mhkgen11j

PREVIEW: Men’s Hockey Begins Season Friday Night at Rival UW-Superior

| By: Jesse Robinson
DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's hockey team expects to challenge for the top spot in the league and it starts this weekend with a trip across to bridge to face rival University of Wisconsin-Superior in the season opener at Wessman Arena.

Game Schedule: (Game Day Media)
Friday at UW-Superior – 7:05 p.m. (Live Audio on Saints Sports Net | Live Video (Pay-Per-View))
Saturday at UW-Superior – 7:05 p.m. (Live Audio on Saints Sports Net | Live Video (Pay-Per-View))

tourneyCSS
About the Saints
2011-12 Record: 15-8-5, 9-5-4 NCHA

  • The Saints finished second in the league last season, after being picked to finish last in the 2011 NCHA Preseason poll.
  • CSS advanced all the way to the NCHA Peters Cup Semifinals, before falling to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
  • The Saints just missed their second NCAA Tournament appearance by being one the first teams left out for an at-large bid.
  • The Saints are ranked 12th in the preseason D3hockey.com poll.
  • CSS has been picked to finish sixth in this year's NCHA Preseason poll, but that is not a bad thing.
  • In 2011-12, the Saints were picked to finish last and placed second. In 2010-11, the Saints were picked fourth and placed seventh. In 2009-10, the Saints were picked sixth and finished second. And in 2008-09, the Saints were picked sixth and finished third and made their first NCAA Tournament appearance.
  • Returning for the Saints is second team AHCA West Region Second Team All-American Brett Corcoran (Parksville, British Columbia/Ballenas Secondary (Trail Smoke-BCHL) ). Last year, Corcoran was second in the league with 33 points and third with 17 goals.
  • Also returning is second leading goal scorer junior Brandon Nowakowski (Calgary, Alberta/Central Memorial HS (Calgary Royals-AJHL)), who finished with 11 tallies a year ago.
  • Tyler Miller (Fort Frances, Ontario/Rainy River HS (Thunder Bay-SIJHL) ), who was third on the team in points (26) and second in assists (16), returns for his senior season.
  • Sophomore Dave Williams (Okotoks, Alberta/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame (Waywayseecappo-MJHL) ), who was named to the NCHA All-Rookie Team last season, returns after s scoring five goals and adding two assists in his freshman campaign.
  • Back between the pipes is Colin Rundell (Tees, Alberta/Lacombe Composite (Alaska-Fairbanks) ). Rundell finished second in the league in his first year with CSS with 655 saves and fourth with a .583 winning percentage.
  • The Saints did lose a pair of 10-goal scorers from a year ago in Jeremy Dawes (Winnipeg, Manitoba/College Jeanne Suave (Portage-MJHL) ) and Carter Davis (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan/Central Collegiate (Waywayseecappo-MJHL) ) and also lost second team All-American defenseman Austin Brown (Lathrup Village, Mich./Legacy HS (Woodstock-MJAHL) ).
  • Head coach Mark Wick, the winningest coach in program history, enters his ninth season behind the bench for the Saints. Wick is the reigning NCHA Coach of the Year, the second time he has earned that honor in the last four years.
  • Coach Wick brought in some talented newcomers, which include defenseman Brenden Kotyk (Regina, Saskatchewan/Michael A. Riffel HS (Dauphin-MJHL) ), who was named the MJHL Defenseman of the Year last season. Forward Keegan Bruce (Bellingham, Wash./Bellingham HS (Weyburn-SJHL) ) led the SJHL with 55 assists a year ago. Dylan Nowakowski (Calgary, Alberta/Centennial HS (Brooks-AJHL) ), the younger brother of Brandon, Michael Spring (Kelowna, British Columbia/Okanagan Mission (Chilliwack-BCHL) ) and Joel Paiement (Okotoks, Alberta/Holy Trinity Academy (Calgary Canucks-AJHL) ) also expect to make an impact at the forward position.
  • Joining Kotyk in the back line are freshmen Justin Krabben (Rocky Mountain House, Alberta/Hunting Hills HS (Canmore-AJHL) ), Duluth East grad Hunter Bergerson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Minot-NAHL) ) and Anders Wick (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Marshall School (Gustavus Adolphus) ), son of head coach Mark Wick.
  • With senior captain Brenden Bradbury (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Monticello HS/Vincent Massey Collegiate (Waywayseecappo-MJHL) ), the Saints will have three defensemen with a height of at least 6-5 and weigh at least 225. Seven of the eight defensemen are at least six feet tall.
  • North Mankato's Tyler Bruggeman (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS (Austin-NAHL) ) will see plenty of action in net this season as a freshman. Bruggeman helped Mankato West get to the Minnesota State Tournament as a junior in 2008.
  • The Saints, along with two-time defending national champion St. Norbert College, will be joining the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association (MCHA) programs after this season as the five Wisconsin State Schools will be playing in the WIAC.



About the Yellowjackets
2011-12 Record: 10-10-7, 4-7-7 NCHA

  • The Yellowjackets placed fifth in the conference a season ago and had their season end with a mini-game overtime loss at UW-Stevens Point.
  • The 'jackets have been picked to finish fourth this season, according to the NCHA Preseason Poll.
  • Superior mustered just 72 goals a season ago, which tied a program record for the fewest in a season.
  • Veterans returning up front for the Yellowjackets include Joey Massingham, Pat Dalbec and Kyle Leahy. Dalbec led the team with 13 goals and Leahy led the team with 12 assists.
  • Back in net is Drew Strandberg, who started 23 games a season ago and had a 2.23 goals-against-average.
  • In front of Strandberg, UWS returns Derek Stauber, Chad Blanleil, Brad Phenow, Ryan Hill and Jeff Forsythe. Forsythe was second on the team with eight goals in 2011-12.


Series History: (CSS is 35-82-9 vs. UW-Superior)
  • The Saints have not defeated the Yellowjackets in the last seven meetings.
  • The 'jackets were 1-0-2 against the Saints last season.

NCHA Preseason Poll
1) St. Norbert College (5)
2) UW-River Falls
3) UW-Stevens Point (1)
4) UW-Superior (1)
5) UW-Eau Claire
6) St. Scholastica
7) UW-Stout
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Now Playing:

Related Stories