ST. CLOUD — Grant Ahcan is well aware of what his role is with the St. Cloud State men’s hockey team.
In 92 career college games, Ahcan has 13 goals and 28 points. But last weekend at Miami, he had a goal in Friday’s 6-5 overtime loss and two goals in a 4-2 win Saturday.
The senior captain and wing from Burnsville will be looking to see if he can help the Huskies (2-4 NCHC, 7-7 overall) beat No. 5/6-ranked North Dakota (4-2, 10-4) in an NCHC series at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, and 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 (both on The CW Twin Cities) at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
SCSU coach Brett Larson said that he doesn’t expect any changes in how Ahcan plays coming off the best offensive weekend of his career.
“He’s not going to think he’s a skill guy now just because he scored a couple goals,” Larson said. “He just consistently plays with heart and passion. He never takes a night off. You never have to wonder if he’s going to show up ready to play. Whatever you ask him to do, he does it with enthusiasm. For the most part, he’s been asked to play an energy forward type role.”
Ahcan played on a line with
fifth-year center Ryan Rosborough
and
last weekend. Reimann has the other two goals for the line this season.
“Our line has been working so hard that it’s really nice for us to finally get rewarded and put a couple in the net last weekend,” Ahcan said. “Now that we’ve got those off our back, we can keep them flooding in.”
Ahcan is listed at 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, but often appears to play bigger than that.
“I’m a really big energy guy for our team,” Ahcan said. “I try to keep everybody up and positive on the bench. As far as my play goes, I think I’m fast and energetic. I’m a get gritty type of forward, getting under the other team’s skin and trying to use that to our advantage.”
Minnesota State’s Jake Livingstone (23) reaches for the puck after a collision with St. Cloud State’s Grant Ahcan (11) and Huskies teammate Ondrej Trejbal (5) ended up in the fray during the NCAA Division I men’s hockey Fargo regional on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at Scheels Arena in Fargo.
David Samson / The Forum
Ahcan is one of three captains on the SCSU roster this season. The other captains are
and
senior defenseman Cooper Wylie.
Ahcan appreciates the honor, but has also tried not to change a lot about how he goes about things. It goes back to something that SCSU three-year captain
told him.
“When I came in here as a freshman, Spencer Meier said something that really stuck with me. He said, ‘Don’t try to be somebody you’re not. Be yourself and everyone will accept you and you become a family quicker that way,'” Ahcan said. “I wouldn’t say I’ve been trying to do too much or more than I have in years past. I’m definitely trying to be more vocal for the younger guys to see who kind of knows what’s going on and what the season is like.”
Larson said that there are a few ways in which Ahcan leads.
“He’s not afraid to speak his mind, but he leads mostly with how he plays,” Larson said. “The best way to lead is by not taking a shift off. The best way to lead is by being prepared for the games. He can be vocal if needed. But I think he tries to set the example of how we want to play, first and foremost.”
Ahcan said that Meier and former SCSU defenseman Brendan Bushy had a big influence on him when he got to the Huskies as a freshman in 2022. He has enjoyed his growth, both on off the ice, during his time at SCSU.
“It’s been great,” he said. “Every year has been a little different with growing and maturing and becoming an older guy that guys can look up to. When I came here, I had Spenny and Bushy and all those guys to show me the ropes. I’m just trying to be that guy for these younger guys.”
St. Cloud State forward Grant Ahcan (11) battles North Dakota defenseman Caleb MacDonald (13) and North Dakota forward Dylan James (26) for the puck in the first period Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Jason Wachter / St. Cloud LIVE
Ahcan had a pretty big tie to the Huskies when he was being recruited. His older brother,
Jack, was a defenseman for SCSU from 2016-20
and was the team’s captain as a senior.
Ahcan said that the recruiting process got ramped up during the fall before his senior year at Burnsville High School in 2019. He was playing for TDS Transportation in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League when
coaching staff reached out to him.
He had 15 points in 17 games playing for TDS, a team that also had Wylie and Reimann on its roster.
“I started stacking some points up and St. Cloud reached out to me and said, ‘We know you’ve been to the school watching your brother. But we want to build a relationship and start the recruiting process,'” Ahcan said. “I wasn’t talking to too many other teams, Miami and Omaha a little bit.
“St. Cloud was the most aggressive and wanted me the most. I came down during the week to watch Jack (Ahcan) practice before North Dakota. I went in to meet with Lars after practice. He said, ‘I know we’ve been pressuring you and giving you a time slot.’ I just looked at him and said, ‘Yeah, I want to be a Husky.’ It’s been awesome since then.”
It was a unique day when he committed.
“It was pretty cool,” Ahcan said. “The guys just got off the ice and (Larson) walked in (to the locker room) and said, ‘I’d like to announce our most recent recruit.’ I got to give my brother a big hug and all the guys congratulated me.
“That was a great experience. It was cool to see all his teammates come up and congratulate me.”
Now, Ahcan is trying to help the Huskies get back into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2023.
He is also looking to graduate this spring with a degree in business finance. Because of some miscommunication with an advisor, Ahcan is going to take 21 credits next semester.
Grant Ahcan
ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
“I’m going to overload to get all my classes done and graduate on time,” Ahcan said. “My advisor left to teach at a Christian school. He was partly with us and partly not. I almost didn’t get in some classes, but I figured it out.”
Ahcan and the Huskies could not be happier with the way things have turned out during his time at SCSU.
“It’s been great,” he said. “Every year has been a little different with growing and maturing and becoming an older guy that guys can look up to.”
Said Larson: “There’s something infectious about a guy who just loves playing hockey and being at the rink.”
St. Cloud State forward Grant Ahcan (11) takes the puck between Western Michigan forward Ryan Humphrey (28) and Western Michigan forward Iiro Hakkarainen (22) in the second period Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Jason Wachter / For St. Cloud LIVE
This is the first season that Division I hockey has gone to the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) to determine the field for the NCAA tournament. The top 16 teams in the country will make the tournament.
Going into this weekend, SCSU is sitting at No. 14 and UND is at No. 7. Other NCHC teams in the top 16 include Minnesota Duluth (No. 4), Denver (No. 5) and Western Michigan is No. 11.
After this weekend, the Huskies play host to Denver on Dec. 12-13.
“It’s a huge series for us,” Larson said of playing UND. “We have two of the best teams in the country in our rink and we’re hoping we can put our game together this weekend. We’ve seen bits and pieces of what we think we can be, but we don’t feel like we’ve put it all together yet.”