The Rink Live: Recent Episodes
Forum Communications Co.
A podcast for The Rink Live, a comprehensive hockey site filled with all the best Minnesota and North Dakota college and prep hockey news you want -- powered by beat reporters for Forum Communications Co.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine go over both days of the 2024 NHL Draft and discuss who some of the biggest risers and fallers were from the USHL.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine discuss the top skaters from the ranks of junior hockey who will hear their names called at the 2024 NHL Draft this weekend.
In the latest episode of The Rink Live Prospects Show, Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine give a full recap of the USHL Clark Cup finals and the NAHL Robertson Cup championship.
Sydney and Jordan also touch on some surprising commitment news, including Cullen Potter's flip from Michigan State to Arizona State, and give a quick recap on how Team USA finished at the IIHF U18 Men's World Championships.
Get caught up to speed with the latest news from the USHL and NAHL playoffs as Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine recap all of the action from the past two weeks.
They also discuss a couple of coaching changes from the two leagues and a few notable college commitments.
Host Mick Hatten talks with former St. Cloud State defenseman Jack Peart, who has now joined the Iowa Wild. Find out where the Wild draft pick is at finishing school and getting a taste of pro hockey.
On the latest episode of The Rink Live Prospects Show, Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine get you caught up to speed with who's in and who's out of both the USHL and NAHL playoffs so far. They also discuss some of the biggest performers from the past two weeks and recent commitments that came out of both leagues.
Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten recap the Frozen Four on this week's episode of the NCHC Icecast.
They discuss the sights and sounds of the event in St. Paul and then go into how Denver won its 10th national title. After that, they chat about a few players from the NCHC that have already signed professional contracts in the NHL and AHL and they give a quick update on the happenings of the transfer portal.
Charlie Host does analysis mostly on Altitude TV for Denver hockey games. The former Pioneer forward discusses the roster, coaching staff and the reason why DU is back in the NCAA semifinals.
In the latest episode of The Rink Live's Prospect Show, Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine talk about the recent hiring of Tri-City head coach Anthony Noreen at Miami and they also discuss the newest USHL tender from Sioux City, among plenty of other topics.
The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Sydney Wolf review how NCHC teams have performed in the NCAA tournament thus far and what to expect from the Frozen Four.
Long before he got to campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan rookie center Garrett Schifsky knew all about playing on a big stage, as a member of two Minnesota state tourney teams at Andover. His adjustment to the college game has included centering the Wolverines' top line between two of the bigger names in Big Ten hockey.
And Schifsky was able to make three trips back to his home state this year, where the team in maize and blue won once at St. Cloud State and twice at Minnesota, the second win earning them a spot in the Big Ten tournament title game versus archrival Michigan State this weekend.
Mick and Jess talked all things hockey with Schifsky, and broke down the rest of the league action, including a few now-former collegians who inked their first pro contracts.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine talk about how the playoff picture in the USHL is starting to piece together.
They also discuss how close Fargo is to capturing the USHL's Anderson Cup, the recent NTDP Evaluation Camp invites, and a few notable commitments from the NAHL.
The Rink Live's Mick Hatten chats through the NCHC playoffs and previews the Frozen Faceoff this weekend in St. Paul with the Grand Forks Herald's Brad Schlossman.
Color analyst Dave Starman watches as much NCHC hockey as anyone, so who better to have as a guest to help break down this weekend's NCHC quarterfinals.
Starman gives insight as to the keys to each team in the conference and in the series ahead of them in this conversation with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten on this episode of the NCHC Icecast.
The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten discuss the latest news in the Big Ten and chat with Ohio State defenseman Scooter Brickey after the Buckeyes' series win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
Sydney Wolf and Eli Swanson recap the boys state high school tournaments played last week at the Xcel Energy Center.
Penn State junior Danny Dzhaniyev joins Jess Myers and Mick Hatten as they discuss the latest news from around the Big Ten.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Eli Swanson break down every matchup of the MSHSL boys state tournament and make their picks before the start of the fun on Wednesday. For more coverage of the Tourney from The Rink Live, visit our high school page.
This is the last weekend of the regular season in the NCHC and there are some things that have been decided and several things that will be decided this weekend.
North Dakota will be the No. 1 seed in the NCHC quarterfinals after sweeping Western Michigan and Denver sweeping St. Cloud State last weekend. Miami will be the No. 8 seed and will play at North Dakota in the quarterfinals. Minnesota Duluth will be the No. 7 seed.
Spots 2-6 will be decided this weekend.
Matt Wellens, the beat reporter of Minnesota Duluth hockey for the Duluth News-Tribune, joins The Rink Live's Mick Hatten to break down last weekend's series, take a look at the standings and the PairWise Rankings and preview this weekend's series.
During the discussion, Wellens and Hatten also discuss who some of the top candidates are for MVP in the NCHC. All this and more on this episode of the NCHC Icecast.
Zach Okabe was not sure if he was going to come back for a fifth season with the St. Cloud State men's hockey team. He is glad that he did.
Okabe is heading into his last regular season series of his college career this weekend when the Huskies play Denver at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Okabe helps recap how last weekend went against Western Michigan and preview this weekend's series with the Pioneers.
He also talks about his group of buddies from Alberta on the team, which NHL team is his favorite (a bit of a surprise) and why he thinks this SCSU team has a chance to do something special this season.
Before that interview, The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Sydney Wolf break down last weekend in the NCHC and preview this weekend's series for all eight teams.
The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten are joined by Michigan State's Gavin O'Connell to chat about how the former Wayzata Trojan ended up with the Spartans, his hockey-playing family and how college is treating him so far.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Eli Swanson give a brief recap of the state girls tournament, go through each boys section tournament and look at the Mr. Hockey finalists.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine talk about how Fargo has already clinched a USHL playoff spot and discuss who might be next. They also talk about another lengthy suspension that was handed out and a few key commitments, and decommitments, from across the ranks of junior hockey.
After a wild weekend in the two NCHC series that took place, the conference race really tightened up.
This weekend, there are three interesting series and one that appears to be a bit of a mismatch that The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten discuss. The weekend's series including UMD at North Dakota, Colorado College at Nebraska Omaha, Miami at Denver and Western Michigan at SCSU.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Eli Swanson break down the Minnesota girls state tournament matchups in both Class A and AA, plus make some picks on which teams might be playing for a state title on Saturday night.
Visit our tournament page for coverage all week long!
Mick and Sydney look at where the NCHC stands with a month left in regular season play.
Jess Myers and Mick Hatten go through all the latest Big Ten happenings and catch up with former/current Minnesota Gophers/Wild defenseman Brock Faber.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine discuss a massive 17-game suspension that happened recently in the USHL along with a couple of huge trades and roster moves that were seen throughout the ranks of junior hockey over the past two weeks.
The Rink Live Prospects Show is presented by Minnkota Windows.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten talk the latest news from around the Big Ten and are joined by Penn State forward and Nashville Predators prospect Aiden Fink for an interview.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten go over the latest news and scores from around the NCHC
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf & Eli Swanson go through the Minnesota girls high school section tournaments and break down some of the top teams, where upsets could happen, top players and more. Later on, a discussion of the top candidates for Ms. Hockey and Senior Goalie of the Year.
0:00 Class A
30:40 Class AA
1:01:30 Ms. Hockey
1:17:00 Senior Goalie of the Year
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten go over the latest NCHC news before a chat with Colorado College head coach Kris Mayotte on his Tigers, why it's sometimes easier to play on the road and more.
With Minnesota set to face off against Wisconsin this weekend, former Badger NHLer Derek Stepan joins the show to talk about his career, his role with the Minnesota Wild and more!
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine discuss their thoughts on the NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Report along with some notable trades and acquisitions in the NAHL and USHL.
The Rink Live Prospects Show is presented by Minnkota Windows.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
About this time last year, Omaha went on a good run (10-4-1) to finish the regular season and finish third place in the NCHC standings, the first time the Mavericks had finished that high since finishing third in each of the first two seasons (2013-14 and 2014-15).
UNO (4-7-1 NCHC, 11-9-2 overall) has had an interesting start to this season. The Mavericks have road wins over Denver and North Dakota, who have both been ranked in the top 10 throughout this season. UNO played an interesting game on Nov. 18-19 at Denver. That's not a typo. It took two days to play the game because there were some ice problems on Nov. 18. Mike Gabinet, who is in his seventh season as UNO's head coach, talks about that experience and breaks down the ups and downs of the season to this point.
He also helps preview this weekend's NCHC series at No. 14/15-ranked St. Cloud State (7-2-3, 11-7-4). The teams played one another on Dec. 8-9 at Baxter Arena with the Huskies picking up a 4-1 win and the Mavericks rebounding to pick up two points with a win in the shootout after the game finished in a 2-2 tie. Gabinet also discusses a number of the team's key players.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten also review all of last weekend's series and preview this weekend's series on this episode on the NCHC Icecast.
Michigan sophomore forward T.J. Hughes joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten to discuss the Wolverines' high-scoring series against Michigan State, celebrating Michigan's national football crown, his career and more.
The Rink Live's Rob Beer and Jess Myers sit down with Hockey Day Minnesota 2024 organizers Brenda Baumann and Tad Palmquist to discuss how Warroad is preparing for this week's event, what the build up has been like, what to expect and more.
Visit The Rink Live for Hockey Day Minnesota coverage all throughout the week!
A look ahead, behind at the Big Ten race, plus a chat with Big Ten Network broadcaster Paul Caponigri.
The St. Cloud State men's hockey team is in the middle of the toughest part of its regular schedule. The NCHC-leading and 13th-ranked Huskies (7-1-2 NCHC, 11-6-3) just finished a road series against No. 5/6 Denver (6-3-1, 15-5-2) and things don't get easier this weekend with a series against No. 6/7 North Dakota (6-4, 15-6-1) at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
Huskies head coach Brett Larson talks about those two series and also discusses his team, what it was like helping Team USA win the IIHF World Junior Championships gold medal and what he learned from working on Denver head coach David Carle's staff at the tournament in Sweden.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten review last weekend's NCHC games and preview the series this weekend on this episode on the NCHC Icecast.
David Carle added another impressive item to his resume last weekend when he was the head coach for Team USA, which went undefeated to win the gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship. Carle has led Denver to back-to-back regular season NCHC titles and the 2022 NCAA Division I championship.
Carle talks about leading the Americans to the gold medal in Sweden and working with St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson at the tournament. He also discusses the talent of Denver freshman defenseman Zeev Buium, who is considered a probably first-round NHL draft pick,the return to the lineup of Pioneers goalie Matt Davis and keys to this weekend's series against St. Cloud State.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten also review last weekend's games involving NCHC teams and preview this weekend's action on this episode of the NCHC Icecast.
Ohio State Head Coach Steve Rohlik joins Jess Myers and Mick Hatten to discuss the Buckeyes, his career, helping to build the foundation for a championship team at UMD as an assistant and what OSU can improve in the second half.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine recap the World Juniors, discuss some big moves in the USHL and touch on the U18 Women's World Championship in the newest episode of The Rink Live Prospects Show.
The Rink Live Prospects Show is presented by Minnkota Windows.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten discuss the latest news in the Big Ten and chat with Wisconsin forward Simon Tassy after the Quebec native scored four of his team's six goals in a pair of 3-0 wins at the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee.
It was a weekend of nonconference play for five NCHC teams. St. Cloud State swept Bemidji State, Miami split with Niagara, Minnesota Duluth had a loss and win at a tournament in Milwuakee and Colorado College and Denver both had home exhibition wins over Minot State.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten break down those games and also preview this weekend's nonconference games and take a look at NCHC teams in the PairWise Rankings on this episode of the NCHC Icecast.
Jess Myers and Mick Hatten take a look around the Big Ten at the holiday break and pick what each team is looking to change (or keep going) in the second half. Plus, a chat with Notre Dame goalie Ryan Bischel on his path to South Bend and career so far.
Mick and Sydney look ahead to some holiday games and tournaments this week before an interview with Miami defenseman Jack Clement.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine review how the World Jr. A Challenge went for Team USA before previewing what this year's World Juniors tournament will look like. They also discuss some movement in the NAHL and USHL including call-ups, tenders, and commitments.
The Rink Live Prospects Show is presented by Minnkota Windows.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Jess and Mick round up the latest news in the Big 10 after the first part of the season and are joined by Minnesota associate head coach Steve Miller to discuss his experiences coaching Team USA at the World Juniors and what it's like to help put a national team together.
Denver split a road series with Western Michigan in a battle between two of the top 11 teams in the PairWise Rankings. The Broncos picked up a 7-3 win in the opener and the Pioneers picked up a 6-5 win in overtime on Saturday.
St. Cloud State had lost four of its last five games at Baxter Arena, but picked up a win and a tie last weekend at Nebraska Omaha. The Huskies take a four-point lead in the NCHC standings going into the holiday break.
Minnesota Duluth and Miami went into last weekend both looking for their first NCHC wins of the season. The Bulldogs picked up five points with a shootout win on Friday and a 3-1 win on Saturday.
Through eight games, there are a few surprises when you look at the NCHC standings. Denver, which was picked to win the conference in a preseason media poll, is in fourth place and nine points behind SCSU. The Huskies, who were picked to finish third, remain undefeated in conference play at 7-0-1 and are the biggest surprise.
The Rink Live's Jordan McAlpine and Mick Hatten discuss all this and a lot more on this edition of the NCHC Icecast. Plus, an interview with Western Michigan senior center Luke Grainger, who is tied for third in the nation in points with 25.
Jess and Mick look around the Big Ten with just one more weekend of games to go before the holiday break and are joined by Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky for an interview.
As the NCHC goes into its last games before the holiday break, there are a couple of intriguing matchups this weekend.
St. Cloud State, which is leading the conference standings, takes a road trip to Nebraska Omaha. Those two teams split their series last season in Omaha. Denver, which is in third place, travels to fourth-place Western Michigan. The Pioneers are one point ahead of the Broncos in the standings and WMU is riding a six-game winning streak.
Colorado College, which is 0-3-1 in its last four games, has a tall task in a road series at top-ranked North Dakota, which is 8-1 in its last nine games.
In a battle between two teams off to rough starts, eight-place Miami plays host to seventh-place Minnesota Duluth this weekend.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten preview all of those games and also take a look back at last weekend's matchups, including the top-three matchup between North Dakota and Denver, which ended up being a split.
Hatten also talks about his most surprising teams in the NCHC, one being better than expected and one being lower in the standings than expected.
And stay tuned at the end for an interview with UMD captain Luke Loheit.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine discuss some of the latest news in junior hockey including a few NCAA call-ups, a couple of flipped commitments, and the latest NAHL standings.
The Rink Live Prospects Show is presented by Minnkota Windows.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten discuss the latest Big 10 hockey news, matchups and more, plus an interview with Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale.
It was a good weekend for NCHC teams in terms of wins and losses.
Denver, Miami, Nebraska Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan combined to go 9-2-1 last weekend in nonconference series.
The coming weekend will be a bit odd for NCHC teams in that there are two teams that have byes (St. Cloud State and Miami), two teams have nonconference series (Western Michigan and Colorado College) and then there are four teams that are playing conference series (Nebraska Omaha at Minnesota Duluth and North Dakota at Denver).
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten discuss all of that and there are also interviews with Nebraska Omaha forward Nolan Sullivan and Mavericks head coach Mike Gabinet.
Jess Myers and Mick Hatten get you updated on the latest Big Ten hockey news and Jess talks with former Minnesota Gophers forward Logan Cooley about life with the NHL's Arizona Coyotes, learning from his more experienced teammates, how he got over a loss in the national championship game and more!
Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten review the news from around the NCHC and hear from North Dakota captain Riese Gaber
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine discuss who's hot and who's not in the USHL as of November. They also talk about a few players that have started to wear neck protection recently and which skaters have made the decision to return to high school hockey.
The Rink Live Prospects Show is presented by Minnkota Windows.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Jess Myers and Mick Hatten take a look around the Big Ten and chat with Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson about the Fighting Irish.
The conventional thinking is it is tough to get sweeps in the NCHC on the road.
Well, this past weekend was a bit of an anomaly. All three road teams swept conference series as St. Cloud State got two wins at Western Michigan, North Dakota got a sweep in Duluth and Colorado College swept Miami in Oxford, Ohio.
In nonconference play last weekend, Denver put up and gave up a lot of goals (23 between the teams) in a series split at Arizona State and Nebraska Omaha got two one-goal wins over visiting Long Island.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten review last weekend and preview the four coming NCHC series this weekend on this week's podcast. Stay tuned at the end for an interview with Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin.
Mick & Jess are joined by Wisconsin play-by-play announcer Brian Posick to talk about the Badgers' fast start under Mike Hastings and more from around the Big Ten.
There were three NCHC series on the first weekend of conference games and two of them ended up being sweeps.
St. Cloud State swept Miami (3-2, 6-0) and Denver swept Colorado College (6-1, 5-1). In the other NCHC series, Western Michigan picked up a win (5-2) and then Nebraska Omaha picked up an overtime win (3-2) in a series at Baxter Arena.
In two nonconference series involving NCHC teams, North Dakota split a top 10 battle at Boston University (3-2 loss, 5-4 overtime win) and Minnesota picked up a home win (5-1) and a tie (3-3) at Minnesota Duluth.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten discuss what we learned from last weekend's games and also preview this weekend's games on the podcast. After that, there is an interview with Denver defenseman Sean Behrens, who is off to a strong start to the season.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine discuss some of the best, and worst, teams in the USHL so far this fall. They also talk about a few big commitments from the past week.
The Rink Live Prospects Show is presented by Minnkota Windows.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Jess and Mick recap the weekend of Big Ten hockey action and Big Ten Network play-by-play broadcaster Dan Kelly shares stories of his family's broadcasting legacy, his hometown of St. Louis, what his job is like and more!
