No. 13 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Opens 2022-23 Campaign with St. Thomas

GAME NOTES

THE MATCHUP

For the second straight season, St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will open with in-state rival St. Thomas, as the Huskies open the 2022-23 campaign with a home-and-home non-conference series. St. Cloud State will head to St. Thomas Ice Arena on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 6:00 p.m. CT before coming back home to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 4:00 p.m. CT.
Game one of the series will be streamed on FloHockey, while game two at the Brooks Center will be on Fox 9 + and NCHC.tv with Jim Rich and Geno Parrish on the call. On the radio, the veteran voices of Jim Erickson and Dave Reichel return for another season of Husky Hockey on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM). The Huskies open the season ranked No. 13 in both the DCU/USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Coaches Polls, while St. Thomas opened its D-I era with a record of 3-32-1 in 2021-22.

SERIES HISTORY

St. Thomas leads the all-time series between the two programs, 24-18, with all matchups outside last season's season-opening series happening prior to 1980. Last season, the Huskies matched a program record with 12 goals scored in a 12-2 rout on Oct. 2, 2021 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Huskies were a remarkable 7-of-10 on the power play in the victory, and four Huskies scored two goals in the game, including senior forwards Jami Krannila and Chase Brand. In the second game of the series, senior forwards Zach Okabe and Micah Miller scored to lead the Huskies to a 2-0 win at the Xcel Energy Center.

NCHC PRESEASON MEDIA POLL

St. Cloud State was selected to finish fourth in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Preseason Media Poll, as announced by the league on Sept. 21. The Huskies received 115 points in the media poll and were selected to finish behind Denver (180), North Dakota (160) and Minnesota Duluth (136). Rounding out the poll was Western Michigan (86), Colorado College (64), Omaha (59) and Miami (28). St. Cloud State has previously won three Penrose Cups, finishing atop the nation's top hockey conference in 2013-14, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
The Huskies are ranked No. 13 nationally in the preseason polls, and wrapped up the 2021-22 campaign with an 18-15-4 record at a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Allentown, Pa., its 16th NCAA Tournament berth in program history. The Huskies return a talented returning core of 16 to its roster from a season ago, headlined by third-year captain Spencer Meier and two of last season's top-four-point scorers as Jami Krannila (15-15-30) and Zach Okabe (11-17-28) take the ice for their senior seasons.

ALL-NCHC NOD FOR KRANNILA

Senior forward Jami Krannila was named to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Preseason All-Conference team. Krannila is St. Cloud State's top-leading scorer from last season after scoring 30 points (15 goals / 15 assists) in 2021-22. The Husky senior was one of three forwards selected to the preseason all-conference team, joining North Dakota's Riese Gaber and Denver's Carter Mazur. Rounding out the all-conference team was Denver's Mike Benning and Sean Behrens at defense, as well as Denver's Magnus Chrona at goalie.
Krannila appeared in all 37 games in his junior campaign, recording 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points, which ranked third on the team in scoring. The Nokia, Finland native also posted a +6 mark, five power play goals and three game-winning goals. His five goals with a man-advantage was vital to the team's nation-leading 31.3 percent success rate on the power play. For his career, Krannila has the most career points of any Husky, checking in at 67 points (31 goals / 36 assists) in 102 career games.

OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN

When head coach Brett Larson announced team captains for the 2022-23 season, the leadership group was a mix of old and new. Fifth-year senior defenseman Spencer Meier has unanimously chosen as the team's captain for the third consecutive season, while senior forward Jami Kranilla, fifth-year senior forward Micah Miller and graduate forward Aidan Spellacy will be alternate captains.
Meier becomes just the second Husky in program history to be a captain for three seasons, joining Jimmy Schuldt, who wore the "C" during the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. Meier was originally named captain ahead of the 2020-21 season, where St. Cloud State reached new heights and advanced to the NCAA Championship Game for the first time ever. He captained the team once again this past season, leading the Huskies' fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last five seasons. In his fourth season as a Husky, the Sartell, Minn., native recorded career-highs in goals (five), assists (13), points (18) and power play goals (four), as he led the Huskies to the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional. Meier had multiple-point games three times this season, including a goal and an assist against Western Michigan on Feb. 11. In 139 career games, Meier has produced 53 points (14 goals / 39 assists) with nine power play goals and 125 blocks
Miller had a breakout year in 2021-22, as he scored 19 points with 10 goals and nine assists and a team-leading +18 mark on the ice while leading the nation with four short-handed goals. All marks except his assist total were career highs for the fourth-year right winger. Miller's four goals down a man were the third-most in a single season in program history, trailing only Mark Hartigan's six in 2001-02 and Brett Lievers' five in 1993-94. For his career, Miller has produced 54 points (24 goals / 30 assists) in 130 games to rank 101st all-time on SCSU's Division-I scoring list. He also has three game-winning goals, 39 blocks and a +29 mark on the ice to his credit.
Krannila had a standout junior campaign in 2021-22, as he scored 30 points (15 goals / 15 assists) with a +6 mark and five power play goals while playing in all 37 games for the Huskies. Among team leaders, Krannila ranked first in game-winning goals (three), second in goals (15), third in points (30) and fourth in power play goals (five). In 102 career games, Kraniila has produced 31 goals and 36 assists for 67 points with a +10 mark, seven power play goals and five game-winning goals.
Spellacy will return for his second year as a Husky after appearing in 19 games and recording an assist and six blocks. Before coming to St. Cloud, Spellacy spent three seasons at Robert Morris (2018-21), where he scored 33 points (16 goals / 17 assists) in 91 games and was an alternate captain in 2020-21. He set a career-high in his 2019-20 sophomore campaign with 12 points (five goals / seven assists) with four power play goals and two game-winning goals.

SHORTHANDED GOAT

A season ago, no one in collegiate hockey was better with a man-down than senior forward Micah Miller. The Grand Rapids product led the nation with four shorty goals, while only four other players in the nation scored three shorthanded goals.
Miller's four short-handed goals are the third-most in a single-season in Husky history, trailing only Mark Hartigan (six, 2001-02) and Brett Lievers (five, 1993-94).
Although he had not scored in shorthanded goals in his first three seasons as a Husky, Miller won't need many more shorty's to be considered among the best in program history all-time. Only 11 other Huskies have scored five or more shorthanded goals in their career.