BRETT LARSON

SCSU's Brett Larson talks about his contract extension, the coming season, shares memories of Tom Kurvers, JT Brown on The Rink Live podcast

Jess Myers — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 21:01:26 GMT

Last week, Brett Larson signed a contract extension to be St. Cloud State's men's hockey head coach that runs through the 2027-28 season. His original five-year contract to become the program's third coach in the NCAA Division I era was signed in 2018. Larson talks about his contract extension, shares memories of Tom Kurvers and JT Brown, gives an injury update on Easton Brodzinskim talks about the schedule for the coming season and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.

RELATED: Past episodes of The Rink Live podcasts link

St. Cloud State signs Brett Larson to long-term contract extension
Bulldogs hockey legend Tom Kurvers dies at age 58
Huskies Hockey Insider podcast: Blake Lizotte discusses his big news of the offseason, his career from high school to the NHL

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College hockey programs look to bolster coaching staff with third assistant

Matt Wellens — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 22:30:00 GMT

Editor’s note:

In the finale of a three-part series looking at the lives of NCAA Division I men’s hockey assistant coaches, what impact would a possible third full-time assistant coach make if the NCAA would allow it? Part 1 of the series — which covers the challenges faced by modern day assistants — can be found here. Part 2 — which looks at how recruiting has become a year round job — can be read here.

Playing for his hometown Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs during the first half of the ’90s, current St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson remembers the assistants of head coach Mike Sertich each having a distinct role when it came to recruiting.

Jim Knapp was always with the team. He’d recruit locally. Meanwhile, Glenn Kulik was on the road nonstop.

“I felt like there were months I never even saw Glenn,” Larson said.

These days it’s rare in college hockey to find a staff where one assistant coach pounds the pavement — and skies — while the other just coaches. Instead, the responsibility to scout and recruit players is spread amongst the entire three-person coaching staff. Today’s NCAA Division I men’s hockey assistant coaches take turns hitting the road in search of talent, a week at a time.

The death of month-long trips — at least in-season — doesn’t mean players are seeing all their coaches on the ice more often, however. With high school games to catch during the week and then junior games and midget tournaments on weekends, head coaches have found themselves alone on the ice at times working with 28-30 student athletes while their assistants are out recruiting.

That’s why coaches in the NCHC, such as Larson, would like to see the NCAA allow programs to have a third full-time assistant coach on staff. Teams are currently only allowed two full-timers and then a volunteer assistant — who often serves as a goaltending coach, working with netminders separately before or after practices.

Larson and others who support the addition of a third full-time assistant said it would improve the student-athlete experience on and off the ice, and help keep good coaches — who would like to spend less time on the road recruiting, and more time at home with their families — in the game longer.

“We really need to keep pushing for a third assistant. I think it's critical for college hockey,” said Larson, who was an assistant at UMD (2008-11, 2015-18) and Ohio State (2013-15) before taking over the Huskies program in 2018. “There are times where the only coach on the rink is your head coach at practice, and that's not good for player safety or for development. We need to have at least two coaches on the rink with these players. A 1-to-28 ratio at times isn't good enough. It doesn't happen too often, but when it does, I think it's a disservice to the players.

“We need to really push for that third assistant to retain really good assistants, to keep them in the game, and to give the student-athletes a better and better experience on the ice.”

Financial battle

North Dakota head coach Brad Berry, who was an assistant at UND for nine seasons (2000-06, 2012-15) before taking the head job in 2015, said the topic of a third full-time assistant coach comes up every year during the NCHC’s yearly meetings, as well as during the annual NCAA Division I coaches meeting at the American Hockey Coaches Association convention in Florida — that was cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has yet to gain the necessary support in the sport.

Opposition by other schools to adding a third full-time assistant coach is mostly financial. Not every program can afford to pay another full-time assistant coach, while those smaller budget programs that could afford to add another staffer may not be able to pay that person as much as other programs. A pay discrepancy among assistants at smaller and larger-budget schools already exists, and adding a third full-timer would only put those smaller programs at a further competitive disadvantage.

Of course, every athletic department is now in a budget crunch thanks to a coronavirus pandemic that is showing no signs of slowing down, at least in the United States. That makes the addition of a third full-time assistant even more unlikely for the foreseeable future, despite the need.

“We’re very sensitive on financial budgets of institutions and different things, but we find that you almost get overwhelmed dealing with 27-28 players, and some organizations have up to 30 players on their team,” said Berry, who would like to use the extra staffer in more of a developmental role with players rather than add another recruiter. “When you look at not just practicing, but you're looking at the academic side of it as far as making sure that they're getting a great education and support through their four years of college — and just the other student-athletes and taking care of them — you need an extra person in your group.”

Bulldogs head coach Scott Sandelin, an assistant at North Dakota for six seasons (1994-2000) before taking over UMD in 2000, is in support of the NCAA permitting a third full-time assistant coach for many of the same reasons cited by his former UND teammate, Berry, and his former assistant, Larson, and for another reason.

After being hired by Dean Blais at North Dakota shortly after his professional playing career came to an end, Sandelin said “opportunity” is always on his mind when hiring a new assistant coach. That is why he would support the NCAA allowing teams to hire graduate assistant coaches as a compromise in the quest to expanding coaching staffs.

“If we can't get a third assistant right away, I would really love to have the opportunity that a program can have a grad assistant or two, because it gives those guys an opportunity to get involved, maybe be on the ice and get going with coaching,” said Sandelin, who has given former Bulldogs Larson, Derek Plante (2010-15) and Adam Krause (2018-present) their first coaching jobs in the last 12 years. “A lot of those guys are going to be your alumni that you want around your program, you want around your players.”