It was a weekend of ups and downs for the five NCHC teams that were in action. Minnesota Duluth, Miami, North Dakota, Nebraska Omaha, Colorado College and Denver went a combined 4-4-4 last weekend.
Augustana, the newest member of the CCHA and NCAA Division I hockey, had a big weekend with a tie at Denver and a win at Colorado College. Miami had the best weekend of NCHC teams win a win and a tie with ranked Arizona State.
This weekend, there are two nonconference series and the first three NCHC series of the season. North Dakota plays at Boston University in a battle of traditional powers. The Fighting Hawks are ranked No. 3/4 in the national polls this week with the Terriers ranked at No. 8/9. Minnesota Duluth plays a home-and-home with old WCHA rival Minnesota and both teams are in need of a win. The Bulldogs got swept last weekend at Cornell, while the Gophers are riding a three-game losing streak after getting swept at home by Wisconsin.
The first NCHC series of the season take place this weekend. The first two games of four this season between instate rivals Colorado College and Denver take part in a home-and-home series. Western Michigan, which was idle last weekend, goes on the road to face Nebraska Omaha. St. Cloud State, which was also idle last weekend, plays host to Miami.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten break all of this down in this week's NCHC Icecast. This week's interviews are Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte and Tigers senior forward Logan Will.
The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten break down the happenings in the Big Ten, including Minnesota's road split at North Dakota, and hear from Mackie Samoskevich before he made his NHL debut for the Florida Panthers.
The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Sydney Wolf recap the weekend of action in the NCHC and hear from Western Michigan head coach Pat Ferschweiler.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine discuss the top USHL teams and performers as of mid-October. They also talk about some big games this weekend in the NAHL and the latest commitment news.
The Rink Live Prospects Show is presented by Minnkota Windows.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Mick Hatten and Jess Myers from The Rink Live break down what has happened and what might happen in Big Ten hockey, and hear from the youngest of the legendary Brodzinski brothers.
The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Sydney Wolf recap the weekend of action in the NCHC and then Brad Berry shares his thoughts on North Dakota's team going into the year with an entirely new defense group and an extremely skilled offense.
The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten recap the Big Ten action from the weekend and then Jess chats with Wisconsin Head Coach Mike Hastings on his excitement to start the season after taking over the Badgers program.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Sydney Wolf recap the weekend of action as NCHC teams got the season going with some exhibition and nonconference games. Miami head coach Chris Bergeron talks about his RedHawks team to finish the show.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine talk about some of the top teams in the USHL so far. They also discuss an interesting situation that happened in the NAHL this past weekend and go over some of the biggest commits in girls hockey from the month of September.
The Rink Live Prospects Show is presented by Minnkota Windows.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Big Ten reporter Jess Myers is joined by Mick Hatten to take a look at the conference ahead of the 2023-24 season, then former Michigan defenseman Jon Merrill joins to talk about his upcoming season with the Minnesota Wild and his time in Ann Arbor.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Sydney Wolf sit down to go through the NCHC teams and the storylines to watch ahead of the 2023-24 season. Then, hear from St. Cloud State's Brett Larson and Dylan Anhorn.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine recap their weekend watching the NAHL Showcase and the Upper Midwest High School Elite League. They also discuss recent commitments, trade news, and preview the upcoming USHL Fall Classic. The Rink Live Prospects Show is presented by Minnkota Windows.
Training camps and preseason games are now underway in the NAHL and USHL, Team USA had a poor showing at the U18 Summer Series against Canada, and Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine also fill you in on the latest commitments, and decommitments, from the past two weeks. Get ready for the 2023-24 season with The Rink Live Prospects Show presented by Minnkota Windows.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine talk about all of the verbal commitments that were announced on Aug. 1 and recap some of the top prospects from the World Junior Summer Showcase and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine preview the upcoming Hlinka Gretzky Cup and World Junior Summer Showcase. They also discuss the U18 Women's National Festival roster and fill you in on the latest college hockey commitments from the past few weeks.
Heather Weems recently finished up her first year as the commissioner of the NCHC after being the athletic director at St. Cloud State for the previous 10 years. The conference has had a couple of big changes in the last few months with the announcement of adding Arizona State as a ninth member and replacing Don Adam with Mike Schmitt as its director of officiating.
She talks about some of the new skills she has acquired in her new position, the changing landscape of college sports, being on the school board in St. Cloud and more on this episode of The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Robby Jackson is coming off his best pro season. Playing for HC Nove Zamky in the Slovakina league, he was second in the league in goals (30), third in points (51) and 12th in plus/minus (plus-16) in 49 regular season games. He recently signed to play the coming season for HC La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland.
Jackson talks about his two seasons in Slovakia and why he decided to head to Switzerland for next season.
Then Jackson answers a number of questions from St. Cloud State fans that were submitted to The Rink Live's Mick Hatten after he let people know that Jackson was going to be a guest on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast. Jackson answers everything from what his go-to meal at Val's is to who the most talented teammate was that he had at SCSU. A fun conversation with Jackson, who played for the Huskies from 2015-19.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine talk about all of the college hockey players and prospects taken in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. They also touch on some of the recent commitment news and the latest coaching changes and trades in the USHL.
It is probably a stretch to think about bundling up and heading into a rink when outside the temperature is well into the triple digits, but such is life in hockey for Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Greg Powers in the midst of another blazing July in the desert.
In the past 12 months, after starting their trek into NCAA Division from a club program with no conference home and playing in a tiny off-campus rink, the Sun Devils have opened the sparkling new Mullett Arena. ASU just recently were accepted as the ninth member institution of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Powers joined Mick Hatten and Jess Myers from The Rink Live to talk about the hurdles they have overcome and the challenges they will face playing in arguably college hockey’s toughest league starting in the 2024-25 season.
Jimmy Schuldt just got done playing the longest hockey season of his career. The 28-year-old former St. Cloud State defenseman from Minnetonka played his last game on June 21. Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals was the 97th game of the season for Schuldt, who played for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
It was quite a season for the Firebirds, the AHL affiliate of the Seattle Kraken. The Firebirds are located in Thousand Palms, Calif., which is about a 25-minute drive from Palm Springs. It was the first season for the Firebirds, who began the season playing home games in Seattle.
Schuldt ended up having the best season of his pro career with 32 points and finishing tied for 13th in the AHL in plus/minus (plus-22) in 71 regular season games. He was recently named one of the AHL West's top defensive defensemen and signed a two-way contract with Seattle on Saturday.
But with that long season, Schuldt had to miss some big events for friends and family. His older brother, Joe, got married on the same day as Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals. Former SCSU teammate Kevin Fitzgerald and former SCSU equipment manager Jeremiah Minkel both also had weddings that Schuldt had to miss due to hockey.
Schuldt discusses the ups and downs of the long season on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Any time the members of the Minnesota Wild — players, coaches, team staff, etc. — get on a plane, or check into a hotel room on the road, or take a bus to a visiting arena, or sit down for a team meal, you can bet that Andrew Heydt played a role in making it happen. As the person in charge of team services and the growing alumni association for the Wild as they approach a quarter-century as the State of Hockey’s NHL team, Heydt spoke to Mick Hatten and Jess Myers of The Rink Live about the unique challenges of his position and the summer’s biggest music/hockey event, a Crazy Game of Hockey, coming up in the Twin Cities.
University of Minnesota men's hockey coach Bob Motzko was watching the NHL Draft like most hockey people on Wednesday and Thursday. He got to see another of his Gopher recruits — Oliver Moore — get selected in the first round (19th overall, Chicago).
Motzko gives a scouting report on Moore, how he's coached several really good second-round picks recently, discusses how National Team Development Program players differ from other incoming players, Logan Cooley's volcanic competitiveness and more on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Jaxon Castor truly has a unique story. His hockey career has taken him through some tremendous ups and downs and to several parts of the country.
Castor grew up in Phoenix, played about 1 1/2 seasons in the USHL for the Dubuque Fighting Saints, got traded to the Shreveport Mudbugs in the NAHL, committed to Arizona State but could not get in academically, played a season for the St. Cloud State club team and the last three seasons for the Huskies NCAA Division I team.
As a junior, he had a tough run through the postseason, filling in for David Hrenak, who missed the playoffs with pneumonia. Last season, he mostly shared the net with Dominic Basse before playing five excellent games in the postseason, helping the Huskies win the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and reach a regional championship game.
Then he made his pro debut with the Florida Everblades in the ECHL, got called up to help the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL and then returned to be on the roster for the Everblades, who won the Kelly Cup title as ECHL playoff champions.
We hear about the journey in this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with Mick Hatten.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine recap the NAHL draft, talk about some of the most recent news in the USHL including the announcement of a new commissioner, and discuss some of the newest commitments in girls hockey.
Patti Marshall recently signed a two-year contract to continue playing for the Minnesota Whitecaps in the Premier Hockey Federation.
Marshall, 25, played for the University of Minnesota from 2016-20 and then one season professionally in Sweden before returning to Minnesota to play for the Whitecaps and earn all-star status in each of the last two seasons.
Before playing in college, she played four seasons for Shattuck-St. Mary's (2012-16), played on the USA Under-18 team three times (2013-15) and played two seasons of high school hockey for Thief River Falls (2010-12).
Marshall is now in dental school at the University of Minnesota and she discusses how hockey ended up providing her interest in dentistry. She talks about her career on this episode of The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Former St. Cloud State forward Blake Winiecki recently completed his fifth pro season playing for the Florida Everblades in the ECHL. Winiecki, 29, helped the Everblades win their second straight playoff title by picking up nine goals and 15 points in 22 playoff games.
Winiecki talks about the team celebrating their title and how the Gulf of Mexico may have helped do a number on the trophy.
He also discusses getting to know former SCSU goalie Jaxon Castor and how he follows the Huskies these days.
Winiecki goes into a number of other topics, including being close friends with former Huskies Judd Peterson and Charlie Lindgren and a decision he will be making about his career in a couple months.
Winiecki, a former Lakeville North and Waterloo Black Hawk who played for the Huskies from 2014-18, discusses all this and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
It was a whirlwind and the longest hockey season of Nick Perbix's career in 2022-23. He began the season with the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL, but quickly got a call up to the Tampa Bay Lightning due to an injury. He didn't go back to the AHL.
Perbix tells the story of finding out he was called up to the NHL as he was signing an apartment lease in Syracuse. There is also the story of how his parents ended up helping him make his NHL debut on the night that he did.
Perbix also talks about some similarities between Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper and St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson, scoring his first NHL goal, playing for Team USA in the World Championships, his parents having some fun with his jersey, the game he was most nervous for and a lot more.
A really fun conversation with former St. Cloud State and Elk River defenseman Nick Perbix on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Doug Christiansen's love of hockey began at an early age with his parents taking him to University of Wisconsin men's hockey games when he was growing up in Milwaukee. That led him to playing hockey, getting to the USHL, Union College, play eight seasons of pro hockey, coach professionally overseas and in North America, coach in the USHL and to work for the USHL in two capacities.
Christiansen was named the ECAC commissioner on Tuesday, June 13. He talks about his journey to his new position, tells stories of his time in the game and looks ahead to the challenges and opportunities ahead in college hockey on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine guide you through the latest trades in the USHL and NAHL, the newest coaching hires in junior hockey, and some of the commitments from the past two weeks.
Michelle Morgan recently began her new job as commissioner of both conferences. She discusses why the conferences are merging on The Rink Live podcast.
At the time, Charlie Lindgren did not know much about cooking. As he was preparing for his freshman season at St. Cloud State in the summer of 2013, Lindgren was living with captains Nic Dowd and Kevin Gravel. Lindgren ended up buying some ribs at the grocery store and there's a fun story that goes along with it.
Lindgren, 29, played for the Huskies from 2013-16. The 2022-23 season was the first time that he played a full season in the NHL and he did so with the Washington Capitals and was teammates with Dowd and former SCSU star defenseman Nick Jensen.
Lindgren talks about the season, discusses the two former Huskies, what it is like to be teammates with TJ Oshie, Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson and Darcy Kuemper.
His brother, Ryan, plays defense for the New York Rangers, so the two are seeing each other a bit more regularly now. Lindgren shares a fun story about playing against Ryan when the two of them were in the AHL.
He also discusses his workout regimen in the offseason, what it is like to come back for SCSU's pro camp and a lot more in this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Nate Ewell got his start in hockey media relations as a student at Princeton, then worked at Michigan State, was one of the founders of InsideCollegeHockey.com and worked with the Washington Capitals before spending a decade promoting the sport with College Hockey, Inc. In 2021 Nate and his family left his native New England and trekked literally cross-country, joining the Vegas Golden Knights as their vice president of communications and content.
Now in his second season with the Golden Knights as Vice President of Communications and Content, Nate and the team are four wins from the greatest prize awarded in sports, as they begin the Stanley Cup Final this weekend versus the Florida Panthers. Ewell joined Mick Hatten and Jess Myers from The Rink Live to talk about the Knights’ playoff run, his time promoting college hockey, and the explosive growth of the game in a place known more for slot machines and blackjack than for slap shots and backchecking.
Jack Ahcan was able to participate in the AHL All-Star weekend this past season when he had 36 points in 68 games playing for the Providence Bruins, the top minor league team of the Boston Bruins.
On this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast, he talks about several of the close relationships he's developed over the years with former teammates like Brock Boeser, Will Borgen and Nick Perbix and also the relationship he's developed with Providence teammate/roommate Nick Wolff.
As always, Ahcan also talks some fishing. He discusses what it was like watching his brother, Grant, play forward for the Huskies this season, what it was like playing for Bob Motzko (2016-18) and Brett Larson (2018-20) at St. Cloud State and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine walk through the USHL Clark Cup final and the NAHL Robertson Cup final before discussing all of the recent coaching and recruiting news of the past two weeks.
Former Moorhead Spud Will Borgen is back in his hometown after helping the Kraken win the franchise's first playoff series. He also shares his SCSU memories.
Abbey Murphy did not have any other hockey players in her family. So where did her interest in the game come from? A fun story on how she got introduced to the sport through a neighbor.
While Murphy did not have hockey in her family, she grew up in an athletic household. Her brother, Dominic, is a wrestler at St. Cloud State. Her brother, Patrick, played college football at Carthage College and her mother, Lynne, is a member of the St. Xavier University Hall of Fame for her softball talents.
She says her feistiness comes from her father, Ed, who was a Marine.
Murphy discusses winning a gold medal in April with Team USA at the IIHF World Championships, her Winter Olympics experience, when she decided she wanted to be a Gopher and a lot more on this episode of The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine discuss the most recent USHL games and preview the Clark Cup final. They also talk about how the NAHL playoffs are going and some of the honors that the league has handed out. Recruiting news, trades, and coaching changes are also mentioned.
Mikey Eyssimont is finally getting settled after a season that saw some massive moves. In 2022-23, Eyssimont played for the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League, then the Winnipeg Jets, the San Jose Sharks and the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL. So that's two countries and both coasts in America.
The good news for Eyssimont is that the former St. Cloud State player seems to have found a place in the NHL. He ended the season playing 15 regular season games and three playoff games with the Lightning. On Sunday, Eyssimont signed a two-year, one-way contract with the Lightning worth $800,000 per year.
In all his stops, he ended up playing a career-best 54 regular season games in the NHL after spending nearly all of his first five pro seasons playing in the AHL.
Eyssimont discusses his travels, his career and if he still follows the St. Cloud State men's hockey team. Eyssimont, 26, played for the Huskies from 2015-18 and discusses all this and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
The 24-year-old goalie from Mound, Minn., is back in Minnesota after playing overseas. A fun conversation with the former All-WCHA First Team pick on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
The Rink Live's Jordan McAlpine joins Mick Hatten and Jess Myers to catch up on junior hockey before the USHL Draft this week. They talk about the playoffs in the USHL and NAHL and where the season's at so far.
Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine discuss the USHL and the NAHL playoffs and some of the standout players of the postseason so far. They also recap recent college commits throughout the leagues and review some of the tenders signed in the USHL.
Mike Hastings spent the last 11 seasons helping lead the Minnesota State University-Mankato men's hockey program to places it had never been before, including winning conference championships and reaching two Frozen Fours. But Hastings recently left the Mavericks to become the new men's head coach at the University of Wisconsin.
Hastings talks about making that decision, the process of getting his new job, trying to build new relationships and what the welcome has been like from people attached to the Badgers. All this and a lot more on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Luke Strand wrote a school paper in the fifth grade on what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said a fireman or a coach.
It ended up being the latter and he has coached in hockey for the last 20-plus years. He has coached in junior hockey, NCAA Division III, Division I and pro hockey (AHL). He began as a player growing up in Eau Claire, Wis. He ended up playing junior hockey for the North Iowa Huskies (USHL) and at Wisconsin-Eau Claire. After playing some minor league hockey, he has been a head or assistant coach or a scout.
On April 10, he became the men's hockey head coach at Minnesota State University-Mankato. Strand talks about the stops in his career, trying to navigate the transfer portal and how he would like to see the Mavericks play.
Air Force Head Coach Frank Serratore recaps Minnesota's win over Boston University and Quinnipiac's victory over Michigan at the Frozen Four in Tampa with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten of The Rink Live.
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Oliver has led the Force to the USHL's best record. He talks about the ups and downs of the long season, the curve of being in charge and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider Podcast.
There were an unusual number of goals and blowout wins in the opening round of the NCAA Division I men's hockey tournament last week. That was followed up by some tight games in the region championship games.
Jess Myers, Brad Schlossman, Matt Wellens and Mick Hatten discuss what they observed in the regionals and also discuss the NCAA Frozen Four matchups of Minnesota vs. Boston University and Quinnipiac vs. Michigan.
With the season ended for North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State, Schlossman, Wellens and Hatten talk about lineup changes and question marks for those teams for next season.
There is also a discussion on the transfer portal, which has seen some surprising players already enter it and find new homes.
