NCAA Hockey Season Preview: St. Cloud State

For all the excitement that head coach Bob Motzko brought to St. Cloud, last season ended with the same disappointment every season has ended with for St. Cloud. The Huskies were able to eke out home ice in the WCHA playoffs, but lost the Final Five play-in game to Minnesota, before an ugly loss to Clarkson in the NCAA tournament, marking the eighth time St. Cloud failed to win a game in the NCAA tournament. The Huskies will try to reload with a powerful offense and improved defense and reach their goal of winning an NCAA tournament game.

Who is Gone?: Talented winger Andreas Nodl left school to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Huskies also lost two of their top defenseman in Matt Stephenson and Aaron Brocklehurst, along with depth defenseman Chris Anderson. Forwards Nate Dey and Matt Hartmann graduated from the program, though neither ever seemed to reach the expectations they entered the program with. Forward Marty Mjelleli also graduated.

Who is New: The Huskies brought in a nice freshmen class, led by some speedy, high-scoring forwards. Jared Festler is a bit of a local hero in Central Minnesota after starring at Little Falls High School. Joining him among the forwards are Drew Leblanc, Jordy Christian, and Travis Novak. The Huskies will also try to rebuild their blueline with giant Danish defenseman Olivier Lauridsen, Sam Zabkowicz,, Nic Rioux, and Air Force-transfer Chris Hepp.

Forwards

Projected Forward Lines:

Ryan Lasch-Garrett Roe-Tony Mosey

John Swanson-Aaron Marvin-Jared Festler

Nick Oslund-Michael Olson-Drew Leblanc

Brian Volpei-Travis Novak-Mitch Ryan

The Huskies had one of the most potent offenses in the WCHA last year, and this year's group has the potential to be even better. The Huskies were third in offense in the WCHA last year, thanks in large part to a league best 21.9% power play percentage. On one hand, those numbers may go down a bit losing one of the cornerstones of that great powerplay in Andreas Nodl, but if the WCHA is truly committed to their officiating initiative to call more penalties, the Huskies could really benefit. Roe, Lasch, and Festler are all excellent playmakers and should get their points. Aaron Marvin is a year older, and more mature after going to St. Cloud straight from high school last year. John Swanson is a bit enigmatic and could be a key for the Huskies. He only scored 8 goals last season, but has the talent to score 20.

Defense

Projected Defensive Pairings

Garrett Raboin-Brett Barta

David Carlisle-Chris Hepp

Olivier Lauridsen-Nic Rioux

This group was a glaring weakness for the Huskies last season. The Huskies blew many leads their offense had given them last season, when they couldn't hold opponents off the board late in games. They'll have plenty of new options on the blueline, though none really look like a marked improvement over last year's group. Raboin is a solid defender, but not really a #1 defender. The best hope is that the guys play over their heads-similar to what Raboin did two years ago as a freshman-and that their offense gives them enough to support than they can survive a mistake or two.

Goalie

Jase Weslosky

Dan Dunn

Nate Hardy

Jase Weslosky set a number of SCSU goaltending records, but unfortunately, he was competing against the other goalies in the WCHA, and not SCSU goalies of yore. Weslosky was 4^th in the league in save percentage, but 7^th in goals against average. It's going to be difficult for the Huskies to finish as high as they'd like if Weslosky isn't in the top half of the league in goals allowed. Dan Dunn may see a few starts this year as well. The big goalie was average as a freshman, but with another year of experience, he should be much improved.

Overall

The Huskies seem to be in complete opposition to the rest of the league in terms of style of play. As the rest of the league moves towards a more defensive, goaltending-oriented style of play, the Huskies seem to be the one run-and-gun team in the league. The Huskies should put up a lot of goals, but I think the loss of Nodl will hurt more than people think. Lasch and Roe may not find the same space they had last year without Nodl occupying the right side of the ice on the powerplay. The Huskies should be in the hunt for an NCAA tournament berth, but the lack of top-end talent on defense will likely keep them from making the tournament field.