College Hockey Update:  Last week presented a top-fifteen matchup, and North Dakota held at #2 after hosting and sweeping Nebraska-Omaha in convincing fashion, knocking the Mavericks down two spots to #11.  Boston College held at #1 after hosting and sweeping Maine; and Mankato State held at #3 after sweeping their weekend at Ferris State.  Minnesota held at #4 after hosting and sweeping Michigan State; and Wisconsin held at #5 after hosting, beating, and tying Notre Dame.  St. Cloud State held at #6 after hosting and beating Colorado College; and Michigan held at #7 after splitting its weekend at Ohio State.  Boston University moved up three pegs to #8 after its win at Connecticut; Minnesota-Duluth dropped two notches to #10 after hosting and losing to Colorado College; and Bowling Green edged up to #13 after tying and winning at Northern Michigan.  An idle Massachusetts edged up to #9 (UMass also totally crushed #14 Providence on Tuesday night, after Monday’s poll came out); idle Quinnipiac held at #12; idle Providence edged up to #14 (again, then lost to UMass Tues. night); and idle Clarkson dropped two slots to #15.

COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE FEATURED PLAYER

Last Saturday night St. Cloud State had huge help from senior forward Easton Brodzinski, of Blaine, MN., who scored two goals in his team’s 4-0 home win Saturday night over Colorado College.  The 6′ 2″ 198 lb forward is first on his team in goals scored, with ten, and is tied for tenth on the team in assists, with five.  He has been a key contributor on his team since day one.  As a junior he was first in goals, with twelve, and was fourth in assists, with fifteen; as a sophomore he was third in goals with sixteen, and was ninth in assists, with thirteen; and as a freshman he was third in goals with fourteen, and was twelfth in assists, with ten.  His father, Mike, a two-time All-American (1986 and 1987), played at St. Cloud State under coach Herb Brooks alongside Easton’s uncle, Steve.  Easton’s brother Jonny, currently in the San Jose Sharks organization, played at St. Cloud State, and his brother, Mike, played at the University of Minnesota.  His younger brother, Bryce, currently plays at Blaine High School.  Their hometown of Blaine was founded in 1877 and incorporated in 1954.  It is now home to 67,000 residents spread among its thirty-four square miles, and sits at an elevation of 900 feet.  Blaine was also the birthplace of NHL’ers David Backes, Nick Bjugstad, and Matt Hendricks.

Saturday night at St. Cloud State it was all St. Cloud, as Easton Brodzinski scored to give the Huskies the 1-0 lead six minutes into the first period, which as it turned out, would be all it would take.  Nolan Walker scored on a power play with six minutes remaining in the period to make it 2-0 going into the first break.  St. Cloud outshot Colorado College seventeen to eight in the period.  In the second, CC had the momentum, out-shooting the Huskies ten to five, and neither team converted an attempt in the period, as it ended again 2-0, St. Cloud.  The third period was really a defensive effort on the parts of both teams, and CC had a slight shots advantage, five to four, but St. Cloud State was very efficient, and Kevin Fitzgerald extended the lead to 3-0 on a goal at the fourteen minute point.  CC added an extra attacker, and it didn’t take long for Easton Brodzinski to find the empty net with two minutes remaining, to make the final 4-0, St. Cloud State.

St. Cloud State is having a great season under third year coach, Brett Larson, who came from a three year stint as an assistant at Minnesota-Duluth.  Prior to that he was an assistant at Ohio State for two years following two years as the head coach of the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL; prior to the Musketeers he was an assistant for his first three year stint at UMD.  Larson played college hockey for four years at UMD as a defenseman, after graduating from Denfeld High School in Duluth, MN.; Denfeld is universally regarded as fielding the best high school hockey team in Duluth, as well as being the best academic high school in Duluth, both particularly from the late sixties through the mid nineties.

In his first season at St. Cloud, the Huskies won thirty games and went to the NCAA Tournament.  Last year was a thirteen win season.  This season things have improved greatly.  I have been keeping my eyes and ears open for the hockey “chatter” out of the frozen state in the north, and lately there is a growing, but not remotely surprising, sentiment brewing up there that St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth are a certain lock on the NCAA Championship game in Pittsburgh on Saturday, April 10th.  Well, it could be, depending on how the NCAA sets up the tournament bracket . . . .  if not, these guys are allowing for the possibility of a team from Minneapolis called the Gophers, as filling in for one of those two teams.  Given that St. Cloud State has not made it that far in the past, it would be quite a huge, huge accomplishment for them to get to that game.  St. Cloud State, 14-8-0, and ranked #6, plays a home and home series with #10 Minnesota-Duluth this weekend, at St. Cloud State Friday night, then at UMD Saturday night.

In addition to the #6/#10 matchup just mentioned, this weekend presents two more top fifteen matchups, with #1 Boston College hosting #9 Massachusetts for one game Friday night; and #2 North Dakota traveling to #11 Nebraska-Omaha for one game Friday night.  One final note here — while not a top fifteen matchup, it’s a top fifteen vs. top twenty matchup tonight as #3 Mankato State hosts #19 Bemidji State at 5pm Pacific Time, and you can watch it if you have FloHockey.tv.  The two will face each other again Saturday at 4pm Pacific Time at Bemidji State, again on FloHockey.tv.  These two teams have played each other four times this season, and while Mankato took the first two meetings, and boasts a record of 15-2-1, two of the three imperfections in their record came at the hands of Bemidji, as the Beavers tied the Mavericks in their third meeting, and the Beavers prevailed for the win in their fourth and most recent meeting.  The Beavers have really stood up to the near-top-ranked Mavericks, and the highly ranked Bowling Green Falcons this season.  These could be couple of great games!

This provides the top fifteen teams, rankings, records, and last week’s results:

[table id=224 /]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom