Goals will come for Huskies, but questions remain to be answered in the crease.

After capturing the inaugural Penrose Cup as NCHC regular season champions, Husky fans can and should expect more of the same out of their squad in the 2014-15 campaign. Regardless of losing those who moved on in their hockey careers, the Huskies look deeper and as talented as ever, which will be essential as they approach one of the toughest first six weeks of hockey in the country.

A new, yet recognizable southpaw is assumed to take reign between the pipes after the departure of goaltender Ryan Faragher. While Charlie Lindgren did manage to see ice in ten games last season, tallying a 2.42 GAA, with a .905 save percentage, more time will tell if he’s ready to hold those reigns and there may be a tight leash with solid goaltenders in Rasmus Reijola and Joe Phillippi nipping at his heels.

While Lindgren’s numbers aren’t staggering, a murmur amongst Husky nation began last season, with the desire to see him take over the position as Faragher seemed to have some struggles.

“If you’re going to play at a high level and be an NCAA tournament team you’ve got to have goaltending at a high level,” SCSU coach Bob Motzko said. “Charlie Lindgren and Rasmus Reijola are the candidates right now for the first look at it, and they’re ready for it.”

“Even Joe Phillippi has won everywhere he’s been.”

Scoring goals hasn’t been an issue in for the Huskies in recent history, averaging 3.6 goals per game last season, but with the recent loss up front of Nic Dowd, vacancies at the center position will need to be filled. While the game is now tailored to a smaller player, the Huskies average height of 5’9” might be a detriment once they get bottled up by bigger squads on smaller sheets of ice with less room to work.

Another concern, founded in the second half of last season, is the inconsistent defensive effort. With most blueliners coming back, there is reason to expect better play in front of whoever wins the goaltending battle.

The Huskies’ 2014-15 season got underway with an 8-0 exhibition win over Trinity Western University on Friday, Oct. 4. The Huskies open the regular season this weekend hosting Colgate before traveling to Schenectady, N.Y. for a showdown with defending national champion Union.

Husky fans, though, are already anticipating the Halloween showdown between SCSU and the maroon and gold of the Minnesota Gophers, set to take place at 7:37 p.m.

St. Cloud State Huskies

2013-14 Final Ranking: No. 8 (USCHO) / No. 8 (USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine)

2013-14 overall record: 22-11-5

2013-14 NCHC record: 15-5-3-0

2013-14 Conference Finish: First

2013-14 Postseason Finish: Lost NCHC first-round series to Miami

2014-15 predicted finish:  Third (NCHC Preseason Poll)

Tough Skates to Fill: F Nic Dowd, D Kevin Gravel, G Ryan Faragher

Impact Returnees: F Jonny Brodzinski, F Kalle Kossila, F Joey Benik, F Jimmy Murray, D Ethan Prow, D Andrew Prochno.

Key Additions: F Judd Peterson, F Partick Russel, F Mika Ilvonen

Why the Huskies will exceed expectations: The team is built around speed and playmaking ability, with half their games on Olympic sized ice the team should be able to improve on last years home record of 7-6-5. The addition of talented freshmen makes for an impressive depth-chart, regardless of the loss of Nic Dowd. Offensive production has never been an issue for the red and black, something that should only increase in the 2014-15 campaign.

Why the Huskies will fall short of expectations: The blue paint. Scoring will not be an issue this season as many of the Huskies’ game’s in the past have turned into an offensive display of ‘can you top this’, but there is reason to be worrisome for the 2013-14 NCHC Champions. The blueline struggled in the latter half of the season, producing a mental stress on netminder Ryan Faragher that was evident in his play between the pipes. In the blue paint this season will most likely be sophomore Charlie Lindgren, a ‘veteran’ of ten games last season. Goaltending will make or break the 2014-15 Husky season.

The post DI Men’s Preview: St. Cloud State appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Goals are the goal for the Huskies in 2014-15

It’s been a rough go of it for the SCSU women’s hockey team the past four years, accumulating a 13-94-7 record, with a stamp of 1-33-1 on the 2010-11 season, a program worst.

Changes have been made in hopes of cultivating a new reputation for the red and black, with the biggest transition being made behind the bench. Eric Rud rejoins the SCSU family, taking a new role as head women’s hockey coach after his time as assistant with the men’s team from 2005-2010.

