ST. CLOUD 鈥� It turns out that someone who has become a friend through playing bandy helped the St. Cloud State men's hockey team find its newest goalie.
Gavin Enright is friends with SCSU defenseman Josh Luedtke and the pair play bandy together on Wednesday nights during the offseason in Eden Prairie.
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The Huskies had their annual two-week camp for their incoming players and the majority of their returning players the last two weeks of June. Goalie Charlie Glockner was one of the new players at the camp after
But by the end of camp, Glockner decided to retire due to the pain from past injuries and the Huskies were looking for a new goalie at an inopportune time.
"Josh reached out to me and told me that Charlie had to be done (playing)," Enright said. "He asked if I'd be interested in talking with (SCSU coach) Brett (Larson) and I said yes.
"I got on a call with him to see what there was to offer and what was going on. After that, I was super intrigued and super excited to be able to potentially have an opportunity to play at St. Cloud. It was definitely out of nowhere. I wasn't sitting on my couch every day, looking at my phone and waiting for a team to call."
Enright is a 24-year-old from Farmington who spent the last four seasons playing for Bemidji State. In 36 career games with the Beavers, he was 14-18 with a 3.17 goals-against average, .882 save percentage and two shutouts. Last season, he was 6-8 with a 3.18 GAA, .872 save percentage and two shutouts.
Enright was also a four-time CCHA Scholar-Athlete and a two-time AHCA Division I Krampade All-American Scholar.
"We're really excited," Larson said. "The fact that we got him after losing Glockner is a miracle. There was nothing else left out there (in the transfer portal). We couldn't promise any junior kids anything more than a one-year deal."
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That is because the Huskies have two goalies who have three seasons of eligibility remaining in Isak Posch and James Gray. And SCSU has a verbal commitment from Yan Shostak, a 20-year-old from Belarus who played last season for the USHL's Lincoln Stars. Shostak will join the Huskies in the fall of 2025.
A chance to compete
Enright knows what the situation is for him in terms of how much he may or may not play.
"He wants to come in and fight for the job," Larson said. "He knows we have two very good goalies returning, but he's a competitive kid and wants to battle. At the same time, he said he wants to come in and be a part of a really good program."
Gray was a redshirt freshman last season and got into his first college game on Jan. 27 and stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced in a 1-1 tie with Nebraska Omaha.
Posch was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team and ended up starting the last five games of the season for the Huskies, including all four of their playoff games. Posch was 5-6-2 with a 2.93 GAA, .901 save percentage and one shutout in 14 games last season.
"There's no guarantees, but it's a spot to compete for and, obviously, I bring experience through four years of playing college hockey," Enright said. "I was with a seasoned championship team last year in Bemidji and I have learned a lot from a lot of good captains and a lot of good teammates and coaches.
"Experience is a good thing. I'm going in there and compete for a spot. I feel like there's not guarantees in anything. I'm going to work as hard as I can to get in as many games as I can to get that No. 1 spot. That's the mindset I've had every season."
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Last season was the most that he has played in his college career. The last game he played, he stopped all 22 shots he faced in a 2-0 win over Minnesota State on March 2 at the Sanford Center in Bemidji.
"It was senior night and you see all these stories where a guy plays his last game and has all these goals," Enright said. "For myself, I wasn't sure I was going to play hockey next year and this could be my last game ever playing hockey and I've been playing hockey since I was a mite.
"We were playing Mankato, who has been our biggest rival for a long time. Get a shutout, senior night, last regular season game with my class that I've grown with throughout my four years at Bemidji. It was a crazy ending to my career at Bemidji. It was definitely a special night. Even a week after, we couldn't believe that had happened. It was a fairy tale of a story and it felt so good. I definitely left on a high note there. I still had an itch to come back and this opportunity came about."
Enright played two games for the Beavers against SCSU at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. On Oct. 29, 2022, he stopped On Jan. 1, 2022, he stopped 26 of 31 shots in a 5-2 loss.
"We've competed against Gavin the last couple years and I've always respected him as a goalie," Larson said. "He found a grad program that fits what he wants to do in the future and I think the hockey and the culture fit was really good for him. I think being close to home was a really good fit for him. I think it really worked out for both sides."
Closer to home
Enright has a degree in exercise science with a minor in psychology. Since he graduated from Bemidji State, he has been working part time as a physical therapy technician for Twin Cities Orthopedic in Plymouth. He plans on applying to schools to get into physical therapy for the fall of 2025. This year at SCSU, he plans to work on a master's degree in clinical exercise physiology.
This summer, most of the work he does is with Athletic Competition Enhancement.
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"I work with high school and college athletes or patients four months after they've had an operation on like an ACL or a knee injury," he said. "I work out a plan for them and I'm an instructor. Get them stronger and get them back to playing sports.
"Why I want to go into physical therapy is because you develop relationships with people, seeing them three times a week. For me, helping them and making a difference in their life, getting them back playing the sports they love ... I really like what I do."
Enright is living in Buffalo, which is about a 45-minute drive to St. Cloud. He played high school hockey for Farmington and helped the Tigers reach the Class AA state consolation championship game in 2016.
After graduating in 2017, he played two seasons for the NAHL's Kenai River (Alaska) Brown Bears and then one season with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers before going to Bemidji State.
He is excited about playing closer to home this season.
"It's one of the closest schools possible with a really good team," Enright said. "You can only play hockey so long and I'd love to be a part of this team and to see what we can do this year. Playing against new teams in a new Minnesota market ... it's something I'm super excited for.
"I feel like culture is one of the biggest things in a college. Talking to (Luedtke), he said I'd fit right in and the culture is different here in a good way. Everyone feels like they mesh together. That was one of my favorite parts of Bemidji was the culture of being a Beaver and I felt like he was talking about a strong culture that I'd want to be a part of."
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