ST. CLOUD — The St. Cloud State men’s hockey team had a first half of a season that is reflected in its 8-10 record.
The Huskies are hopeful that a
4-3 come-from-behind win over Nos. 5/6 Denver on Saturday, Dec. 13,
provides some positive mojo going into the second half.
SCSU is off until it plays Yale (4-8) at 9 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 2, at the Coachella Cactus Cup in Palm Springs, California.
“There’s been adversity,” SCSU junior wing Barrett Hall said. “To kind of experience both sides of it — good and bad — in the first half, especially for the younger guys who haven’t experienced that at the college level, is huge.
“We knew we could beat any team in the country on any given night. (The win over Denver) kind of solidified that for us. Obviously, there’s a lot of work to be done and we’ve got a long way until the end of the year. Everyone knows how important the second half is. We’ll take what we’ve learned in the first half and put it into practice and get it done.”
A point of emphasis going into the season was to increase scoring. In 2024-25,
tied for 55th in NCAA Division I in goals-per-game (2.2) and the power play tied for 47th (16.8%). Both were the worst for the Huskies since Larson took over in 2018.
This season, SCSU is averaging 3.2 GPG, which is tied for 23rd in the nation, and the power play is converting at 27.8%, which is sixth.
SCSU junior captain Tyson Gross said that the team has made some tweaks to create more offense.
“Last year, we struggled,” he said. “A big point of emphasis we’ve had this year is just aggressiveness. Creating off turnovers and to be able to create turnovers. That’s something we talked about in the off-season and we put it into practice this year and it’s been helping us a lot.”
The power play started out on fire, converting on 39.5% (17-for-43) with the man advantage in the first nine games, with much of the firepower coming from sophomore wing Austin Burnevik, who scored six times with the man advantage. In the last nine games, SCSU was 5-for-26 (19.3%) on the power play and, not coincidentally, Burnevik has been shut out.
Hall said that the team has tried to make some adjustments recently.
Barrett Hall
ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
“We’re still adjusting to new structure,” Hall said. “We’ve got some time to work on it. We’ll hit the ground running after Christmas and get back to being one of the top power plays in the country. We have the firepower for it.
“You start the year off with a hot power play and teams start to sniff out your looks. We can’t just get it to Burne’ to score every time anymore. We’ve got to think outside the box and get other looks.”
Senior defenseman Max Smolinski has confidence moving ahead.
“Power plays can go up and down,” Smolinski said. “We started out really hot and can we maintain this? We kind of got in a dry spell for a little bit. We mixed things up. Everyone is ready. I think we’ve had 12-14 different guys on the power play the last couple weeks.”
St. Cloud State defenseman Cooper Wylie (26) celebrates his goal against Alaska Anchorage in the first period Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Jason Wachter / For St. Cloud LIVE
Another point of emphasis was to get more offense from the defensemen. Last season, SCSU blueliners combined for 12 goals and 46 points.
Mission at least half accomplished. Through 18 games, they have 11 goals and 42 points this year.
Smolinski, a transfer from RPI,
has three goals and nine points, senior Cooper Wylie has career-bests of eight assists and nine points,
sophomore Finnn Loftus, a transfer from Massachusetts,
has two goals and six points and senior Josh Zinger has five assists and six points.
“Being able to have the freedom as a ‘D’ core to go whenever and to have the trust and F3 to support us has been the most eye-opening thing for me as a player coming here,” Smolinski said. “To be able to trust guys to make a play, but also just playing as a five-man unit. That’s a great feeling. To be able to go down into the corner and know that your forward has you covered. Being able to play five-man offense has been awesome and part of our success.”
Gross and Hall are off to blistering starts. Last season, Gross had nine goals and 25 points and Hall had seven goals and 22 points. Through 18 games, Gross has 10 goals and 23 points and Hall has eight goals and 21 points. Gross has also won 61% of his faceoffs.
The big area of concern for the Huskies has to be the penalty kill, which is at 71.9% (59th in the nation).
St. Cloud State goaltender Patriks Berzins (39) watches the puck against Bemidji in the third period Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025 at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, MN.
Jason Wachter / For St. Cloud LIVE
SCSU has had
and
alternate throughout the first half. Berzins played one game last season.
Shostak is 3-7 with a 3.33 goals-against average, an .880 save percentage and one shutout. Berzins is 5-3 with a 2.46 GAA and a .922 save percentage.
“We knew they were going through some ups and downs,” SCSU head coach Brett Larson said. “We knew there would be some development there.”
Patrick Berzins
ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Smolinski said that the team is pleased with its goaltending.
“We’re confident in both our goaltenders,” he said. “Yan is young and he’s a great goaltender and he’s just going to get better and better. Patty is a very mature. He’s steady and calm and great in net. We have a 1A and a 1B.
“As Yan gets older and he gets more experience, he’s just going to get better and better. I think Patty is the same thing. As a D man, to be able to trust those guys is a great feeling. They’ve done a really good job for us.”
St. Cloud State’s Verner Miettinen (center) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against the University of Minnesota in a men’s hockey exhibition game on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Andy Rennecke / St. Cloud LIVE
There were two really big wins for SCSU in the first half. On Nov. 1,
the Huskies defeated Western Michigan, 5-1.
The Broncos are the defending national champions. Then there was the win over Denver. If the Huskies need some confidence, that can supply it. The Pioneers lost in the national semifinals to Western Michigan last season and won national titles in 2022 and 2024.
“We know that we can beat good teams,” Smolinski said. “The second half, this (Denver) win will carry momentum into the break.”
St. Cloud State defenseman Max Smolinski (21) celebrates forward Nolan Roed’s (22) goal against Bemidji State in the first period Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, MN.
Jason Wachter / For St. Cloud LIVE
Freshmen forwards Nolan Roed, Noah Urness and Aiden Welch have made an impact.
Roed, a Colorado Avalanche draft pick,
has nine points and is winning 56.1% of his faceoffs. Urness has eight points.
But SCSU has some climbing to do. The Huskies currently are No. 24 in the NCAA Percentage Index, the new system that will determine which 16 teams will make the national tournament at the end of the season.
“The record is not where we want it, for sure,” Larson said. “But I really believe this is a team that can keep getting better. I told the guys in the locker room that I don’t care what our record is now, I care what it is three months from now. I think that’s the attitude of this group.”
St. Cloud State forward Tyson Gross (13) scores on Omaha goaltender Simon Latkoczy (30) during a power play in the second period Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Jason Wachter / For St. Cloud LIVE