“We want to give our young women a chance to start fresh,” Rud said. “There hasn’t been a ton of success around here and really wanted to let them showcase themselves early.”

The Huskies kicked off their season with an exhibition match against the Toronto Aeors, which resulted in a 3-0 victory. While the game was against a junior team, SCSU’s offense looked to have a much bigger spark than last year, including breaking out of the defensive zone with ease and more dynamic, small area passing in the offensive zone.

“We want to give our young women a chance to start fresh,” Rud said. “There hasn’t been a ton of success around here and really wanted to let them showcase themselves early.”

“The big question mark for us is to who’s going to step up and become an offensive threat.”

Coming into the 2014-15 campaign the Huskies will need to find new scorers. With last years graduating class notching 56 percent of the points, and Molli Mott and Julia Gilbert accounting for just under 40 percent of SCSU’s goals and assists last season, somebody will have to step up.

Abby Ness, a stand out high school player had a solid freshman year at SCSU, but has slowed since, regardless that she put up over 100 shots on net last season. Arguably the best scoring threat for the Huskies is an offensive minded defenseman in Audrey Hamner, who put up over 150 shots in the 2014 campaign, but netted only two goals.

The strength of the Huskies comes on the blue paint, with the goalies and defensemen. Julie Friend returns in goal for the Huskies holding a 2.75 GAA and a .926 save percentage, impressive considering she saw over 37 shots a game. Though the defense lost Michelle Burke, they picked up Providence transfer defenseman Lexi Slattery and freshman recruit Brittney Anderson, who both had solid outings against Toronto.

The puck drops on the Husky season Friday, Oct. 3, where they match up against Boston University at Minneapolis’s Ridder Arena and Penn State the following afternoon.

St. Cloud State Huskies

2013-14 Final Ranking: N/A (USCHO) / N/A (USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine)

2013-14 overall record: 4-27-5

2013-14 WCHA record: 3-21-4-2

2013-14 Conference Finish: Eighth

2013-14 Postseason Finish: Lost WCHA first-round series to Minnesota 2-0

2014-15 predicted finish: Eighth (2014-15 WCHA Head Coaches’ Preseason Poll)

Tough Skates to Fill: F Molli Mott, F Julia Gilbert, D Michelle Burke

Impact Returnees: D Audrey Hamner, F Abby Ness, G Julie Friend

Key Additions: D Lexi Slattery, D Brittney Anderson, F Molly Illikainen, F Mackenzie Johnson.

Why the Huskies will exceed expectations: It all comes down whether they can find some offensive production. This has been the issue over the past few years, but with new additions and a new mindset behind the bench, we could see some transitions in the Huskies’ offense. It seems elementary, but they have to score to win, averaging only 1.3 goals/game last season, there’s definitely room for improvement.

Why the Huskies will fall short of expectations:

Expectations are such that there is truly nowhere to go but up for this program but things are pointing in that direction.

The post DI Women’s Preview: St. Cloud State appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The clues can often be found in its artwork.

In some respects, hockey players, especially goaltenders, are some of the most hidden figures in sports, considering the amount of equipment that prevents the world from seeing the players within.

While many things have changed in the world of hockey, with the masks eventually becoming helmets, seeing them painted and carefully designed is nothing new for the recent goaltending generations.

Since the initiation of the goalie mask by Montreal Canadian’s Jacques Plante in a 1959 game against the New York Rangers, goaltenders have utilized the opportunity to show their colorful personality on its canvas.

Doug Favell, goaltender of the 1971 Philadelphia Flyers, became a catalyst for the painted mask after transforming his protector for the Halloween night game against the LA Kings. Favell told his trainer, Frank Lewis, during the team’s morning skate that it’d be kind of cool to paint his mask orange to go along with their orange jerseys, replicating the great pumpkin for Halloween night.

Gerry Cheevers, many have argued, was the first to “design” a mask, taking teammate Favell’s painted idea and upping creativity to the next level, with what fans have voted on as the best mask of all time. Cheevers’s top tier mask was based on putting stitch marks over the white canvas every time he got hit in the mask by a puck.

The masked men have always been known for their “interesting”, personalities and with the help of Ilya Bryzgalov’s performance on NHL 24/7, we’ve seen that not much has changed.

