Huskies Host Denver Pioneers in Key NCHC Battle

(Photo Prout)

St. Cloud, MN – Another weekend, another critical league battle for the SCSU Huskies as they host the #6 Pairwise Denver Pioneers at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center this weekend. Much like this past weekend vs Western Michigan, the series will have a playoff-type atmosphere as the Huskies push to solidify their pursuit of the Penrose Cup and 6th consecutive NCAA appearance.

#11 (PWR) SCSU Huskies (15-10-5/11-5-4)  vs #6 (PWR)  DU Pioneers  (21-8-3/12-6-2) 

TV: FOX 9+
Live Broadcast Stream: NCHC.TV
Radio/Stream: KNSI 1450 AM/99.3 FM (St. Cloud) KVSC 88.1 FM (St. Cloud)
Where: Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, MN
When: Fri., Mar.1, 7:30 PM CDT /Sat., Mar.2, 6:00 PM CT

Last Time Out

The Pioneers hosted the last-place Miami RedHawks and were pushed to an overtime 3-3 tie on Friday and then rebounded for an 8-1 route on Saturday. On Friday, the Pioneers appeared to have a comfortable 3-1 lead midway through the final period. However, the RedHawks rallied for a power-play goal at 12:14 and an even-strength goal by Matthew Barbolini at 17:03 to push the game to OT. With neither team scoring, it proceeded to the mandatory shootout, with Tristan Broz scoring the only goal for the extra point.

On Saturday, it was no contest, with the Pioneers outshooting the RedHawks 47-28 and scoring six times in the final two periods to blast the RedHawks by an 8-1 score. Former Gopher Tristan Broz had a four-point game (1G, 3A) to lead the Pioneers.

The Huskies had a couple of heated battles with the Western Michigan Broncos, falling in overtime 4-3 on Friday and returning on Saturday with a 3-0 shutout to split the series. On Friday, the Huskies carried a 3-1 lead into the final period but could not maintain this lead, with the Broncos scoring twice in the first seven minutes. Pushed to overtime, freshman forward Alex Bump, the player of the game, scored his second goal and third point two minutes into the extra session for the win.

On Saturday, it was another freshman, this time SCSU’s goaltender Isak Posch, who excelled. Posch stopped all 19 shots on goal in an exemplary defensive effort by the Huskies in a 3-0 (two EN) win. Veeti Miettinen scored 17 seconds into period three for the game-winning goal, and Kyler Kupka and Joe Molenaar sealed things with empty net goals.

(Photo Prout)

Head to Head

The all-time series has been close, with a slight 57-52-7 advantage to the Pioneers. The Huskies have the advantage on home ice with a 24-22-4 record. SCSU is 9-9-2 in the last 20 games, 5-4-0 in the last 10, and 2-2-1 in the last five. The last meeting was in Denver on January 12/13, 2024, with Denver winning Friday 5-1 and the teams skating to a 4-4 overtime tie (SCSU SO Win) on Saturday.

Team Comparison

 

Record	Denver Pioneers 21-8-3	St. Cloud State Huskies 15-10-5
Pairwise Record	18-7-3 (3-1)   .675	14-6-5 (1-4)   .628
Head-to-Head	1-0-1	0-1-1
Goals	156 / 4.88	95 / 3.17
Goals Against	99 / 3.09	77 / 2.57
Power Play	25.0%	22.1%
Penalty Kill	75.5%	79.8%
Avg. Height / Weight	6′ 0.44″ / 190.2 lbs.	6′ 0.67″ / 181.3 lbs.
Avg. Age	21y 0m	22y 2m

Aidan Thompson (Photo Prout)

Denver University Pioneers Notes

Head Coach: David Carle (6th season; 137-61-16 .678)
2022-23 Record: 31-9-1 (1st NCHC)

NCHC Preseason Ranking: 1st
NCAA Appearances as NCHC Team: (9 of 10 seasons)

 

Elite hockey programs have elite players, so they’ll have early departures. Losing three of your top-five scorers, including your top defenseman, hurts, but it just means reloading for a program like Denver. Carter Mazur departed early to the pros, as did defenseman Mike Benning and one-year graduate transfer Casey Dornbach. That’s 48 goals, 57 assists, and 105 points to replace.

Forwards
Leading points producer Massimo Rizzo (10-34-44) returns, and they are relying on a large group of experienced sophomores and juniors to step up, including juniors Carter King (15-19-34), Jack Devine (22-25-47) and Tristan Broz (12-17-29), and sophomores Aidan Thompson, Jared Wright, and Rieger Lorenz. Seniors McKade Webster and Connor Caponi will also provide upper-class leadership.

A nice first-year class at forward includes Montreal draft choice Sam Harris (9-3-12) and Arizona draft pick Miko Matikka. Mattika is a 6’3″ 200-pound power forward with a quick release, and Harris is a smaller, versatile natural goal scorer who produced 30 goals and 26 assists for 56 points in the USHL last season. Both have seen immediate ice time, and Matikka, in particular, has been an impact player with 15 goals, 9 assists, and 24 points.

Defense
On defense, they return experience, talent, and leadership with juniors, captain Sean Behrens and Shai Buium. However, they will be young and must rely on sophomores Lucas Olvestad and Kent Anderson to provide stability. Unfortunately, big-body freshman Garrett Brown, a 6’3″ 200-pound draft choice of Winnipeg, underwent surgery for a lower-body injury and is out for the season. Three under-six-foot first-year blueliners, Cale Ashcroft, Boston Buckberger (4-17-21), and Zeev Buium (9-29-38), are puck movers who have seen substantial ice time.

