The scattering of various college conferences has made it more difficult to keep track of all the action, but this is the week when it blossoms. And it happens among both the men’s and women’s leagues.

The disparity in how leagues run their playoffs is a drawback, because they don’t all do the same thing to get to the same objective — which is the NCAA tournament itself.
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For example, the NCHC has had a long, rugged season. But in the closing weeks, North Dakota captured the championship, finishing 15-8-1, to narrowly edge preseason favorite Denver (15-7-2), season upstart Colorado College (14-8-2) and sputtering but potent St. Cloud State (11-9-4).

To end the regular season, fifth-place Omaha swept North Dakota, while seventh-place UMD swept St. Cloud State and Western Michigan secured sixth place ahead of UMD. But NCHC plays its quarterfinals as a best-of-three series, which pretty much assures upsets will be at a premium, if evident at all.

Winter wonderland in Denver, not Duluth
One of the most ironic parts about the system is that UMD — from the usual winter wonderland of Northern Minnesota — has not had a single snowstorm this year and the brown grass and fields look more like mid-October than March. So, as the Bulldogs gathered for their flight to Denver to play the team that looked like the NCHC’s best when they swept UMD in Duluth a few weeks ago, they were unprepared for an 11-hour delay and an overnight stay in a Minneapolis hotel before finishing their trip.

The reason was a near-foot-deep snowstorm that hit Denver recently, closing businesses, closing freeways and shutting down the airport. In a normal season, the Denver players and staff may look apprehensively to an upcoming trip to Duluth because of possible blizzards, but this time, it is the Duluth traveling party that had to fly to Denver in order to experience winter!

UMD’s sweep of rival St. Cloud State may have been more timely than the snows of Denver, because UMD snapped a losing streak in the process and seem poised to prove that if they are on their game they can beat anybody.

North Dakota shouldn’t expect any problems with last-place Miami, and could easily prove their last-series losses were just resting up their top guns for this weekend’s series at Grand Forks. Omaha, which has been tough to beat for all NCHC foes all season, is also fighting this week’s wintry weather to make it to Colorado Springs for the three-game series against CC. And the most competitive and intriguing series of the whole first round could well be Western Michigan’s trip to St. Cloud to play the Huskies.

The winners of those four NCHC series will advance to St. Paul and take over Xcel Energy Center — home of the Minnesota Wild — for the last convening of the Final Faceoff for NCHC semifinals and finals before the teams scatter to play at higher home sites. There are some who already miss the chance to show their stuff to the major Twin Cities media and population centers, which have proven so popular over the years.

Big Ten, CCHA playoff status
The Big Ten has only Minnesota among state teams, and the Gophers face a major challenge in a one-game showdown against Michigan. After winning the last two titles, Minnesota finished third (13-7-4) behind Michigan State (16-6-2) and Wisconsin (16-7-1), and ahead of fourth-place Michigan (11-11-2), which has a disappointing record for such a talent-laden team. It is Michigan that returns to 3M Arena at Mariucci to face Minnesota this weekend, and the Wolverines blew a big lead before subduing Minnesota in overtime two weeks ago in the second game of their season.

The strange thing is that Minnesota-Michigan is a one-game showdown, just as the other semifinal series when Ohio State plays at Michigan State, having already upset second-place Wisconsin, although the Badgers will surely get voted back into the NCAA field. Instead, the Badgers get a week’s rest.

The biggest turmoil is happening in the CCHA, where the whole season has been a wonderful, storybook twist. Bemidji State won the league (15-7-2) ahead of St. Thomas (12-11-1) and the deadkick for third between Michigan Tech (12-10-2) and Minnesota State Mankato (12-10-2). Lake Superior State finished seventh at (11-12-1), tied with Bowling Green, before the Lakers went to St. Thomas and ruined the Tommies season by splitting 4-1 victories in their best-of-three and then Lake Superior State stunned St. Thomas 3-2 in overtime in game 3.

That reversal sends Lake Superior State to Bemidji State, while MSU-Mankato plays at Michigan Tech.

When all the league playoff shooting subsides, we can dust ourselves off, put the snowshovels aside, and get ready for what is certain to be controversial NCAA selections.

But for now, the league playoff theory remains intact as the most exciting, we just have to stay alert to find out if our favorite league playoff ends this week, or ends net week, or overlaps to encompass both this weekend and next. All we know is they will be exciting.,

The post College Hockey Playoffs Are The Best appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Yet in reality, successfully mastering the move is the result of months and years of work behind the scenes.

For Minnesota State fifth-year senior forward Reggie Lutz, scoring a go-ahead wraparound goal in the Frozen Four against Minnesota is a move that he has been practicing on since the age of five when the Elk River native received a special incentive.

“Every time I would score a wraparound goal, my Dad would take me to McDonald’s, and I’d get a Happy Meal. I’ve been working on one for a while and it was pretty cool to see it work on the big stage,” he said after the Mavericks defeated Minnesota 5-1 in the Frozen Four semifinals. “It was able to pay off tonight, so it was pretty cool.”

Working for years behind the scenes is Minnesota State’s M.O. 41 NHL Draft picks descended to Boston from the Frozen Four teams. Only one, Nathan Smith, came from the Mavericks.

It did not matter to the only program to make a repeat Frozen Four appearance, as thousands of fans came from Mankato, Minnesota, and points elsewhere to cheer, to high-five, and enjoy a program-high against three of the sport’s traditional bluebloods. Thousands lined the TD Garden red carpet for both the April 7 semifinal and the April 9 championship game.

“We’re still building,” said Mike Hastings, who found his wife in the crowd before Thursday’s game. “Pretty special to be a part of it and to have the people travel that distance, spend the time away from work.

“We had some students hop on flights. I’m not sure where the pay came from, but they hopped on some flights out here to support us.”

Photo courtesy of Mansoor Ahmad

Lutz’s path to the Mavericks from Elk River included stops in Fairbanks and Chicago. The 25-year-old’s road to college is the norm for Minnesota State, who had one player debut before their 20th birthday. Burnsville’s Cade Borchardt won a USHL Clark Cup after high school, the culmination of three different teams in three years. Smith played high school hockey in Florida. 

Dryden McKay, the 2022 Hobey Baker Award-winning senior goaltender and men’s hockey all-time shutout leader, spent three straight seasons as a Mike Richter Award finalist without winning the award.

Even Hastings, celebrating his 10th anniversary being hired as Minnesota State’s head coach, has come a long way from an early season series against Denver where the Pioneers swept his Mavericks in Mankato. 

“You learn from the hard things. That was a hard weekend. I remember it vividly,” he said. “I thought we played well that weekend, and we didn’t get a point.”

That Mavericks team eventually made the NCAA Tournament, as did another six under Hastings. When Minnesota State broke through to make it to the Frozen Four in 2021, Borchardt said that he took in the moment, remembering the ones that got him there, before his latest.

In its second Frozen Four appearance, Minnesota State, who began the season sweeping the defending national champions in Massachusetts, made the most of its recent experience in comparison to Minnesota, Michigan, and Denver.

Relaxed, screaming, and happy pregame, the Mavericks players embraced their “we before me” team mantra. The group became one, utilizing its suffocating defense against one of the nation’s top offenses and dispatching Minnesota despite trailing 1-0.

McKay gave up a goal on the first shot he saw of the weekend on a 2-on-0. He did not give up another until the third period of the national championship game. Before Lutz, Benton Maass scored a wraparound goal.

“I think it’s right when you step foot on campus. Ever since Coach has been here in Mankato, he’s built a great culture of family, team first,” Lutz said. “Anything that gets thrown our way, you’re going to put our team first. We don’t have one selfish guy on our team.”

The same team that collectively learned from the hard things and took the long path to college quickly became a perennial national title contender. Walking around Boston was a fanbase, dressed in purple suits, Revolutionary War outfits, and the more traditional Mavericks sweaters, ready for a championship. They had been on the road from Day 1.

Facing the same Denver program Hastings learned from a decade prior, Minnesota State spent 45 minutes keeping the nation’s top offense in neutral. The Pioneers had 4 shots on goal in the national championship game’s first half before finding the back of the net.

Once Denver did, the lessons resumed. A 1-0 third period lead quickly wrapped around into a 5-1 defeat for the Mavericks and the first loss in 19 games. The rainbow that was over TD Garden pregame disappeared. 

“You look at the whole season. We hadn’t lost a game since around Christmas until tonight,” Borchardt said after the championship game. “I mean, obviously nothing’s going to solve this or make us happy right now. So I am proud of everyone, proud of the seniors. It stings.”

Boston was a special place for Minnesota State, who continues to present a difficult puzzle for any team to solve. It is a program long past the point of Providence, Palmquist being pushed, NCAA first rounds, and being a surprise national title contender.  

In a decade, Hastings has evolved the program into one that can reload and keep its identity. The only goal left to change the course of the program is one that barely eluded this group, the ones that came so close to the years of work paying off and wrapping their hands around the trophy.

“I’m incredibly proud of them because they’ve gone to work every day. We all know, your dailies are what make your week, what makes your month, which makes your year. These guys came to work every day with a smile on their face and made their dailies fantastic. The ride they took our staff on and our program on was special,” said Hastings after the title-game loss. 

“There will be time for reminiscing and thinking about the rest of it. Like I said, it’s a little raw now. And we’re going to learn from it and we’re going to move on. We’re going to be better because of what happened tonight and because of the journey that these guys allowed us to have together from the beginning of the year until now.”

Photo courtesy of Mansoor Ahmad

The post That’s A Wrap appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Shepard, UMD shut out DU to set up all-Minnesota NCHC final

St. Paul — Postseason goals in hockey are never easy to come by anyway but a playoff game featuring the reigning National Collegiate Hockey  Conference (NCHC) Goaltender of the Year going head-to-head with the 2018-19 NCHC All-Rookie Team goalie makes the task even that much more difficult. Minnesota Duluth’s Hunter Shepard and Denver University freshman Filip Larsson proved that and more in UMD’s 3-0 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center.

The win sets up an all-Minnesota Frozen Faceoff championship game between the No. 4 Bulldogs (24-11-2) and No. 1 St. Cloud State (30-4-3) on Saturday night. The Huskies knocked off Colorado College 5-2 in the other semifinal on Friday afternoon.

“We played a lot of games that are really, really close and that’s kind of what it came down to again today,” Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said. “But it took a good third period for our team to win and we’re excited about playing tomorrow.”

UMD freshman Cole Koepke’s shot past Larsson through a Parker Mackay screen 42 seconds into the third period turned out to be the game’s only goal scored with a goaltender in the crease. Sophomore defenseman Louie Roehl would later score into an empty net and Koepke would add his second of the game, and seventh of the season, into the same vacant Denver goal.

All three goals were unassisted.

Shepard and Larsson matched each other nearly save-for-save through two periods with Larsson making 21 stops to 19 for Shepard. UMD made a hard push late in the second but Larsson stood his ground and denied all comers. Shepard finished with 25 saves with Larsson stopping 30 UMD shots for the game.

“You gotta get in their good goalie’s space,” Sandelin said. “I thought they were doing a pretty good job of that and we weren’t and I thought we did a better job of that in the third period.”

Shepard, meanwhile withstood some flurries of his own and slammed the door on Cole Guttman’s breakaway opportunity 20 seconds into the second period.

“There’s a reason he’s, you know, won awards last night in this conference and I thought he was seeing the puck really well,” Denver coach David Carle said. “Did we have some second chance opportunities? Yeah, but he did a great job sealing the bottom of his net and, unfortunately, we weren’t able to get any past him.”

Added Sandelin on Shepard, “They were doing a good job around our net and that’s what you have to do against good goalie. It was it was nice to see Shep seeing the puck and making some of those saves for us because, again, that game could have gone either way.”

But it was UMD and Kopeke who broke through when the Hermantown native came off the bench, picked up a loose puck and, with Mackay blocking Larsson’s view, ended the stalemate.

“Larsson’s a great goalie and anytime you can try and take the goalie’s eyes away just increases your chance of scoring,” Koepke said. “So I thought Parker’s positioning was pretty, pretty key on that goal.”

Minnesota Duluth and Denver split their four regular-season meetings with Denver winning 2-0 and 1-0 games but this time the tables were turned.

“I thought it was a good hockey game, tight checking, similar to most of our games against Duluth,” Carle said. “There wasn’t a lot of time and space out there, it came down to execution and they made one more play than we did and that was ultimately all that was needed.”

The Bulldogs briefly thought they had taken a 2-0 lead when Jesse Jacques pounced on a loose puck behind Larsson. After a lengthy review, however, the officials ruled Riley Tufte had interfered with Larsson and the goal was overturned.

Minnesota Duluth now turns its attention to St. Cloud State, a team the Bulldogs have dropped three of four games to this season, although all were fairly tight games including a pair of 4-3 losses (one in overtime) two weeks ago in St. Cloud.

“We had two great games with them at the end of the year, so I expect it to be the same thing,” Sandelin said. “Hopefully, we can find a way to solve them, keep this going and, you know, keep building off of the last few games for our team.” 

 Photo Gallery by Rick Olson for Minnesota Hockey Magazine. Follow Rick on Twitter at @rickolson77.

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Brock Boeser sets up UND with long-awaited championship shot

TAMPA, Fla. — The joke on the ‘CBS Line’ for the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team takes a shot at the youngest of the three players.

Freshman Brock Boeser leads the Fighting Hawks in goals. Wink, that doesn’t sit well with sophomore center Nick Schmaltz and senior left wing Drake Caggiula, the other members of Boeser’s line.

“We always joke around, telling him to pass the puck because all he does is score,” Caggiula said of Boeser, who has 26 goals. “A lot of people don’t realize how good his vision is. He can make plays all over the ice, not just scoring goals.

“He made a great play to me on my first goal with a saucer pass behind the defenseman and a great play to set up the third one.  He’s been huge for our line and he’s a freshman, but he doesn’t act like a freshman. He’s a very mature kid on and off the ice and I think that’s what makes him special.”

Boeser, a 19-year-old from Burnsville, had assists on the first and third goals for the Fighting Hawks in a 4-2 win over Denver in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Frozen Four on Thursday at Amalie Arena. Boeser set up Schmaltz for the game-winning goals with less than a minute left to play and the Fighting Hawks added an empty-net goal with 1.8 seconds left.

Third-seeded North Dakota (33-6-4) plays top-seeded Quinnipiac (32-3-7) at 7 p.m. Saturday for the national title.

North Dakota advanced to its first national title game since 2005 and will be trying to pick up its first national title since beating Boston College in 2000.

Boeser and his linemates are a big reason why. Boeser, a first-round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 2015, has 56 points in 41 games and was a plus-3 in the semifinals win.

“He’s a fun player to play with (on a line) and he thinks the game the same way as me and Drake,” Schmaltz said of Boeser. “We like to make plays, but we also like to play hard away from the puck. A staple of our success is how hard we play away from the puck and get on offense.

“(Boeser) has been a huge piece to our line and, hopefully, we can keep it rolling on Saturday.”

Boeser, the NCHC Rookie of the Year and an All-NCHC first team pick, played last season for the Waterloo Blackhawks in junior hockey in the United States Hockey League. He was a USHL first team all-star and tied for the league lead with 35 goals in 57 games and was third in the USHL in points with 68.

He said that playing on a line with Caggiula and Schmaltz has exceeded his expectations for this season.

“I really can’t explain the feeling of the opportunity to play with these guys … it’s been tremendous,” Boeser said. “With the North Dakota fan base and the tradition … you can’t really describe it. You just have to live it and it’s just been tremendous.”

Austin Poganski, a sophomore right wing from St. Cloud and a St. Louis Blues draft pick, plays on the second line for North Dakota and said that watching Boeser play this season has been special as well.

“He’s done it all and it’s hard to explain all the things he can do with the puck,” Poganski said of Boeser. “He just plays with so much poise.”

That poise helps him take the good-natured ribbing from his linemates and turn it into a positive.

“They say that I have tunnel vision and just shoot the puck,” Boeser said with a smile about his linemates’ criticism of his play. “I’ve been proving to them lately that I can get an assist too.”

The other Minnesotans who were in the lineup Thursday for North Dakota were freshman left wing Shane Gersich (Chaska), sophomore right wing Trevor Olson (Duluth), sophomore defenseman Tucker Poolman (East Grand Forks), junior defenseman Gage Ausmus and freshman defenseman Hayden Shaw.

3 MINNESOTANS ADVANCE WITH BOBCATS

Three players from Minnesota played Thursday for the top-ranked Quinnipiac team that will play in its second national championship game in four years.

Left wing Bo Pieper, center Tommy Schutt and defenseman Derek Smith were each in the lineup for the Bobcats in their 3-2 win over Boston College on Thursday.

Pieper, a sophomore from Roseville, was on the second line for Quinnipiac and had two shots on goal. Pieper, who is 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, has five goals and four assists in 41 games this season and eight goals, 14 assists in 79 career games.

Schutt, who is from Chanhassen, played on the third line for the Bobcats. Schutt, a 6-0, 190-pound junior, had a team-leading five blocked shots, two penalty minutes and two shots on goal. Schutt has six goals and five assists in 42 games this season and 12 goals, 15 assists in 117 career games.

Smith, who is from Apple Valley, was on the third defensive pairing and had one shot on goal. Smith, a 5-11, 185-pound junior, has three goals and 13 assists in 36 games this season. In 107 career games, he has five goals and 34 assists.

The trio helped Quinnipiac kill 4 of 5 penalties against Boston College.

WILD DUO PLAYS FOR EAGLES

Two draft picks of the Minnesota Wild played right wing for Boston College on Thursday.

Adam Gilmour, a 6-foot-3, 193-pound junior from Hanover, Massachusetts, played on the Eagles’ top line. Gilmour had four shots on goal in the game. For the season, he finished with 12 goals, 14 assists in 41 games. In 119 career games, Gilmour has 28 goals and 45 assists. He was a fourth-round pick of the Wild in 2012.

Alex Tuch, a 6-4, 220-pound sophomore from Baldwinsville, New York, had Boston College’s first goal, four shots on goal and was a minus-1 on the second line. For the season, he had 18 goals, 16 assists in 40 games. For his career, he has 32 goals, 30 assists in 77 games for Boston College. Tuch was a first-round pick of Minnesota in 2014.

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Minneapolis — Some players, for whatever reason, step up their games against certain opponents. For St. Cloud State’s Mikey Eyssimont, it’s an entire state.

The Littleton, Colo. native ‘s goal at 1:41 of the third period gave the Huskies a 3-1 lead and turned out to be the difference in the Huskies’ 4-2 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff semifinal win over Denver on Friday night at Target Center.

With SCSU up 2-1 early in the third period, Eyssimont did a nice job of protecting the puck down low and his centering pass to Patrick Russell deflected off traffic in front and behind bewildered Pioneers goaltender Tanner Jalliet. No. 3 seed Denver’s Evan Janssen answered for the Pioneers just 32 seconds later but the Huskies held DU at bay until defenseman Jimmy Schuldt’s empty-net goal sealed it.

“So far, so good against the Colorado teams,” Eyssimont said after the Huskies snapped Denver’s 11-game winning streak. “It feels good but I can’t think about it too much right now.”

Of the freshman’s no 29 career points (10-19–29) seven of them (2-5–7), or nearly a quarter, have come against against either Denver or Colorado College. In fact, St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko believes Eyssimont’s rookie season turned a corner when St. Cloud State visited Denver to close out the season’s first half.

Eyssimont had bounced up and down the line chart and in and out of the SCSU lineup leading up to that Dec. 11-12 series sweep at Denver. He came into the weekend with just four points but played well and his beautiful assist to complete Kalle Kossila’s hat trick helped cap off the weekend’s scoring.

“How many time do you see these young guys come back after Christmas and the sky is blue and they start playing?” Motzko asked rhetorically. “And Mikey started to play and we all saw it and he’s been very, very good.”

Good indeed. In 21 games since Jan. 1,the 2014 graduate of Chatfield Senior High School has racked up 24 points on nine goals and 15 assists.

The post Inside Job appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Mr. March helps SCSU reach Frozen Faceoff final

Minneapolis — Postseason beast Joey Benik’s two pivotal points led St. Cloud State to a 4-2 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff semifinal win over Denver on Friday night at Target Center. In the process, the Huskies snapped third-seeded Denver’s 11-game winning streak.

The No. 2 seeded Huskies will face fourth seed Minnesota-Duluth – identical 4-2 winners over top-seeded North Dakota – at 7:37 p.m. on Saturday for the NCHC playoff title.

Benik scored a goal and added a pretty assist on fellow senior David Morley’s 14th goal of the year in SCSU’s 30th victory of the season. It’s just the second time in the school’s DI history the Huskies have reached that mark.

Third period goals by freshmen Mikey Eyssimont and Jimmy Schuldt, the latter into an empty net, rounded out the scoring for St. Cloud State. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren faced just 19 shots on goal in picking up his school-record 29th win (29-8-1) of the season on Friday as the teams combined for just 35 total shots.

“I don’t think anyone thought it was going to be a defensive battle,” Motzko said. “But that’s what it sure turned out to be and it was a hard-fought, it was a tough hockey game … I think that it helps set the tone for what’s to come in the (NCAA) playoffs.”

Denver forward Grant Arnold lamented his team’s ability, or lack thereof, to get to the front of the Huskies net. He said St. Cloud State isn’t “the most physical team, but they have great sticks.”

“They did a great job of bottling us up on the walls and did a great job using their sticks,” he added. “You’re not going to score on a great goalie like that getting perimeter shots.”

“Guys were selling out to block shots,” Motzko said. “That might be the critical thing. We were kind of buying into having a very good defensive night.”

St. Cloud State’s Joey Benik (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Benik’s first-period power play goal opened the scoring and ultimately ensured SCSU would never trail the Pioneers. His second period assist gave the Huskies the lead for good.

With the game tied 1-1 in the second, Benik carried the puck behind the net and and Denver goalie Tanner Jalliet bit hard on what appeared to be a wraparound attempt.

“That was my initial plan,” Benik said. “I was going to bring it around up front and last second I heard Dave yell my name so I just turned and threw it to him and he had a wide open net.”

Benik’s against-the-grain pass hit Morley’s tape and Jalliet had no chance. The assist gave Benik 21 points 10-11–21) in 19 career playoff games as a Husky.

“It’s a fun time to play and with the atmosphere that our conference brings, I mean this is a great tournament,” Benik said. “It’s easy to play in front of a lot of fans and with such high emotions. It’s a mixture of all that and everything is on the line so I mean you gotta give it all every night you go out there.”

St. Cloud State now faces a UMD team that’s won seven straight games dating back to a Feb. 26-27 sweep of the Huskies at the National Hockey Center. SCSU had last been swept in October at Quinnipiac, currently the No. 1 team in the all-important Pairwise Rankings.

Motzo said the biggest thing the Huskies learned from that experience was to move on from it.

“The best thing we did was we just parked it,” Motzko said. “Why late in the year should we make a big deal out of an off week? Because we trust our guys; we like our hockey team.”

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[See image gallery at minnesotahockeymag.com]

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Mikey Eyssimont trades Rocky Mountains for the Granite City

DENVER — If it wasn’t exactly the homecoming he necessarily expected, St. Cloud State’s road sweep of Denver University Dec. 11-12 was certainly the triumphant return Huskies freshman forward Mikey Eyssimont had hoped for. The Littleton, Colo. resident played his first two games in his home state in three years since his midget hockey days with the U16 Colorado Thunderbirds and skated off a winner each time.

A 2014 graduate of Chatfield Senior High School,Eyssimont had at least 16 to 18 family members in attendance at Magness Arena each night for SCSU’s 5-2 and 6-2 wins. They were treated to Eyssimont helping to cap off the weekend’s scoring on Saturday by setting up Kalle Kossila’s third goal of the game on a pretty backhanded cross-crease pass with 6:23 to go.

“I haven’t played in front of my mom and dad (George and Nancy) and sister at the same time in over two years,” Eyssimont said. “Just having them all there, and a couple other family members and friends is really special.”

Eyssimont’s sister, Anastasia, is also Mikey’s twin and an elite athlete in her own right. Once a promising gymnast with aspirations to compete for Denver University or the Air Force Academy, Anastasia’s career was cut short by broken elbow and she is now a student a the University of Colorado in Boulder.

An avid outdoorsman, Eyssimont said he loved every second of growing up and playing hockey in Colorado.

“It’s where I met my best friends growing up,” Eyssimont said. “We’re still really close today and a lot of us have played against each other or with each other here in this arena.”