With such bizarre or colorful personalities behind the mask, it was only a matter of time before it leaked through onto the blank canvas that prevented an abundance of stitches and missing teeth.

However, it’s not necessarily about the things you see on the helmet, but the psychological foundation on which it was selected. Throughout hockey, relatives, music, animals, and essentially anything of personal importance or that looks cool has been plastered on the goaltenders’ canvas.

“When I decided to make my move to goalie, that’s one of the first things I looked forward to,” SCSU goaltender Charlie Lindgren said. “It’s something that every kid looks forward to, designing their equipment … especially with helmets; it’s a part of you.”

“With the goalie mask, you’re allowed to put your own personal touch on it; I think that’s something that started… goalies started wearing the mask,” SCSU goaltender Ryan Faragher said. “We’re different than the rest of the players on our team and we get to show it in our designs.”

“It’s something every kid looks forward to; it’s nice to look good when you’re out there,” SCSU goaltender Joseph Phillippi said with a smile.

No different than the generations preceding them is the SCSU men’s goaltenders Faragher, Lindgren, and Phillippi, all of which remember their first painted helmet like it was yesterday.

“I was 12, playing for the Minnesota Iceman,” Lindgren said. “I did a light blue helmet with a panther clawing its way out.”

“I was in ninth grade (when I got my first painted mask),” Phillippi said. “My dad told me that if I got on the honor roll three-out-of-four quarters that he’d get my helmet painted.”

“I didn’t have any say in my first helmet,” Faragher said. “My dad did it for a Christmas present when I was 13, my nickname was Rhino so we had a rhino on it… it was pretty cool, I was really excited.”

Goalies have often faced the challenge of finding a balance between glorifying and representing their team, all the while mixing in their personal passions into the design. Faragher seems to have found that balance with his current cage, keeping those things and people he loves as close to his mind as possible.

The back of Faragher’s helmet. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

“On my helmet I’ve got the school crest on the top, and mine’s covered in ice, making it look like it’s breaking through,” Faragher explained. “I’ve got a skeleton-type guy on my left side. It’s from one of my favorite bands, Gojira, off their “The Way of All Flesh” album cover.”

“On the back I put both my grandmothers’ initials,” Faragher said. ”They both passed away before I came to college and without them I wouldn’t be here.”

Along with the initials for his grandmothers, adding more to honor his family, Faragher placed a clover next to his grandma Patricia and a rose for his grandma Rose.

Lining the top of Faragher’s back palette is the team motto ‘All In’, while at the bottom is the name of a song he and his friend wrote together titled “187”.

“For my helmets here on out I’ll always have something to do with
my family and music,” Faragher said. “I still have my first helmet at home, and I’ve had everyone since then.”

The process of creating these works of art is a challenge for both the keeper and the artist, some of whom have never met the creator, and have to use photos and imagination to try and envision what the other is attempting. That’s the case for Lindgren and Gilders Design custom paint company, having never met, yet producing a design that fits the needs and abilities of both parties.

Charlie Lindgren’s mask (Gilders Design)

Lindgren’s current helmet has the phrase, “St Cloud Proud”, “All In”, which has been the team’s motto, and a big SCSU logo across the top crest, mimicking that of the Habs. Lindgren also got creative with the hidden, or special effect element of his mask, swapping the husky you often see as a player, and creating a “Husky goalie” on the right ear palette of the helmet.

“I told them the layout as much as I could, referring them to Henrik Lundqvist (goaltender for the New York Rangers) and showed them photos of where I wanted each thing,” Lindgren explained. “It’s tough when you haven’t met the guy who does it, but it turned out great.”

Gilders design seems to have taken over as the favorite of the men’s SCSU goaltenders, a company that has been familiar for their work across the OHL and NCAA college hockey world.

“I’ve seen Gilders’ work on guys in the OHL and around college guys,” Faragher said. “I liked the way he did stuff, so I’ll probably try him out again.”

Based out of London, Ontario, Gilders Design has been in the custom paint service for over 15 years and is a factory authorized painter for Bauer, Eddy Masks, Masked Marvel, and Warwick Masks.

For most, the design process is a give-and-take arrangement, bouncing ideas off one another until both the creator and keeper have an accord. For others, like Phillippi, it’s an opportunity to create a design individually and present it to the designee for approval.