Goaltender
In goal, four-year starter Magnus Chrona waived his COVID year to sign pro and is gone after 114 NCAA games. Junior Matt Davis, who played in 13 games in 2022-23, was injured in late October and only returned to the lineup in January. Since then, he’s started 14 games and has posted a 2.82 GAA and .901 SV%.  In his absence, 6-5″ 210-pound, 20-year-old Freddie Halyk posted a 2.91 GAA and .883 SV% in 13 games.

Veeti Miettinen (Photo Prout)

St. Cloud State University Huskies Notes

Head Coach: Brett Larson (6th season; 121-70-21 .620)
2022-23 Record: 25-13-3 (4th NCHC)
NCHC Preseason Ranking: 3rd
NCAA Appearances as NCHC Team: 9 of 10 seasons

The Huskies are battling to defend their 2023 Frozen Faceoff Championship and a fifth NCHC league title. So far, they are in second place, three points behind North Dakota, with four games remaining. With 10 first-year players (including transfers), one-third of the team has turned over. This year’s squad comprises eleven upperclassmen (including three 5th-year players), eight sophomores, and eight freshmen.

Defense
2022-23 Union College transfer Dylan Anhorn (6-21-27, +18) committed to a 5th season and was rewarded by being named captain by his teammates. He is a Hobey Baker nominee and has been outstanding. Junior Jack Peart (3-8-11), a Minnesota Wild draft choice, has steadily become one of the league’s top defensemen and was recognized by being selected to the 2023 NCHC pre-season All-League team. This duo is among college hockey’s most mobile puck movers and offensive defenders.

Junior Josh Luedtke (2-11-13,+9) is a puck mover who can push the offense up the ice but is adept when inserted on the penalty kill. Sophomores Cooper Wylie (2-3-5, +5) and Mason Reiners (0-2-2, +5) were teammates in junior hockey and transitioned nicely to the collegiate game last season. Their experience from last season has them in the top four of the depth charts. Alaska transfer Karl Falk rounds out the experience.

Three talented first-year players battle for ice time. Youngster Warren Clark recently turned 19 and was a 6th-round Tampa Bay Lightning draft choice in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. He’s played 26 games and has 3 assists. Tynan Ewart is a seasoned 21-year-old junior hockey veteran who logged 114 games in the SJHL and earned the league’s Defenseman of the Year award. Left-shooting 6’5″ 210-pound Kaleb Tiessen adds more depth and size to an already deep defensive. All have earned ice time this season.

Forward
The team returns six top-ten scorers, including fifth-year Zach Okabe, Kyler Kupka, senior Veeti Miettinen, and sophomore Adam Ingram. Both Kupka and Miettinen are also Hobey Baker nominees. The Huskies are getting offense from this group, and all are currently in the top five in points. Both Okabe and Veeti Mettinen have joined the 100-career point club. Miettinen has a strong season with 14 goals and is third in points with 26. Kupka has 11 goals and 20 points in his last 20 games. Senior Joe Molenaar is having a career season with eight goals and +10.

The next wave of experienced forwards includes juniors Mason Salquist, Nick Portz (transfer), Ryan Rosborough, and sophomores Jack Rogers, Grant Ahcan, and Ethan Aucoin.

Talented freshmen, including Tyson Gross (2-8-10), Barrett Hall (6-6-12), Verner Miettinen (4-14-18), and Jack Reimann (1-2-3). All can play center and have been given significant ice time.

Goaltender
A battle is brewing in goal, with senior Dominic Basse logging 74% of the minutes. He has posted a 2.62 GAA and .901 SV% with three shutouts, tying him for second nationally in that statistic. However, freshman Isak Posch has started the last three games and has logged 403 minutes of play. He’s been impressive with a .936 SV% and 1.79 GAA and was named NCHC Rookie of the Week after starting two games vs Western Michigan. James Gray started his first game vs Omaha and had an excellent outing with a 0.92 GAA and .955 SV%.

 

Kyler Kupka (Photo Prout)

Series Prospectus

The teams approach this series with different outlooks. The Pioneers are a lock for the NCAA tournament even if they lose out on their final four games of the season. The Huskies currently have a 61% probability of participating in the NCAA tournament and need to continue to win. A successful weekend vs the Pioneers improves their chances significantly for a sixth straight tournament.

It’ll be no easy task facing college hockey’s top-ranked offense, producing a troublesome average of 4.9 goals per game and converting 25% of the man-advantage opportunities. Their team speed will be accentuated on the Olympic-sized sheet of ice, requiring a very responsible defensive game by the Huskies.

On the other end of the ice, it’s not so good for the Pioneers. They are ranked 54th on the penalty kill at 75.5% and 37th defensively, allowing 3.1 goals per game. The Huskies are averaging 3.2 goals per game and are 20th on the power play with a 22.1% success percentage.

In his weekly radio show, head coach Brett Larson noted, “Denver will not give up the puck, and they’ll be flying all over the offensive zone. There are shifts where their DE is low, and forwards are at the point. With five guys moving around, it looks like they don’t have any positions. On the big sheet, they will have some space on the outside of the rink. They may have some extended shifts in our zone where it looks like they are doing a lot. Hopefully, we are protecting the middle, taking that away, and they are actually not doing a lot other than looking really good. Our major job is to not allow them a lot of time in our end by how we possess the puck and play.”

Goaltending won’t be decided until later in the week, commented Larson. “I’m glad we have the competition, and I’m glad I have choices, and I won’t make it until Thursday after a couple more days of practice to evaluate these guys and then go with your gut.”

“We will have to play at the top of our game to have a chance,” said Larson.