Sydney Wolf, Matt Wellens, Mick Hatten and Jess Myers discuss Wisconsin's record 7th national championship, the Patty Kazmaier Award winner and players recently named to the Team USA women's roster.
Then everyone chimes in to discuss the NCAA men's hockey tournament bracket and which teams could be coming out of each regional to advance to the Frozen Four.
And the panel chimes in on college hockey color analyst Dave Starman being left out of ESPN's men's tournament coverage. Hint: They aren't big fans of the decision.
Todd Milewski of the Wisconsin State Journal and UMD Play-By-Play Announcer Zach Schneider talk with Kelly Hinseth and the Duluth News Tribune's Matt Wellens about the upcoming national championship game between Ohio State and Wisconsin, the weekend in Duluth and more. Live from Amsoil Arena.
Presented by Kwik Trip and Minnesota Power
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Minnesota Duluth's Gabbie Hughes talks with Kelly Hinseth and the Duluth News Tribune's Matt Wellens about her college career coming to an end, her future in hockey, and working more with Sophie's Squad to promote mental health awareness.
Presented by Kwik Trip and Minnesota Power
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The Rink Live's Kelly Hinseth talks with Ohio State women's hockey players Gabby Rosenthal and Jennifer Gardiner before the Buckeyes take on Northeastern in a national semifinal on Friday.
Presented by Kwik Trip and Minnesota Power
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The Rink Live's Kelly Hinseth talks with Wisconsin's Jesse Compher and Britta Curl before the Badgers play Minnesota on Friday for a spot in the national championship game.
Presented by Kwik Trip and Minnesota Power
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The Rink Live's Kelly Hinseth talks with Minnesota Gophers head coach Brad Frost about the team's road to Duluth and playing in a national semifinal against a known opponent in Wisconsin, then chats with sisters Emily and Grace Zumwinkle about playing together and what it would be like to win a national championship.
Presented by Kwik Trip and Minnesota Power
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Nadine Muzerall has won a national championship as a player and as a coach. On The Rink Live podcast, she talks about the challenges for her top-ranked team and previews the national semifinals game.
A look at how UND, SCSU got to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, the Gophers chances in the women's Frozen Four and the men's conference title game and our panel makes predictions for this weekend's playoffs.
Kyler Kupka grew up in Camrose, Alberta, which is about a three-hour drive to the north of Calgary. He grew up working on a family farm and his dad built a pretty cool outdoor rink for him every year that was so close that Kupka brought a toaster and bread to the warming house. His twin brother did not play hockey, but both his older brother and father played hockey, though Kupka has played at the highest levels among them.
Kupka was off to a great start this season (2 goals, 6 assists in his first 8 games) when he had to go in for an appendectomy. He could not skate for three weeks, but has come back and is having the best season of his career. Kupka talks about all of this and helps preview this weekend's playoff series against Minnesota Duluth with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Eli Swanson take a look at the MSHSL Boys Hockey Tournament brackets and preview the matchups coming up this week at the Xcel Energy Center.
For tournament coverage, including brackets, stories, photos, streaming information and more, visit The Rink Live's Tourney page!
Lots of similarities occurred in last weekend's NCHC series between St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. UMD had leads after the first period in both games, but SCSU scored two goals in the second period in both games and each ended up one-goal games. Matt Wellens and Mick Hatten break down last weekend's series and the rematch in the opening round of the NCHC playoffs this weekend in St. Cloud.
In Grand Forks, North Dakota picked up five out of six points against Nebraska Omaha, which ended up finishing third in the NCHC. Brad Schlossman talks about that series and this weekend's rematch between the two teams in the first round of the NCHC playoffs, this time in Omaha.
In the Big 10, top-seeded Minnesota took an interesting approach to the off week and Jess Myers discusses what the Gophers did with the absence of games. Myers also talks about the Big 10 playoffs, which saw Michigan sweep Wisconsin and Ohio State beat Penn State in three games and Michigan State beat Notre Dame in three games.
In the WCHA, Ohio State beat UMD in the semifinals, but the Buckeyes ended up losing the Final Faceoff championship game to Minnesota. The Gophers beat Wisconsin in the semifinals. UMD and Minnesota are in the same regional for the NCAA tournament and that regional will be played at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. Myers and Wellens discuss the outlook for the Gophers and Bulldogs, respectively.
Host Sydney Wolf also talks about the boys state hockey tournaments, which will be played this week in St. Paul.
The question of the week is: Who is your vote for MVP of the league(s) you cover for the regular season?
Huskies radio play-by-play voice joins the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast to talk about the season, what's at stake in the final weekend of the regular season and how he prepares for 14 games at once.
A conversation with the University of Minnesota graduate student, who won the Patty Kazmaier Trophy as women's hockey's best player last season. A look inside the competitive mind of the star center.
The St. Cloud State men's hockey team needed three points in a series against Nebraska Omaha to clinch home ice for the quarterfinals of the NCHC playoffs. The Huskies did that with a win on Friday, but the Mavericks bounced back for a series split. Mick Hatten talks about the ups and downs of the weekend.
Minnesota Duluth split with last-place Miami, including a 4-1 loss on Senior Night. The Bulldogs are preparing for series at SCSU to finish the regular season. Matt Wellens and Hatten help preview that series, which will help determine where UMD plays in the opening round of the playoffs.
North Dakota picked up an overtime win and a shootout win at Colorado College and is in sixth place going into the last weekend of the regular season. The Fighting Hawks are one point behind UMD in the standings. Brad Schlossman discusses an interesting weekend for the Fighting Hawks, which included a 0-0 tie that went to a shootout.
Top-ranked Minnesota rolled to two wins over visiting Ohio State to wrap up its Big 10 regular season schedule. Jess Myers talks about coach Bob Motzko's unique plan for the off week.
In the WCHA, there were rumblings going into the weekend that there would, at least, be a three-game series or two. Instead, the home teams all swept, including UMD winning two against SCSU and Minnesota blasting St. Thomas twice. Hatten and Wellens discuss the series between the Bulldogs and Huskies. Myers reviews the Gophers series.
Sydney Wolf talks about the Minnesota girls state hockey tournaments that saw Gentry Academy and Warroad win championships.
The question of the week is: Who is the senior or fifth-year player that the team(s) you cover will miss the most next season?
Brian Idalski has doubled the number of wins from 2021-22 in his first season as Huskies head coach. He discusses how that has happened, some of his key players and what it will take against UMD
Ben Clymer grew up in Bloomington and ended up playing on a state championship team as a sophomore for Jefferson High School in 1994. Clymer ended up playing for Team USA in two IIHF World Junior Championships and played in the NCAA Division I tournament for the University of Minnesota in 1997. He was taken in the second round of the 1997 NHL Draft, ended up having shoulder surgery and missing the 1997-98 season. He left college and played one season in the WHL for the Seattle Thunderbirds before signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played for the Lightning from 1999-2004. From 2007-10, he finished his playing career overseas, including one season for Dynamo Minsk in the KHL in Russia.
Clymber is now an analyst for Minnesota Wild and the Univeristy of Minnesota hockey games on Bally Sports North, the Big Ten Network and ESPN. He is also a squirt youth hockey coach. Clymer talks about the many roads he's traveled because of hockey on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf and Eli Swanson take a look at the MSHSL Girls Hockey Tournament brackets and preview the matchups coming up this week at the Xcel Energy Center.
For tournament coverage, including brackets, stories, photos, streaming information and more, visit The Rink Live's Tourney page!
Bulldogs move into two-point lead over Fighting Hawks for fifth in NCHC, Minnesota picks up two road wins. SCSU, UMD and Minnesota women each finish regular season with sweeps
KSTP-TV sports reporter Chris Long is a former club hockey player who has worked in the Duluth and Twin Cities markets. He will be on the crew for the state boys and girls state hockey tournaments.
R.J. Enga, who works with the forwards, discusses the Huskies, helps preview this weekend's series at North Dakota and talks about some key areas of practice on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
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It could have happened last weekend, but Wisconsin spoiled the party for the University of Minnesota men's hockey team. The Badgers were able to pull off a Big Ten series split with the Gophers to keep Minnesota from celebrating a conference regular season title.
Jess Myers recaps a somewhat frustrating weekend for the Gophers and looks ahead to this weekend's series against Penn State. Myers also discusses last weekend's series split between the Minnesota and Wisconsin women and where that leaves the Gophers in their WCHA title chase.
In another WCHA series, Minnesota Duluth picked up five points over visiting St. Cloud State. Matt Wellens and Mick Hatten discuss why the Huskies could be a tough out in the WCHA playoffs. UMD is locked into the No. 4 seed for the playoffs, which start Feb. 24. The Huskies can be either the No. 5 or the No. 6 and play Minnesota State University-Mankato this weekend, a team they are tied with for fifth.
Hatten also helps preview this weekend's series between North Dakota and St. Cloud State in Grand Forks with Brad Schlossman. The Huskies are coming off a bye week and Schlossman also discusses the Fighting Hawks coming off a tough sweep at Denver.
The question of the week is which player on the team you cover is the best undrafted free agent?
Host Sydney Wolf also discusses some of the nominees for the top girls hockey awards in Minnesota.
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Michelle Morgan, a former University of St. Thomas player and administrator, has been the AD at John Carroll University since 2018. She tells some colorful stories on The Rink Live podcast.
For more Rink Live, visit our website at https:www.thrinklive.com.
Senior Jami Krannila from Finland discusses his career, what it was like reaching a milestone last weekend and more on the 100th episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
The St. Cloud State women's hockey team picked up another rare win when it knocked off Wisconsin on Friday. It was the Huskies' first win over the Badgers since Feb. 20, 2015. Mick Hatten recaps how SCSU pulled off another upset on the road.
Hatten and Matt Wellens preview this weekend's WCHA series between St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth at Amsoil Arena between possible first-round playoff opponents. Wellens recaps UMD's win and tie with Minnesota State University-Mankato last weekend and talks about two losses for the Bulldogs men's team to Western Michigan.
Brad Schlossman previews this weekend's series that has North Dakota at Denver as the Fighting Hawks look to try to get closer to home ice for the first round of the NCHC playoffs. Schlossman also discusses the tight NCHC race.
Jess Myers recaps Minnesota's WCHA split with Ohio State in a last weekend's battle between the top two teams in the conference. Myers also previews Minnesota's men's hockey series this weekend against Wisconsin and chats about the strength of the Big Ten this season.
The question of the week is which player on the team you cover has been the best freshman on the roster to this point?
And host Sydney Wolf discusses the Minnesota girls hockey playoffs that begin this week with a look at who some of the top teams in Class A and AA are at the conclusion of regular season play.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Senior forward Addi Scribner discusses her career, which includes playing in Kansas, and helping East Ridge High School make its first state tournament on this Huskies Hockey Insider podcast episode.
The NCHC race tightened up this past weekend with Minnesota Duluth sweeping St. Cloud State and North Dakota sweeping Miami. The top four teams in the NCHC are separated by four points.
Matt Wellens and Mick Hatten discuss the Bulldogs' sweep of the Huskies with special teams playing a big part in the series.
Brad Schlossman talks about how improved goaltending is a good sign for the Fighting Hawks.
Jess Myers discusses Minnesota's impressive sweep of Michigan State and how the Gophers have pretty much wrapped up the Big Ten title. Myers and Wellens also discuss an impressive sweep for the Minnesota women at UMD.
Hatten chimes in about St. Cloud State's series sweep over Bemidji State and how the 14th-ranked Huskies are looking to take fifth place in the WCHA.
Hatten, Myers and Sydney Wolf give observations on Hockey Day Minnesota in White Bear Lake.
The question of the week is whether or not college hockey should consider an annual outdoor event to help promote the game?
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Brian Bonin is one of two people to win Mr. Hockey in Minnesota and the Hobey Baker Award. He joins The Rink Live podcast to talk about his career, family and Hockey Day Minnesota.
Former Huskies forward Cory Thorson played a key role in helping the team reach its first Frozen Four in 2013. He joins the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast to discuss his career.
St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth are one another's NCHC rivals, which means that, no matter what season, both teams will play host to a series and the teams will play four times. The last time they met was the opening round of the NCHC playoffs last year and the Bulldogs swept the Huskies at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
Much has changed since then. The Huskies (10-4 NCHC, 18-6 overall) moved into the top ranking in both national polls this week after sweeping defending national champion Denver (10-4, 19-7) to move into a tie for the lead in the conference. Mick Hatten recaps keys in that series. The unranked Bulldogs (5-9, 10-13-1) are in sixth place in the NCHC after splitting a series at North Dakota (4-8-2, 10-11-4). Matt Wellens and Brad Schlossman discuss the plights of both teams heading down the stretch.
In the Big 10, the Gophers (12-3-1, 18-7-1) have a 10-point lead in the conference race after splitting two overtime games with Michigan (6-8, 14-9-1). Jess Myers talks about the big crowds and good hockey in that series.
Myers also talks about a big week for the University of St. Thomas, which revealed its plans for a new on-campus arena and then the men's team (6-10-2 CCHA, 7-15-2) picked up four points in a series against conference-leading Bowling Green (11-8-1, 14-13-1).
On the women's side, Myers talks about Minnesota's sweep of Bemidji State, Wellens talks about UMD's sweep of St. Thomas and Hatten discusses SCSU picking up a point in a series against top-ranked Ohio State.
The panel also chips in on their ballots for the NCHC's All-Decade Team.
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Big Ten Network analyst Fred Pletsch has worn many hats over the course of a distinguished career, including serving as commissioner of both the North American Hockey League and the original incarnation of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
In a conversation with The Rink Live, he offered some thoughts on the weekend's showdown between Minnesota and Michigan, as well as the other contenders for the 2023 conference title.
Dylan Anhorn admits that he has a lot of confidence as a player. But to be tied for the NCAA Division I lead for points in a defenseman about halfway through the season has been a bit unexpected.
Anhorn, a transfer from Union, leads the Huskies in assists (18), blocked shots (27) and is tied for second on the team in plus/minus (plus-16) through 22 games.
Anhorn talks about the reasons why he is having his best season, why he has fit in so well with his new team, growing up in Calgary and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth are preparing to face one another this weekend in Grand Forks with neither team where anyone expected them before the season — in seventh and sixth place, respectively, in the NCHC.
Brad Schlossman discusses the Fighting Hawks continuing challenges in goal after getting swept at home by Western Michigan. Matt Wellens talks about the Bulldogs getting swept at home by Nebraska Omaha. Wellens also talks about the continuing strong season of the UMD women's hockey team, which is seventh in the PairWise Rankings.
Jess Myers talks about the strong defense being played by the University of Minnesota men's and women's teams. Mick Hatten talks about St. Cloud State's series split with Colorado College and the Huskies women's team getting swept at Minnesota State University-Mankato. He also previews this weekend's Denver at SCSU series between the top two teams in the NCHC.
Sydney Wolf discusses Team USA winning the bronze medal at the recently completed Under-18 women's world championships and some of the key players in the tournament.
The question of the week is the NCAA Division I committee has approved the addition of a fourth paid coach: How do you think this will affect college hockey?
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The 2021-22 season was Allie Cornelius' fourth season with the St. Cloud State women's hockey team. Because the NCAA granted another season of eligibility to athletes who participated in the 2020-21 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cornelius had a decision to make about this season.
Then head coach Steve Macdonald was let go in March 2022, so the Huskies would be going into this season with a new head coach. Cornelius decided to return and is glad she did. Under new head coach Brian Idalski, the Huskies (13-10) have won the most games that the program has won in a season since going 13-18-4 in 2015-16.
Cornelius talks about growing up a Huskies fan in St. Cloud and what her time at SCSU has been like with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
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Dave Starman has been in and around about every facet of hockey from the youth level to the NHL. He's been a player, a coach, a scout and a color analyst over his career.
As a bit of a wild 2022-23 NCAA Division I men's hockey season heads into the second half, Starman checks in to talk about several topics including the recently completed IIHF World Junior Championships, St. Cloud State, Minnesota, the NCHC and touches base on the other five conferences in college hockey. Always entertaining and informative, Starman chats with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
In the first full weekend of men's college hockey since the holiday break, St. Cloud State and Minnesota split (Jess Myers and Mick Hatten discuss), North Dakota swept Lindenwood (Brad Schlossman) and Minnesota Duluth got a tie and a win over Bemidji State (Matt Wellens). In women's hockey, UMD pulled off a stunning sweep at Wisconsin and the Gophers and Huskies both won twice in the East/West Showcase and the Under-18 world championships are going on. This all comes on the weekend after an entertaining — and somewhat controversial — IIHF World Junior Championship in Canada in which Team USA won the bronze medal. And the question of the week is whether or not a college hockey NIT is a good idea? Sydney Wolf hosts a spirited discussion.
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College hockey analyst Pat Micheletti joins The Rink Live podcast to help preview the St. Cloud State vs. Minnesota series this weekend.
He also tells stories of Iron Range hockey growing up in Hibbing, how he saw a player die on the ice in Italy in 1992 and previews the Michigan State vs. Ohio State series.
A colorful and fun discussion with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
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Beau Marchwick, aka @BeauKnowsHockey on Twitter, joins Sydney Wolf to talk about his journey from the USPHL to now working for Elite Prospects. Marchwick discusses some of the new features to the website database and his commitment to keeping up with statistics for Minnesota high school hockey and women's hockey across the country.
With the NCAA Division I men's hockey season about to start its second half, St. Cloud State associate head coach Dave Shyiak discusses the team's defense, breaks down some of their key players and also takes a look ahead to this weekend's nonconference series with Minnesota.
With SCSU sophomore defenseman Jack Peart playing for Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Championships, Shyiak also talks about Peart's development.
Two Huskies recruits — Latvia's Martins Lavins and Finland's Verner Miettinen — have also played in the tournament. Shyiak gives scouting reports on the two forwards, who are expected to join St. Cloud State in the fall.
Shyiak, whose son Sheldon plays for the St. Cloud Crush, also talks about the hockey community in St. Cloud and how it has rallied for the family of Charlie Boike. Boike, a Crush player, died recently in an auto accident.