Joe Phillippi’s mask (Gilders Design)

“I’m kind of an artsy guy myself, so I like to design my helmets,” Phillippi said. “I come up with the designs and colors and see what my dad and brother think about it, and I go from there.”

Phillippi’s current design has a military theme, swapping the digital/pixelated camouflage colors with SCSU’s red, black and white, that run up the center panel from brow to the top/end of the front cage. With the military theme, on the left ear panel Phillippi has the popular image of “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima”, with the soldiers hoisting the country’s colors. On the “Phlip” side the SCSU Husky engulfs the right ear panel, while on his chin the nickname “Flip” is sprayed in white, lined with SCSU black and red.

While many fans watch the games without knowing the man inside the mask, if they were to take the time to examine the works of art, chances are they may have a better idea of just who inhabits it. While being peppered with shots, the painted images on their helmets often mean just as much, if not more, than the blue paint below their blades.

Originally published in St. Cloud State’s University Chronicle. Republished with permission.

The post Who is Behind that Mask? appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Marty Mjelleli’s book “Guts, Goals, and Glory” keeps on selling.

Former St. Cloud State University hockey player Marty Mjelleli hasn’t let his time away from the University hinder his passion for Husky hockey; in fact it may have rejuvenated it.

Since he left St. Cloud in his endeavor to further his hockey career, there have been many stops along the way, including the ECHL with the Gwinnett Gladiators and Johnstown Chiefs, and the Netherlands with the Nijmegen Devils and Amstel Tigers. However, on those roads, the rearview mirror seemed to push Mjelleli back to his alma mater.

In his time spent on road trips and in the hotel rooms, Mjelleli wasn’t like the majority of his teammates who wasted time in front of a television or playing video games. Instead, Mjelleli was far more infatuated with words, particularly those pertaining to sports.

Whether it was his parents being schoolteachers, or the fact that Mjelleli was a standout student that graduated Cum Laude from SCSU and was a three time WCHA All-Academic team member, Mjelleli started putting his own words down on paper.

What those words and ideas ended up creating was a book, filled with an in-depth comprehensive history of the men’s hockey program at SCSU titled ‘St. Cloud State Hockey: Guts, Goals, and Glory’, with the proceeds going back to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

“It was an ongoing process,” Mjelleli explained. “When I got to the minors, guys would be swapping video games back and forth, and I hate video games, so I would read. I’m a sports enthusiast, so I would read football stuff, basketball, hockey, and finally I got sick and tired of reading about other peoples’ programs.”

“When I was [at SCSU], I was blessed to play with some great players and good guys … we had a great story to tell, and I’ve always gotten compliments about my storytelling abilities, so I started writing a little bit,” Mjelleli said.

That “little bit” turned into a 104-page book, on pace to becoming a best-seller, filled with photos, quotes and text showcasing the history of the program from a broad range of perspectives in the hockey community. The idea that was set aside for a while had the dust blown off it while Mjelleli reconnected with former teammates and Husky hockey supporters during an event this summer.

“It got brought up this summer, when I was going to a luncheon with everybody,” Mjelleli said. “The trophies were all out on display and it was a presentation about what they want to do for the future of Husky hockey, and I thought, there is no greater time to start this book up again and give back to the program.”

What Mjelleli called a “busy summer” was filled with research, where he teamed up with Tom Nelson, Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations, and school archivists to dig up all the fossils affiliated with SCSU hockey. With the 2012-13 season closing out as Mjelleli was in the middle of his project, extra work was added with players moving to the next level, and banners being hung.

The fear of the idea possibly getting stolen led to Mjelleli keeping the project within a tight circle, including family, a few close friends and professional contacts. When Mjelleli had what he felt was a good product with plenty of information, he presented the project to a trustworthy SCSU alum, and current editor for ‘Upper Deck Sports Cards’, Sean LaFavor.

“He [LaFavor] uprooted his life here and he’s out in California working for Upper Deck Sports,” Mjelleli said. “It was really nice having a hockey guy look at that and put things into more of a professional light, and make things polished and smoothed. He’s a Husky through-and-through, he was there in the glory days of the early 2000s.”

“I had most of it done and then I presented it to Sean … I knew I could trust him, he wrote for the Faribault Daily News and he’s a St. Cloud State alum.”

