St. Cloud State to Face Important Test as Conference Play Begins : All Things NCHC

The NCHC series to watch this week is the Western Michigan Broncos vs the St. Cloud State Huskies, which will be taking place in St. Cloud, Minn..

The Broncos and Huskies have not always had much of a rivalry. But with the two teams having met in the NCHC playoffs the last two seasons, the intensity in their games has increased.

The Huskies currently hold the lead in their meetings with a record of 25-19-5 against the Broncos. For the Huskies, they are 15-8-2 when they play the Broncos at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. But the Broncos have won six of the last ten meetings between the two teams, including all four matchups last season.

This season, the Broncos are off to a 4-2 start in non-conference play having split a series with Ferris State before sweeping UMass Lowell and then splitting with Michigan. Meanwhile, the Huskies have started their season 5-2 after losing to St. Thomas, sweeping Bemidji, splitting with Vermont, and then sweeping Alaska Anchorage.

After a rough 2024-25 season, the Huskies are off to a hot start, especially in the faceoff dot. The Huskies currently lead all of DI hockey in faceoff win percentage, having won 57.9 of their faceoffs. The team has won a total of 259 faceoffs, but 102 of those wins have come from Tyson Gross, who is tied for first in DI hockey faceoff wins. Last week against Alaska Anchorage, Gross went 40-7 in the faceoff dot.

While both teams have many new faces, the physicality and intensity of the series should still be high as both teams look to start conference play on the right foot.

Return of the RedHawks

It is no secret that the Miami has struggled to find success in previous seasons. But with many new faces on and off the ice, the RedHawks appear to be turning the page as they went 6-0 in non-conference play for the first time since the 2007-08 season, when they started 8-0.

The RedHawks will now look to continue their hot streak heading into conference play beginning with Arizona State, which had last weekend off but was swept by Augustana the week prior causing the Sun Devils to fall out of the top-20 rankings.

Early Special Teams Success

St. Cloud State scored a total of 16 powerplay goals in the 2024-25 season. This season, they have already tallied 14 just seven games into their season. Sophomore forward Austin Burnevik currently leads the team with his five powerplay goals, which also leads the nation. St. Cloud State’s powerplay is currently converting at a 42.4 percent success rate, leading the nation in powerplay percentage.

St. Cloud State’s penalty kill has not been as successful, but it has still been able to kill off a decent amount of penalties. The Huskies have allowed their opponents to score six power play goals while killing off their other 19 chances. Their penalty kill currently sits 42nd in the nation with a 76 percent success rate.

Players of the Week

The NCHC saw many players have great weekends, allowing four teams to be recognized in the player of the week awards. The recipients included Ryan Smith (Miami), Aidan de La Gorgendiere (Omaha), Adam Gajan (Minnesota Duluth), and Nolan Roed (St. Cloud State).

Smith is a sophomore forward for Miami, but spent last season playing for Quinnipiac. Last week, Smith saw a lot of offensive success, including his first goal in a RedHawk’s jersey on Friday night. On Saturday, he upped his game even more, netting his first collegiate hat trick completing it with the overtime winner. He also had an assist on Friday, contributing to four of Miami’s five goals. Smith finished his weekend with four goals and one assist with 12 shots on goal and +3. Smith’s hat trick over the weekend was the first time a Miami player had a hat trick since 2022.

Omaha’s defenseman de La Gorgendiere transferred from the University of Alberta in USports for this season. De La Gorgendiere registered just one assist on Friday night, but then came back on Saturday scoring one goal and notching two assists. De La Gorgendiere finished the weekend with four points, eight shots on goal, a +3 and three blocked shots.

Gajan had a pretty good freshman season for UMD, but has been nothing short of incredible to start his sophomore campaign. Last weekend against Minnesota, Gajan faced 45 shots between the two games, only allowing one goal. He earned his first shutout of the season and second of his collegiate career on Friday. Gajan finished the weekend with a save percentage of .978 over the two games.

Roed is in his first collegiate season and has been off to a hot start with St. Cloud State. Against Alaska Anchorage, Roed registered a goal and an assist in Friday night and then tallied one assist on Saturday night. He had four shots on goal and a +2. In the faceoff dot, Roed finished his weekend 19-14, helping add to St. Cloud’s early success in the dot. Roed has already had a huge impact on St. Cloud this season and has already earned himself a spot on the second powerplay unit.

Beyond the Blue Line

Denver continues non-conference play against Alaska-Anchorage. … Red hot 7-1 UMD heads to Grand Forks to take on North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks split with an unranked Clarkson last week… Omaha and Colorado College get ready for what could be a goaltenders duel with Simon Latkoczy and Kaidan Mbereko. Latkoczy won NCHC Goaltender of the Year in the 2024-25 season while Mbereko won it the season before.