All this and more on this episode of the podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Mandy June Turpin grew up in the San Diego area and has worked in TV and movies as an actor and producer since 1999. So how the heck did she end up producing a romantic comedy movie called "Merry Kiss Cam," which was shot in Duluth with hockey as a background? She discusses how it all came together, the challenges of shooting the film in two weeks in the summer, a project she is working on on former NHL forward Theo Fleury and another that she is working on on Peyton Compton, a hockey player from Orlando, Fla. All of this and more on this episode of The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
After a light weekend of college hockey, Jess Myers discusses the first WCHA sweep for the University of St. Thomas, Brad Schlossman talks about Bemidji State's sweep over Minnesota State in Mankato and Myers and Schlossman talk about Gophers and Fighting Hawks recruits who competed in the World Junior A Challenge.
With the IIHF World Junior Championships beginning Dec. 26, Mick Hatten talks about St. Cloud State defenseman Jack Peart, Myers talks about Gophers Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggerud, Ryan Chesley, Luke Mittelstadt and (cough) Chaz Lucius and Schlossman talks about UND forward Jackson Blake being named to Team USA.
The group also shares their favorite stories of the first half: Schlossman (UND's Ryan Sidorski), Myers (Gophers' Matthew Knies), Hatten (SCSU's Jaxon Castor) and Wellens (Sophie's Squad).
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Klara Hymlarova is having her best statistical season of her college hockey career for the St. Cloud State women's hockey team. The senior from Opava, Czech Republic, is tied for 14th in NCAA Division I in goals with 12 and has 17 points in 21 games.
She was limited to 15 games last season due to a knee injury and to playing for the Czechia national team. She helped Czechia qualify for the Olympics and she discusses her Olympics experience, this season's hot start, what hockey is like in the Czech Republic, why she played a season in Canada after high school and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Bob Motzko has the unique experience of coaching Team USA in two IIHF World Junior Championships tournaments in 2017 and 2018. This year's U.S. team is in Plymouth, Mich., for a camp that will decide the final roster that will compete in Canada later this month. Motzko shares some of his world juniors experiences and discusses this season for the University of Minnesota men's team on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers and Brad Schlossman catch up on the last weekend of college hockey's first half with host Kelly Hinseth. Schlossman talks about North Dakota picking up five points at Western Michigan. Myers discusses Minnesota's home sweep of Wisconsin. Wellens talks about Denver picking up two OT wins at UMD. Hatten talks about a split for St. Cloud State at Miami.
Wolf breaks down a 2-0 win for Rogers over St. Cloud in boys hockey and discusses who the top teams are in Minnesota boys and girls hockey. She also talks about the first half in the WCHA. Myers and Hatten also chime in on the Gophers blowing out SCSU in women's hockey.
All of the reporters also discuss some of the surprises of the first half of the college season.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
When Mike Randolph left the Duluth East boys hockey team, he left behind a legacy and won three state titles. After leaving the Greyhounds, he said that he was not done coaching. Shortly after, he joined the staff at St. Thomas Academy and spent last season as the junior varsity coach.
When the Cadets let head coach Trent Eigner go, Randolph applied and got the job. St. Thomas Academy is 4-0 and ranked No. 7 in Class AA going into Saturday's game against Simley. Randolph talks about this season's team, shares some great memories and more on this episode of The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Mick Hatten welcomes foward Zach Okabe to the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers and Brad Schlossman catch up on first weekend of December in college hockey with host Kelly Hinseth. Hatten and Schlossman discuss the SCSU sweep of North Dakota. Hatten also reviews a weekend sweep for the St. Cloud State women over St. Thomas. Wolf discusses the atmosphere at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center for the Huskies and Fighting Hawks.
Myers talks about the Gophers men sweeping Michigan State and Minnesota women sweeping MSU-Mankato. Myers and Hatten also preview SCSU vs. Minnesota women series. Wellens talks about splits for the Minnesota Duluth men (Colorado College) and women (Ohio State).
The panel also answers the question of which NHL draft pick is having the best season for the team you cover?
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Jon Ammerman joins The Rink Live podcast to talk about this season's boys hockey team. He also talks about the changing landcape of hockey for high school age boys, his relationship with Andover's coaches and more.
Fifth-year senior and Olympian from Finland is tied for 14th in NCAA Division I in goals, tied for 20th in points for the Huskies. St. Cloud State jumps back into WCHA play with a series this weekend against St. Thomas.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens and Brad Schlossman catch up on the weekend of college hockey after Thanksgiving. Wolf discusses an interesting weekend for the Gophers men's and women's hockey teams. Schlossman talks about North Dakota's win and tie with Bemidji State. Hatten reviews a weekend sweep for the St. Cloud State women.
Wellens previews a couple of series where the teams have seen each other earlier this season: Minnesota Duluth men playing host to Colorado College and the UMD women playing host to Ohio State in a rematch of last season's national championship game.
Hatten also talks about this weekend's home-and-home series for the SCSU women against St. Thomas and he and Schlossman talk about North Dakota playing SCSU in men this weekend at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
The panel also answers the question of what is the biggest need for the team you cover?
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
St. Cloud State alum @GOHUSKIESWOOOOO has come back from his first trip to Colorado Springs and he gives his first impressions of the city and reviews the Ed Robson Arena, which opened last season. He also answers questions from Twitter and helps break down how the SCSU men's hockey team is 11-3 when it went into the season with many question marks. All this and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live reporters catch up on the weekend of college hockey action before Thanksgiving. Mick Hatten recaps St. Cloud State's road sweep at Colorado College, Matt Wellens tackles Minnesota Duluth's weekend split at Western Michigan. Jess Myers talks Minnesota's sweep at Michigan.
Wellens also discusses the UMD women's team pounding Harvard by a combined score of 13-0 in a nonconference series. Myers recaps the shootout win and loss for the Gophers' women at Wisconsin.
The panel also discusses what they are thankful for and what the teams that they cover are thankful for.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
It is a rule change season in NCAA Division I hockey and that always seems to leave fans wondering why certain calls are being made and why a change was made to a rule.
Big 10 coordinator of officials Steve Piotrowski explains the rule changes, how they are being enforced, why it can take a while to get puck dropped on a faceoff and what it is like to try to coordinate a team of 60 officials. All this and more on The Rink Live podcast.
Dan Reimann played for St. Cloud State from 1992-96 and then played pro hockey in the ECHL. His son, Jack, recently signed to play center for the Huskies. Fun coversation on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the second weekend of November college hockey action. Hatten recaps St. Cloud State's Jekyll and Hyde series against Western Michigan, Schlossman reviews North Dakota getting swept at home by Denver, Wellens tackles Minnesota Duluth's weekend split with Nebraska Omaha. Myers talks Minnesota's home split with Penn State.
Hatten and Wellens also discuss the Bulldogs sweeping the Huskies in women's hockey. Hatten talks about the historic win for SCSU over Minnesota in Andover. Myers gives a stick salute to St. Thomas for its sweep at Lindenwood.
The group also does an open skate into more protocol penalties and cleaning up a shattered sheet of Plexiglass. The question of the week is how are the teams you cover being affected by injuries?
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Brian Idalski is in his first season as head coach of the Huskies (7-6), who have won five straight games going into this weekend's WCHA series against Minnesota Duluth (3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, B1G+).
Idalski talks about that big win, keys to his team already surpassing last season's win total (6), his coaching career and his Olympic experience as the head coach of the Chinese women's team. All of this and a lot more on this episode of The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Grant Cruikshank is off to the best start of his college career with eight goals and 13 points in the first 10 games this season for the St. Cloud State men's hockey team. Cruikshank is a fifth-year senior who played last season for the University of Minnesota and the three previous seasons at Colorado College.
The center talks about some of the keys to his fast start (11:50), the team's 8-2 start and previews this weekend's series against Western Michigan (7-4) at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
He also discusses his family (16:00), which includes his father (Dave), mother (Bonnie) and sister (Blair). Dave and Bonnie are former Olympic speed skaters who are now skating coaches. His sister is looking to compete in speed skating in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Cruikshank talks about all this and more on this episode the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
On the UND Hockey Podcast, Brad Elliot Schlossman, Jason Feldman and Eli Swanson provide in-depth analysis on UND Fighting Hawks hockey, preview upcoming matchups and discuss storylines from across college hockey.
UND had a solid weekend in Omaha, picking up four points with a win and tie/shootout loss, and now looks ahead to a matchup at The Ralph with the No. 2 Denver Pioneers. Brad, Jason and Eli talk about Riese Gaber's big weekend, a couple of players getting on the scoresheet for the first time this season and other college hockey news from around the country.
Subscribe to the UND Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any major podcast distributor.
For more UND hockey coverage from the Grand Forks Herald, visit UND Hockey Central.
Presented by Acres & Shares
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the first weekend of November college hockey action. Hatten recaps St. Cloud State's overtime win and loss at Denver, Schlossman reviews North Dakota's win and shootout loss at Omaha, Wellens tackles Minnesota Duluth's weekend split at Colorado College. Wellens also discusses the Bulldogs women dropping two to the University of Minnesota and helps preview UMD's series at St. Cloud State. Hatten talks about the second straight WCHA series sweep for SCSU at Bemidji State. Schlossman looks ahead to the series between Denver and North Dakota, the defending co-NCHC champions. The group also discusses more protocol penalties being called, the changing way that coaches are having to approach challenges and some of the frustrations that coaches are having. The question of the week for the reporters is to give an assessment of the goaltending for the respective teams that they cover.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Mark Manney, the head coach of the defending Class AA state champions, talks about the coming season, his background, being a pilot on Air Force One and more.
Mark Manney, the head coach of the defending Class AA state champions, talks about the coming season, his background, being a pilot on Air Force One and more.
Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with goalie JoJo Chobak, who also talks about her decision to transfer from Minnesota Duluth, where her interest in hockey came from growing up in Chicago and more.
Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with goalie JoJo Chobak, who also talks about her decision to transfer from Minnesota Duluth, where her interest in hockey came from growing up in Chicago and more.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the last weekend of October college hockey action. Hatten recaps St. Cloud State's home-and-home split with Bemidji State, Schlossman reviews North Dakota's Las Vegas loss to Arizona State, Myers discusses Minnesota's split at Ohio State and Wellens talks about Minnesota Duluth getting back on track with two wins over Cornell.
Myers also discusses the WCHA series between the top two ranked women's teams (Ohio State and Minnesota), Wellens tackles a series split for the UMD women against visiting Wisconsin and Hatten talks about the home-and-home sweep for SCSU over St. Thomas.
There were some more odd penalties called over the weekend to add to the season's collection. The question of the week is what were the surprises in college hockey's first month of the season?
Visit https://www.therinklive.com/ for more hockey coverage.
The Ohio State women's hockey team is the defending NCAA Division I champion and is 8-0 and ranked No. 1 a month into the season. The Buckeyes play host to second-ranked Minnesota this weekend. Nadine Muzerall has a lot of history with both teams. She played for the Gophers from 1997-2001 and was an assistant coach for Minnesota from 2011-16. She left the Gophers to become the head coach for the Buckeyes. So she knows a lot of people on both side of this weekend's series. Muzerall talks about her career, previews this weekend's series and a lot more on this episode of The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The two places that Mike Gibbons has spent the most time at in his playing and coaching career are Bemidji State and St. Cloud State. Gibbons played defense for the Beavers from 1975-79, was an assistant coach in 1981-82 and then the interim head coach for BSU in the 1982-83 season when Bob Peters was on sabbatical. Gibbons' coaching career also took him to the pro, junior and high school levels. He got back into college coaching as an assistant for Bob Motzko at SCSU and was with the Huskies from 2007-20. He retired from coaching ... for seven months.
But Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore needed to make an emergency hire for an assistant coach and called Gibbons, who has been back with the Beavers since the beginning of the 2020-21 season. The Huskies (6-0) and Beavers (2-1-1) play a home-and-home series this weekend. The teams play at 7 p.m. Friday (FloHockey) at the Sanford Center in Bemidji and at 6 p.m. Saturday (FOX 9+) at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. Gibbons discusses both teams and shares some SCSU memories with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the opening of college hockey action. Hatten recaps St. Cloud State's homecoming sweep over Minnesota State University-Mankato and women's series between Huskies and Gophers. Wellens reviews the series sweep for Wisconsin at Minnesota Duluth and the women's series between Ohio State and Bulldogs. Schlossman and Myers discuss a couple of epic games that were decided in overtime between North Dakota and Minnesota. Wellens previews the Cornell at UMD men's series and the Wisconsin at Minnesota Duluth women's series. Schlossman discusses the unique game on Saturday between North Dakota and Arizona State in Las Vegas. Hatten previews the home-and-home series between SCSU and Bemidji State. Myers previews the Gophers at Ohio State for both men and women. Also, the reporters answer the question of which veteran player who is off to a slow start needs to get going for the teams that they cover.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the opening of college hockey action. Hatten recaps St. Cloud State's homecoming sweep over Minnesota State University-Mankato and women's series between Huskies and Gophers. Wellens reviews the series sweep for Wisconsin at Minnesota Duluth and the women's series between Ohio State and Bulldogs. Schlossman and Myers discuss a couple of epic games that were decided in overtime between North Dakota and Minnesota. Wellens previews the Cornell at UMD men's series and the Wisconsin at Minnesota Duluth women's series. Schlossman discusses the unique game on Saturday between North Dakota and Arizona State in Las Vegas. Hatten previews the home-and-home series between SCSU and Bemidji State. Myers previews the Gophers at Ohio State for both men and women. Also, the reporters answer the question of which veteran player who is off to a slow start needs to get going for the teams that they cover.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Dave Shyiak talks about why his team has given up just three goals through four games, the challenges of playing MSU-Mankato, breaks down the early play of his team's defensemen and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
Dave Shyiak talks about why his team has given up just three goals through four games, the challenges of playing MSU-Mankato, breaks down the early play of his team's defensemen and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
Rick Zombo played defense for the University of North Dakota, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. Since 2008, he has been a coach for Lindenwood, a university in St. Charles, Mo. He discusses his career, the art of coaching and more on The Rink Live podcast.
Rick Zombo played defense for the University of North Dakota, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. Since 2008, he has been a coach for Lindenwood, a university in St. Charles, Mo. He discusses his career, the art of coaching and more on The Rink Live podcast.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the opening of college hockey action. Hatten recaps St. Cloud State's sweep at Wisconsin and women's series between Huskies and Badgers Wellens reviews the series sweep for the Minnesota State men over visiting Minnesota Duluth. Schlossman takes a look back at the tie and loss for North Dakota at home against Quinnipiac. Myers and Schlossman also preview this weekend's series with the Fighting Hawks playing at Minnesota. Wellens previews the Wisconsin at UMD men's series and the Minnesota Duluth at Ohio State women's series. Hatten previews the Minnesota State at SCSU men's series and he and Myers preview the home-and-home series between St. Cloud State and Minnesota in the WCHA.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the opening of college hockey action. Hatten recaps St. Cloud State's sweep at Wisconsin and women's series between Huskies and Badgers Wellens reviews the series sweep for the Minnesota State men over visiting Minnesota Duluth. Schlossman takes a look back at the tie and loss for North Dakota at home against Quinnipiac. Myers and Schlossman also preview this weekend's series with the Fighting Hawks playing at Minnesota. Wellens previews the Wisconsin at UMD men's series and the Minnesota Duluth at Ohio State women's series. Hatten previews the Minnesota State at SCSU men's series and he and Myers preview the home-and-home series between St. Cloud State and Minnesota in the WCHA.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Taylor Lind likes to be busy and she likes to talk. Those two things have combined and explain some of why she enjoys playing hockey. The captain of the St. Cloud State women's hockey team, Lind is leading the team in assists (4) and points (6) through its first four games. Last season, she led the Huskies in assists (17) and points (25) in 34 games. Now in her fourth college season, her production has increased each season. Lind talks about the reasons for her improvement. She also discusses having a brother, Kole, see time in the NHL with the Seattle Kraken last season, her brother Kalan being a 17-year-old forward for the Red Deer Rebels in the WHL and what it is like when she goes home to the family farm in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. She discusses all this and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Taylor Lind likes to be busy and she likes to talk. Those two things have combined and explain some of why she enjoys playing hockey. The captain of the St. Cloud State women's hockey team, Lind is leading the team in assists (4) and points (6) through its first four games. Last season, she led the Huskies in assists (17) and points (25) in 34 games. Now in her fourth college season, her production has increased each season. Lind talks about the reasons for her improvement. She also discusses having a brother, Kole, see time in the NHL with the Seattle Kraken last season, her brother Kalan being a 17-year-old forward for the Red Deer Rebels in the WHL and what it is like when she goes home to the family farm in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. She discusses all this and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
A look at some of the questions facing Minnesota, its key players and what expectations are like as it opens the NHL season against the Rangers. Wild beat reporter for the Pioneer Press checks in on The Rink Live podcast.
A look at some of the questions facing Minnesota, its key players and what expectations are like as it opens the NHL season against the Rangers. Wild beat reporter for the Pioneer Press checks in on The Rink Live podcast.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the opening of college hockey action. Myers recaps the top-5 matchup between Minnesota State and Minnesota. Wellens previews the Mavericks vs. Minnesota Duluth. Schlossman talks about North Dakota opening in impressive fashion against Holy Cross and previews the series against Quinnipiac. Hatten recaps the weekend for the rest of the NCHC and previews St. Cloud State at Wisconsin. The question of the week is which veteran player on the team(s) you cover do they need to keep healthy?
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the opening of college hockey action. Myers recaps the top-5 matchup between Minnesota State and Minnesota. Wellens previews the Mavericks vs. Minnesota Duluth. Schlossman talks about North Dakota opening in impressive fashion against Holy Cross and previews the series against Quinnipiac. Hatten recaps the weekend for the rest of the NCHC and previews St. Cloud State at Wisconsin. The question of the week is which veteran player on the team(s) you cover do they need to keep healthy?
