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St. Cloud State University
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Sports
Huskies need everyone to contribute
By Ben Dunsmoor
Published:
Thursday, December 9, 2004
It's almost exactly mid-season for the Husky men's hockey team and their record is as average as a record can be: 8-7-1.
Their schedule so far has been relatively tough, with four of their series against currently or previously nationally ranked teams in the top 15 (Duluth dropped out of the top 15 for the first time this week). The schedule doesn't get any easier for this young Husky team that carries ten freshmen on the roster, who have contributed either little or none since SCSU started consistent WCHA play this season.
The rough road of the WCHA season has never been easy, but this weekend, the Huskies embark on a schedule that will turn many of these boys into experienced WCHA college hockey players. The Huskies not only have to play six more ranked conference opponents the rest of the season, but they also have a tough non-conference schedule.
After the holidays, the Huskies travel to Ft. Myers, Fla. to play in the Everblades Tournament, which features No. 11 ranked Maine, No. 12 Cornell and the No. 5 ranked Boston College. The Huskies will also be without sophomore defender Casey Borer for the tournament, who was named to the 2005 United States Junior Team this week.
SCSU needs to clean up some of their weak spots if they want to have a successful second half of the season.
First of all, the Huskies need to improve drastically on Saturday nights. In the second game of a series, the Huskies are a combined 2-5-1 compared to 5-2 on Friday nights.
The situation looks even more bleak in WCHA play.
The Huskies are 1-4 on Saturday nights and allow an average of four goals a game, compared to the 2.4 goals they allow on Friday nights. These types of stats have to be eliminated if SCSU wants to keep a winning record going into the tough second half of the season.
Another aspect that the Huskies need to look at is the scoring of their all-senior line of co-captain Dave Iannazzo, Mike Doyle and Peter Szabo. When any of those three score at least one goal in a game, the Huskies win. They are 7-1.
Head coach Craig Dahl and Iannazzo have both told me that they need to have this type of success for the team to get some points on the scoreboard and in the conference standings.
Iannazzo said the seniors have to step up their play, not only to have a successful season, but to teach the young guys.
"If we lead by example, I think it's going to go down the bench and get the younger guys to pitch in," Iannazzo said.
That's another aspect of this year's installment of the Huskies that needs to improve: the younger guys.
At the beginning of the season first-year Andrew Gordon had eight points, but since WCHA play started he's put up a big goose egg.
The Huskies should get a bit of a boost, though, at the Everblades tournament as they get back a big-time underclassman point-getter in junior Billy Hengen. He has been sidelined since the UMD series with a thumb injury, but is expected back for the holiday tournament. Before the injury, Hengen was leading the team in points and was on fire.
Whatever the Huskies do, whether it is getting more production from the seniors, the underclassmen, or figuring out a way to win on Saturdays, they better do it soon. A tough road lies ahead, starting this weekend with the top-ranked Gophers.
No matter how the Huskies finish the second-half of their season, one thing is for sure, the underclassmen on the roster are going to have a tough schedule to teach them what Division I blue-chip hockey is all about.
What is your New Year's Resolution?
Quit smoking.
Get in shape.
Study and/or work harder.
Become more organized.
One kind deed a day.
I don't need a resolution�I'm perfect!
