No. 16 Husky Hockey Set for NCHC Road Series Against Miami

*No. 16 ST. CLOUD STATE at MIAMI*
*OPPONENT*	*LOCATION*	*DAY*	*TIME (CT)*	*TV / STREAM*	*RADIO*	*STATS*	*GAME NOTES*
Miami (OH)	Steve Cady Arena	Friday, Feb. 9	8:00 p.m.	NCHC.tv	KNSI	Stats	SCSU Notes
Miami (OH)	Steve Cady Arena	Saturday, Feb. 10	7:00 p.m.	NCHC.tv	KNSI	Stats	MOH Notes

WEEKEND PREVIEW

THE MATCHUP

No. 16 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will hit the road for the penultimate time of the regular season this weekend when the Huskies head east to Oxford, Ohio, to face Miami. The Friday-Saturday series will have 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT puck drops with a stream available on NCHC.tv. Over the radio, the voice of the Huskies Jim Erickson will have the call over the airwaves on KNSI. SCSU will be looking a season sweep of the RedHawks after a pair of victories in November and will look to keep its grasp of home-ice advantage in the upcoming NCHC Quarterfinals in March. St. Cloud State enters the weekend ranked No. 16 in both the USCHO Top-20 Poll and the USA Today / The Rink Live poll, while Miami is unranked.

SERIES HISTORY

After a 1-8-2 start to the series, the Huskies are 31-9-4 in the last 44 matchups with the RedHawks since Dec. 30, 2010. Overall, St. Cloud State leads the all-time series, 32-17-6, which dates back to the 1987-88 season. The Huskies are 6-2-2 in the last 10 meetings against the two programs, with the last sereies coming in November, a 3-2 and 6-0 sweep for the Huskies on Nov. 3-4. Senior forward Joe Molenaar recorded his first career hat trick in the 6-0 win while senior goaltender Dominic Basse made 15 saves in a shutout in Saturday's win. The last time the two teams met in Oxford was last season when SCSU won 7-3 on Dec. 9 before the RedHawks responded with a 5-0 win on Dec. 10. Miami's win remains the last time the Huskies have been shutout in a conference game. In Oxford, SCSU is 9-10-3 all-time against the RedHawks.

A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST SERIES

For the fourth weekend in a row, St. Cloud State recorded two points in a weekend series against a conference opponent, winning an overtime game against No. 14/16 Colorado College on Friday before falling 5-3 on Saturday. Senior goaltender Dominic Basse was solid all throughout the weekend for the Huskies, making 70 saves for a 2.42 GAA and .933 S% while earning NCHC Goaltender of the Week honors. In Friday's 2-1 overtime win, Basse made a career-high 44 saves while turning away all even-strength opportunity for the Tigers, including a barrage of 21 shots in the third period. Basse's strong play in net led to an odd man rush for the Huskies with time running out, as freshman Verner Miettinen fired a shot from the high slot for the game-winner with 12 seconds remaining in the extra frame.
In Saturday night's game, the Huskies fell behind 2-0 and 4-1, but kept clawing back, scoring two power play goals and an even-strength goal with 40 seconds left to pull closer but ultimately falling, 5-3.

TIME TO BOUNCE BACK

St. Cloud State recorded its first win of the 2024 calendar year last weekend, but still hasn't recorded a win in regulation since Dec. 31, a 6-1 over Bemidji State. Despite a 1-4-3 record in its last eight games, the Huskies have come away with conference points in each of the last four conference series with two points each against then-No. 6 Denver (Jan. 12-13), then-No. 6-7 North Dakota (Jan. 19-20), Omaha (Jan. 26-27) and then-No. 14/16 Colorado College (Feb. 2-3). 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.
Last weekend, the Huskies won 2-1 in overtime on Friday before dropping Saturday's contest 5-3. 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 - 2-1 OT win at Colorado College (2-2-24 in Colorado Springs, Colo.)
- The win extended the Huskies' unbeaten streak against Colorado College in Colorado Springs to 18 (17-0-1), dating back to Feb. 23, 2013. SCSU's last loss in Colorado Springs was Feb. 22, 2013, a 4-3 loss in Colorado Springs.
- The Huskies won despite being outshot 45-24, the most shots they have given up in a game this season.
- SCSU improved to 10-5-3 when scoring first, 10-1-1 when leading after two periods and 3-2-2 when outshot by its opponent.
- Senior goaltender Dominic Basse made a career-high 44 saves to earn the win in the game, surpassing his previous best of 42 saves against Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 18, 2021, while a member of Colorado College.
- Basse's 44 saves marks the third time in his career he has made 40 or more saves and the most saves by a Husky netminder since Charlie Lindgren made 45 saves at Omaha on March 13, 2015.
- Freshman forward Verner Miettinen scored his fourth goal of the season and his second game-winning goal. The Husky freshman now has 14 points on the season.
- Fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka scored his 10th goal of the season, matching his career-best mark from a season ago (10 goals in 2022-23). The score was his 28th career goal and 75th career point.
- Sophomore forward Adam Ingram and freshman defenseman Tynan Ewart recorded single assists in the game, their 13th and third assists of the season, respectively.
GAME 2 - 5-3 loss at Colorado College (2-3-24 in Colorado Springs, Colo.)
- With the loss, St. Cloud State moves to 66-52-9 all-time against Colorado College and 38-25-3 against the Tigers in Colorado Springs.
- The loss snapped the Huskies' 18-game (17-0-1) unbeaten streak against Colorado College in Colorado Springs, dating back to Feb. 23, 2013. SCSU's last loss in Colorado Springs was Feb. 22, 2013, a 4-3 loss in Colorado Springs.
- SCSU went 2-of-3 on the power play to improve to 21.3 percent (20-of-94) on the man advantage this season.
- Senior forward Joe Molenaar played in his 100th career game.
- Sophomore forward Adam Ingram had two assists in the game to move his season total to 15, matching his career-best mark from his freshman campaign. His two assists are a season-high and marks the fourth time in his career he has dished out two or more assists.
- Fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka scored his 11th goal of the season to set a new career-best for goals in a season, surpassing his previous best mark of 10 from 2022-23. The score was his third power play goal of the season and 29th career goal.
- Junior forward Mason Salquist recorded his fourth goal of the season to post a new career-best mark for goals in a season. His score in the second period was his first career power play goal and 10th career goal.
- Freshman forward Tyson Gross scored his second goal and 10th point of the season.
- Fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn recorded his 20th assist of the season to match his career-high from last season. His third period assist was his 85th career point.
- Okabe, freshman defenseman Tynan Ewart and junior defenseman Josh Luedtke all recorded assists in the game.