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
St. Cloud State men's hockey coach Brett Larson's team got off to a 2-0 start with a series sweep in a home-and-home series last weekend against St. Thomas. Larson takes a look back at the series, notes his likes and dislikes on how the team played, gives an update on defenseman Josh Luedtke's condition, discusses whether the hit on him was clean and then gives scouting reports on all eight freshmen on the Huskies roster. All this and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
St. Cloud State men's hockey coach Brett Larson's team got off to a 2-0 start with a series sweep in a home-and-home series last weekend against St. Thomas. Larson takes a look back at the series, notes his likes and dislikes on how the team played, gives an update on defenseman Josh Luedtke's condition, discusses whether the hit on him was clean and then gives scouting reports on all eight freshmen on the Huskies roster. All this and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Mike Hastings has been coaching hockey since an injury forced him to retire from playing the game when he was a defenseman at St. Cloud State in 1988. He has put together quite a resume with leaving the Omaha Lancers in 2008 as the USHL's all-time winningest coach to being an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota (2008-09) and Nebraska-Omaha (2009-12) to the last 10 seasons as the head coach at Minnesota State. The Mavericks have won more games in those 10 seasons than any other team in college hockey. He was rumored to be the frontrunner for head coaching openings at Boston University and Michigan State, among others, over the offseason. Hastings says "presenting the facts" are at the top of the list of how the Mavericks approach recruiting. Minnesota State went to the national championship game last season and Hastings talks about the team's prospects this season and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Mike Hastings has been coaching hockey since an injury forced him to retire from playing the game when he was a defenseman at St. Cloud State in 1988. He has put together quite a resume with leaving the Omaha Lancers in 2008 as the USHL's all-time winningest coach to being an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota (2008-09) and Nebraska-Omaha (2009-12) to the last 10 seasons as the head coach at Minnesota State. The Mavericks have won more games in those 10 seasons than any other team in college hockey. He was rumored to be the frontrunner for head coaching openings at Boston University and Michigan State, among others, over the offseason. Hastings says "presenting the facts" are at the top of the list of how the Mavericks approach recruiting. Minnesota State went to the national championship game last season and Hastings talks about the team's prospects this season and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the opening of college hockey action. The Minnesota Duluth men and women and St. Cloud State men and women are all undefeated in the early going. The Gophers men opened with a sweep and the women get started this weekend. North Dakota opened with an exhibition win over the University of Manitoba. What stood out from those teams in the early going and which newcomer to their rosters stood out?
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the opening of college hockey action. The Minnesota Duluth men and women and St. Cloud State men and women are all undefeated in the early going. The Gophers men opened with a sweep and the women get started this weekend. North Dakota opened with an exhibition win over the University of Manitoba. What stood out from those teams in the early going and which newcomer to their rosters stood out?
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Cory Laylin talks about this season's UST team, which opens this weekend against St. Cloud State. He also discusses coaching at the junior, high school, pro, NCAA Division III and Division I levels and his playing career, which included playing in Europe from 1992-98, on The Rink Live podcast
Jimmy Schuldt answers a number of fun and intriguing questions from people on Twitter about his career, teammates and some from his personal life. An hour-long Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with the former SCSU defenseman, who is in camp with the Seattle Kraken.
Now that the dust has settled from NCHC Media Day, The Rink Live takes an in depth look at the conference with its podcast with reporters Matt Wellens, Brad Schlossman, Jess Myers, Mick Hatten and Joe Paisley.
Wellens covers Minnesota Duluth hockey, Schlossman covers the University of North Dakota, Paisley covers Colorado College and Myers interviewed two representatives from every NCHC team at media day. The group covered a variety of topics including their big takeaways from media day, which team may surprise some people in the conference race, key players throughout the league and more on this episode of The Rink Live podcast.
LINKS ⬇️
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Bulldog Insider Podcast
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A conversation with Huskies associate head coach Jinelle Siergiej, who is beginning her ninth season with the team.
There's been a lot of change recently and Siergiej discusses the process, reviews the new playing style for the Huskies and gives a scouting report on the eight new players on the roster.
St. Cloud State captain Spencer Meier has been with the Huskies so long that he is going to be teammates with Grant Ahcan, who is five years younger than his brother Jack, who was also an SCSU teammate. Meier gives an overview of this season's Huskies, gives scouting reports on the 10 new players, talks defense, the changes he sees in Jack Peart, the feeling of not having David Hrenak around anymore, what running his first hockey camp was like and more in the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Former junior and college hockey coach Lincoln Nguyen, a former junior and college coach, discusses how difficult it has been for players to navigate the recent changes in college and junior hockey.
Jack Peart spent the majority of the summer in St. Cloud, working out with other members of the SCSU men's hockey team and the strength and conditioning coach. A second-round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild, he also spent time with that team at its development camp and played for Team USA at the rescheduled IIHF World Junior Championships. Peart, who grew up in Grand Rapids, Minn., said he also got more fishing than he has in several years. He is preparing for his sophomore season with the Huskies, who have 10 new faces in camp. On this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast, he talks about all of these topics and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
North Shore girls hockey head coach Zack Vieau joins The Rink Live podcast to talk about the team's past season and all of the up-and-coming talent the team is looking forward to in 2022-23.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Minnesota Duluth forward Gabbie Hughes and her father, Terry, a former MSU-Mankato defensemen, have both earned All-America status in their hockey careers. Gabbie was a top three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award and a top five finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award last season. The father-daughter duo has become heavily involved in helping players with mental health issues through Sophie's Squad, a nonprofit organization established in 2021.
Sophie's Squad is working toward helping athletes with their mental health, mental health awareness and suicide prevention. The organization is having a fundraiser that includes a 5K run/walk and golf event on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Victory Links Golf Course in Lino Lakes, Minn. The golf event is sold out, but there will be a silent auction and people can still register for the 5K or volunteer. To learn more, visit https://sophiessquad.org/.
Gabbie and Terry also discuss their playing careers with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten on this podcast.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Eric Rud has been a hockey coach since 1999, but he will get an opportunity to do something brand new this fall. Rud will be coaching one of his children. He was named the head coach of the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede on Aug. 18, replacing Rob Rassey, who was named an assistant coach at the University of Michigan. Rud will take over a Stampede team that includes his son, Max, an 18-year-old defenseman. The Stampede have won the USHL's Clark Cup as playoff champions three times and are one of the top draws in the league, but have struggled the last two seasons. Rud talks about the challenges of his new job, describes the differences between college and junior hockey coaching and shares some SCSU memories on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Eric Rud has been a hockey coach since 1999, but he will get an opportunity to do something brand new this fall. Rud will be coaching one of his children. He was named the head coach of the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede on Aug. 18, replacing Rob Rassey, who was named an assistant coach at the University of Michigan. Rud will take over a Stampede team that includes his son, Max, an 18-year-old defenseman. The Stampede have won the USHL's Clark Cup as playoff champions three times and are one of the top draws in the league, but have struggled the last two seasons. Rud talks about the challenges of his new job, describes the differences between college and junior hockey coaching and shares some SCSU memories on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Tommy Haines, who lived in Mountain Iron before moving to Rosemount, discusses his documentary, which follows the 2019-20 seasons for the Eveleth-Gilbert and Hermantown boys hockey teams. He talks about the film, which will have screenings in Minnesota, North Dakota in September, on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Shakopee boys hockey head coach Calvin Simon joins The Rink Live podcast to talk about the team's success this past season and how the squad is shaping up for this winter.
0:00 Introductions 0:48 Recapping the season 2:23 Excitement around the program 3:42 Seniors that graduated 5:20 Simon's coaching story 8:12 Jackson Vogel 9:39 Simpson and Steinhoff 11:40 Cole Bumgarner transfer 12:34 Incoming players 14:07 Goaltending 15:02 Captains 16:52 Favorite memories 18:16 Expectations
Shakopee boys hockey head coach Calvin Simon joins The Rink Live podcast to talk about the team's success this past season and how the squad is shaping up for this winter.
0:00 Introductions 0:48 Recapping the season 2:23 Excitement around the program 3:42 Seniors that graduated 5:20 Simon's coaching story 8:12 Jackson Vogel 9:39 Simpson and Steinhoff 11:40 Cole Bumgarner transfer 12:34 Incoming players 14:07 Goaltending 15:02 Captains 16:52 Favorite memories 18:16 Expectations
Enga, who spent last season as the director of hockey operations/video coordinator, talks about his new role with the team, how the Huskies will try to replace the offense that graduated, gives an overview of Grant Cruikshank, Dominic Basse. He discusses all this and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
Enga, who spent last season as the director of hockey operations/video coordinator, talks about his new role with the team, how the Huskies will try to replace the offense that graduated, gives an overview of Grant Cruikshank, Dominic Basse. He discusses all this and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
Chisago Lakes boys hockey head coach Cory Lushanko joins The Rink Live podcast to talk about the team's 21-6-1 season and the boys' successes on and off the ice.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Mikey Eyssimont was one of 12 former St. Cloud State men's hockey players to play in the NHL last season. Eyssimont made his NHL debut for the Winnipeg Jets on April 11, 2022, in Montreal during his fourth full season of pro hockey. Eyssimont discusses his progression as a pro, his favorite memories of playing for and attending SCSU, growing up in Colorado, Huskies players and coaches who had an impact on him and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
In June, Tracy Dill retired after spending nine years as the director of athletics for Bemidji State. Then on July 5, he was named interim commissioner for the WCHA women's hockey conference. Dill discusses his career in athletics, which began by playing football at William Penn, then working as an assistant football coach and track and field coach and then in administration at St. Cloud State before taking the job at BSU. He talks about his career, trying to help women's hockey get more exposure, how he fell in love with the game and more in The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Tartan boys hockey head coach Cole Leitch talks with The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf about the team's leading scorers, the large senior class heading into next season and the new captains taking over in 2022-23.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Brett Barta has been an assistant boys hockey coach since 2012 for Andover High School. Last season, the Huskies won the Class AA state title, something he was not able to accomplish despite two championship game appearances when he was a player for Moorhead High School. Barta is a middle school teacher in Andover and he discusses his career as a coach, player and teacher. He also gives scouting reports on SCSU recruits Gavyn Thoreson and Leo Gruba, talks about his relationship with Andover head coach Mark Manney and his long friendship with Moorhead head coach (and former SCSU player) Jon Ammerman. Barta joins Mick Hatten on this week's Huskies Hockey Insider.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Long before he was an Olympic hero and a Stanley Cup winner with the Washington Capitals, TJ Oshie was a high school sophomore moving from his home near Seattle to Warroad, where his family had roots, to play hockey.
Back in his adopted hometown this week, the star forward discusses his time with the University of North Dakota, playing for the St. Louis Blues, playing in the Olympics and picking hockey over basketball. All this and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Bryant owns www.mattalkonline.com, which edits and produces, edits and distributes wrestling podcasts. He has worked at three Olympic Games in the sport of wrestling and lives in New Brighton. He discusses his career and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
1:15 How he found out about the position and the process to being named the new public address announcer
5:35 What he read in the in arena audition, keeping sponsors happy, how the NHL franchise team nickname should be North Stars instead of Wild
9:45 His passion for college, Olympic sports, SCSU's hockey fan base, similarities to the wrestling fan base
12:25 His background, working in the ECHL, his background as a journalist
18:25 What he does for a living, how he got to Minnesota, working in wrestling since 2004
20:22 What he's excited about in working for the team, catching his first walleye
22:08 Working as a journalist and English public address announcer for three Olympic Games in wrestling, the pressures of it, working NCAA Division I, Division III and NAIA national championship tournaments
29:12 His family, his kids having Olympic names
Adam Fantilli is only 17 years old, but after winning a Clark Cup and being named playoff MVP with the Chicago Steel he'll take his talents to Michigan to play for the Wolverines this fall ahead of next summer's draft. TRL Prospects Reporter Kirsten Krull sat down with Fantilli to talk his career so far, what he's looking forward to, and how he tries to block out the outside hype.
Read/Watch the Prospect Profile here.
St. Cloud girls hockey coach Amanda Pickett joins Sydney Wolf on The Rink Live podcast to talk about the team's past season. They discuss changing the team name from the Icebreakers to the Crush, honoring Anne Schleper, the various college commits on the team, road trip shenanigans, and more.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Jon Anderson is one of the organizers for the 2023 Hockey Day Minnesota event in White Bear Lake. A former White Bear Lake and University of Minnesota (1986-90) hockey player, Anderson discusses the event, where it will be, how teams and cities are chosen for the event, his playing career and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Charlie Lindgren had a big week last week. On July 13, Lindgren signed a three-year, $3.3 million contract with the Washington Capitals. Unlike in the past, this is an NHL contract and not a two-way deal. Lindgren played last season in the St. Louis Blues organization, winning all five of his starts with the Blues and then helping the Springfield Thunderbirds reach the AHL's Calder Cup championship series. Lindgren discusses his pro career, playing for St. Cloud State (2013-16), his hockey family and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Sydney Wolf talks with Eagan boys hockey Head Coach Todd Carlson about how the team went from 1-15 to 9-17 in just one year, the flourishing youth program in the area, and the depth that the team hopes to use next year.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
For around a decade, Cody McLeod was a guy that Minnesota Wild fans loved to hate, as he scored goals and dropped the gloves for the hated Colorado Avalanche. After two years as a player in the Wild's minor league system, McLeod recently retired and has joined the team in a coaching role.
Steve Miller has been a men's college hockey assistant coach since 1988. After three seasons at St. Mary's University, he moved up to the NCAA Division I level with Miami University in 1991. He has been an assistant coach at Denver (1994-2014), Providence (2014-15) and Ohio State (2017-22). He recently accepted the job as associate head coach for the University of Minnesota and he is reuniting with head coach Bob Motzko, who was an assistant when Miller was at Miami. Miller discusses the stops along his career with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Kevin Fitzgerald is getting a little taste of one tradition of European hockey. In a number of European leagues, the league leader in points wears a gold helmet during games. For Fitzgerald, he wore the gold helmet on July 2 playing for Team Mullen in a 3ICE tournament in Grand Rapids, Mich.
After the season is completed, Fitzgerald will play this fall for SaiPa in the top league in Finland in the city of Lappeenranta. Fitzgerald discusses all this and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider Podcast.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Forest Lake Girls Hockey Head Coach Andrew Richardson talks the team's 13-13 season, some of the incoming players the program is excited about and how he keeps a balance between coaching three different sports.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
"What would a kid from the desert know about hockey?" If you are a Minnesota Gophers fan who asked that question a year ago, you received an emphatic answer from Matthew Knies on the ice last season. The good-sized forward who is a draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs burst onto the college hockey scene and was an offensive catalyst with his size and skill, playing a vital role in their Big Ten title and their run to the Frozen Four. He also skated for Team USA at the World Junior Championships and the Winter Olympics in his "spare time." Back in his native Arizona for the summer, where it was 111 degrees when he talked to The Rink Live, Knies is preparing to host a summer hockey camp and looking forward to another college hockey season in maroon and gold.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Since being introduced as St. Cloud State University's sixth women's hockey head coach on June 2, Brian Idalski has been working on getting to know all of his new players. He and his wife have temporarily moved into the SCSU dorms at Shoemaker Hall and he is getting used to his new surroundings. Idalski is no stranger to women's hockey. He was the head coach at Wisconsin-Stevens Point from 2001-06, spent one season as an assistant coach at SCSU and then was the head coach for the University of North Dakota from 2007-17. Idalski discusses what he's learned about the Huskies he's inheriting, talks about his background in coaching and his playing days growing up in Michigan and playing AAA hockey. All this and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider Podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
In 2020-2021, Eastview went 5-14 and then did a complete 180 to finish this past season at 17-11, only falling in the Section 3AA championship game. The team has had a taste of success, but has its sights set on making it to the Xcel Energy Center for the state tournament. Head coach Aaron Fulton talks with Sydney Wolf on The Rink Live podcast.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Tony Gruba played forward for St. Cloud State from 1990-94 after playing at Hill-Murray High School. He ended up turning down the University of Minnesota to play for the Huskies. His son, Leo, an 18-year-old defenseman, recently verbally committed to play for the Huskies. Tony compares and contrasts the recruiting process for his son vs. when he went through it. He also shares memories of playing for the Huskies, gives a bit of a scouting report on his son and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider Podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The first head coach of the women's hockey program at the University of Minnesota, Halldorson discusses the changes in hockey since she grew up, challenges she's faced along the way and more on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
The Stampede's new vice president of hockey operations and general manager also talks about growing up in Grand Forks with a college hockey coach as a dad, working with Bob Motzko, Nate Leaman and more on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Sydney Wolf talks with Mankato East girls hockey head coach Amber Prange to recap the team's season, their state tournament run, their experience at Hockey Day Minnesota, and more.
The University of Vermont is a long way from Minnesota, but the head coach of that state's most prominent hockey team has impressive roots in the State of Hockey. Todd Woodcroft is heading into his third season as the head coach of the Catamounts after landing two of the higher-profile players from Minnesota prep hockey last season in Prior Lake star Alex Bump and 2022 Mr. Hockey winner Max Strand from Roseau. Woodcroft came to UVM after two decades in various coaching roles in the NHL, including getting his start with the Minnesota Wild as a video coach in the early days of the franchise. He joined Mick Hatten and Jess Myers from The Rink Live to talk about the high-quality competition in Hockey East, all he learned from Jacques Lemaire during his Wild days and just how often a real Vermonter heads to Ben & Jerry's for some Cherry Garcia.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Garrett Roe came to St. Cloud State in the fall of 2007 after playing three seasons of junior hockey for the Indiana Ice in the United States Hockey League. That came after two seasons of playing for Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep and growing up as the youngest of three hockey players in his family in Vienna, Va. Since graduating from SCSU in 2011, Roe has played the last five seasons in the top Swiss League after two seasons playing in Sweden, one season in Germany, one season in Austria and two seasons in the AHL. The three-time All-WCHA pick discusses the many stops of his career with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
After finishing the 2021-2022 season with a 21-4-1 record, Academy of Holy Angels boys hockey coach Patrick Griswold joins The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf to talk about the Stars' season and what to look forward to in the fall.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Marshall girls hockey head coach Cassi Weiss talks the team's season, some of the up-and-coming players through Marshall's youth programs, each of the three seniors on the squad this year, and more.