More than a stepping stone

Sandelin is in the process of wrapping up an assistant coach search after associate head coach Jason Herter — another rookie college assistant hired by Sandelin back in 2011 — stepped down in late April after nine seasons at UMD. While looking to pursue other opportunities in hockey at the moment, Herter didn’t rule out a return to the college game someday.

And he wouldn’t be the first to step away, only to be lured back on campus.

Mike Gibbons, who retired this spring after 24 seasons as an NCAA Division I assistant at four schools, took a 13-season break to coach in juniors, the American Hockey League and at Eastview High �� in Apple Valley, Minnesota, before capping his career with 13 seasons at St. Cloud State.

Berry rejoined the North Dakota staff as an assistant again in 2012 after six years as a coach and scout in the AHL and NHL.

And then there is Dave Shyiak, who spent a season as an NHL scout after 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Michigan and eight seasons as head coach at Alaska-Anchorage. He jumped back on campus to work for Andy Murray at Western Michigan in 2014, and this year starts a new job as associate head coach at St. Cloud State under Larson.

Once a stepping stone, the job of NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey assistant has become a coveted — while grueling — profession that many have turned into lifelong careers.

Shyiak said he and other coaches get a high coaching at this level.

“I’m one of the few people in the world that loves what he’s doing,” Shyiak said. “You find something you love doing and you stick with it. It’s been good to me. It’s been good to my family. The biggest part of all of it is building those relationships with kids and parents, giving them an opportunity to play Division I hockey and play for a championship and get an education. I think that's real rewarding, and you're meeting people from all over the world. Not many jobs can say that.”

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Being an NCAA men's hockey assistant coach is one of the sport's most demanding jobs

Matt Wellens — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 22:30:00 GMT

Editor’s note:

In Part 1 of a three-part series looking at the lives of NCAA Division I men’s hockey assistant coaches, former assistants Jason Herter, Brett Larson and Brad Berry summarize the challenges faced by modern day assistants, and how their jobs compare to others in the game.

DULUTH, Minn. — Former Minnesota Duluth assistant and associate head coach Jason Herter, who stepped down this spring after nine seasons with the Bulldogs, has been told by colleagues in professional hockey there is no harder job in the sport than being an assistant coach at the college level.

Brett Larson, the current head coach at St. Cloud State and former assistant with UMD and the Ohio State Buckeyes, has heard it from friends in the pros as well.

As for North Dakota head coach Brad Berry, no one has to tell him about how the job compares having worked as an assistant in the NCAA, AHL and NHL.

“There are a lot of demands. It’s probably not for everybody,” said Berry, who was elevated to head coach in 2015 after nine seasons as a Fighting Hawks assistant — with a six-year break to coach and scout in the pros. “At the end of the day, you got to love what you do. You got to love going to the rink and doing what you’re doing, even though that gets to maybe be a little bit of a grind.”

While modern day NCAA Division-I men’s hockey assistant coaches may not have to wear as many hats as they once did, the demands of the job have never been higher thanks to bigger budgets, the competitive nature of those in the profession and a recruiting cycle that can only be slowed down — but not halted — by a global pandemic.

It’s an underrated position in the game as well, one that doesn’t receive the accolades it deserves despite assistant coaches doing just as much work as the head coaches they work for, Berry said. The lack of recognition is something he and Larson say they both realize now, having moved on to become head coaches in the ultra-competitive NCHC.

“As an assistant coach you've always got this battle with your time, because a big part of your job may be working with one of the special teams, and either the forwards or the 'D,'” said Larson, the Duluth native who coached under Scott Sandelin at UMD for six seasons (2008-11, 2015-18) and at OSU for two seasons (2013-15) under former Sandelin assistant Steve Rholik.

“You have those day-to-day responsibilities," Larson said, "yet at the same time, a huge part of your job is recruiting — whether it's making phone calls and emails, touching base with junior coaches, high school coaches, midget coaches, advisors and the players themselves. You have two really important things pulling at your time every day.”

College vs. the pros

Current and former assistant coaches interviewed for this series — including longtime NCAA assistants Mike Gibbons and Dave Shyiak — said in-season, their time is split about 50-50 between recruiting and coaching, though once the season ends, it’s all recruiting — with this offseason being the exception due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, their colleagues in the AHL and NHL are taking the summer off to spend time with family and recharge.

“You’re doing it all on the college side of it,” said Berry, who spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, two seasons as a scout with the Vancouver Canucks and two seasons as an NHL assistant with the Columbus Blue Jackets before returning to Grand Forks in 2012. “At the pro level, when you’re coaching, you’re coaching.”

Berry said it’s not just that professional coaches don’t have to scout and recruit players — that’s what the scouting department and general managers are for — it’s that pro coaches don’t have any time to do anything else but coach during a 76-game AHL regular season or 82-game NHL schedule.

“I’ll tell you what, when you were going, you were going 100 miles an hour,” Berry said. “There was no stopping. You’d get to the rink at 6 a.m. and wouldn’t leave until 6 p.m. and on game nights, it was probably midnight. You didn’t see your family at all.

“Then you’re on the road and you could be gone — depending where you’re playing and what market you’re in — for a week or two weeks.”

Road warriors

Of course, it’s not uncommon for assistant coaches to find themselves on the road for a week or more at a time — even in season, on top of weekend road trips with the team — scouting and recruiting throughout Canada. That’s even more true for programs that aren’t within a day’s drive of junior teams in the United States Hockey League or North American Hockey League.

With head coaches tied to home base, it’s the assistants who often rotate hitting the road for extended recruiting trips, missing practices and games to do so.

“The way I always looked at it is, I don’t know how many days I was on the road, but the only time I could count to be off the road were a couple weeks in May and a couple weeks in August,” Larson said of his days as an assistant.

