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Friday, March 3
St. Cloud, Minn.
7:30 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
vs
Minnesota Duluth
No. 6 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey to Close Regular Season at Home with UMD
3/2/2023 6:56:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Series will determine seeding for NCHC Quarterfinals
No. 6 ST. CLOUD STATE vs. MINNESOTA DULUTH |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OPPONENT |
LOCATION |
DAY |
TIME (CT) |
TV / STREAM |
RADIO |
STATS |
GAME NOTES |
| Minnesota Duluth | St. Cloud, Minn. | Friday, March 3 | 7:30 p.m. | Fox 9 + /Â NCHC.tv | KNSI | Stats | SCSU Notes |
| Minnesota Duluth | St. Cloud, Minn. | Saturday, March 4 | 6:00 p.m. | Fox 9 + /Â NCHC.tv | KNSI | Stats | UMDÂ Notes |
THE MATCHUP
- No. 6 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey returns home to finish the regular season as the Huskies host rival Minnesota Duluth on March 3-4 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The series will begin with a 7:30 p.m. CT start on Friday and end with a 6:00 p.m. CT game on Saturday. Both games will be televised on Fox 9 + and streamed on NCHC.tv with Jim Rich and Geno Parrish on the call, while Husky Hockey veteran Jim Erickson and former Husky captain Dave Reichel will have the radio call on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM). For the third week in-a-row, the Huskies check in at No. 6 in both the DCU / USCHO Poll and USA Hockey / USA Today Coaches Polls. The Bulldogs, who began the season ranked No. 5 in both polls, have fallen completely out of the top-20.
SERIES HISTORY
- In addition to being one of the longest withstanding rivalries of the Division-I era for St. Cloud State, the Huskies and Bulldogs have gotten to known each other quite well over the last two seasons. Over two seasons between Jan. 2, 2021 and March 12, 2022, the two teams met 13 times in a span of 434 days with St. Cloud State holding the slight edge at 6-5-2. Last season, St. Cloud State clinched home ice in the NCHC First Round with a win at Amsoil Arena on the final night of the regular season (2-0, March 5), before Minnesota Duluth rebounded with a sweep in the NCHC Quarterfinals series at the Brooks Center, winning 5-2 and 4-3 (OT) on March 11-12. The Huskies lead the current series between the two programs at 78-61-11, including a decisive 41-27-7 mark in St. Cloud. All but eight of the teams' 150 matchups have come since January 1989 when St. Cloud State became a Division-I program, with those other eight contests coming between the 1946-47 and 1952-53 seasons.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES
- The Huskies got back in the win column last weekend with a road series split at No. 14/15 Omaha, as the teams traded 6-2 results at Baxter Arena. The Huskies earned the victory in game one, as freshman forward Adam Ingram and senior forward Grant Cruikshank each found the back of the net twice. Ingram had a career night with five points total, earning NCHC Rookie of the Week honors in the process, while junor forward Veeti Miettinen posted a career-best four points (one goal, three assists). On Saturday, the Mavericks outshot the Huskies 41-30 and won 6-2.
FASTEST TO 100
- Head Coach Brett Larson earned his 100th career victory in St. Cloud State's 6-2 win over Omaha on Feb. 24, becoming the fastest to 100 wins in program history. Larson reach the mark in 172 games, surpassing Bob Motzko (276-192-49, 2005-18), who reached win 100 in his 191st game and Craig Dahl (338-309-52, 1987-2005), who reached the milestone in game 241. Only one Husky coach reached 100 wins prior to becoming a D-I program, as Charlie Basch (181-193-7, 1968-84) reached his 100th win in his 215th game.
- Larson has continued to elevate the SCSU program while at the helm, as he has guided the Huskies to three NCAA Tournament appearances, a NCAA Frozen Four appearance in 2021 and an NCHC Penrose championship in 2019. He is the only SCSU coach to lead the program to NCAA Tournaments in the first three seasons a tournament has been played (no tournament in 2020 due to pandemic).
SENIOR NIGHT
- Following Saturday's contest, St. Cloud State will honor eight of its seniors with a Senior Night ceremony to thank them for their time as a Husky. The program will honor defenseman Dylan Anhorn, forward Chase Brand, goalie Jaxon Castor, forward Grant Cruikshank, forward Jami Krannila, forward Kyler Kupka, forward Zach Okabe and defenseman Ondrej Trejbal. Make sure to stick around on Saturday to send these Huskies off with a round of applause.
MUCH TO BE DETERMINED IN FINAL WEEKEND
- With only one weekend left in the regular season, the only thing that has been determined in the NCHC standings in the No. 1 and 8 seeds. Home ice is locked up, but seeds 2-4 could fall any which way, as Omaha (41), Western Michigan (39) and St. Cloud (39) are only separated by two points.
- The No. 5-7 seeds are also to-be-determined, as Minnesota Duluth (29), North Dakota (28) and Colorado College (25) are still jocking for position.
- Whatever happens this weekend, the Huskies will get one more series at the Brooks Center, with the NCHC Quarterfinals slated to take place March 10-12 (game three if necessary).
- The 2023 NCHC Frozen Faceoff will take place March 17-18 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
KRANNILA'S STORY BOOK SENIOR SEASON
- Senior forward Jami Krannila has made the most of his senior campaign, leading the Huskies offense in points while being named a Hobey Baker nominee, the NCHC January Player of the Month and reaching the 100-point club.