While Eyssimont has already tested out his fishing skills in the Upper Midwest, he has yet try his hand at landing a fish through the ice. It’s something he expects his teammates to rectify at some point this winter.

“There’s a lot of guys that are actually really into it so I’m hoping I can do that,” Eyssimont said. “I’ve done some Walleye fishing in Detroit Lakes, I’ve been up to Minot, N.D. too, so I’ve done a lot of fishing up there.”

The origin of Eyssimont’s journey from the Rocky Mountains to the Granite City cannot be traced to the Denver suburbs but the hockey hotbed known as the Arizona desert, in a tournament Eyssimont played with the Thunderbirds.

St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko remembers it well.

Mikey Eyssimont positions himself in front of Denver goaltender Tanner Jaillet in the Huskies 5-2 win over the Pioneers on Dec. 12 at Magness Arena in Denver. (Photo by Shannon Valerio /Hockey VIPs Magazine)

“The first time I saw him was in a midget game in Scottsdale and he had five points and I go, ‘That kid can play,'” Motzko said. “He’s the kind of guy we like to get in our program. The sky’s the limit for him.”

Eyssimont appreciated the interest Motzko showed in him and once he visited the St. Cloud State campus, he was sold.

“When I met the coaching staff and toured the school, it just seemed like a really good fit,”Eyssimont said. “What ultimately made me choose St. Cloud was the coaching staff and how they play.”

The next two-plus seasons were spent in the USHL, first with the Fargo Force and then, following a late-season trade last spring, the Sioux Falls Stampede where he played under former North Dakota player and assistant, Cary Eades.

After notching 13 points in 14 games to close out the regular season, Eyssimont was the league’s second leading scorer with 16 points (9-7—16) in 12 playoff games and helped lead the Stampede to the 2015 Clark Cup title.

During his 108 game career in Fargo, Eyssimont developed a close friendship with teammate Mason Morelli, whose Nebraska Omaha team visited St. Cloud the week prior to the Denver series. The two spent time together in the offseason in Morelli’s hometown of Minot, N.D.

Eyssimont said he and Morelli, both currently business majors, were always very competitive in practice as teammates and, to a degree, that competitiveness was evident in a game setting as opponents earlier this month at the National Hockey Center.

“I remember I was lining up next to him on a draw and he kind of slashed me in the shin pads,” Eyssimont said. “I gave him one on the top of the skate and he said, ‘Hey Mike that actually hurt.’ I was trying to be as competitive as I could but I actually apologized to him.”

Eyssimont’s assist on Saturday was the 6-foot, 192-pound rookie’s fourth of the season to go with the goal he scored in a 3-1 Halloween win over Miami. While it’s a far cry from the 43 goals and 86 points in 134 games overall in the USHL, Motzko knows what he’s got in the Colorado kid.

“He’s going to be an outstanding college player for us,” Motzko said. “He’s got good, strong size down in the corners, he’s got great vision, a great shot and offense is going to come.”

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Dylan Margonari’s goal lifted Minnesota State over No. 2 Minnesota on Saturday (Photo: Minnesota State University Athletics)

No. 2 Minnesota (5-2-0, 2-2-0 WCHA) vs./at Minnesota State (3-3-2, 1-3-0 WCHA)

Friday: UM 3  MSU 2
Saturday: MSU 5  UM 3

Minnesota State led in each of the first two periods on Friday on goals by Zach Palmquist and Teddy Blueger but the No. 2 Gophers battled back to tie each time on power-play goals by Travis Boyd and Nate Schmidt. Zach Budish added a third PP goal at 5:40 of the final period and a great effort by Mavericks goaltender Phil Cook (29 saves) went for naught in a 3-2 Minnesota win. Gopher goalie Adam Wilcox earned his fourth win of the season with 23 saves.

The teams traveled to Mankato for Saturday’s rematch and Dylan Margonari provided the evening’s heroics. The MSU freshman forward’s goal at 16:19 of the final period gave the Mavericks a 4-3 lead on their way to a 5-3 win. Minnesota State’s goal scoring was spread among five players with 10 registering MSU’s 11 total points. Cook was strong again with 25 saves to pick up his third win of the year while Wilcox made 30 saves in his first loss. Erik Haula had a goal and two assist while Nate Condon added a goal and an assist for Minnesota.