Since becoming the head coach of the Huskies in 2018, Larson said he’s physically home with his family more than when he was an assistant with the Bulldogs and Buckeyes.

However, as his wife notes, there is a catch.

“Mentally, I am not,” Larson said of life as a head coach. “(As an assistant) when I would get home and after dinner, if I didn’t have any calls, I found it a little bit easier to turn my mind off and enjoy my family. As a head coach — I’m hoping this comes with experience — I haven’t found that as easy yet.”

Herter said he always took what his friends in pro hockey said as a compliment, not a dig on college hockey.

“It’s a different life. Very rewarding, don’t get me wrong, in a lot of ways,” Herter said. “But I don’t think people — unless they are close to assistant or head coaches — understand the pressure to be good when you build a program, the pressure to be great, to continue to make your mark on your school history.

“Because we’re so competitive, it eats at you. When you’re not on the road, not finding players, it just eats at you.”

Up next:

In Part 2 of a three-part series looking at the lives of NCAA Division I men’s hockey assistant coaches, a look at how recruiting has become a year round job, and the toll that takes on assistant coaches.

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Minnesota college, high school programs deal with major junior's head start; part 3 in a series

Jess Myers — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 11:05:00 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Winnipeg Ice of the Western Hockey League made it clear to a pair of 14-year-old Minnesotans -- Jayson Shaugabay from Warroad and Beckett Hendrickson from Minnetonka -- that they are interested in having that pair play major junior hockey in Canada someday.

Shaugabay and Hendrickson (who is the son of former Minnesota Mr. Hockey winner, Minnesota Gopher and Minnesota Wild player and assistant coach Darby Hendrickson) were selected by the Ice in the first and second rounds, respectively, in the WHL’s first U.S. Prospect Draft, held in late March.

Both players will also have college hockey programs interested in their on-ice abilities, and their skills in the classroom. But due to new NCAA rules on recruiting, neither Shaugabay nor Hendrickson will hear of any official interest from college hockey programs until after the next Christmas.

In an effort to limit the number of young teenagers committing to colleges, and recruiting wars that had been getting younger and younger, the NCAA has instituted rules that prohibit colleges from contacting a player prior to Jan. 1 of their sophomore year of high school. And a player cannot commit to a college prior to Aug. 1 heading into their junior year.

Shaugabay is a distant cousin of former University of North Dakota star T.J. Oshie, now with the Washington Capitals, and has made it clear that college hockey is his first choice. But he won’t be talking to any colleges for another seven months. By contrast, WHL teams started calling early in Shaugabay’s freshman year of high school.

“I understand why the NCAA changed their rules, and maybe that’s why the WHL changed their rules,” said Darrell “Son” Shaugabay, Jayson’s father. “They can have 18 months to 26 months of recruiting these kids before a college can even talk to you, and that in a way is unfair. We know some colleges are interested in Jayson, but we don’t know at what level, and we won’t know for 15 months (after the first contact by WHL teams). I wish we had the ability to talk to the colleges and know where you are.”

Some of the state’s high school coaches preach patience, and note that the new NCAA rules were put in place to avoid having to make adult decisions at a such an early age.

“In my experience with players, if you’re being recruited by the WHL, it is clearly obvious that you’re capable of playing NCAA Division I hockey in the future,” said Minnetonka high school coach Sean Goldsworthy. “There’s really no need to panic or even be concerned about whether you’ll get attention from a specific NCAA program.”

While major junior teams sell themselves to potential players as a quicker route to the NHL, College Hockey, Inc. was created as a way to sell the benefits -- on the ice and in the classroom -- of the NCAA route, and has been viewed as a great success. In the 2018-19 season, fully one-third of the players in the NHL had gotten there after playing college hockey, which was an all-time high. While the WHL emphasizes a more NHL-style game (which is generally much more physical) and a schedule of roughly twice as many games as colleges play, NCAA hockey backers feel those differences are negligible.

“I hear people talk about how the CHL teams play 72 games and it’s more of a pro schedule,” said Mike Snee, executive director of College Hockey, Inc. “I’ve never heard the Boston Celtics’ general manager suggest that he really likes a guard from Duke, but he only played 38 games last year. I’ve never heard the Green Bay Packers’ GM say, ‘man, that quarterback at Alabama really excites me, but he only played 11 games.’ I don’t know why so many people think that’s important.”

College coaches, while acknowledging the WHL’s head start in the recruiting wars via their new draft specifically aimed at American kids, stand by their combination of hockey development and preparation for life after hockey as better overall.

“They want to get into a bantam draft, a young draft, and that’s a pretty dangerous game to play for us and them. But I still think our way of doing business, getting an education, and playing an unbelievable level of hockey to advance your career both academically and from a hockey standpoint is going to win out all the time,” said Gophers coach Bob Motzko. “Am I worried? No I’m not. We could end up losing someone because of that, but over time we’ve become successful because we do things the right way. I just feel that’s going to win out. Not a rule, not a bantam draft, not a peewee draft. We’re going to win out because education at an awful high level and playing college hockey is going to win out. I’m not worried.”

Other coaches stress that the new rules are better not only for the colleges, who don’t need to risk offering a scholarship to a very young player -- when much can change for them from age 14 to age 18 -- and for the the players themselves, who have more time to explore their options and are not pressured into making a decision too early. St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson said they also sell the once-in-a-lifetime lifestyle of a student-athlete and all of the official and unofficial perks that go along with it. During the two seasons he was an assistant coach and recruiter at Ohio State, Larson painted the contrast between the NCAA lifestyle and the major junior lifestyle very vividly.

“We always tell kids that if you have a Saturday off in the fall, in the WHL you can play video games at a mall somewhere in Saskatchewan, or in college you can go to a football game with 10,000 girls,” Larson said during his time with the Buckeyes.

