference in total assists with 14, eight of which were tallied on the power play during the regular season. He additionally was the runner up to Western Michigan's Ronnie Attard for the conference's Offensive Defenseman of the Year Honor.

9 - Fitzgerald was the second St. Cloud State men's hockey player in the last three years, and third in program history, to earn the NCHC Sportsmanship Award, as Patrick Newell was the last to receive the award in 2018-19. A staple in St. Cloud State's top line throughout 2020-21, Fitzgerald appeared in all 24 games for the Huskies during the regular season, recording 13 total points with eight goals and five assists. In 119 career games, Fitzgerald has posted 59 points with 25 goals and 34 assists and was voted alternate captain prior to the 2020-21 season. He additionally has been sent to the penalty box just nine times during the regular season and only once in the entire month of February. Fitzgerald is additionally a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award and a nominee for the Hockey Humanitarian Award, the winner of which will be recognized during the Frozen Four in April.

7 - Seven seems to be a lucky number for the Huskies, as they have won seven games when Easton Brodzinski (Blaine, Minn. / Green Bay) and Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland / Sioux Falls) score a goal. St. Cloud State is 7-3-0 this year when Brodzinski scores and 7-1-0 when Krannila tallies a goal. Additionally, Brodzinski has scored two goals against the Tigers this season, while Colorado College is one of the few NCHC teams to keep Krannila off the scoresheet this season.