Huskies future and alumni in the news
It’s been a good month for one future St. Cloud State Husky, while two former Huskies had a rough ride home in the minors.
The good news is future Husky Joey Benik making his mark in the state high school scoring record book last week, notching his 63rd goal of the season for St. Francis. That breaks the all-time mark set just a few years ago by a current Husky, Jared Festler. Amazingly, Benik was not one of the recently-named 10 finalists for Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey Award.
The bad news came on a highway in western Massachusetts, where the Albany River Rats team bus crash left two former Huskies – Joe Jensen and Casey Borer – hospitalized with injures that were described in the Albany Times-Union as “serious but not life-threatening.”
INCH sends its best wishes for a speedy recovery to Jensen and Borer.
More volcano talk in Anchorage
While Alaska Anchorage has yet to host a home playoff series since joining the WCHA in 1993, this may be a year when the Seawolves are happy to hit the road for the postseason. North Dakota’s trip there this weekend had to feature the familiar round of stories about the still-smoldering volcano southwest of the city, and how another team’s travel plans might change in case of an eruption.
Couple that with a decent road and neutral site record (the Seawolves are 6-7-1 away from Sullivan Arena) and a notable drop in home attendance this season, and the road just may be the place to be for Alaska Anchorage in March.
Will Bachman be bach for more?
Interesting recent blog post in the Colorado Springs Gazette regarding the uncertain college hockey future of Tigers goaltender Richard Bachman. A year ago with Colorado College storming to the league title, he was just the second player to be named the WCHA’s top rookie and top player in the same year (Wisconsin goalie Curtis Joseph was the first, in 1989), Bachman has had a rougher go of things as a sophomore.
While his save percentage numbers are good, his goals-against average is nearly double that of a year ago, and he has less than half as many wins, as the Tigers are in a fight for home ice. Dallas holds Bachman’s rights, and may have a spot for him in the organization soon, with Marty Turco advancing in age.
“It’s something I haven’t really given a lot of thought to,” Bachman told the Gazette. “I’m just going to wait until the end of the season.”
Bulldogs big two leading the way as home ice, NCAAs within reach
Minnesota Duluth heads to Michigan Tech this weekend with points up for grabs, having either won or tied seven of their last eight meetings with their Lake Superior neighbors. If you believe the computers, the Bulldogs are the second-best team in the WCHA and have a solid shot at their first trip to the NCAA tournament since the spring of 2004, when their season ended at the Frozen Four in Boston.
It’s no secret by now who the keys are for the Bulldogs. Any scout who gives you the lowdown on Scott Sandelin’s team without mentioning the need to stop Justin Fontaine and beat Alex Stalock should be fired.
Stalock, the junior goaltender, is a four-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Week recipient this season, and continues to lead the league in goals against average and saves percentage both overall (2.21 and .922) and in conference play (2.29 and .921). And he seems to be getting hot at the right time, having gone 6-2-0 with a 2.01 goals against average and a pair of shutouts recently. Fontaine, a sophomore right wing, picked up one assist in both ends of a split with Denver to push his overall point total to 37, which has him in the top 10 nationally and has at least a point in 13 of UMD’s last 15 games.