Since more than one Minnesotan has left the state for the WHL while still in high school, there is some concern that major junior programs establishing more of a presence in the state could hurt high school hockey. Community arenas in Minnesota as revered as the hometown basketball gyms in Indiana and the massive high school football stadiums in Texas, so others feel that the quality of the Minnesota high school hockey product, the nationally-renowned Minnesota State Hockey Tournament and the number of Minnesota high schoolers who make their way to the NHL are evidence that there is no need for too much concern about the WHL.

“I don’t think we’re seeing it as a threat. Our development model has been one of the best in the country, if not in the world, so I think players know that they’re being taken care of in Minnesota,” said Mike MacMillan, the executive director of the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association, and an assistant coach for the men’s hockey program at Hamline University in St. Paul. “They have an unbelievable opportunity to be seen and the evidence has shown that playing high school hockey and finishing high school hockey before moving on to college is a way to success in the NHL.”

USA Hockey officials from the National Team Development Program note that even getting Minnesota high school players to leave the state for their Michigan-based all-star team, which does not negatively affect a player’s NCAA eligibility, is a challenge. At least two of the more recent Mr. Hockey winners -- Riley Tufte from Blaine in 2016 and Blake Biondi from Hermantown this past season -- have turned down invites from USA Hockey in order to stay home, play for their high school team alongside their lifelong friends, and try to win a state championship before moving on to college.

Major junior teams are openly taking a greater interest in Minnesota’s talent pool, and will likely continue to attract an occasional player to western Canada for the unique brand of hockey they offer. But the general feeling is all that has made high school and college hockey successful in the state for so long is not going away anytime soon.

“If we keep doing our job providing a good platform and opportunities for player development, we’ll be just fine,” MacMillan said.

Minnesota college, high school programs deal with major junior's head start; part 3 in a series

Hermantown senior forward Blake Biondi (27) celebrates his goal in the first period of a Class A state quarterfinal against Monticello on, March 4 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. News Tribune file photo by Tyler Schank

Minnesota coach Bob Motzko looks at the scoreboard during a game this season in Mariucci Arena. John Autey / The Rink Live

Bulldogs junior forward Riley Tufte, who turned 21 on Wednesday, was Minnesota's Mr. Hockey winner in 2016 for Blaine High ��. (Clint Austin / The Rink Live)

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SCSU head coach Brett Larson talks about incoming freshmen, recruiting without official visits available, the transfer portal and more

Mick Hatten — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 12:00:00 GMT

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Under normal conditions, St. Cloud State men's hockey coach Brett Larson would have been at the national coaches meetings in Naples, Fla. Because of the stay at home order for the coronavirus pandemic, he is working out of his university office about three days a week.

That's a bonus for The Rink Live video podcast. Larson joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten to talk about being part of a coaching staff that has been deemed "King of the Quarantine Commitments."

Since the season ended on March 12, the Huskies have gotten four commitments, including two graduate transfers.

Larson talks about the five incoming players who have signed national letters of intent for the fall: forwards Veeti Miettinen, Joe Molenaar and Jared Cockrell; and defensemen Brady Ziemer and Seamus Donohue.

Larson also talks about Hobey Baker Award winner Scott Perunovich, whom he coached when he was an assistant at Minnesota Duluth; how the search for an assistant coach for Mike Gibbons is going and talks about the recruiting age change in the NCAA.

All of this and more on this episode.

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SCSU's Zach Okabe is keeping close tabs on Australian wildfires

Mick Hatten — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 00:46:44 GMT

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Most North American hockey players have never visited Australia and probably only have a notion of what the weather or terrain is like in the Southern hemisphere continent.

But Zach Okabe's background and family are unique. Okabe is a 19-year-old on the St. Cloud State men's hockey team. While he was born in Japan, Okabe lived about eight years in Blaxland, Australia, and his mother, Maree, is from Ararat, Australia. Ararat is about 130 miles away from Melbourne.

Blaxland is about 40 miles west of Sydney in the Blue Mountains of southeast Australia, and both of Okabe's sisters were born in Australia. So news of more than 38,000 square miles being burned in wildfires on that continent has Okabe keeping up with the weather patterns there.

"The majority of my family is in Australia and only my grandma and my auntie live in Japan on my dad's side, but all of my cousins are in Australia," Okabe said. The Australian wildfire news "has been trending a bit more lately and it's being talked about more the last couple days. Obviously, it's really scary. Australia has been known for its wildlife.

"In my time living there, we only had to evacuate one time. But it's super scary there right now."

It is currently summer in Australia and Okabe said wildfires in the summer are pretty common. But with recent temperatures topping 100 degrees and with high winds, the fires have ravaged Australia, destroying close to 2,000 homes and killing at least 25 people, according to Weather.com.

"When it's super dry for weeks straight there, it's super hot and there's no humidity and that kind of gets the bush fires going, along with human activity," he said. "It's so dry and so hot that it spreads quicker."

Okabe is thankful that his friends and family in Australia have been able to stay out of the most dangerous areas of the fires. That should help keep him focused this weekend when the Huskies return to NCHC play with a series at fifth-ranked Denver (8:07 p.m. Friday and Saturday, NCHC.tv).

"My grandparents are not as close to the big fires, but they can notice the difference in the sky," he said. "No one we're really close to is being affected, but we have some friends that are pretty close to it.

"It rained (Monday) and that's what we needed ... You just want to them to get it under control as soon as possible."

Okabe said that his parents met on a cruise ship. His father, Nobuaki, is Japanese and played club hockey for St. Cloud State. Nobuaki and his two daughters were in Minnesota and saw Okabe play in the Mariucci Classic, which was held Dec. 28-29 in Minneapolis.