After previously coaching for Southwest Christian/Richfield, Erik Westrum talks about how his first year as head coach of the Holy Family boys hockey program went, some of the standout players from this season, what the situation looks like in goal for next year and more.
Listen to Previous Interviews with High School Coaches
Sartell 👉 https://trib.al/tZqTFx7
Wayzata 👉 https://trib.al/UYahJ78
Rogers 👉 https://trib.al/t58lphI
Moose Lake Area 👉 https://trib.al/WcVIsqJ
Rochester Lourdes 👉 https://trib.al/4MGWdgt
Sartell-Sauk Rapids 👉 https://trib.al/fNbPJr4
Rosemount 👉 https://trib.al/STN8CVp
St. Cloud Cathedral 👉 https://trib.al/gfizwpX
North Wright County 👉 https://trib.al/i62cGJR
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
With the NAHL's Robertson Cup Championship set to begin on Friday, May 20, in Blaine, The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Kirsten Krull sat down with Mike Aikens -- head coach of the Anchorage Wolverines -- to discuss his hockey path from Rochester John Marshall to the USHL, the University of Denver and into coaching. Aikens discusses what it's been like to experience Anchorage's inaugural season from behind the bench and how the city has welcomed the franchise with fandom and sponsorship.
The Wolverines will take on the St. Cloud Norseman in a best-of-three series beginning Friday for a spot in the NAHL national championship game.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Ryan Lasch has been a scorer wherever he has gone. He led the CCHL in scoring in juniors in 2005-06, remains St. Cloud State's all-time career leader in points (183) and has led the Finnish and Swedish pro leagues in scoring. He ended up being a three-time All-WCHA pick, was an All-American and a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as a junior for the Huskies. He has spent the bulk of his pro career in Sweden. A fun discussion about the hockey career of Lasch and all of its interesting twists and turns with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
North Wright County Head Coach Cailyn Olesen talks about the team's season in the ultra-competitive Lake Conference against teams like Edina, Minnetonka and Wayzata, coaching at a co-op program and what next year might look like.
Listen to Previous Interviews with High School Coaches
Sartell 👉 https://trib.al/tZqTFx7
Wayzata 👉 https://trib.al/UYahJ78
Rogers 👉 https://trib.al/t58lphI
Moose Lake Area 👉 https://trib.al/WcVIsqJ
Rochester Lourdes 👉 https://trib.al/4MGWdgt
Sartell-Sauk Rapids 👉 https://trib.al/fNbPJr4
Rosemount 👉 https://trib.al/STN8CVp
St. Cloud Cathedral 👉 https://trib.al/gfizwpX
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Robbie Stocker talks about his first season as head coach of the St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders, having former SCSU player Will Hammer on the coaching staff, some of the key players on the team, and more!
Listen to Previous Interviews with High School Coaches
Sartell 👉 https://trib.al/tZqTFx7
Wayzata 👉 https://trib.al/UYahJ78
Rogers 👉 https://trib.al/t58lphI
Moose Lake Area 👉 https://trib.al/WcVIsqJ
Rochester Lourdes 👉 https://trib.al/4MGWdgt
Sartell-Sauk Rapids 👉 https://trib.al/fNbPJr4
Rosemount 👉 https://trib.al/STN8CVp
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Nick Oliver was introduced as the new head junior hockey coach of the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League on May 2. Oliver has spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach for the St. Cloud State men's team after three seasons as an assistant coach and director of scouting with the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede. Oliver talks about his new job, leaving his old job, gives a scouting report on the 10 new players for the Huskies this fall and then discusses the last seven head coaches he has played for or worked with. All of this and more on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider Podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Adam Nightingale has seen hockey from a variety of angles. He grew up in Cheboygan, Mich., playing in a small town. He played college hockey for Lake Superior State and Michigan State. He has coached midget and bantam hockey for Shattuck-St. Mary's. He's also been the director of hockey operations at Michigan State, a video coach for the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings, an assistant coach for the Red Wings and has spent the last two seasons as a head coach for the USA Hockey Team Development Program. On May 3, he was named the eighth head coach at Michigan State. He discusses his career with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
David Backes grew up playing hockey, soccer and baseball in Spring Lake Park. He ended up playing 15 seasons in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins and Anaheim Ducks. Now, the 38-year-old has ventured into the restaurant business in retirement. Backes shares memories of growing up, why playing multiple sports was important, playing hockey with an edge and also analyzes the first two games of the Blues vs. Wild series with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Rosemount boys hockey head coach Ricky Saintey talks with Sydney Wolf about the team's season this past year, losing thirteen seniors this offseason, the 'build from within' motto, and more!
Listen to Previous Interviews with High School Coaches
Sartell 👉 https://trib.al/tZqTFx7
Wayzata 👉 https://trib.al/UYahJ78
Rogers 👉 https://trib.al/t58lphI
Moose Lake Area 👉 https://trib.al/WcVIsqJ
Rochester Lourdes 👉 https://trib.al/4MGWdgt
Sartell-Sauk Rapids 👉 https://trib.al/fNbPJr4
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Kevin Fitzgerald spent the last five seasons as a member of the St. Cloud State men's hockey team. He has been bouncing around pro hockey (ECHL, AHL, 3ICE) since the end of the college season. The Rink Live's Mick Hatten catches up with the 25-year-old forward from Hinsdale, Ill., to discuss a variety of topics in hockey and also dive into who Al Applebee is on Twitter.com.
Visit The Rink Live for more hockey coverage.
After losing a big senior class in 2020-2021, Storm'n Sabres girls head coach Marty Anderson talks how the team was rebuilt in '21-'22, the chemistry of a young team, and a few positives to look forward to for next season.
Listen to Previous Interviews with High School Coaches
Sartell 👉 https://trib.al/tZqTFx7
Wayzata 👉 https://trib.al/UYahJ78
Rogers 👉 https://trib.al/t58lphI
Moose Lake Area 👉 https://trib.al/WcVIsqJ
Rochester Lourdes 👉 https://trib.al/4MGWdgt
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf sits down with Rochester Lourdes Boys Hockey Coach Jeff True to discuss how the Eagles went from a team that lost every game of the 2019-20 season to contending for the Section 2A title this past year.
Listen to Previous Interviews with High School Coaches
Sartell 👉 https://trib.al/tZqTFx7
Wayzata 👉 https://trib.al/UYahJ78
Rogers 👉 https://trib.al/t58lphI
Moose Lake Area 👉 https://trib.al/WcVIsqJ
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Robby Jackson was not sure what to expect when he signed a contract to play for HC Nové Zámky in Slovakia. Jackson had played two seasons for teams in the AHL and ECHL after graduating from St. Cloud State. But he describes why he has signed another contract to play for the team, what the atmosphere is like in games in Slovakia, the style of play and then answers some submitted questions from people on Twitter on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
On April 19, Garrett Raboin was named the first men's hockey coach at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, S.D. Unlike other NCAA Division I programs, Raboin has the unique experience of starting a program where there has never been hockey before. He has spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota and spent six seasons before that as an assistant coach for Motzko at St. Cloud State University, where he played defense from 2006-10. Raboin discusses many of the challenges that he is facing with his new job, shares some fun memories from coaching and his playing days and more on this podcast with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Moose Lake Area head coach Reilly Fawcett talks about her team's season, the leadership from seventh graders all the way up to seniors, and how hard work has been paying off.
Listen to Previous Interviews with High School Coaches
Sartell 👉 https://trib.al/tZqTFx7
Wayzata 👉 https://trib.al/UYahJ78
Rogers 👉 https://trib.al/t58lphI
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The first round of the USHL's Clark Cup Playoffs start on Monday night and Kirsten Krull is here to preview each series. Stay tuned for more USHL coverage as the postseason progresses.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Longtime hockey color commentator and former Gophers All-American Pat Micheletti joins Mick Hatten and Jess Myers to talk about a variety of subjects. The trio takes a deep dive into this year's Frozen Four, the Minnesota Wild, a number of multi-talented younger players making an impact in college and pro hockey, Garrett Raboin being named Augustana's first head coach and what's up with Arizona State still being without a conference. All this and more in this episode of the podcast.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Rogers Boys Hockey Head Coach Dave Brown talks with Sydney Wolf about the success the team found this past season, some players who are making an impact, how he found the job at Rogers, and more!
Listen to Previous Interviews with High School Coaches
Sartell 👉 https://trib.al/tZqTFx7
Wayzata 👉 https://trib.al/UYahJ78
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
The Rink Live's Sydney Wolf talks with former Ms. Hockey winner, University of Minnesota player, and Wayzata girls hockey head coach Taylor Williamson about the team's season this year, their own Ms. Hockey finalist, and coaching changes in the offseason.
Listen to Previous Interviews with High School Coaches
Sartell 👉 https://trib.al/tZqTFx7
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Jeff Jackson has had a variety of coaching experiences in his career. Jackson has been the head coach for Notre Dame since 2005 and recently helped the Irish play in the NCAA Division I men's hockey tournament for the 13th time in his tenure. Before that, he was an assistant coach for the New York Islanders (2003-04) and the head coach of the Guelph Storm (2000-03) of the Ontario Hockey League. Jackson helped create the United States National Team Development Program in 1997 and worked for USA Hockey through 2000. Before that, he was the head coach at Lake Superior State (1990-96) after spending four seasons as an assistant coach for the Lakers (1986-90). He discusses his career and a variety of topics with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
For more hockey coverage, visit The Rink Live.
Spencer Meier made his decision to return for a fifth season to the St. Cloud State men's hockey team last week. Ultimately, it sounds like it was an easy one. In this episode of the podcast, Meier answers questions from some of his fans, discusses why he will return for a third season as team captain, his cooking habits, what he learned from past captains Jack Ahcan and Jimmy Schuldt, who his favorite Huskies were growing up, his hockey camp and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Meier is running his first hockey camp this summer. You can find more information on it HERE.
Sydney Wolf of The Rink Live chats with Sartell Boys Hockey Head Coach Ryan Hacker to talk about the teams first season in double-A, some of the key players returning for next year, and more!
0:46 - Coach talks coaching roots and how he found Sartell. 1:23 - Recap of Sartell's first season in double-A 3:12 - Tory Lund's season and playing style 4:50 - Players to look out for next year, unsung heroes 7:47 - Strengths and weaknesses 9:05 - The influence of St. Cloud State Captain Spencer Meier 11:05 - Recent improvements at Sartell's rink 13:00 - Things to look forward to for next season 14:35 - Describing the team's personalities on and off the ice
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the weekend of hockey action. Visit The Rink Live for more hockey coverage.
On Thursday, the Frozen Four begins with games in Boston. Denver will play Michigan and Minnesota State University-Mankato will play Minnesota. The Rink Live's Brad Schlossman, Matt Wellens, Sydney Wolf and Mick Hatten talk about those matchups and then do a deep dive into the transfer portal, where teams are at, the fascination with goalies and more.
www.therinklive.com/inside-trl/brad-schlossman-matt-wellens-sydney-wolf-and-mick-hatten-discuss-the-transfer-portal-on-the-trl-podcast
The season began with the St. Cloud State men's hockey team as the No. 1-ranked team in NCAA Division I. It ended with a loss in the first round of the national tournament, but came after a rally to get home ice for the NCHC playoffs. There will be a different look to the Huskies next season with a number of its top players finishing their eligibility or signing pro contracts. SCSU mega fan @GOHUSKIESWOOOOO and The Rink Live's Mick Hatten discuss the team on Friday, April 1.
Joe Bertagna currently serves as executive director of the American Hockey Coaches Association, and the Eastern Hockey League after spending time as the commissioner of both the ECAC and Hockey East. A life-long resident of Massachusetts, he played goalie for Harvard and has run goalie schools for decades.
In the run-up to another Frozen Four in Boston, Bertagna, 70, spoke with Mick Hatten and Jess Myers about proposed changes to the NCAA regionals and other rules under duscussion among the coaches and administrators, about the fantastic on-ice rivalry between Harvard and Cornell, and offering some insiders tips on what Frozen Four visitors should see in Boston and around the Bay State.
www.therinklive.com
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the weekend of hockey action. Visit The Rink Live for more hockey coverage.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the weekend of hockey action. Visit The Rink Live for more hockey coverage.
For the first time since 2014, the St. Cloud State men's hockey team was bounced in the first round of the NCHC tournament when it got swept by Minnesota Duluth last weekend. It may end up being a blessing in disguise with starting goalie David Hrenak and captain Spencer Meier both still trying to recover from the flu and graduate student defenseman Seamus Donohue trying to come back from an upper body injury. Head coach Brett Larson discusses the season, the NCAA tournament outlook and also helps preview the NCHC Frozen Faceoff field with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
www.therinklive.com/podcasts/the-rink-live
Dave Starman will provide color analysis of this weekend's NCH Frozen Faceoff at Xcel Energy Center for CBS Sports Network. He breaks down keys for Denver, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota and Western Michigan in their games on Friday. He also discusses the Big Ten championship game between Minnesota and Michigan, his initial reaction to the top 10 Hobey Baker Award finalists and gives his take on where teams should play in the NCAA regional tournaments with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the weekend of hockey action. Visit The Rink Live for more hockey coverage.
Whether it has been television, writing, or radio, Ashley Chase has done it all. Chase currently is the director of operations, media relations and play-by-play for the St. Cloud Norsemen of the North American Hockey League, but it wasn't an easy path to get to this point.
https://www.therinklive.com/junior-and-prospects/ashley-chase-makes-history-as-the-first-female-junior-hockey-play-by-play-broadcaster
Full interview from The Rink Live's weekly YouTube show Today in the USHL with Kirsten Krull.
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Full interview from The Rink Live's weekly YouTube show Today in the USHL with Kirsten Krull.
Make sure to head over to our YouTube channel to watch the full episode. Former head coach of the Fargo Force and 2018 Clark Cup champion Pierre-Paul Lamoureux joined the show as a guest analyst, and we welcomed on head coaches and general managers from five different clubs to discuss the moves they made.
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The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the weekend of hockey action. Visit The Rink Live for more hockey coverage.
You hear of hockey players playing through injuries pretty regularly. How about playing through an entire season when you know you have to have surgery to repair an injury? That's what St. Cloud State graduate student Emma Polusny did in 2021-22. She found out before the season she would need surgery to repair a hip labral tear. But she says it may have actually helped her as a goalie. The proof is in the honors. She was named to the All-WCHA First Team and the conference's Goaltender of the Year last week. A candid and fun conversation with Polusny, who has seven career marks in the top five for SCSU goalies.
Nadine Muzerall was an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota women's hockey team from 2011-16. She left her alma mater to take over an Ohio State team that had gone 10-25-1 overall in 2015-16. By 2018, the Buckeyes were playing in the Frozen Four for the first time. Ohio State also reached the Frozen Four in 2021. She discusses some keys to her success as a coach, talks about her time as a player for the University of Minnesota and what got her interested in becoming a coach with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten. www.therinklive.com
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the weekend of hockey action. Visit The Rink Live for more hockey coverage.
After a year off from the WCHA playoffs due to the pandemic cutting the field down, every team in the conference will be involved again. The seventh-seeded St. Cloud State women's hockey team (9-21-3 overall) opens the playoffs against second-seeded Ohio State (25-6-0). The teams play at 5 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and, if necessary, 2 p.m. Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. The Huskies go into the series with Olympians Jenniina Nylund and Klara Hymlarova back in the lineup. A look at the Huskies, their season, their playoff prospects and more with head coach Steve Macdonald.
Dave Schwartz spent most of the last 15 years covering sports for KARE 11 in the Twin Cities. He started a new position (senior manager of communications and engagement) for the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. Schwartz talks about coaching youth hockey, how different youth hockey is in Minnesota vs. New York (where he grew up), how he got to KARE 11, memories of working in Bemidji, covering Shreveport in the CHL, his Arkansan wife doing play-by-play for squirt hockey and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the weekend of hockey action. They wrap up the college hockey play from the weekend, including North Dakota's sweep of Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota's big comeback against Penn State. Also included is a wrap up of the Olympics, the Gophers clinching the WCHA regular season title, and Minnesota State's fifth MacNaughton Cup in a row.
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David Hrenak may be the lone starting goalie in NCAA Division I to work in the ticket office for the team he plays for. Hrenak discusses his work there, the Western Michigan series, previews the series at Nebraska Omaha, goalie camp at SCSU, the Olympics, his parents, goalie masks, speaking to Ondrej Trejbal in his native tongue and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Corey Millen is in his second season as a coach for the St. Cloud Norsemen in the North American Hockey League. The Norsemen are the hottest team in the league and he talks about his team's 10-game winning streak. Millen also discusses playing on the 1984 and 1988 Olympic hockey teams and the players he played with. He also discusses playing with Hall of Fame players in the NHL, including Wayne Gretzky.
The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the weekend of hockey action. Visit The Rink Live for more hockey coverage!
College hockey and IIHF World Junior Championship color analyst Dave Starman joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten to discuss Denver, St. Cloud State, the U.S. Olympic team, styles of play in the Olympics, coaching an Olympic team, talking to veterans vs. younger players, Nebraska Omaha, Michigan State, top NHL prospects in college hockey and UMass.
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The Rink Live's Kirsten Krull, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Jess Myers, and Brad Schlossman meet to catch up on the weekend of hockey action. They begin by discussing the chaotic action in the Olympic women's ice hockey tournament underway in Beijing, as well as the many area connections involved. They then transition into college hockey talk and an update on when Jake Sanderson might be ready to join his Team USA teammates in China.
