No. 7/6 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Set for Road Series at No. 4/3 Denver

Saturday, February 5

Denver, Colo.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Denver

No. 7/6 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Set for Road Series at No. 4/3 Denver

2/3/2022 4:58:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Huskies and Pioneers play on CBS Sports Network Friday, close series Saturday on NCHC.tv

GAME NOTES

THE MATCHUP

No. 7/6 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey takes to the road for the second consecutive weekend as the Huskies travel west to Denver, Colo., to face No. 4/3 Denver on Friday, Feb. 4 and Saturday, Feb. 5. Puck drop for Friday's series opener is set for 8:00 p.m. CT / 7:00 p.m. MT, while Saturday's contest is slated to start at 7:00 p.m. CT / 6:00 p.m. MT at Magness Arena. Friday's contest will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Alex Heinert, Dave Starman and Shireen Saski on the call.
On the radio, both games will be available on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM) with Jim Erickson on the call. The Huskies enter the weekend ranked No. 7 in both the DCU/USCHO Poll and No. 6 in the USA Today / USA Hockey Coaches Poll, while the Pioneers rank No. 4 in the DCU/USCHO poll and No. 3 in the USA Today / USA Hockey Coaches Poll.

SCHEDULE CHANGES

This weekend's matchup is a reschedule from the originally scheduled series on Jan. 14- 15, which was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. St. Cloud State's home series against Western Michigan will now take place Feb. 11-12 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, with Friday scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT and Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CT.
St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth, originally set to take place Jan. 7-8, will now take place on two Tuesdays in February, set for Feb. 8 and Feb. 22 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Start time for both Tuesday contests is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.

SERIES HISTORY

Ever since St. Cloud State moved to Division-I, the Huskies and Pioneers have had a long-standing rivalry, meeting 108 times since November 1988. The Huskies can even the all-time series with a series sweep in Denver, as the Pioneers hold a slight advantage in the series, 52-50-6. St. Cloud State swept the season series last season, winning 4-3 (Dec. 5) and 3-1 (Dec. 20) in the NCHC pod in Omaha, Neb. In Denver alone, the Huskies are 24-30-2 at Magness Arena.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

In its last time out, St. Cloud State dropped a Friday evening contest and tied on Saturday to No. 13 North Dakota, 7-1 and 3-3, on the road at Ralph Engelstad Arena. On Friday, the Hawks scored three times in the first period and three times in the third period, scoring once on the power play to power to a 7-1 victory. On Saturday, the Huskies scored three goals in the first period to grab a 3-1 lead, but the Hawks responded with a goal in each of the second and third periods, then won 1-0 in a four-round shootout to grab the extra point in the conference standings.

POWER PLAY FUELS THE HUSKIES

One of the many factors to St. Cloud State's success through the first half of the season has been their nation-leading efforts on the power play. The Huskies currently lead the nation in power- play percentage at 37.8 percent (34-of-90) and power play goals with 34. St. Cloud State will have the single-season school record in its sights in the second half of the season, as the current records stand at 31.1 percent (73-of- 235) on the power play in 2001-02 and 52 power play goals in 1990-91.
Individually, 11 Huskies have scored on the power play this season, led by junior forward Zach Okabe's six power play goals, a mark which ranks third in the NCHC and 10th in the nation. Senior forward Kevin Fitzgerald and junior forward Jami Krannila rank 14th in the nation with five power play goals, while senior forward Easton Brodzinski and sophomore forward Veeit Miettinen have each scored four power play goals this season, checking in at 29th nationally. On the season, St. Cloud State is 13-3-1 when scoring on the power play.

OLYMPIC BOUND HUSKIES

St. Cloud State will be well represented in the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympic Games, as a program-record five Huskies (current or former) will make the trip to Beijing in search for gold. Current Huskies Sam Hentges and Nick Perbix were named to the U.S. Olympic Team on Jan. 13, while head coach Brett Larson was named an Assistant Coach for Team USA on Jan. 6. In addition to that trio, St. Cloud State alumni Patrick Russell (2014-16) and Oliver Lauridsen (2008-11) were named to the Denmark National Team on Jan. 19.