With a few close hands on deck, Mjelleli started to branch out nationally in order to obtain quotes and photos from SCSU players, Minnesota hockey legends, and notable NHL faces such as Pierre McGuire. By capturing these big name quotes, jerseys, and photos, Mjelleli hoped to solidify the book nationally, professionally and solidify its credibility.

“I felt if I kept this regional I would have failed everybody, I wanted to take this thing national,” Mjelleli said. “When you start getting quotes from all the players, you really have to turn over every rock, and I got some from a few hockey icons like Lou Nanne, who has a quote on the back cover.

“Was he a Husky? No. But it’s a stamp of approval for the Minnesota kids.”

NBC Sports hockey spokesman McGuire seemed notably helpful and excited according to Mjelleli, offering a more than helpful sum of words to add to the book’s authenticity and expertise.

“He was dynamite, he wanted to give me a quote right then and there,” Mjelleli said about his speaking with McGuire. “I told him to please think about it and write some stuff down and get back to me. He sent me almost a page long, it was awesome.”

“It was important for me to get a quote from NBC sports, it was important for me to get a quote from ESPN, to get the Star Tribune, Lets Play Hockey, and all these hockey avenues that we grew up watching and paying attention to. To hear them talking about the program was cool,” Mjelleli said.

As smooth and pristine as the book came out, continuous hurdles, roadblocks and challenges came up, as they always do, while perfecting ‘Guts, Goals, and Glory’. The adventure of getting photos from and of former players, working around certain player’s team policies and even battles including time and technology, proved to be a hellacious task.

“Getting the pictures was the hard part,” Mjelleli said. “Getting the older ones to have the right pixels or DI, some of them didn’t work so you had to resize them and crop them, and just finding the certain ones of certain players that took the longest time.”

Once the pictures were cropped, sized, and perfected with the help of his team and stepfather, the finished product included roughly 400 photos, which come in forms of individual as well as team pictures throughout the book.

“I wanted to incorporate every person who played in the program in there,” Mjelleli said. “This is not about me, this is about everyone else, so there are like four hundred or so pictures in there. So when you open that up, if you’ve walked through those doors and laced up a pair of skates… regardless of the division you’re in, you’re going to have a picture in the book.

“The old ones [photos] are pretty cool, they show the team photo’s outside, and you can see the old cars.”

Mjelleli, the recently-married assistant hockey coach of the St. Olaf’s men’s program, and now author, chose the series against UMD on Feb. 15 to release the book, offering a open signing with several other former Huskies. Ironically, the only home sweep for the Huskies in the season came that same weekend the book signing occurred.

“I wanted to find a way to give back to the program,” Mjelleli said. “I think this book was a great way for me to do just that.”

“St. Cloud State Hockey: Guts, Goals, and Glory” is currently available in as many as eight locations, including Hockey Giant, Hockey Zone, Dave’s Sports Shop, The College Shop in MOA, Scheels, Amazon, The Hockey Lodge in the Xcel Energy Center. Current listing price is $24.95 on Amazon, with  the proceeds going back to the Brooks Center.

Originally published in St. Cloud State’s University Chronicle. Republished with permission.

The post Husky Turned Historian appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

In a back-and-forth battle for the title, the Crusaders managed to capture their sixth championship in school history with a 2-1 win over the Cardinals, giving them a state tournament birth.

“It’s tough, last games of careers for many players,” Alexandria head coach Ian Resch said. “Hopefully after reflecting a little bit they’ll (seniors) realize it was a special night tonight.”

A well-balanced first period kicked off with seven minutes of uninterrupted fast, hard hitting, defensive hockey by both the Cardinals and the Crusaders.

“It was a great hockey game, and there’s got to be a winner and a loser,” Resch said. “The kids dream of this game their whole life.”

The scoreless first eight minutes included a few timely saves by Alexandria’s Sam Goetsch, including a toe save on Cathedral’s reigning all-time point leader William Hammer.

The Cardinals fed off the play by their keeper and found some offense midway through the first, hitting two posts in one shift on an essentially untested Zach Fritz.

Despite a few turnovers Alexandria played sound in the defensive zone, chipping pucks off the glass, keeping shots to the perimeter, and limiting the dominant top line of the Crusaders.

A huge glove save by Goetsch on a Crusader defenseman from the slot, helped the Cardinals escape the scoreless first period, after a flurry of offense produced by Cathedral.