- Through 32 games in his senior campaign, Krannila has already produced career-best marks of 19 goals, 17 assists and 36 points with an outstanding +20 mark on the ice. Among national leaders, Krannila ranks 10th in goals (19), 12th in power play goals (seven), 17th in points (36) and 20th in plus/minus (+20). In the NCHC, Krannila ranks fourth in goals (19) and fifth in points (36) while leading the league in goals (17) and ranking third in points (28) in conference only games.
- Krannila's 30-point season is the 129th time a Husky has record 30+ points in the D-I era (since 1987-88). His score against UND on Feb. 18 was his 50th career goal, as he became just the 23rd player in program history to reach that mark.
- The Hobey Baker nominee was named the NCHC Player of the Month for the month a January. Krannila produced eight points (five goals / three assists) with a +4 mark on the ice and a .528 mark in the faceoff dot while helping the Huskies recorded three victories over top-three ranked opponents. In the month of January, the Husky senior led the NCHC in goals (five), while ranking third in points (eight) and fourth in power play goals (two). Krannila played a crucial role in the Huskies sweep of then-No. 3 Denver on Jan. 20-21, as he produced four points (two goals / two assists), a +4 mark and was .611 in the faceoff dot while winning NCHC Forward of the Week honors. He also scored a pair of goals against Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 28, marking the fifth time this season and ninth time in his career he has scored two goals in a game.
- Krannila scored his 16th goal of the season against Miami (Feb. 4) to record his 100th career point, becoming the 37th member of SCSU's 100-point club (39th with D-I & D-II stats). He is the first Husky to join the 100-point club since Kevin Fitzgerald reached the century mark against Colorado College on Feb. 26, 2022.
INGRAM NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
- Freshman forward Adam Ingram was named NCHC Rookie of the Week after produced one of the best single-game performances by a freshman in program history in SCSU's 6-2 victory over No. 14/15 Omaha on Feb. 24.
- The freshman forward powered the Husky offense to victory over the Mavericks, scoring two goals and three assists for five points while adding a +2 mark on the ice. All marks were season and career-highs for the Nashville Predators draft pick. Ingram played a role in every power play tally for the Huskies, scoring a power play goal in the second period while adding the primary assist on Grant Cruikshank's power play goals in the first and third period.
- His five-point game set a season-high for the Huskies, surpassing Jami Krannila's four-point performance at Miami, Dec. 3), and is the second five-plus point game from a freshman in program history, as he joins Sandy Gasseau, who scored six points in a 12-3 victory over Western Ontario on Jan. 19, 1992. The Husky freshman joins an exclusive club of SCSU skaters to record five or more points in the game, as he is just the 14th player to do so in program history, and the first since Nick Perbix had six points (1g/5a) against Miami on Jan. 22, 2022.
- On the season, the Husky freshman has recorded 19 points (6g/13a), ranking fourth among freshmen in the NCHC in assists (13), fifth in points (19), eight in goals (six).
CRUIKSHANK'S OFFENSIVE EMERGENCE
- St. Cloud State senior forward Grant Cruikshank has been an offensive weapon in his lone season with the Huskies, as he leads the Huskies in goals (20) while ranking third in points (30).
- He became just the 30th Husky to score 20 goals in a season, with the last to accomplish the feat being Patrick Newell, who scored 21 in 2018-19. The Husky senior's goal was his eighth power play goal, marking the most by a Husky since Jimmy Schuldt netted eight with a man advantage in 2017-18.
- Cruikshank has scored a point in 16 of the last 23 games dating back to Nov. 4 at Denver and in 21 of 32 games overall this season. The Huskies are 13-5-0 when the Husky senior finds the back of the net.
- He earned NCHC Forward of the Week honors after leading SCSU to a sweep of No. 2 Minnesota State by recording five points (three goals / two assists).
- Cruikshank's hot start to the season - 10 goals in 12 games - was the best start by a Husky since Ryan Lasch scored 10 goals in the first 11 games of 2007-08.
- The fifth-year senior scored six goals in five consecutive games between Oct. 2 and Oct. 22, a scoring stretch not seen by an SCSU skater since Judd Peterson did so from Oct. 15-29, 2016. He was the first Husky to score six goals in the first six games of a season since Matt Hendricks and Nate DiCasmirro both did so to open the 2001-02 season. Since 2001-02, Cruikshank is one of 10 Huskies to record a 5-game or more goal streak, and the first since Miettinen (2020-21).
POWER PLAY THREAT
- With a man advantage, the Huskies have converted on 26.9 percent (35-of-130) of its chances, which ranks second in the NCHC and third nationally, while its 35 power play goals ranks fifth.
- After an 0-for-15 stretch over five games between Dec. 10 and Jan. 14, the Huskies have scored on the power play in nine of its last 10 games, clicking at a 35.6 percent clip (16-of-45).
- Individually, five Huskies have combined for 28 of its 35 power play goals on the season. Senior forward Grant Cruikshank leads the team with eight power play tallies, while senior forward Jami Krannila has seven, senior forward Zach Okabe has five, and senior forward Kyler Kupka and junior forward Veeti Miettinen have each scored four. Four Huskies - Krannila, Miettinen, senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn and freshman forward Adam Ingram - have scored 12 points with the man advantage.
- Last season, the Huskies 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).
- Since the start of 2021-22, St. Cloud State is 29-14-4 when scoring on the power play, including a 13-7-2 mark this season.
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