Okabe scored his first four goals in a win over second-ranked Minnesota State University-Mankato on Dec. 28 at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

"A cool rink because there's so much history at that rink and just to see me play there was one of my dad's dreams and me playing for St. Cloud was another one of his dreams," said of Nobuaki, who is a plastics engineer and is a North American representative for a Japanese company. "Me playing against the Gophers was something he never thought would be. It was so surreal and I had a pretty good tournament, which I could show my dad and sisters."

The Rink Live video podcast: Denver's decade of excellence, SCSU's starting goalie question, health concerns for the Gophers and Jess forgetting what year it is

The goals ended a season-long streak without a point for Okabe, who was named NCHC Rookie of the Week for his performance. While his family now lives in Okotoks, Alberta, Okabe said that his love for hockey began in Australia.

"My dad taught me how to play hockey, we had the shooting (tarp) set up in the garage and ever since then, I loved the game," he said. "Hockey is growing super fast there (in Australia). It's not to a great level yet, but the great thing is that it's growing and developing."

Okabe's game is also developing as he adapts more to the college game after playing two seasons of junior hockey for the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Okabe, who is listed at 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds, had 53 goals and 115 points in 118 regular season games for the Storm.

"He's been playing better and better and better every weekend," said Huskies coach Brett Larson, who missed the Mariucci Classic while he was on the Team USA staff for the IIHF World Junior Championships. "It was fun to see him finally get rewarded.

"I liked that he's stuck with it. He's a natural goal scorer, who didn't have a point at Christmas. A lot of kids would have been down and maybe even getting negative and causing problems on the team. But he stayed positive and kept working to be a better all-around player. He didn't let the lack of goals totally get him down and I think that really helped him.

"What I told him was that first, I want to trust you on the ice and then the goals will come. I think he took that to heart and has been rounding out his game."

Krannila receives NCHC honor

Jami Krannila, a freshman from Nokia, Finland and the center on Okabe's line the last seven games, was named the NCHC Rookie of the Month for December. Krannila had two goals and four assists in six games to earn the honor. Krannila has seven assists and 10 points in 18 games this season.

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SCSU's Zach Okabe is keeping close tabs on Australian wildfires

St. Cloud State freshman forward Zach Okabe

St. Cloud State forward Zach Okabe (14) fires a shot past Minnesota State goalie Dryden McKay (29) during the second period of the first game of the Mariucci Classic at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019. (John Autey / The Rink Live)

St. Cloud State forward Zach Okabe tries to steal the puck from Minnesota Gophers forward Jack Perbix during the first period of the Mariucci Classic Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, at the 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, Minn. Jason Wachter/The Rink Live

Minnesota Gophers defenseman Ryan Zuhlsdorf, 20, and St. Cloud State forward Zach Okabe battle for the puck during the second period of the Mariucci Classic Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, at the 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, Minn. Jason Wachter/The Rink Live

SCSU's Zach Okabe is keeping close tabs on Australian wildfires

St. Cloud State freshman forward Zach Okabe

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Coach Brett Larson back with SCSU after working on Team USA staff

Mick Hatten — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 15:55:49 GMT

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The abruptness that the IIHF World Junior Championships was over hit St. Cloud State men's hockey coach Brett Larson quickly.

"The Canada loss (6-4 on Dec. 26) hurt early, but we felt we played well that game," said Larson, whose team went on to get two wins and an overtime win in the preliminary round. "Then we felt like we were playing better each game.

"It was just so sudden. You get into a game and all of a sudden it's 1-0 and you're on a flight out of there. It was tough to swallow because we thought the team had been playing really well in the prelims. The hardest thing about losing was not being able to keep playing because it was so much fun, how high the level of play is and how skilled the teams were. It was fun to be around something like that."

Finland beat Team USA 1-0 in the quarterfinals to knock the Americans out of the tournament. It was the first time since 2015 that Team USA did not receive a medal in the tournament.

Larson is back with the Huskies this week and St. Cloud State (3-5-0-0-0 NCHC, 6-8-4 overall) returns to conference play with a series at fifth-ranked Denver (3-3-2-0-1, 13-4-3) after a bye week.

Even though his first experience on a national team staff was shorter than he wanted, Larson enjoyed it. He mentioned Team USA's win over the Czech Republic in overtime on Dec. 30 as one of the highlights.

"The hockey is so good, so high end and the atmosphere there was awesome," said Larson, the reigning NCHC Coach of the Year. "They packed the rink every game, especially playing the Czechs and going overtime with them. People were just jumping up and down and screaming."

The challenges

Larson said that one of the challenges for Team USA in preparing for the tournament is trying to get the team to gel in a short amount of time. The roster is made up of players from NCAA Division I college teams and juniors and the team does not get a ton of time to practice and play games before the tournament.

"That's probably the biggest challenge because there's not a lot of practice time. You basically get a three-day camp and then you're over there playing exhibition games," Larson said. "The biggest challenge is to get the guys comfortable together and trying to find ways to do that. You've got to use those first two exhibition games to try things that you think will work and hope that they gel. You don't want to change a bunch of things."

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Larson was one of four assistant coaches for Team USA under head coach Scott Sandelin, the University of Minnesota Duluth head coach. The other assistant coaches were David Lassonde (associate head coach at Dartmouth), Steve Miller (associate head coach at Ohio State) and Jerry Keefe (associate head coach at Northeastern).

Larson was in charge of the defense and Sandelin ran the forwards, Miller was in charge of the penalty kill and Keefe was in charge of the power play. Lassonde, Keefe, Miller and Sandelin were assistant coaches for Team USA in the 2019 World Junior Championships under head coach Mike Hastings.