BASSE NAMED NCHC GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Senior goaltender Dominic Basse was named NCHC Goaltender of the Week after making 70 saves in a series split with No. 14/16 Colorado College, including a career-high 44 saves in an overtime win on Feb. 2.
Basse made 70 of 75 saves (.933) with a 2.42 GAA in his return to Colorado Springs where he played his first two collegiate seasons. His 44 saves in Friday's win extended SCSU's unbeaten streak to 18 games (17-0-1), dating back to Feb. 23, 2013. Only three of the five goals Basse allowed on the weekend came in 5-on-5 situations, as Colorado College scored power play goals in each game of the series.
Basse made a career-high 44 saves in a 2-1 overtime win on Friday night, turning away all shots in 5-on-5 hockey, including 21 shots in the third period to lead the Huskies to victory. The 44 saves surpassed his previous best mark of 42 he made against Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 18, 2021, while a member of CC and were the most saves by a Husky netminder since Charlie Lindgren made 45 saves at Omaha on March 13, 2015. Basse and the Huskies turned away 5-of-7 power play chances for the Tigers over the weekend, moving SCSU's season penalty kill percentage to 79.6 percent (74-of-93).
On the season, the Mike Richter Watch List netminder has produced a mark of 11-9-2 with a 2.65 goals-against-average and .901 save percentage with three shutouts. His three shutouts ranked third in the NCAA.

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 10-1-1 on the season when leading after two periods and 10-5-3 when scoring first.
Additionally, the Huskies are 8-5-1 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.
The Huskies have also been especially good in one goal games, recording a mark on 6-3-0 in one goal contests.

MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF

Following in your older brother's foot steps can be hard, but freshman forward Verner Miettinen has quickly made a name for himself in his first season with the Huskies. He currently leads all Husky freshmen and ranks sixth on the team in points with 14. Miettinen has scored four goals and 10 assists for 14 points with a +1 mark on the ice, two power play goals and two game-winning goals.
Miettinen recorded three assists against Omaha on Jan. 26, marking the first three-assist game by a Huksy freshman since Adam Ingram hit the same mark at Omaha on Feb. 24, 2023.
The Husky freshman has recorded two game-winning goals this season, finding the back of the net to give the Huskies victories over Miami on Nov. 3 and in overtime at Colorado College on Feb. 2.
Miettinen is close to joining SCSU's top-20 all-time list among freshmen, as his 10 assists ranks 20th while his four goals and 14 points are just outside the top-20.

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 (20), points (24) and plus/minus (+15) while once again leading the top power play unit for SCSU. Anhorn's 20 assists rank second among NCHC blue liners and 11th nationally. The Husky senior's 24 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 26 games, the Camrose, Alberta native has scored 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points, setting a new career-best in goals while nearing his career-high totals of 15 assists and 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 eight of 13 series and scored a point in 12 of 13 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. He leads the Huskies in goals (13) and ranks fourth in points (20) while ranking 11th and 28th 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 20 goals on the man advantage. The Husky senior's six power play goals ranks fourth in the NCHC and 18th nationally.

No. 16 ST. CLOUD STATE at MIAMI

OPPONENT

LOCATION

DAY

TIME (CT)

TV / STREAM

RADIO

STATS

GAME NOTES

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dylan Anhorn

Dominic Basse

Tynan Ewart

Tyson Gross

Adam Ingram

Kyler Kupka

Josh Luedtke

Veeti Miettinen

Verner Miettinen

Joe Molenaar

Mason Salquist

Saint Cloud State University Athletics