Goetsch closed out the first stanza with nine saves on six quality-scoring chances and with the help of a pipe, Fritz kicked back six.

“Goetsch was fantastic for them,” “If you told me there were two better goalies than the ones that were on the ice tonight, I’d be hard-pressed.”

An almost identical start to the period as the one before, led to more hitting, end-to-end action, and much more scoring.

Back-to-back great shifts by Alexandria’s sophomore Jack Steffl and senior forward Brandy Bast seemed to spark some offense for the Cardinals.

Junior defensemen Parker Revering rang one off the blocker side post shortly after, followed up by a grade-a opportunity for Bast in the slot, that was gloved down by Fritz.

Goetsch was busy in the other blue paint as well, as the end-to-end action ensued, allowing few second chances and controlling his rebounds well.

The solid goaltending and defense by the Cardinals seemed to amp up their offense, with Steffl cracking the egg on a high tip in the slot off the face-off to put the Cardinals up 1-0.

There was no time to feel good about the goal though, with the Crusaders scoring just 1:34 later on an odd man rush.

Logan Neu managed to slip one by Goetsch, coming off of a slow developing three-on-two chance and tying the game at one-a-piece.

Assists were credited to Matt Fritz and William Hammer on the play.

The fight wasn’t out of the Cardinals, creating a two-on-one opportunity off the next faceoff with Chris Leary and Steffl rocking one off the crossbar for the team’s third post of the night.

An Alexandria power-play at the 13:54 mark, led to a shorthanded, and eventual game-winning goal for Fritz and the Crusaders.

Fritz received a stretch pass from Phil Ruegemer on the far side of the rink, catching the Cardinals on a change. After entering the zone, Fritz let a wicked wrister loose from the left face faceoff dot on a one-on-two, and beat Goetsch high-glove.

“I didn’t know it was going to go in, but it did, and I was fine with that,” Fritz commented on his goal.

The remainder of the entertaining battle went scoreless with Goetsch recording a two-period total of 21 saves and Fritz kicking back 17.

The third and final period kicked off with a monstrous blocker save by Goetsch, after Hammer dished a perfect pass to the far side on a three-on-two.

A tripping penalty on Alexandria’s Christian Canavati, led to the first Cathedral power-play of the contest, but a well defended penalty kill allowed just one shot and few chances.

Fritz came up with continuous timely saves, holding the Crusaders in the game.

Another tripping penalty on Alexandria at the 13:24 mark created the do-or-die atmosphere for both teams, which resulted in another scoreless Cathedral power-play.

In desperation mindset, Alexandria put on a beret of offense in the remaining three minutes of the game, but Fritz was up to the challenge.

“He’s better when he’s busy… Zach’s a very focused kid and has a fantastic demeanor for a goalie,” Johnson said. “He’s got the flat-lined mentality you need to be a successful goalie.”

In the final efforts, the Cardinal’s pulled Goetsch with just under :50 seconds remaining, the man-advantage wasn’t enough as the boys in blue and gold held on for the one-goal win.

Fritz recorded 28 saves in the contest, and Goetsch returned 27, in the great goaltending duel.

With the victory, St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders earned themselves the their sixth section championship in school history, all under the current coaching staff, headed by coach Johnson.

“We’ve been so close, so many times,” Johnson said. “The last few years we’ve been close and got beat by a very good Hermantown team.”

“We have good players, they come and work their butts off… and that makes our jobs easy as coaches.”

The Crusaders will be back in action March 5, in the MSHSL state tournament, held at the Xcel Energy Center.

“I can’t even put this feeling into words,” Fritz said. “It’s so surreal.”

The post Crusaders Squeak by Cardinals appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Featured Image:
St. Cloud Cathedral’s Will Hammer earned a spot in the school record book on Tuesday.
Photo / Tim Kolehmainen)

The Municipal Athletic Complex in St. Cloud played host to the Section 6A quarterfinals on Tuesday night where No. 1 seed St. Cloud Cathedral sailed past eighth-seeded Little Falls 8-1.

The Crusaders came into the game holding a 17-7-1 record, while outscoring their opponent’s 91-57 throughout the season. This proved to be too much for the 3-20-2 Flyers.

