St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Makes First Trip to Wisconsin Since 2013

GAME NOTES

THE MATCHUP

No. 10 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will return to the Kohl Center for the first time in nearly a decade with the Huskies travel to face old WCHA conference-foe Wisconsin for a non-conference series early on in the 2022-23 season. Both games of the series are set to start at 7:00 p.m. CT at the Kohl Center and will be broadcast on Bally Sports Wisconsin, as well as streamed on the Bally Sports app and BigTen plus. On the radio, the veteran voices of Jim Erickson and Dave Reichel will have the call on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM). After a pair of victories over St. Thomas to open the season, the Huskies moved up the national polls from No. 13 to No. 10 in both the DCU/USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Coaches Polls. Wisconsin opened the season receiving votes in each poll, but dropped out after losing both games of its season-opening series with Ohio State.

SERIES HISTORY

After an eight-year hiatus of not seeing each other, the Huskies and the Badgers will square off for the second consecutive season when the two teams meet for the 90^th and 91^st times overall this weekend. Wisconsin holds a 45-35-9 advantage in the all-time series, but the Huskies hold 7-2-1 edge in the last 10 matchups, including a sweep at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center last season, where St. Cloud State won 5-1 and 4-1 on Oct. 22-23, 2021. The Huskies will make the trip to Madison, Wis., for the first time since March 2013, the final season of the WCHA, where the two teams split a series (SCSU 4-2 on March 8, UW 3-2 on March 9). In Madison, the Huskies are 14-26-3 since moving to D-I prior to the 1987-88 season.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

For the second straight season, the Huskies opened its season with a home-and-home series sweep over St. Thomas, winning 3-1 in St. Paul on Oct. 1 and 4-0 at home on Oct. 2. The Huskies dominated the Tommies all weekend, outshooting St. Thomas, 61-26, while converting 4-of-13 times on the power play. In game one, senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn led the way with a goal and two assists, while freshman forward Adam Ingram potted his first collegiate goal in the first period. In game two, the Huskies scored twice in the first period and twice in the third period to snag the 4-0 result, as junior goalie Dominic Basse made 15 saves in his St. Cloud State debut to clinch the sweep.

POWER PLAY UNIT PICKS UP RIGHT WHERE IT LEFT OFF

For the majority of the 2021-22 season, St. Cloud State led the nation in power play percentage, a mark they lead by a wide margin. The Huskies PP unit finished at 31.3 percent (45-of-144), with the next closest team sitting at 27.4 percent (Minnesota State, 45-of-164). The team set a program record with its mark, besting its previous mark of 31.1 percent (73-of-235) in 2001-02, and set an NCHC record, besting Western Michigan's 2020-21 mark of 30.3 percent (23-of-76). This year's unit picked up right where last season's left off, as the Huskies converted on 4-of-13 chances with a man advantage against St. Thomas, ranking 12th nationally at 30.8 percent. St. Cloud State's four power play goals this season ranks fifth nationally, trailing only Northern Michigan (six), Colorado College (five), Minnesota (five) and Ohio State (five).
Individually, 12 Huskies scored on the power play a season ago, including 16 combined power play goals from its top "International Line". Senior forward Zach Okabe led the trio with six, while senior forward Jami Krannila and junior forward Veeti Miettinen each had five. Miettinen and Krannila have already scored power play goals this season, joining freshman forward Adam Ingram and senior defenseman Spencer Meier. With the victories over UST, St. Cloud State improved to 18-7-2 when scoring on the power play since the start of last season.

ANHORN AND MIETTINEN RECOGNIZED BY NCHC

Junior forward Veeti Miettinen and senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn each earned NCHC weekly honors for their performances against St. Thomas as Miettinen was named the Forward of the Week and Anhorn was named the Defenseman of the Week.
Miettinen helped lead the offensive attack for the Huskies in the opening weekend of play, recording four points (1-3-4) with a +3 mark and one game-winning goal. Miettinen has two assists in SCSU's season-opening victory on Saturday, and the game-winning goal and an assist on Sunday. Miettinen's goal on Sunday was a power play goal, the game-winning goal, and marked his 50th career point.
Anhorn had a big weekend in his St. Cloud State debut, leading the Huskies with 5 points (1-4-5) in a season-opening sweep of St. Thomas. He scored a goal and assisted on two other scores in the Huskies 3-1 road win on Saturday night, matching a career-high for points in a single game. Next, on Sunday, the senior defenseman recorded a pair of assists in SCSU's 4-0 home-opening victory.

WHO STARTS IN GOAL?

Easily the most asked question heading into the season for St. Cloud State was who would start between the pipes. After having its staple between the pipes for the last five seasons, St. Cloud State will have a new face at goaltender this season. David Hrenak set numerous program marks in 146 games played from 2017-22, including most wins (82) and shutouts (14) while ranking second in saves (3,370).
In the opening series of the weekend, senior Jaxon Castor and junior Dominic Basse each had impressive starts in St. Cloud State's sweep over St. Thomas.
Castor got the nod in the first game of the season, making saves on 10-of-11 shots to lead the Huskies to a 3-1 road victory. Prior to this season, Castor played in 20 games and made 12 starts for the Huskies in three seasons, posting a mark of 6-8-0 with one shutout. He's logged 912:24 of ice time between the pipes in his career, and holds a 2.83 goals-against-average and .888 save percentage.
Basse, a 2019 sixth-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, joined the Huskies after two seasons with Colorado College and got the start in game two. In his SCSU debut, he made 15 saves en route to a shutout and 4-0 victory. With the Tigers, Basse produced a 10-26-3 mark with a 3.21 GAA and .891 S% in 41 games and 39 starts.
Freshman James Gray will be waiting in the wings, as the freshman from Toronto, Ontario, joins the Huskies after being named the 2021-22 OJHL Goaltender of the Year. Playing for the North York Rangers, Gray led the league in wins (25), save percentage (.931) and goals-against-average (1.96).