No. 16/15 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Visits No. 14/16 Colorado College in Key NCHC Series

Friday, February 2

Colorado Springs, Colo.

8:00 P.M.

St. Cloud State

Colorado College

Photo by: Bill Prout

No. 16/15 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Visits No. 14/16 Colorado College in Key NCHC Series

2/1/2024 9:28:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Huskies and Tigers to play Friday at 8:00 p.m. CT and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. CT

*No. 16/15 ST. CLOUD STATE at No. 14/16 COLORADO COLLEGE*
*OPPONENT*	*LOCATION*	*DAY*	*TIME (CT)*	*TV / STREAM*	*RADIO*	*STATS*	*GAME NOTES*
#14/16 Colorado College	Ed Robson Arena	Friday, Feb. 2	8:00 p.m.	NCHC.tv	KNSI	Stats	SCSU Notes
#14/16 Colorado College	Ed Robson Arena	Saturday, Feb. 3	7:00 p.m.	NCHC.tv	KNSI	Stats	CC Notes

WEEKEND PREVIEW

RINKSIDE

THE MATCHUP

No. 16/15 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will look to leave its January luck behind as the calendar turns to February and the Huskies head west to Colorado Springs to face No. 14/16 Colorado College this weekend at Ed Robson Arena. The series begins on Friday with a 8:00 p.m. CT / 7:00 p.m. MT puck drop and will finish on Saturday with a 7:00 p.m. CT / 6:00 p.m. MT start. Both games will be streamed on NCHC.tv while the voice of the Huskies Jim Erickson will have the call over the airwaves on KNSI.
The two teams are jostling for position in the NCHC standings, as the Huskies currently sit in second place with 28 points (7-3-4), but the Tigers are closing in near behind at 23 points (9-5-0). The two-game set could go a long way in the race for home ice advantage in the NCHC Quarterfinals and even potentially a chance at the Spencer Penrose Cup. St. Cloud State enters the weekend ranked No. 16 in the USCHO Top-20 Poll and No. 15 in the USA Today / The Rink Live poll while Colorado College returned to the top-20 polls for the first time in 20 seasons this year and currently sit at No. 14 in the USCHO poll and No. 16 in the USA Today poll.

SERIES HISTORY

Old WCHA foes, St. Cloud State and Colorado College will meet for the 126^th and 127^th times this weekend at Ed Robson Arena. The Huskies lead the all-time series between the two programs with a mark of 65-51-9 and have dominated the series over the last decade-plus, posting a 32-6-3 mark against the Tigers since the 2012-13 season.
Last season, the two teams met five times, including in the 2023 NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship game where the Huskies beat CC 3-0 to capture its second Frozen Faceoff title at the Xcel Energy Center on March 18. During the regular season, SCSU won earned a sweep in Colorado Springs with 3-1 and 5-0 victories on Nov. 18-19 before the two teams split a series at the Brooks Center Jan. 13-14. Colorado College took game one 4-2 before the Huskies rebounded with a 4-0 win.

A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST SERIES

St. Cloud State came away with two points in a home series against (RV) Omaha, falling 7-6 in overtime on Friday before a 1-1 tie and shootout loss on Saturday. In Friday's 13-goal overtime back-and-forth thriller, the Huskies held three two-goal leads but couldn't quite put away the Mavericks for the all-important three points. Sophomore forward Adam Ingram recorded his third career two-goal game when he scored the game's first two goals, while fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn (1-2-3) and freshman forward Verner Miettinen (0-3-3) each recorded three point nights.
Saturday's contest was the complete opposite from the night before, as both team's defense's tighten up and played solid in front of good goaltender play from both sides. Fifth-year forward Zach Okabe scored the Huskies' lone goal in the first period while redshirt freshman goaltender James Gray was solid in his first collegiate appearance and start, making 21 saves while earning the tie.