"You could tell there was a lot of continuity and they were comfortable together," said Larson, who is a former Minnesota Duluth assistant coach for Sandelin.

While he was away with Team USA, Larson missed two games. In the Mariucci Classic on Dec. 28-29, St. Cloud State beat Minnesota State University-Mankato 7-2 and lost 4-1 in the championship game to the University of Minnesota.

Larson, who is in his second season as St. Cloud State's head coach, said it was tough being away from the Huskies.

"It was a really weird feeling," he said. "I told myself that I was going to try to sleep because we had big games going on ... no chance.

"I was on my phone all the time either texting people or checking on the score or on Twitter," he said. "I told (assistant coach Nick Oliver) that I wasn't really comfortable until that seventh goal went in because I know how good a team Mankato is. A 6-2 lead is not safe against them in the third period."

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Coach Brett Larson back with SCSU after working on Team USA staff

St. Cloud State Huskies head coach Brett Larson talks to his team during game Jan. 11, 2019, at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. (Clint Austin /The Rink Live)

St. Cloud State men's hockey head coach Brett Larson talks to his players during an on ice practice on Jan. 10, 2019, at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. (Clint Austin /The Rink Live)

Head coach Brett Larson of St. Cloud State speaks after accepting the the 2018-19 Coach of the Year Award during the NCHC Awards Celebration at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minn. (Clint Austin /The Rink Live)

Coach Brett Larson back with SCSU after working on Team USA staff

St. Cloud State Huskies head coach Brett Larson talks to his team during game Jan. 11, 2019, at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. (Clint Austin /The Rink Live)

St. Cloud State men's hockey head coach Brett Larson talks to his players during an on ice practice on Jan. 10, 2019, at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. (Clint Austin /The Rink Live)

Coach Brett Larson back with SCSU after working on Team USA staff

St. Cloud State Huskies head coach Brett Larson talks to his team during game Jan. 11, 2019, at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. (Clint Austin /The Rink Live)

St. Cloud State men's hockey head coach Brett Larson talks to his players during an on ice practice on Jan. 10, 2019, at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. (Clint Austin /The Rink Live)

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SCSU’s Easton Brodzinski enjoys hunting for ducks, deer, goals

Mick Hatten — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 15:45:38 GMT

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Easton Brodzinski loves to be in the outdoors and is an avid hunter and fisherman.

But he got the opportunity to do something for the first time with a group of St. Cloud State men’s hockey teammates during the weekend of Oct. 18-20 when the Huskies had a bye week.

“We went duck hunting up at Henry Enebak’s cabin,” said Brodzinski, who also made the trip with Sam Hentges and Luke Jaycox. “We went up north and had a good time, shooting some ducks and having a few good laughs.”

In the fall, Brodzinski typically goes bow hunting for deer. But duck hunting was a new experience.

“It’s a lot different,” he said. “We were standing in waist-high water when we went out there the first time.

“It was a little switch from sitting up in a tree and trying to be as still as you possibly can. It was an interesting thing, but I’m definitely hooked on it. It was one of the best hunting experiences I’ve had in a while.”

Brodzinski is typically known for hunting goals for the Huskies and has six points in his last three games. He and St. Cloud State (1-2-3) head on the road to play Northern Michigan (6-1-1) in a nonconference series this weekend in Marquette, Mich. The teams play at 6:07 p.m. Friday and 5:07 p.m. Saturday at Berry Events Center.

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1st deer hunting experience

He comes from an outdoors/hockey family. He is the third of four boys for Mike and Kathy Brodzinski. Mike played college hockey for the University of Minnesota (1983-84), but more notably St. Cloud State (1984-87) and is the Huskies’ career leader in goals (76) and points (146) in the program’s NCAA Division II/III era.

While Mike coached his sons’ youth hockey teams, he also helped instill in Jonny (26), Michael (24), Easton (23) and Bryce (19) the enjoyment of being outdoorsmen.

“Me and Michael were sitting in a tree stand and I think I was 7 and he was 9 and we were in the tree stand for maybe five minutes and he shot down a big doe and it fell down right in front of us,” said Easton, who is a Blaine (Minn.) High �� graduate. “We had walkie-talkies back at that time and my dad was across the field and we were radioing him that we got one.

“He said, ‘You can’t just get one (that fast). That just doesn’t happen.’ It was a fun moment and he came over and was just in awe of it. Since I’ve been 7, I’ve been going (hunting) every year.”

Brodzinski's private account on Instagram has many posts of his family, hunting, fishing and, of course, hockey.

On the ice, he is off to the best start in his three seasons with the Huskies. Brodzinski, who scored 30 goals in his first two college seasons, is on St. Cloud State’s top power-play unit and is continuing to work on being more than just a goal scorer.

“I’m working on a lot of detail stuff like cutbacks and doing a lot better with puck protection and decision making when I’m coming into the (offensive) zone, too,” he said. “You always want to have a 200-foot game and me and (coach Brett Larson) have been working on it the last two years of little details in the ‘D’ zone — where I need to be when the puck is here and where I need to be when the puck is there.

“He teaches me a lot of things that I wouldn’t even consider thinking about.”

Areas of improvement

Larson said that Brodzinski seemed to turn a corner with playing a more complete game about halfway through last season. In the last 12 games of last season, he had a plus/minus rating of plus-8.

“The second half of last year, he really committed to playing a 200-foot game,” Larson said. “He was learning when to be risky and when not to be risky. He was always good on the power play.”

Another sign of filling his game out is that he has more assists (5) than goals (2) in the early part of the season.