The puck finally dropped well after the scheduled game time, with the referees showing up an hour late to the prior game between Fergus Falls and St. Cloud Apollo (won 3-0 by Apollo).

The first period showcased the speed and athleticism of the Crusaders, remedied by a more physical, blue color type of hockey for Little Falls.

The Crusaders found some grade-A opportunities through the first half of the first, including multiple chances on two power-plays. But Flyers’ junior goaltender Ezra Spandl was up to the challenge. Spandl finished with 14 saves in the period.

At the 14:41 mark of the first, the Crusaders managed to find the twine after a nifty move on a two-on-one by sophomore Logan Neu opened up his teammate Matson Courrier who buried the opportunity.

56 seconds later, Cathedral struck again, this time coming from senior forward William Hammer, who was the beneficiary of a great stretch pass by Matt Fritz.

The goal put Hammer one point away from the all time lead at St. Cloud Cathedral.

Down but not out, little falls lit the lamp with 12 seconds remaining in the period on a great individual effort by sophomore Landon Bjorge, putting the Flyers down 2-1 going into the locker rooms.

“One our goal was to score first,” Flyers head coach Tony Couture said. “We left it all out on the ice that first period, and we didn’t have anything left after that.”

Play continued in the Little Falls zone through the majority of the second period. However, Spandl and the boys in purple held in there, keeping Cathedral scoreless through the first 7:15 of the period when Crusader junior defenseman Peter O’Neal found the back of the net.

Assist were given to Colin Strong and Daniel Bailey on O’Neal’s backhanded goal from the slot.

The gold and blue struck again at the 10:40 mark on a shot from the point by Bailey, giving the Crusader’s a 4-1 lead over the Flyers into the locker room.

“We dialed up our intensity in the second and third,” Crusaders coach Eric Johnson said. “For whatever reason, it seems like every team comes out a little rocky in the first period.”

A reasonably back and forth third period ensued until the 5:29 mark, where Chris Hornung beat Spandl five-hole for his third goal of the season.

Shortly after, at the 6:13 mark, Neu buried a rebound goal, giving him 17 on the season, 33 points, and the Crusader’s a 6-1 lead. Hammer’s assist on the goal gave him two points on the night, tying him for the Cathedral school record for points with 161 (73-88–161) in 107 career games.

“I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for my teammates,” Hammer said. “It has been a thought in the back of my head, but I never really knew where I was at on the list.”

“He’s strong on the puck, he’s got good vision, and he does a lot of the little things well,” Johnson said.”He’s as complete a player as you can have … sometimes he’s not the flashiest but he’s been very consistent all season long.”

Brady Johnson put Cathedral up 7-1 with a shorthanded goal, which was followed shortly after by another O’Neal goal. O’Neal’s goal solidified their 8-1 victory, with seven different players scoring goals.

“It was good to get some of those other guys going on the score-sheet,” Johnson said. ”We haven’t had that in a while.”

“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Cathedral,” Couture said.”They work extremely hard, play very disciplined, and play no-nonsense hockey.”

The Crusader’s will be back in the MAC arena on Saturday evening for the semifinals at 7:00 p.m. to take on the Sartell Sabres.

“Discipline is number one,” Johnson said of the key to Saturday night’s matchup. “We’ve both improved since December … I’m sure it’ll be a very, very good game.”

Cathedral and Sartell split their season series with a pair of 3-2 decisions in December.

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Gina Carlson interviews SCSU defenseman Ben Storm (Photo: Alex Curtis)

For those of you who tuned into KVSC to follow the men’s hockey team get the better of Colorado College Nov. 22-23, you were hearing history being made, not on the ice, but in the press box.

You were listening to the first female radio play-by-play broadcaster in the history of SCSU Division I men’s hockey.

That groundbreaking voice belongs to Gina Carlson, a senior that will be graduating in May with a bachelors degree in Mass Communication Radio Broadcasting with a minor in Human Relations at SCSU, who’s been working with KVSC since the start of her freshman year.

“For commercial radio, or for public radio it’s the first of its kind. I tip my cap to KVSC and St. Cloud State University to give students the opportunity to do something like this,” said sports director Scott Gross. “She’s the first female to ever do the play-by-play for men’s hockey.”

There have been a lot of changes in the world of sports broadcasting, but a few things remain the same. It’s a profession that’s still dominated by men, and many women find themselves continually objectified and not taken seriously.