TIME TO BOUNCE BACK

St. Cloud State will be looking to turn its fortunes around in the month of February after going winless in the month of January (0-3-3). Despite not finding the win column since Dec. 31, the Huskies have come away with conference points in each of the last three weekends with two points each against then-No. 6 Denver (Jan. 12-13), then-No. 6-7 North Dakota (Jan. 19-20) and Omaha (Jan. 26-27). In the first two series against top-10 ranked opponents, the Huskies dropped Friday's contest before winning shootouts in ties on Saturday. Against Omaha, the Huskies lost in overtime on Friday before losing a shootout in Saturday's tie.
SCSU went on a similar six-game stretch (0-3-3) during almost the exact same time of the year last season (Jan. 27-Feb. 18) before bouncing back to win the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship and advancing to the NCAA Regional Championship game in Fargo.

GAME NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

GAME 1 - 7-6 OT to Omaha (1-26-24 in St. Cloud, Minn.)
- The 7-6 setback in overtime marked the first time SCSU has scored six goals in a loss since Feb. 1, 2014 when the Huskies lost 8-6 at Omaha.
- St. Cloud State outshot Omaha 39-31 in the game, marking the 15th time in 23 games SCSU has outshot its opponent.
- Fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn netted his fourth goal of the season and recorded two assists for three points and 23 points on the season. His three points matched a career-best, a mark he has now reached five times.
- Sophomore forward Adam Ingram scored two goals, one a power play goal, in the game, matching a career-best mark that he has now set three times.
- Freshman forward Verner Miettinen logged a career-best three assists in the game, surpassing his previous high of one helper. Miettinen's three assists matched SCSU's individual high this season and are the most by a freshman since Ingram reached the same mark against Omaha on Feb. 24, 2023.
- Junior forward Mason Salquist had a goal and assist for two points to match a career-best point total in a game.
- Fifth-year forward Zach Okabe scored a goal for the fourth time in the last six games and for the fifth time this season.
- Freshman forward Barrett Hall's power play score was his third goal on the man advantage and fifth overall this season.
GAME 2 - 1-1 tie & shootout loss against Omaha (1-27-24 in St. Cloud, Minn.)
- With the tie, St. Cloud State moves to 29-17-4 all-time against Omaha and 17-7-2 in St. Cloud.
- St. Cloud State outshot Omaha 32-22 in the game, marking the 16th time in 24 games SCSU has outshot its opponent.
- Fifth-year forward Zach Okabe scored his fifth goal in his last seven games and sixth goal of the season in the first period.
- Okabe's score was his 48th career goal and 111th career point as he now ranks 25th and 28th all-time in program history in those respective categories.
- Redshirt freshman goaltender James Gray made 21 saves and earned the tie in his collegiate debut and first start.
- Senior forward Veeti Miettinen recorded his seventh assist and 20th point of the season, his fourth consecutive season with 20+ points (2020-24: 24, 23, 36, 20).
- Miettinen becomes the 13th Husky to record 20 or more points in four consecutive seasons and the first since Patrick Newell (2015-19: 22, 24, 27, 47)
- Junior defenseman Josh Luedtke recorded his ninth assist and 11th point of the season, new career-highs.

POTENTIAL KEYS TO VICTORY

Just over halfway through the 2023-24 campaign, SCSU's keys to a victory are starting to become apparent. St. Cloud State's ability to put away teams and scoring early has been impressive so far, as the Huskies are 9-1-1 on the season when leading after two periods and 9-5-3 when scoring first.
Additionally, the Huskies are 8-4-1 when scoring on the power play, 9-2-1 when its opponent fails to score on the power play and 8-5-3 when out-shooting its opponent.