“He’s a good passer, but where I’ve been impressed by him is down around the net with his tips and his body positioning to get open for a play,” Larson said of Brodzinski, who is the Huskies’ second-biggest forward at 6-foot-2 and 198 pounds. “Around the net, he’s really good at getting his stick in a good position for tip plays. He scored a few (of his 16) goals on it last year and I’ve already notice it this year.

“He had a power-play goal off a faceoff. He adjusted his stick to get in behind a guy and got body position and allowed Sam (Hentges) to make a really good shot/pass for that tip goal.”

Going Back to Back! Easton Brodzinski with the goal to give the Huskies the lead 3-2! Keep it up Huskies! #huskieshockey pic.twitter.com/iXAcmKVULp
— Husky Productions (@hphky) November 3, 2019

And when he gets off the rink, he sounds pretty committed to being a top-notch outdoorsman.

“I just like being alone and being in the outdoors,” he said. “That’s what I plan on doing after my hockey career is over is, hopefully, running an outdoor channel or something like that.

“I just like the quiet of it, watching things develop and nature do its thing. I’m kind of a freak when it comes to that stuff. I know a lot of things about a lot of different animals that people usually don’t know. It’s kind of my forte.”

SCSU notes

— Huskies center Kevin Fitzgerald was injured in the Friday game against Princeton and did not play Saturday. He was able to practice Tuesday, but was kept out of some drills as he recovers.

“It’s an upper body injury and he’s day-to-day,” Larson said of the junior from Oak Brook, Ill. “We’re hoping he’s going to be ready for the weekend, but we’ll see.”

— After giving up five goals in the loss Friday, Larson made some significant changes to his defensive lineup for Saturday’s game against Princeton. Sophomore Nick Perbix was moved off the top defensive pairing with senior Jack Ahcan and was listed on the third pairing with Tyler Anderson. Sophomore Spencer Meier moved up from the second pairing to take Perbix’s spot with Ahcan.

Freshman Ondrej Trejbal played in his first college game and saw time on the power play Sophomore Brendan Bushy, who played in 38 out of 39 games last season, was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.

“We need to be a team that’s built from our net out,” said Larson, who had eight underclassmen play forward on Saturday. “We’ve got to be good in our (defensive) zone, first. That’s part of our game that we really need to work on getting better at.”

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SCSU’s Easton Brodzinski enjoys hunting for ducks, deer, goals

St. Cloud State’s Easton Brodzinski (26) chases a loose puck during the first period against Northeastern Friday, Oct. 25, 2019, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. (Jason Wachter/The Rink Live)

St. Cloud State junior forward Easton Brodzinski

St. Cloud State’s Easton Brodzinski tries to work the puck around Princeton’s Pito Walton to the goal during the first period Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. (Jason Wachter/The Rink Live)

SCSU’s Easton Brodzinski enjoys hunting for ducks, deer, goals

St. Cloud State junior forward Easton Brodzinski

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Wild draft pick back for SCSU after 2nd offseason surgery

Mick Hatten — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 04:05:12 GMT

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Going into any offseason, hockey players at the NCAA Division I level get instructions on things to work on and typically look to work on strength and speed.

Sam Hentges has not had the luxury of doing all that he wants to in order to prepare for each of the last two seasons. For the second straight year, Hentges had offseason surgery that limited how he could train. He would not say what he had repaired this offseason, but he battled a lower body injury in the second half of last season.

"I just had something fixed in May and I'm back," he said. "(The injury) happened in January and I was playing with it for a little bit. I met with some doctors and they said it was best if I just got it fixed."

Despite battling that injury, Hentges had five goals and 12 points in his last 21 games for St. Cloud State and finished his freshman season with 20 points in 37 games. He is expected to play center for the Huskies when the play host to the University of Alberta in an exhibition game at 5:07 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

The surgery not only kept Hentges from doing all the training he wanted to for this season, but it also kept him off the ice for the Minnesota Wild development camp for the second straight summer. Hentges, a 20-year-old from New Brighton, Minn., who played for Totino-Grace High ��, was taken in the seventh round (210th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.

"It takes a while to get back into shape, that's for sure, you lose your wind and skating feels awkward for about a month, but I feel good now, so I'm excited," said Hentges, who began skating again in August for the second straight year.

Upper body work

In 2018, he missed development camp because he was recovering from shoulder surgery after he injured it playing juniors in the United States Hockey League. Hentges was limited to 23 games in his one season in the USHL, but had eight goals and 18 points, which were enough to get the attention of Wild scouts.

While he was not able to skate during development camp, he said he took part in other activities with the draft picks and invitees this summer.

"They told me to focus on your health first," Hentges said. "I got to go to all their off-ice training and to their meetings."

He is listed at 6-foot and 185 pounds, which is five pounds more than last season. Even though he couldn't skate, with the shoulder surgery a year behind him, Hentges was able to work on his upper body strength during the offseason.

"Coach I agreed that to keep getting stronger was the most important thing. I got a lot stronger," he said. "(Last season) was a big adjustment because everyone is a lot better and stronger. I think the biggest thing is the strength of everyone and the goalies are so much better. You have to really beat them or get rebounds. You're not going to beat them straight up that often."

With St. Cloud State's top four in points (and five of its top six) gone from last season, Hentges is one of the players that head coach Brett Larson is hoping takes a step up with his production this season.

"I thought Sam Hentges got better and better as (last) year went on," Larson said. "We're counting on him to step into the role to be one of our top two centers."

A bigger role

Hentges split time between wing and center last season. Center Blake Lizotte, who was a CCM Hockey/AHCA Division I All-America second team pick last season, made the Los Angeles Kings roster to start this season. Center Ryan Poehling, an All-NCHC First Team pick last season, signed with the Montreal Canadiens after last season.

Hentges is looking forward to the opportunity to play more center this season.

"I think I'm more comfortable and better at center," he said. "You get the puck with speed coming through the middle and you can make plays because you can see the whole ice."

