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Huskies hitting crunch time
Being that the SCSU men's hockey team's first half schedule was rated the most difficult in the nation, it would be easy to look at the final 10 games and think, "cake anyone?"
Sorry, not in this league. The WCHA currently has the nation's best six teams in the Top 15 in both major national polls. But those six teams are certainly not the only threats in a league that has housed numerous upsets and close, one-goal games. Although the Huskies have upcoming series' with fifth-ranked Minnesota and third-ranked Colorado College, they also match up with the bottom three teams in the conference in Michigan Tech (in eighth place in the WCHA with 11 points) this weekend, Wisconsin (in ninth place in WCHA with seven points) Feb. 21-22 and Alaska-Anchorage (in 10th place in WCHA with six points) Feb. 28 and Mar. 1.
"There is no such thing as an easy schedule in our league," SCSU head coach Craig Dahl said. "When you don't show the proper respect to those teams, that's when they'll beat you."
"Being here four years, I've found out that you can't take anybody lightly," captain Jon Cullen said. "One bad shift or one bad period is going to cost you the game, especially this year with so many one-goal games. It's the stretch run and we have to play every period like it's our last."
The Huskies will have to venture to Madison, Wis., to play two games against a Badger team that has already tied 15th-ranked Mankato and beat a good UMD team twice. Alaska-Anchorage has tied UMD, Mankato and ninth-ranked Denver. SCSU will have to travel to Houghton, Mich., this weekend to play a Michigan Tech squad that has been playing some very solid hockey of late. After a shocking comeback to tie Colorado College on Jan. 17, Tech goalie Cam Ellsworth had a remarkable 55-save performance in a 3-1 loss to the Tigers the following night. It was the most saves out of any Tech goalie since Luciano Caravaggio stopped 61 in 1994 at UMD.
"Brilliant. As good of goaltending as I've seen in many years," Michigan Tech head coach Mike Sertich told USCHO's WCHA correspondent Todd Milewski.
Last weekend Tech completed its first sweep of the season against Alaska-Anchorage and will be looking to keep the fire going against an SCSU team that just received a reality check. Last Saturday's 3-1 loss to UMD was more than merely a loss for the Huskies. It was a culture shock. It marked their first bad game in nearly two months according to Dahl.
"I'm sour because we followed up a four- game win streak with such a flat performance," Dahl said. "It just showed that guys weren't as focused as they should be at this point in the season. The margin for error is getting very thin."
With only 10 games left in the season, the WCHA standings aren't showing any signs of loosening. St. Cloud is tied with the Gophers in the fourth spot, with each having 19 points. UMD is in close range of the Huskies with 17 points and Denver follows them with 16.
"We're in the stretch run now and it's too late for wake-up calls. We better find out that we can't be taking periods off or taking shifts off, otherwise we'll end up in the bottom of the standings," Cullen said.
Goalie keeps tradition alive
Over the last few years Husky fans have been treated to some outstanding talents between the pipes. In the 2000-01 season, senior goalie Scott Meyer recorded 996 saves, third best in SCSU D-I history. Last season it was senior Dean Weasler who came up big recording 772 saves, eighth best.
This season it's senior Jake Moreland's turn. Moreland currently has 310 saves, making it unlikely that he will catch up to the previous two Husky goaltenders. However, after recovering from a knee dislocation that kept him out five games, he has been showing the same kind of late season promise as both Meyer and Weasler. He returned from his injury with a career-high 41-save performance against Denver Jan. 11 and followed that up with a 38-save night against Providence Jan. 17. Last Saturday night he tied his career best with another 41-save night at UMD.
"It's getting to crunch time and we need someone to step up and I want to follow in their footsteps and do that," Moreland said.
It hasn't been easy for Moreland, who has dealt with some unwanted obstacles as of late. He has found himself sprawled out on the ice in almost every series since his Denver return due to collisions forced by opponents crashing the net.
"I don't know if they're keying off my leg injury earlier or what, but ever since Denver I've been getting hit hard every game," Moreland said.
Moreland was on the worst side of a full speed collision twice in the second period Friday night against UMD, both of which resulted in Bulldog penalties. In addition, Dahl received his first bench penalty he can remember since taking over as SCSU head coach 16 years ago. However, Moreland has stayed healthy and consistent in-goal for a St. Cloud team that will need him immensely over the last 10 regular season games.
"We're getting the kind of goaltending from Jake that we need to win games late in the season and that's very important to this team," Dahl said.
Freshman help seniors
Up until the midpoint of the season it seemed likely that seniors Jon Cullen, Joe Motzko and Ryan Malone may have to score every goal for the rest of the season. Help didn't appear to be on the way as the senior line combined for 29 goals the first 16 games.
Then came along a freshman fourth-liner named Joe Jensen, who brought with him a hat trick he'd decide to pull out of his sleeve against the Gophers on Jan. 3. Little did anyone know that he had a whole lot more where that came from. The freshman has now scored seven goals in the last eight games and added three assists.
The senior line has headed in a fairly different direction since then. Both Cullen and Motzko have been scoreless the last eight games and Malone scored only one goal against Providence Jan. 18, his last game before he injured his groin.
Given the circumstances, the move seemed easy. Jensen moved up to the first line with Motzko and Cullen, and Malone went to the third line with freshman Brock Hooton and sophomore Peter Szabo.
"Jensen compliments Cullen and Motzko because they all work so hard," Dahl said. "Jensen started on the fourth line and moved up based on how hard he worked in practice and that carried over into the games. Sure he has a lot of talent, but he's where he is now because of his work ethic."
Though, the talent is hard to get past.
"No doubt he's been the one scoring all those goals," Dahl said. "Those aren't mistakes by goaltenders or by lucky shots, those are difficult shots, especially those three at Minnesota and those two against UMD."
Somewhere between Jensen's hype and the Huskies losing only two of their last eight games, the seniors were left scratching their heads. On one side they were winning games and getting the long lost scoring help that wasn't there during the first half, but on the other hand, they were faced with a scoring slump of their own. The seniors decided to look on the bright side.
"It's good to have a freshman scoring," Cullen said of Jensen. "He works his butt off and its been paying off for him. Right now, Motzko and I aren't scoring so we've got to have guys step up and that's what it takes for a good team to win."
"The more you dwell on (the slump), the more it becomes a problem. You just have to keep doing what you're doing, and sooner or later the chips will fall and maybe you'll get a bounce here and there," Cullen said.
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