HOBEY BAKER NOMINEES

St. Cloud State had three representatives - senior forward Easton Brodzinski, senior forward Kevin Fitzgerald and senior defenseman Nick Perbix - named nominees for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey's top player. A fan vote to determine the finalists will take place between now and March 6, with the top-10 finalist voting slated to begin March 17. The trio will look to become the sixth Husky to be named a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, joining Mark Hartigan (2002), Bobby Goepfert (2007), Ryan Lasch (2008), Drew LeBlanc (2013) and Nic Dowd (2014). LeBlanc is the only Husky to ever win the Hobey Baker Award, doing so in 2013.
Back for his fifth season, Brodzinski has led the charge for the Huskies offense once again in 2021-22. He leads the team in goals (11) and has continued to etch his name all over the St. Cloud State record book. He recorded his first career hat trick against North Dakota (Dec. 4) and how ranks 21st all-time in program history with 118 points. The fifth-year senior also ranks fourth all- time in game-winning goals (12), sixth in power play goals (25) and sixth in career goals (66).
Fitzgerald is making the most of his final collegiate season, as he currently leads the Huskies in goals (11) and points (26), while ranking second in assists (15). Just 22 games into the season, Fitzgerald has recorded career-highs in points (26), goals (11), assists (15) and power play goals (five).
Perbix leads the Huskies in assists with 20 and is second in points with 23. Perbix matched single-game program records for assists (five) and points (six) in an 11-1 rout over Miami on Jan. 21. His 20 assists on the season are a career-high, while his 23 points match a career-best.

GREAT WITH A MAN-DOWN

The Huskies have been superb on the penalty kill this season, ranking first in the NCHC and ninth nationally at 87.7 percent (70-of-81). St. Cloud State leads the nation with nine short-handed goals on this season, while senior forward Micah Miller is the only player in the nation to score four goals with a man- down. No one else has more than two.
Miller's four short-handed goals are the third-most in a single-season in program history, trailing only Mark Hartigan (six, 2001-02) and Brett Lievers (five, 1993- 94).
The Huskies scored two short-handed goals against Miami on Jan. 21, including a second period goal from Kupka while down two men. Dating back to at least the 2001-02 season (first season of readily available game- by-game box scores), St. Cloud State has never scored a 5-on-3 shorthanded goal.
It marks the second time this season St. Cloud State has scored two short-handed goals, after also doing so against St. Thomas in its season-opening 12-2 victory on Oct. 2.
The Huskies nine short-handed goals are the most they have scored in a season since 2009-10 when they have 10.
The single-season program records will be in sight on the penalty kill as well, as the current records stand at 87.3 percent (124-of-142) in 2007-08 and 14 short-handed goals in 1993-94.

PEART SETTLES IN FOR FRESHMAN CAMPAIGN

St. Cloud State freshman defenseman Jack Peart more than proved he belonged in his first season of collegiate hockey, despite being significantly younger than much of his peers (graduated high school in 2021).
Peart has totaled 14 points (two goals / 12 assists) and posted a +5 mark 16 games into his true freshman campaign with the Huskies. In his collegiate debut against St. Thomas (Oct. 2), the 2021 Minnesota Mr. Hockey Award winner recorded two assists in the Huskies' 12-2 rout. He was named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Rookie of the Week on Oct. 18 after scoring his first career goal and adding an assist in a split against No. 4 Minnesota (Oct. 15-16). Peart scored his second goal of the season against Omaha (Nov. 13), and had four assists in the series against North Dakota (Dec. 3-4), including a career-high three in an 8-1 rout on Dec. 3.
The Husky freshman has scored points in seven of the last eight games after missing four games between Oct. 23 and Nov. 12 due to an injury.

FITZY'S CAREER YEAR

Graduate forward Kevin Fitzgerald is making the most of his final collegiate season of hockey, as he currently leads the team in goals (11) and points (26), while ranking second in assists (15) and power play goals (five). The alternate captain has also posted an impressive mark of +11 on the season.
Just 22 games into the season, Fitzgerald has recorded career-highs in points (25), goals (11), assists (14) and power play goals (five).
Fitzgerald was named a nominee for both the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the nation's top collegiate hockey player, and the Hockey Humanitarian Award, given annually to the top citizen in collegiate hockey.

STARTING OFF STRONG

St. Cloud State has made it a point to start off strong this season, as the Huskies have outscored their opponents, 33-9, in the first period. Good things happening the to Huskies when they lead early, as they are 12-2-1 when leading after the first period and 13-0-1 when leading after two periods.