"So far, he has looked really good," Larson said. "I think Sam has come into the season looking very determined to try to earn one of those (top-two center) roles. With a young team, we need him to be.

"The big key for us is to see guys like Hentges, (Nolan) Walker, (Easton) Brodzinski and Micah Miller to go from being really good players to great players. Those guys need to make a step for our offense."

While some players set number goals for themselves, Hentges prefers not to.

"I don't really set goals because they can lead to disappointment," he said. "I just try to be the hardest worker and if I do that every game, things will work out for me."

Larson said that Hentges looks like he is putting together all of the pieces of his skill set.

"He's a great combination of a skilled, strong skating and determined player," Larson said. "I really like his overall game right now. I think he's a guy who can play on the power play, play on the penalty kill and against another team's top line. To me, he's looking like a really complete 200-foot center."

7 Huskies in the NHL

There are seven former St. Cloud State players who are listed on NHL rosters as the season starts. The seven are: Dennis Cholowski (2016-17, defenseman, Detroit), Patrick Russell (2014-16, F, Edmonton), Lizotte (2017-19, F, LA Kings), Jonny Brodzinski (2012-15, F, San Jose), Jimmy Schuldt (2015-19, D, Vegas), Nic Dowd (2010-14, F, Washington), Nick Jensen (2010-13, D, Washington). Kalle Kossila (2012-16, F, Toronto) is listed as injured.

Eight former Huskies are listed on American Hockey League rosters: Will Borgen (2015-18, D, Rochester), Mikey Eyssimont (2015-18, F, Ontario), Kevin Gravel (2010-14, D, Toronto), Charlie Lindgren (, G, Laval), Jon Lizotte (2015-19, D, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), Patrick Newell (2015-19, F, Hartford), Poehling (2016-19, F, Laval) and Ethan Prow (2012-16, D, Springfield). The AHL is the top minor league in North America for NHL teams.

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Wild draft pick back for SCSU after 2nd offseason surgery

St. Cloud State sophomore forward Sam Hentges

St. Cloud State freshman forward Sam Hentges (19) skates with the puck as Miami defenseman Grant Hutton (55) and forward Monte Graham (18) defend on Saturday, March 16, 2019, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. Jason Wachter/The Rink Live

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SCSU hires former scout, coach to be director of hockey operations and video coordinator

Mick Hatten — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 15:00:00 GMT

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Nick Tomczyk's career has taken some interesting twists and turns since he graduated from Northern Michigan University.

The last couple have been sharp and quick turns.

Tomczyk has been hired to be the director of hockey operations and video coordinator for the St. Cloud State University men's hockey team. He replaces T.J. Jindra, who left the position to become the video scouting coordinator for the Minnesota Wild.

How quick have things turned for Tomczyk? Let's put it this way, he and his wife, Kristi, bought a house on Aug. 10 in Michigan that they are now trying to sell so that their family can move to in the St. Cloud area. Oh, and Tomczyk had been working as a scout for the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League since May.

"It's a lot of change, but absolutely where we're supposed to be," said Tomczyk, who is 38 and a native of Detroit, Mich. "We've just got to get through these next few months. We're in two months of dad being gone and trying to fly home once a month."

Kristi is finishing out the season as an assistant women's soccer coach for Oakland University (Mich.) and their four sons (Easton, Colton, Hudson and Boston) are staying with her until the end of the soccer season and they get their house sold.

New gig

With St. Cloud State, Tomczyk will be in charge of the team's meals, travel arrangements, academic coordination of the players, scheduling players community service and appearances and with video. That may sound like a lot, but Huskies head coach Brett Larson has a lot of confidence in him.

"He's a real high energy, positive energy, guy," said Larson, who is beginning his second season as a college head coach. "I think the players are going to love him.

"He's also high detail oriented, like T.J. was. As I learned the role of head coach, I realized how important it was to have somebody taking care of all the details behind the scenes so that I could focus more on coaching and recruiting."

Tomczyk came to mind for the St. Cloud State job because both Larson and Huskies assistant coach Nick Oliver have both worked with him at USA Hockey Select 15 camps over the last three years.

"Two guys where you hit it off and your personalities and values just click," Tomczyk said.

Before taking the Omaha Lancers job, Tomczyk has spent a lot of time in a variety of roles in hockey since graduating from Northern Michigan with a degree in physical education and health in 2004.

The resume

At Northern Michigan, he played one season for the club hockey (American Collegiate Hockey Association) team before joining spending four years as the varsity team's manager for head coaches Rick Comley and Walt Kyle.

"Being under those guys, it gave me that passion that I wanted to get into coaching," said Tomczyk, who can be on the ice but not coach players for the Huskies. "Ever since then, it's been a desire and a dream and a drive to get back to this level. There's been a lot of different levels along the way."

After graduating from college, he was the head coach at Stevenson High �� in Sterling Heights, Mich., for two years. Then he spent two years working with the Oakland Junior Grizzlies in AAA hockey, took a stint as the head coach at Utica (Mich.) High ��, three years as an associate head coach for the ACHA Division I Oakland University team and then spent three years starting the ACHA team at Rochester College in Rochester Hills, Mich.

"These were all part-time jobs and I still had a real job on top of all that," he said.

Then he was an assistant coach for the Honey Baked AAA team in Michigan and he also spent three seasons as the American scout for the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League (major junior) before taking the job with the Lancers ... for that short stint before the St. Cloud State job opened.

"I couldn't have asked for a better spot to be in or a better staff to work with," said Tomczyk, who graduated with a master's degree in school administration from Saginaw Valley State in 2010.

St. Cloud State opens its season with an exhibition game against Alberta at 1:07 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

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