“There’s not a doubt [this is a male dominated profession],” Carlson explained. “I haven’t met another female that broadcasts men’s hockey.”

A Sauk Rapids high school graduate, Carlson “naturally” attended St. Cloud State, where she soon found a home in KVSC.

“My junior or senior year [of high school] I figured I should probably have an idea what I want to do [going into college],” Carlson said. “I had a mild interest in radio, so I thought if I liked it then great, if not, there’s other opportunities.”

“I knew a couple people that worked in the radio industry and thought they had a really cool job and looked like they were having fun.”

Ironically upon entering the KVSC studio, the first person she met was the sports director, Zack Fisch, and the two of them immediately hit it off.

Carlson and the sports director went on to talk about the passion and love she had for hockey, as well as sports in general and how she was interested in the radio, resulting in her becoming part of the sports broadcasting team.

“It just happened by chance, honestly,” Carlson said. “Even the whole being in sports just happened by chance.”

“Jo McMullen the Station Manager and Jim Gray the Operations Director chose to hire me,” Carlson said. “There must have been some reason why they did it.”

Carlson wasn’t a high school athlete, but described herself as an avid sports follower, even before she entered the sports broadcasting scene, which has helped her develop into the student of the game she is today.

“Gina is always extremely prepared, almost overly prepared,” said Declan Goff, Assistant Sports Director at KVSC. “She takes pride in studying the lines, the opponents roster… there probably isn’t anyone who sits there and studies hockey 24/7 like her.”

“She lives and breathes St. Cloud State hockey,” Goff said.

Starting with the station, Carlson would do anything she could to help the sports broadcast and stay involved in the operations, keeping that passion for sports.

“That’s always been the fuel to my fire,” Carlson explained. “When people say ‘you can’t,’ you won’t, that’s not possible, even if I don’t want to do it, I will just to prove them wrong, because I love that satisfaction.”

After working her way through the ranks of KVSC, Carlson has earned the position of sports director, a shared position with Scott Gross, who she partnered up with as color analyst for the previous men’s hockey season as well as the current.

“Working along side Scott Gross, my partner, I think that we have a really good report, because we have two totally different voices on a broadcast,” said Carlson. “It’s intriguing to me, because rather than listening to two males, I can automatically know we have a totally different analyses.

“The things that he see’s and picks up on are different than what I pick up on, and females tend to pick up more on the little details. That’s why I feel I can do well at this.”

The road to this opportunity didn’t come without it’s barriers or naysayers, and not being taken seriously as a female broadcaster is something that Carlson has had to work through along the way.

“There have been barriers when you go on the road, and nobody takes you seriously,” explains Carlson. “You walk in with all this radio equipment, and you’re a girl. They automatically shrug their shoulders and be like, she obviously doesn’t really know anything. When in reality, I probably know just as much as they do.”

“The only other female I’ve even met in all my traveling through the covering of men’s hockey last season was Kelly Schultz from Bemidji State, and all she does is the women’s hockey there.”

Performing well on the air is just the icing on the cake when it comes to Carlson, who Goff refers to as the “queen of social media.”

“She’s in charge of marketing, radio traffic, and sports directing,” Goff explained. “She’s willing to do anything she can at a station or at any type of job to demonstrate she can’t just do one thing, she can do multiple things, and handle all of them very, very well.”

“She kills about three birds with one stone on the broadcast.”

With her work ethic, drive and passion there’s no telling what comes next for Carlson in the fast paced world of sports broadcasting. However, the hometown feel and the energy behind the athletics here in Minnesota, seemed to have held a place in her heart.

“I’d love to stay in Minnesota and work in the sports industry,” Carlson explained. “I’d love to work with the Minnesota Wild, I love radio, but anything as far as PR goes, sideline reporting, color analyst, is what I’d love to do.”

The footsteps Carlson and KVSC have left behind after this weekend have given hope and direction to those who follow, showing that hard work and passion really do pay off.

“To be perfectly honest, play-by-play was never my goal,” Carlson said. “I never had the goal of doing anything on men’s hockey broadcast because I didn’t think it was possible. It started as a hobby, a passion, and it has turned into a lot more than that.”

Republished with permission from The St. Cloud State University Chronicle.

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