HOBEY HUSKIES

St. Cloud State had three skaters named nominees for the Hobey Baker Award, as fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn, fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka and senior forward Veeti Miettinen were included on the watch list for the award annually given to the best player in college hockey.
Awarded annually to college hockey's top player, the Hobey Baker's tremendously popular fan-voting will run from now until Sunday, March 10 at midnight. Phase two of fan balloting will come from the list of Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists beginning March 20 and closing March 31. The fans' vote accounts for a percentage of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year's award recipient.
Anhorn, the blue-liner from Calgary, Alberta, currently leads the Huskies in assists (19), points (23) and plus/minus (+15) while once again leading the top power play unit for SCSU. Anhorn's 19 assists rank second among NCHC blue liners and 11th nationally. The Husky senior's 23 points marks his third consecutive season of reaching the 20-point mark after 20 points (7g/13a) in 2021-22 with Union and 25 points (5g/20a) a season ago. Anhorn was named NCHC Defenseman of the Week after the opening weekend of play (Oct. 7-8) and has produced two or more tallies in five games this season, including three in the past five games (Jan. 13 at Denver, Jan. 19 vs. North Dakota, Jan. 26 vs. Omaha).
Kupka elected to use his fifth year of eligibility to return to the Huskies in 2023-24 and has produced a career year to-date. Through 24 games, the Camrose, Alberta native has scored nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points, marks which are nearing his career-high totals of 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 35 games last season. Kupka has been a consistent scoring presence for the Huskies, as he found the back of the net in 7 of 12 series and scored a point in 11 of 12 series this season.
Miettinen has led the offensive charge for the Huskies all season with his team-leading 13 goals, a new career-best in a single season for Miettinen. Miettinen leads the Huskies in goals (13) and ranks third in points (20) while ranking 10th and 25th in the NCHC in those categories, respectively. He became the 39th member of St. Cloud State's 100-point club on Jan. 19 against North Dakota, netting his sixth power play goal of the season in the third period. The Husky forward scored in six consecutive games between Oct. 20 and Nov. 11, the longest scoring streak by a Husky since Ryan Lasch produced the same mark in the 2007-08 season (Oct. 27 - Nov. 23, 2007). Miettinen scored his 10th goal against Michigan on Nov. 25 to become just the ninth Husky to record four consecutive seasons with 10 or more goals. He joins Chris Scheid (1987-91), Tim Hanus (1988-92), Jeff Saterdalen (1988-92), Dave Paradise (1993-97), Jason Goulet (1995-99), Ryan Lasch (2006-10), Garrett Roe (2007-11) and Easton Brodzinski (five seasons, 2017-22) as the only Huskies to score 10+ goals in four seasons. Miettinen has powered the Huskies power play unit through the first half of the season, scoring six of the team's 18 goals on the man advantage. The Husky senior's six power play goals ranks fourth in the NCHC and 16th nationally.

OKABE STARTING TO HEAT UP

Fifth-year forward Zach Okabe has come on strong in the last four series of the Huskies, as he has found the back of the net in five of the last seven games. The goal-scoring stretch comes after not finding the back of the net for 16 straight games between Oct. 8 and Dec. 29. For the season, Okabe now has six goals and 10 assists for 16 points with one power play goal and one game-winning goal.
Okabe became the 38th member of St. Cloud State's 100-point club with a pair of assists against Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 18. For his career, the fifth-year Husky has 48 goals and 63 assists for 111 points with 15 power play goals and 10 game-winning goals. His 111 points ranks 28th on the Division-I all-time scoring list.
Okabe is one of 13 Huskies to record multiple hat tricks in their SCSU career, the only one to record two natural hat tricks, and currently ranks 11th in career game-winning goals with 10. The Husky senior is also closing in on the top-20 list for most career goals, as his 48 goals is just four away from a four-way tie in 17th place at 52 goals.

RACE FOR HOME ICE & THE PENROSE

St. Cloud State is in the thick of the race for home ice advantage ain the NCHC Quarterfinals and the Spencer Penrose Cup, given annually to the top team in the regular season. SCSU currently sits in second place with 28 points (7-3-4), four points behind North Dakota's 32 points (9-4-1). Close behind in a tie for third place is Denver (8-5-1) and Colorado College (9-5-0) with 23 points.
SCSU jumped out to an early lead in the chase for the Penrose, as the Huskies went unbeaten through eight conference games. The Huskies 7-0-1 start to conference play was its best eight-game start to conference season in program history, surpassing its mark of 7-1-0 in the 2001-02 WCHA season.
In the 10-year history of the NCHC, the average point total of the regular season conference champion has been 55 points. To reach that mark, SCSU would need to average 2.7 points per game in its final 10 conference games. SCSU has captured the Penrose three times as a member of the NCHC, winning the title in 2013-14 (48 points), 2017-18 (53 points) and 2018-19 (62 points). SCSU's 62 points and 19 victories in 2018-19 still stands as a league-record point and victory total for a regular season conference champion.