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Nick Oliver has been through being on the staff for St. Cloud State men's hockey head coach Brett Larson when he has had to leave to be on the staff for Team USA before. Larson was an assistant coach for the Americans at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championships. Larson, senior defenseman Nick Perbix and senior forward Sam Hentges left Wednesday to represent Team USA at the Beijing Olympics. Oliver discusses associate head coach Dave Shyiak, director of operations and video coordinator R.J. Enga becoming a temporary assistant coach, previews this weekend's series at Denver and compares former SCSU teammate Nick Jensen to Perbix. All this and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
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Kirsten Krull hosts this weeks episode of The Rink Live Weekend Rewind, as she was joined by reporters Jess Myers, Matt Wellens and Mick Hatten. Lots to unpack from college hockey recaps from this past weekend, the Olympics almost upon us and then troubles in Michigan.
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Sophomore from Maple Grove will join the Olympic team on Sunday after series against Notre Dame. The Los Angeles Kings draft pick discusses his career with the National Team Development Program, playing in two IIHF World Junior Championships and more.
Timestamps
:50 Playing against Notre Dame
2:15 The whirlwind day that the World Junior Championships were cancelled and he was named to the Olympic team
3:40 Winning the 2021 World Junior Championship gold medal
5:00 Playing in the Olympics vs. playing for Team USA with the National Team Development Program, in world juniors
6:15 His athletic parents, how they influenced him and the inspiration he receives from his sister Paige
9:00 Not playing high school hockey, how Notre Dame's Trevor Janicke helped him make that decision
10:50 Decision to play for the Gophers was easy
11:40 Getting drafted by the Los Angeles Kings, going to L.A. for Olympic camp
13:50 The number of players on the Olympic roster he has played on a team with previously
14:30 Describing his development as a player, his strengths and being a 19-year-old sophomore
17:20 Talking about the Gophers defensemen, having former defensemen Garrett Raboin and Paul Martin as coaches
Senior defenseman Nick Perbix talks about the reasons for the success of the special teams for the St. Cloud State men's hockey team. He also discusses the fastest players on the team, gives summaries of the other Huskies defensemen, discusses growing up in Elk River, his brother playing for the Gophers, his dad being a former college player, being named to the Olympic team, pheasant hunting and what it's like to play a game at Ralph Engelstad Arena. All of this and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast.
Former Gophers All-American joins The Rink Live podcast. Hosted by Mick Hatten and Jess Meyers. www.therinklive.com
The Rink Live team takes a look at the tight conference title races in the NCHC, Big Ten and WCHA. They also look back at Hockey Day Minnesota in Mankato.
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Eric Rud has spent two stints as a coach at St. Cloud State. He was an assistant coach for the men's team from 2005-10. He then returned to be the head women's coach for the Huskies from 2014-19. Rud talks about recruiting during the pandemic, the transfer portal, recruiting kids a second time due to the "COVID" extra year of eligibility and where this season's Miami team is at. He also shares memories of recruiting former SCSU standout Ethan Prow, his son, Max, committing to the University of Minnesota, how his daughter, Gabbie, is doing at Cornell and how his wife, Amy, is criss-crossing the country to watch their kids play. All of this and more in this podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Dan Myers is a longtime hockey reporter and Minnesota State University-Mankato graduate (2003-07). Myers covers the Minnesota Wild for nhl.com/wild. He is covering Hockey Day Minnesota in Mankato this week and discusses the event. He also discusses this season's Mavericks men's and women's hockey teams, history of those programs, the Minnesota Wild this season and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
3:00 Hockey Day Minnesota going to Mankato
5:05 MSU-Mankato going from All Seasons Arena to downtown civic center
9:15 The impact of Mavericks men going to their first Frozen Four last season
13:05 All-American Shari Dickerman's impact on the Mavericks women's program
18:20 Evolution of Mavericks men's program and the niche they have
23:20 Perspective on Mavericks F Nathan Smith and G Dryden McKay among all-time Mavs
31:00 Assessing the Minnesota Wild at this point
34:00 Marcus Foligno's impact on the Minnesota Wild
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The Rink Live’s Matt Wellens, Jess Myers and Mick Hatten take a look back at last weekend’s action in the NCHC, Big Ten and WCHA.
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Joe Molenaar and Josh Luedtke see one another daily at hockey practice as members of the St. Cloud State men's hockey team. So what did they do during Christmas break? Hang out together in Minnetonka, where both of them grew up. The former Skippers talk about their fantasy football league, playing this weekend against former teammate Bobby Brink (now a forward at Denver), playing pond hockey, how their seasons are going and more in this podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Brian Lawton has been a familiar face to Minnesota hockey fans since he was the No. 1 overall draft pick of the North Stars in 1983. Lawton also played in the NHL for the New York Rangers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks before retiring in 1993. He then started his own agency for players, worked for the Tampa Bay Lightning and now works for the NHL Network. Lawton discusses the Carolina Hurricanes signing Gophers goalie Jack LaFontaine, his playing career, playing for Herb Brooks, his career as an agent, the Minnesota Wild and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
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The Rink Live team discusses the latest host topics in college hockey, starting with Gophers’ goalie Jack LaFontaine signing with the Carolina Hurricanes mid-season and ending with college players going to the Olympics.
Matt Wellens, Jess Meyers, Brad Schlossman and Mick Hatten.
Taylor Lind grew up in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, a town of about 1,700. She grew up in a hockey family with two brothers and a sister, who all play hockey. One of her brothers, Kole, has played forward for the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken in the last two seasons. She discusses her family, her improvement each season with the Huskies, helps preview this weekend's series against Minnesota Duluth and more in this podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
:35 Playing in a tournament in Pittsburgh, scoring an overtime goal against Penn State 3:00 Assessing the team going into the second half 4:30 Previewing the series vs. UMD 5:20 Discussing her improvement as a player, her linemates 8:00 Going home for the offseason, working out with her siblings, growing up 12:00 Her small hometown has some famous hockey players 14:00 How she ended up at SCSU 18:00 Watching her younger brother play over the break in the WHL 18:47 Her major, doing well in school 19:55 Having another year possible with NCAA COVID exception 20:30 IIHF cancels Women's World Under-18 Championship tournament
Mike Gibbons has played or coached hockey for 60 years and is one of the great storytellers in the game. He played college hockey for Bob Peters at Bemidji State from 1975-79 and was a two-time All-American as a defenseman and helped the Beavers win a national title. Peters also enticed Gibbons to start his coaching career in 1981 at Bemidji State. Gibbons shares some of his memories of Peters, who died recently. Gibbons also discusses this season's Bemidji State team, coaching against St. Cloud State (where he was an assistant for 13 seasons), coaching at Northern Michigan and a lot more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
2:00 Memories of former Bemidji State coach R.H. "Bob" Peters 6:15 Getting recruited to play for BSU 7:05 The first season of the CCHA, 30 national title contenders 9:35 Playing against SCSU for the first time after coaching there 13:25 Bemidji State beating Wisconsins in the NCAA tournament last season 18:25 Coaching at Northern Michigan before the Wildcats won the national title 24:25 Coaching the Sillinger brothers at Bemidji State 27:00 Preview of Lake Superior State vs. BSU series 28:50 How Bob Peters helped him get started in coaching
Bemidji State men's hockey head coach Tom Serratore discusses how his team played in the first half — strengths, things it needs to work on, playing St. Cloud State, how former Huskies assistant coach Mike Gibbons came back for another season and more in this podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Here's the time stamps: :45 The first half for Bemidji State 2:50 The Beavers power play 3:19 2 underclassmen seeing time in goal for BSU 5:00 Scouting SCSU 6:50 Tough nonconference schedule 7:20 Former SCSU assistant Mike Gibbons on staff for a second season.
Sloane Martin did not take a common route to being a hockey play-by-play announcer. She grew up in Southern California and did not watch hockey growing up. She played NCAA Division III basketball and then was the play-by-play voice for the University of Buffalo. She talks about moving to Minnesota, discovering high school hockey in the state, being the first woman to do play-by-play for the boys state hockey tournament, working for the Big Ten Network and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers
Here are the time stamps: 2:50 Background: Growing up in California, moving to Buffalo, Minnesota, introduction to hockey 5:35 Former college basketball player, high school athlete 6:12 Being first woman to do play-by-play of Minnesota boys hockey tournament 9:00 Preparation time for broadcasts, memorizing line charts 14:40 First Minnesota hockey exposure 17:30 Moving from WCCO to Big Ten Network 20:30 Adjustments of pacing of basketball to hockey games 23:30 WCHA this season 26:40 Doing play-by-play for Minnesota Lynx www.therinklive.com
Aidan Spellacy is home for Christmas, but took the time to be on the podcast this week. He discusses how he ended up at St. Cloud State after three seasons playing for Robert Morris University, how he is adapting to a new school and teammates, growing up and playing hockey in Ohio and winning the NAHL's Robertson Cup as a member of the Lone Star Brahmas in 2017. Discover all this and more in this podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Podcast Timestamps
:50 First half of the season
1:20 Process of getting to SCSU
4:40 Finishing undergraduate degree in 3 years
6:20 Working on an MBA with teammates Brenday Bushy, Kevin Fitzgerald
7:50 Teammates he is living with, including international players
9:14 Transition to a new program after 3 years of college, Fitzgerald's personality
13:05 Hockey getting reinstated at Robert Morris University
14:35 Playing for coach Derek Schooley
16:35 Competing for playing time at SCSU, Huskies coaching staff
18:15 Working on faceoffs
20:35 Hockey playing family in Ohio
26:00 Playing junior hockey in Texas
Derek Schooley has been the head men's hockey coach at Robert Morris University since 2004. The last eight months have been unlike any that most college coaches experience. RMU was the host institution for the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh in April with a number of restrictions in place due to the pandemic. Then on May 26, the university announced it was cutting its men's and women's hockey programs. The university allowed a fundraising campaign to save the program and on Dec. 17, it announced that the sport was being reinstated. Schooley discusses all of this, his career in hockey and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Time stamps: 1:20 The 205 days from when they dropped to reinstated the program 3:20 Fundraising, beginning Sept. 1, for $1.4 million in cash, $1.4 million in donations 5:09 Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation, legal mediation 6:45 Ryan Malone helping 8:03 Pittsburgh names helping the cause 9:43 Consider leaving RMU? 11:40 Playing junior hockey for Frank Serratore in Omaha 13:42 Story of playing for Frank Serratore 15:06 Playing at Western Michigan 16:35 Working for Frank Serratore at Air Force 17:58 Becoming head coach at Robert Morris in 2004 19:35 The next steps for RMU 20:55 Watching players he's coached playing college hockey this season 22:30 Former RMU player Aidan Spellacy playing for SCSU 24:00 Hockey in Western Pennsylvania 25:30 Facilities for RMU, unique rink manager www.therinklive.com
If you had asked St. Cloud State men's hockey fans before the season which player would lead the Huskies in scoring at the holiday break, it is fair to say that Kevin Fitzgerald would not likely have been the first pick. But the graduate student has 21 points (already a career high) through 16 games. Fitzgerald talks about his fast start, takes a look at where the Huskies are, discusses teammate Jack Peart, how he got started in hockey, playing Tier III junior hockey, being a walk-on for SCSU. Discover all this and more in this podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Podcast Timestamps:
Final exams, degree he is working on and teammates in classes to open
4:05 hearing from people "you play on the hockey team?!"
5:05 his quick start to the season
6:45 Matt Cullen coming in to teach session on faceoffs, how Cullen treats others
11:05 assessing the Huskies at the holiday break
17:35 Jack Peart being named to USA roster for world championships, having him as a teammate
23:10 playing pro an option?
25:15 starting out playing hockey, his winding junior hockey career
27:50 playing junior hockey for the Aberdeen Wings
30:10 how he ended up walking on at SCSU
35:00 playing in 38 games as a freshman walk-on
On Dec. 3, Josh Fenton announced he will be leaving the NCHC at the end of this season to become the commissioner of the Summit League. He discusses what it was like starting the conference, the success of the Frozen Faceoff tournament, his most challenging stretch as commissioner, what makes a good commissioner and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Time stamps: 2:40 the process that led to getting Summit League commissioner position 5:26 challenges with becoming a commissioner of a multisport conference after being in charge of a single sport conference 8:10 the start of the NCHC and becoming the commissioner 17:57 the success of the Frozen Faceoff 20:30 the most challenging stretch as NCHC commissioner 23:15 could NCHC merge with Summit League 25:28 what makes a good commissioner 29:00 not being able to show emotion at conference games 30:43 how NCHC.tv, CBS Sports Network, social media has helped fan engagement www.therinklive.com
Former Gophers All-American and TV analyst Pat Micheletti breaks down last weekend's NCHC series split between North Dakota and St. Cloud State. He also takes a look at the the Huskies 16 games into the season and discusses the play of Kevin Fitzgerald, Veeti Miettinen, Jack Peart, Micah Miller, Seamus Donohue, David Hrenak more in this podcast with
Hosted by The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
Natalie Darwitz is one of the most decorated players to play hockey. Darwitz is a member of the USA Hockey Hall of Fame, the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame and the Minnesota High School League Hall of Fame.
Timestamps: - Opened with talking about current University of Minnesota women's team 4:45 -- How Natalie ended up as an assistant coach with the Gophers this season 7:00 -- How women's hockey has changed in the last 10 years 10:00 -- Why she decided to retire in 2010 at age 25 14:25 -- How she got into coaching and how coaching helped her as a player 17:10 -- How and why she started playing hockey 19:20 -- Playing high school hockey 20:15 -- Joining the USA senior national team at age 15 22:30 -- What was it like playing in the Olympics 26:45 -- Turning Hamline University into a national title contender during her time there. www.therinklive.com
Dave Starman is a college hockey color commentator for CBS Sports Network and has also done work for the Big Ten Network. During the World Junior Championships, he is the color commentator for the NHL Network. Dave discusses a variety of topics with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers. Timestamps: 3:54 -- Long Island University 10:43 -- Minnesota Duluth 13:23 -- North Dakota 17:00 -- Saint Cloud State 19:02 -- Michigan 24:25 -- Submitted question on the Met League 25:30 -- Submitted question about how extra COVID year for college hockey players is affecting college and junior hockey 28:05 -- Minnesota Gophers www.therinklive.com
Forum Communications announced Monday that it is partnering with athletes to expand The Rink Live brand as the go-to destination for North Dakota and Minnesota hockey coverage. On Friday, The Rink Live added St. Cloud State Huskies defenseman Jack Peart as a brand ambassador.
A former player for the Fargo Force of the USHL, Jack was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft.
Forum Communications announced Monday that it is partnering with athletes to expand The Rink Live brand as the go-to destination for North Dakota and Minnesota hockey coverage. On Thursday, The Rink Live added University of Minnesota Duluth forward Blake Biondi as a brand ambassador.
Blake played parts of two seasons for Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL and was picked by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2020 NHL Draft. This season, Blake is tied for the points lead on the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.
Forum Communications announced Monday that it is partnering with athletes to expand The Rink Live brand as the go-to destination for North Dakota and Minnesota hockey coverage. On Wednesday, The Rink Live added University of Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber as a brand ambassador.
The first Minnesotan selected in the 2020 NHL Draft, Brock Faber was the 45th overall pick by the Los Angeles Kings. A sophomore defenseman for University of Minnesota, Brock was a Big Ten All-Freshmen Team selection last year.
Forum Communications announced this week that it is partnering with athletes to expand The Rink Live brand as the go-to destination for North Dakota and Minnesota hockey coverage.
In the 2020 NHL draft, Jake Sanderson was selected fifth overall by the Ottawa Senators. Welcome to The Rink Live Team Jake. A sophomore studying kinesiology at the University of North Dakota, Jake is an assistant captain and plays defense for the Fighting Hawks. This season, he leads the team in points.
Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald and The Rink Live broke the story on the upheaval in the Omaha Lancers organization in the United States Hockey League that led to the league postponing three of the teams games last weekend. Schlossman also helps preview this weekend's nonconference matchup between the University of Minnesota at the University of North Dakota with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Goalie Maddie Rooney backstopped the U.S. to the 2018 Olympic gold medal. Welcome Maddie to The Rink Live Team as the U.S. aims to repeat as gold medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics in February.
Forum Communications is excited to partner with like-minded athletes to expand The Rink Live brand as the go to destination for North Dakota & Minnesota hockey coverage.
Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald and The Rink Live broke the story on the upheaval in the Omaha Lancers organization in the United States Hockey League that led to the league postponing three of the teams games last weekend. Schlossman also helps preview this weekend's nonconference matchup between the University of Minnesota at the University of North Dakota with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten sponsored by NCHC.tv.