No. 18 St. Cloud State (5-3-0, 3-1-0 WCHA) at No. 5 Denver (5-1-0, 3-1-0 WCHA)

Friday: SCSU 3  DU 0
Saturday: DU 6  SCSU 1

St. Cloud State forwards Nic Dowd and Kalle Kossila continued their hot starts and Ryan Faragher made 28 saves to shut out the nation’s highest scoring offense on Friday night in Denver. Dowd scored his fifth and sixth goals of the year and Kosilla his fourth as No. 18 SCSU handed No. 3 Denver its first loss of the season.

The Pioneers bounced back on Saturday, however, behind senior forward Chris Knowlton‘s hat trick and assist to snap the Huskies’ winning streak at five games. Cory Thorson scored  St. Cloud State’s lone goal against DU goalie Juho Olkinuora (20 saves) while Faragher (11 saves on 14 shots) was replaced by freshman Rasmus Reijola (16-19) just 1:03 into the second period after David Makowski‘s goal gave Denver a 3-1 lead.

Colorado College (5-3-0, 2-0-0 WCHA) at Wisconsin (1-4-1, 1-2-1 WCHA)

Friday: CC 5  UW 4 (OT)
Sunday: CC 3  UW 0

On a night in which Wisconsin honored legendary CC and UW coach, Bob Johnson, with a pregame ceremony dedicating the Kohl Center ice to “Badger Bob’s” memory, the Tigers spoiled the party with a 5-4 victory on an Alexander Krushelnyski goal just 25 second into overtime. Friday night’s winner was set up, ironically, by Edina’s Charlie Taft whose father, John Taft, played for Johnson and the Badgers in the 1970’s. CC’s Eamonn McDermott contributed 3 assists to the cause.

Plymouth’s Joe Howe shut out Wisconsin on Saturday to complete a sweep of the Badgers in Madison. (Photo: WCHA.com)

Former Hopkins forward Archie Skalbeck‘s fourth goal of the season at 1:58 of the second period held up as the game winner on Saturday night when Plymouth’s Joe Howe shut out the Badgers on 33 saves to raise his record to 2-0-0 on the season. Krushelnyski scored for the second straight night and McDermott added his fourth assist of the series. To make matters worse for the Badgers, star forward Mark Zengerle was lost in the second period to what UW coach Mike Eaves confirmed was a broken finger.

Nebraska Omaha (4-3-1, 2-1-1 WCHA) at Michigan Tech (2-6-0, 1-5-0 WCHA)

Friday: UNO 2  MTU 1
Saturday: UNO 5  MTU 3

Nebraska Omaha’s Zahn Raubenheimer scored twice, including the dramatic winning goal at 18:50 of the third period, to lead the Mavericks over the Huskies in Houghton, Mich. on Friday night. After Raubenheimer put UNO on the board at 5:38 of the second, MTU’s Tanner Kero tied just under 10 minutes later setting up Raubenheimer’s late-game heroics.

Raubenheimer haunted Michigan Tech again on Saturday scoring two more goals, including  his second consecutive game winner, as the Mavericks completed the road sweep of MTU. Brainerd’s Josh Archibald also scored twice and Rosemount’s Ryan Walters had a goal and a pair of assists for Nebraska Omaha. UNO goaltender John Faulkner followed up Friday night’s 21-save performance with 24 more to raise his record to 4-0-1.

No. 12 Boston University (4-2-0, 3-1-0 HE) at No. 5 North Dakota (3-2-1, 1-0-1 WCHA)

Friday: UND 4  BU 2
Saturday: BU 4  UND 2

Edina’s Connor Gaarder scored a hat trick and Rocco Grimaldi added a goal and an assist to lead North Dakota to a non-conference win over Boston University in Grand Forks on Friday night. Clarke Saunders made 20 saves in the victory for UND.

The Terriers returned the favor on Saturday by an identical 4-2 score to earn a split on the road. BU’s scoring came from four different players including Danny O’Regan who added an assist. Eden Prairie’s Danny Kristo and Stephane Pattyn scored UND’s goals and goalie Zane Gothberg of Thief River Falls made 29 saves in the loss.

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