No. 10 Minnesota (12-9-1 overall, 4-7-1-1 B1G) vs No. 1/2 St. Cloud State (12-2-3 overall, 7-2-1 NCHC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018
Location: National Hockey Center | St. Cloud, Minn.
Puck Drop: 6:30 p.m. CT
TV: CBS Sports
Radio: 1130 KTLK AM | 103.5 FM | Listen Online
Date: Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018
Location: 3M Arena at Mariucci | Minneapolis, Minn.
Puck Drop: 6:00 p.m. CT
TV: FOX Sports North | TSN2
Stream: BTN2Go | FOX Sports Go | TSNGo
Radio: 1130 KTLK AM | 103.5 FM | Listen Online
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
It’s a vital non-conference matchup as Minnesota and St. Cloud State face off in a home-and-home series this weekend. The Gophers start the weekend on Saturday in St. Cloud and finish with an early start on Sunday evening at Mariucci.
Minnesota holds a 55-33-12 advantage all-time against their in-state rival. Unfortunately, the Huskies have gotten the better of the recent series, winning five of the last six meetings including series sweeps the past two years.
The Huskies enter the weekend playing extremely well and ranked No. 1 in the country (or No. 2, depending on which poll you look at). They haven’t lost since getting swept by a strong Denver squad back on November 11.
Minnesota and SCSU have a combined three players (and one coach, SCSU’s Bob Motzko) on Team USA at the World Junior U-20 Tournament. Casey Mittelstadt and Ryan Lindgren are representing the Maroon and Gold while Ryan Poehling made the team from St. Cloud. Don Lucia said on Wednesday that he expects his two skaters to suit up on Saturday.
The Huskies will be led by Minnesota native Jimmy Schuldt. The junior paces all defensemen in the country with 22 points this season.
Another blue liner to watch is Will Borgen. Earlier this week, the Moorhead native was named to the 2018 USA Olympic Team. Although NHLers aren’t allowed to participate this year, it’s still says a lot about Borgen as a player.
STORYLINE CENTRAL
Mick Hatten with the St. Cloud Times takes a look at what awaits the Huskies in the second half of their season. Although it was written before their last series with Princeton, it’s a good rundown of where this team hopes to go this year.
Only two Minnesota natives made the men’s olympic team this year, current Husky Will Borgen and former Gopher All-American Ryan Stoa. Nate Wells with the Athletic ($) takes a look at both the men and women from the State of Hockey who will represent the Red, White, and Blue.
There haven’t been many highlights for the Gophers against SCSU in the last couple years, but here’s a fun video displaying Minnesota’s dominance as a program.
QUOTES
Don Lucia
“It’s not about those two guys [Casey Mittelstadt] and [Ryan Lindgren] it’s about the guys that are here and that we continue to play well. I like the fact that both our goalies played well, this past weekend. Giving up goals hasn’t really been our problem. Our penalty kill is much improved from the first month of the season. The issue we’ve had, this year more than any other, is the offensive part of the game. I think Clayton [Phillips] can help us with that. I think Clayton can help on the power play, that’s why we brought him in at Christmas; we felt that was a real need, on the back end.”
Tyler Sheehy
“Obviously, St. Cloud is having a great year; being No. 1 in the country, stringing together a lot of wins. It’s going to be a real big, important weekend for us. It’s going to be a lot of fun anytime you get to play an instate rival. The energy is always great. The buildings are always packed, so it’s going to be a great weekend.”
Tyler Nanne
“You could just tell at the start at the beginning of practice, we’ve been going really hard. Making sure the passes are crisp. Really just listening to the coaches in the drills. The result hasn’t been there the last couple of years, so I think the tempo going to be set high. We really owe the program a couple wins, this weekend.”