Ben Holden has been doing play-by-play announcing for college hockey games since 2004. Last season, he unexpectedly was let go by the CBS Sports Network after helping broadcast the NCHC Pod in Omaha. Holden has rebounded and is now doing telecasts of KHL games and is also continuing to work college hockey games. He discusses his career, the KHL and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Jayson Hajdu was the long-time sports information director for the University of North Dakota and well-known in the college hockey circle. His wife got a new job and he left UND, moved to Kansas City and has been working for The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures. After three years away from the college hockey scene, he was recently hired as the new director of communications for College Hockey Inc. He discusses his career, college hockey, his new position and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Joe O'Donnell has paid some dues before the Minnesota Wild hired him as a radio play-by-play announcer. O'Donnell, who grew up in Havertown, Pa., started his broadcasting career at the University of Delaware as a color commentator for its club hockey team. After graduating from college, O'Donnell worked for the Reading Royals (2003-05) and Idaho Steelheads (2005-08) in the ECHL and then in the AHL for the Wild's affiliates (Houston Aeros, 2008-13; and Iowa Wild, 2013-21). He discusses his career, this season's Wild team, some Wild prospects and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Early in this season, Mike Hastings has coached the top-ranked team in NCAA Division I men's hockey at Minnesota State University-Mankato. The Mavericks (4-2) are ranked No. 2/3 this weekend and begin CCHA play against Northern Michigan this weekend. Hastings talks about his current team, playing for Herb Brooks, coaching with Dean Blais, how the United States Hockey League has changed over the years and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Joel Johnson has some busy days this fall. The USA women's national hockey team has set up base in Blaine and Johnson is the head coach for the Americans. Oh by the way, his day job is being the head coach of the University of St. Thomas women's team, which is in its first season as an NCAA Division I program. Johnson discusses his juggling act and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Bob Motzko will have a bit of a homecoming this weekend. He will be behind the bench for a game at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center for the first time since he left St. Cloud State to become the head coach at the University of Minnesota. in 2018. Motzko talks about his time at St. Cloud State, discusses the Gophers' opening weekend, tells stories about growing up in Austin, shares a good Herb Brooks story, discusses hockey in Sioux Falls and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Joe Micheletti grew up in a family with nine kids in Hibbing and his family name has been synonymous with hockey in Minnesota for decades. In 1973, Micheletti helped Hibbing win a state title and he went on to help the University of Minnesota win national titles in 1974 and 1976. He went on to play in the WHA and NHL as a defenseman. He talks about all of this, previews the NHL season and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
The Rink Live reporters Jess Myers, Mick Hatten, Brad Schlossman and Matt Wellens discuss the opening of the WCHA season, St. Thomas hockey, the CCHA, Gophers men, Big Ten hockey and more in this episode.
Phil Fox grew up in Stillwater and played junior hockey in the United States Hockey League and North American Hockey League before playing four seasons (2007-11) at Northern Michigan. As he begins his third season as the head coach and general manager of the NAHL's New Mexico Wolves, Fox discusses what has changed in the league since he played in it, playing for Wildcats head coach Walt Kyle, becoming a dad for the second time and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
University of St. Thomas men's hockey assistant coach Leon Hayward's hockey career has taken him from the East Coast to Texas to Colorado before ending up in St. Paul for the first season of NCAA Division I hockey with the Tommies. But it all started in ... Seattle. Hayward talks about growing up and playing hockey on the West Coast, playing and coaching prep hockey on the East Coast, playing pro hockey, coaching at Colorado College and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
On July 28, Ashley Chase was named the director of operations, media relations and play-by-play broadcaster for the St. Cloud Norsemen in the North American Hockey League. She is the first female team play-by-play broadcaster across junior hockey in the United States. She discusses her new job, how she became a hockey fan growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania, breaks news on Eric Schlie and former St. Cloud State defenseman Clark Kuster being named assistant coaches for the Norsemen and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers. Schlie spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo., as a boys hockey assistant coach under head coach George Gwozdecky.
Last week, Cory Laylin was named a new assistant men's hockey coach for the University of St. Thomas after spending the last seven seasons as the head coach at Hamline University. He fills the position vacated by Stu Bickel, who took a job as an assistant coach in the AHL. Laylin was a star for St. Cloud Apollo High School, then played for the University of Minnesota (1988-92) and played professionally in the United States, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Slovenia and Austria before retiring in 2008. He shares memories from his playing days and talks coaching with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Jordy Christian's family includes some of the biggest names in USA Hockey. Christian talks about growing up in a hockey family, his playing days at St. Cloud State, trying his hand at pro hockey and giving back to the game by volunteering for youth hockey associations in Grand Forks and Fargo with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers. Christian is currently volunteering for the Fargo Angels and helping get an arena built. Learn more about the Fargo Angels at www.fargoangelshockey.org.
Pat Ferschweiler has been around Western Michigan's hockey program for three stints. He was a forward for the Broncos from 1990-93 and then served two stints as an assistant coach (2010-14 and 2019-21). He was named to replace Andy Murray as the team's head coach on Aug. 3. Between his two stints as an assistant for WMU, he spent one season as an assistant coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL (2014-15) and four seasons as an assistant for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. He grew up in Rochester, Minn., and played high school hockey for Rochester John Marshall and junior hockey for the USHL's Rochester Mustangs. He discusses his career The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
David McNab recently retired after working for the Anaheim Ducks organization since 1993. His history of working in the NHL goes back to 1978 when he started out as a scout for the Washington Capitals after graduating from the University of Wisconsin, where he was a backup goalie. He worked for his father, Max, a former NHL player, and his brother, Peter, played in the NHL from 1973-87. McNab talks about his family, his experiences in the game, the expansion draft, the NHL Draft and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Ben Barr grew up in Duluth and playing youth hockey players that would end up at Duluth East. He ended up following his dad's footsteps and attended Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep School. He then went on to play college hockey for RPI. Since finishing college, he has been an assistant coach at RPI (2004-08), Union (2008-11), Providence (2011-14), Western Michigan (2014-16) and Massachusetts (2016-21). He helped the Minutemen win their first NCAA Division I men's title and then was named the Black Bears coach in May. He discusses his career and life with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Matt Wellens.
Ben Hankinson has been on the hockey scene in the state for decades. He played for Edina High School before playing for the University of Minnesota (1987-91) and then in the NHL and in the minor leagues and as a player agent since he retired from playing. Hankinson is one of the founders of Da Beauty League, which begins play on Wednesday, July 14. It is a summer league played for charity with players from pro and college hockey and games are played at Braemar Arena in Edina. A fun conversation about his career on and off the ice with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Bill Robertson was contemplating what his next career move would be when he was contacted by United States Hockey League commissioner Tom Garrity. Garrity was looking to move on and reached out to Robertson to see if he was interested in replacing him. After an extensive interview process, Robertson was named the Tier I junior league's 10th commissioner on June 11. He begins his new position in July and discusses his career working in pro and college sports with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Last week, Brett Larson signed a contract extension to be St. Cloud State's men's hockey head coach that runs through the 2027-28 season. His original five-year contract to become the program's third coach in the NCAA Division I era was signed in 2018. Larson talks about his contract extension, shares memories of Tom Kurvers and JT Brown, gives an injury update on Easton Brodzinskim talks about the schedule for the coming season and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Joel Johnson was introduced as the new head women's hockey coach at the University of St. Thomas on June 10. Johnson discusses his new position, recruiting, being the interim head coach of the USA women's national team, playing three sports (soccer, baseball and hockey) at Bethel University, convincing his daughter that working for the Tommies is a good idea and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Mike Randolph resigned this week after his second stint as Duluth East High School's boys hockey coach. He leaves the program after leading it to 18 state tournament appearances, two state titles, six second-place finishes, four third-place finishes and three consolation titles. He coached the Greyhounds from 1988-2003, and again from 2004-2021. He discusses coaching at St. Scholastica, Minnesota Duluth, Duluth Denfeld and Duluth Cathedral, being one of the last cuts on the 1976 USA Olympic Team and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Jeff Nygaard was recently named the executive director for the Fargo Youth Hockey Association. It is a new position where he will oversee an association with 1,200 players and 20 board members. Nygaard talks about some of the challenges with his new post, but also about playing junior college hockey in Fergus Falls, helping establish some junior hockey leagues on the East Coast, being an on-ice official and much more.
Jenny Taft grew up in Edina, Minn., in a hockey family. Her dad, John, played defense for the University of Wisconsin and in the 1976 Olympics. Her brother, Charlie, played hockey for Colorado College from 2011-15. Her mother, Mary, was a speed skater. She played lacrosse, hockey and tennis at Edina before going on to play lacrosse at Boston University. There, she met her husband, Matt Gilroy, who won the Hobey Baker Award and the NCAA Division I championship in 2009. Taft talks about her career in broadcasting, including being the moderator for FS1's "Skip and & Shannon: Undisputed" show.
Jenny Taft grew up in Edina, Minn., in a hockey family. Her dad, John, played defense for the University of Wisconsin and in the 1976 Olympics. Her brother, Charlie, played hockey for Colorado College from 2011-15. Her mother, Mary, was a speed skater. She played lacrosse, hockey and tennis at Edina before going on to play lacrosse at Boston University. There, she met her husband, Matt Gilroy, who won the Hobey Baker Award and the NCAA Division I championship in 2009. Taft talks about her career in broadcasting, including being the moderator for FS1's "Skip and & Shannon: Undisputed" show.
Fargo Force coach Pierre-Paul Lamoureux discusses his team rallying to upend the top-seeded Tri-City Storm in the first round of the United States Hockey League's Western Division playoffs. He also discusses some of his top players, including Gophers recruits Tristan Broz, Aaron Huglen and Brennan Boynton and St. Cloud State recruits Jack Peart and Mason Salquist. He also discusses his large hockey family, playing major junior hockey, recruiting in the pandemic and previews the Force's series against the Sioux City Musketeers.
Jessi Pierce from NHL.com and the Bardown Beauties talks with Jess Myers about the Minnesota Wild clinching a playoff spot on The Rink Live podcast
Rico Blasi was introduced as the new University of St. Thomas men's hockey coach on April 6. As you can imagine, his life has been a whirlwind since that time, but he gets everyone up to date on what he has been up to, including beginning the recruiting process for the Tommies. Blasi also talks about playing for George Gwozdecky at Miami University, then working for Gwozdecky as an assistant coach at the University of Denver before taking over as head coach at Miami in 1999. He shares memories from his hockey journey and looks ahead with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
It's been two days since the St. Cloud State men's hockey team played in the NCAA Division I championship in Pittsburgh. Huskies coach Brett Larson joins The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers to talk about the experiences for his team on and off the rink during the Frozen Four and gives a peek into what the offseason looks like for his team.
Broadcaster John Buccigross has been the play-by-play voice of ESPN's Frozen Four coverage for several seasons. The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers discuss this year's Frozen Four, which is a return to his hometown of Pittsburgh. They also discuss where Buccigross' love of hockey comes from, the return of the NHL to his network, this year's Hobey Baker Award, what a Pittsburgh accent is and more in this episode.
The 2021 Frozen Four field is set with Minnesota Duluth playing Massachusetts and St. Cloud State playing Minnesota State University-Mankato in the semifinals on April 8 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa. The championship game will be played at 6 p.m. April 10 (ESPN2). Minnesota Duluth beat reporter Matt Wellens, MSU-Mankato beat reporter Jason Feldman, ESPN and CBS Sports color commentator Dave Starman and St. Cloud State beat reporter Mick Hatten talk about the teams and how they got to the Frozen Four and some things to watch for.
On Sunday, the six men's hockey teams that have beat reporters for The Rink Live were all given bids to the 16-team NCAA Division I tournament field. With that in mind, we got all six reporters together to talk about the teams they cover and the regionals that the teams will be playing in.
Brad Schlossman (North Dakota), Matt Wellens (Minnesota Duluth), Austin Monteith (Bemidji State), Jason Feldman (Minnesota State University-Mankato), Jess Myers (Minnesota) and Mick Hatten break down the tournament and what we may see this weekend. And, during the recording of the broadcast, we also share some breaking news in this big dance version of The Rink Live podcast.
The Rink Live reporters Matt Wellens, Jess Myers and Mick Hatten are in three different locations for postseason play. Wellens is in Erie, Pa., to cover the NCAA Division I women's hockey tournament. Myers is in South Bend, Ind., to cover the Big Ten tournament. Hatten is in Grand Forks, N.D., covering the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.
The three reporters discuss the NCAA women's tournament, the difficult task of picking the NCAA men's tournament field and preview the semifinals for the Big Ten and NCHC
Mike Sertich grew up playing hockey in Virginia, Minn., played college hockey at Minnesota Duluth and went on to coach at Grand Rapids High School, UMD and Michigan Tech and was an assistant coach with the Team USA sled hockey team. Sertich was recently named the 2021 Hobey Baker Legend of College Hockey and he talks about how it affected him when he got the news. Sertich also tells some great stories from his life, including Iron Range high school games when he was growing up, coaching Mark Pavelich, the Bulldogs in the 1980s and a lot more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Katie Emmer was able to return to FOX Sports North on Saturday to help with its Hockey Day Minnesota broadcast. Emmer began her professional broadcasting career at FSN before working on Philadelphia Flyers broadcasts last season for NBC Philadelphia. Because of the pandemic, she and Chris Therien were laid off before this season started.
But Emmer is staying busy as a freelancer and she talks about some projects she has been working on. She talks about her experiences in Philadelphia, this year's Minnesota Wild team, her unique path that took her to St. Cloud State and what it is like to grow up with six brothers
NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee chair Mike Kemp joined The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers on Feb. 22, 2021, to discuss the unique situation of picking a field of 16 this season. He ended up sharing that Albany, N.Y., will be the fourth regional site for the tournament. The other regional sites are Loveland, Colo.; Fargo, N.D.; and Bridgeport, Conn. Originally, Manchester, N.H., was the fourth site, but pulled out because the facility is not being used.
Kemp also discusses being the first head coach at Nebraska Omaha, growing up in Duluth, being an assistant for Don Roberts at Gustavus, Bob Johnson and Jeff Sauer at Wisconsin and for Val Belmonte at Illinois-Chicago.
A bit of a turn-back-the-clock episode of The Rink Live podcast with Mick Hatten and Jess Myers. Hatten and Myers discuss the weekends for the University of Minnesota and St. Cloud State men's hockey teams, take a look at the conference races for the Big Ten and NCHC, take a look at the NCAA Division I tournament picture and throw in some Minnesota boys hockey talk in this episode.
The 2020-21 season has been an odd one because of the coronavirus pandemic with men's hockey teams being forced to play virtually no nonconference games and unbalanced conference schedules about. How the NCAA Division I committee is going to pick the 16-team field for the national tournament has not yet been determined. There are no PairWise Rankings this season to take a lot of the guesswork out of the equation.
With that in mind, The Rink Live reporters Jess Myers, Mick Hatten, Matt Wellens, Austin Monteith and Brad Schlossman pick a field if the tournament was to start tomorrow. There were 11 teams that made all five of the ballots. Find out which teams would be in and possible regional seeds for the teams in this episode of The Rink Live podcast.
This is the director's cut.
Kyle Oen discusses how his website (www.vintagemnhockey.com) came about, how he goes about making vintage jerseys, shows off some of his hockey jersey collection, reminisces about the Minnesota North Stars, discusses the Minnesota Wild's reverse retro jerseys, the state hockey history available on his website and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Anthony LaPanta took over as FSN's play-by-play announcer for Minnesota Wild telecasts in 2012. He joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten to discuss this season's Wild team, memories of Hockey Day Minnesota and his love of cooking. LaPanta also has worked some recent Minnesota Gophers men's hockey games for FSN and he talks about this season's Gophers. LaPanta shares memories of how Hockey Day Minnesota got started and how he and Kevin Gorg got into an accident driving back from one of the early events.
Judd Zulgad of skornorth.com discusses the much-awaited (and enjoyed) debut of Minnesota Wild rookie Kirill Kaprizov. Zulgad also gives some perspective as to what his talent appears to be and where he could end up ranking among the Wild's players all time.
Zulgad also gets nostalgic with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten about the Minnesota North Stars, Met Center, the one-class Minnesota state boys hockey tournament and the best parts of the St. Paul Civic Center.
Dave Starman has been one of the voices of the IIHF World Junior Championships for more than a decade and has been a color analyst for college hockey games for CBS Sports Network since 2003. He had quite a month of December with working the majority of games in the NCHC Pod and then providing analysis for Team USA games on NHL Network.
Starman is a former college and pro goalie, has been a coach at the junior and pro level, a pro scout and is currently a youth hockey coach in New York. He discusses this year's world juniors, past world juniors, the NCHC Pod, calling games from a studio, the recent dismissal of play-by-play announcer Ben Holden and more.
Minnesota Hockey, the governing body for amateur hockey in the state, has been hard at work to get players and teams back on the ice. The organization's executive director, Glen Andresen, joins The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers to discuss how teams are getting back on the ice on Jan. 4. He discusses some of the key rules that have been implemented to try to ensure the sport will not be shut down again this season and gives an update on mouth guard requirements, what masks players will be permitted to wear and more.
If people have more questions about the return to play protocol, visit www.minnesotahockey.org or contact Mike Terwilliger of Minnesota Hockey https://www.minnesotahockey.org/page/show/86521-board-of-directors.
University of Minnesota men's hockey assistant coach Garrett Raboin discusses some of the keys to his team's fast start and No. 1 rating in NCAA Division I. He also discusses some of the key players, how he is armchair quarterbacking a team during the holiday break, some of the Gophers' key players, playing Arizona State this weekend and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Wally Shaver moved to Minnesota from Canada when his father, Al, became the play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota North Stars. He ended up following some of his father's career path and has been a play-by-play announcer for the University of Minnesota men's hockey team for the last 20 seasons. Wally's son, Jason, is a play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.
Shaver talks about the family business, being able to broadcast the last North Stars game with Al, how he started announcing Gophers game and the current top-ranked University of Minnesota team with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
In Part 2 of this week's podcast, Matt Wellens and Brad Schlossman rejoin to continue the discussion of the NCHC and the Pod. In this episode, they discuss the finances of putting the Pod together, how testing of the athletes may be in the post-Pod portion of the schedule and they look at the post-Pod schedule and which teams may have an advantage in the conference race because of the unbalanced schedule.
If you haven't already, please check out Part 1 where the reporters discuss more of the hockey side of Week 2 inside the Pod. This podcast is in two parts this week because of a Wifi issue.
The NCHC has been able to get through the first two weeks of its Pod being held in Omaha, Neb. In Part 1 of this week's podcast, Matt Wellens, Brad Schlossman and Mick Hatten discuss what happened in the second week, some surprises, coaching decisions that have been made and how this Pod may benefit the teams in the NCHC in the long run.
This week's podcast is in two parts because of some Wifi issues. Be sure to check out Part 2.
OMAHA, Neb. — Of the media covering the NCHC pod at Baxter Arena, there were four print journalists who were given credentials for the first week. Two of them are Brad Schlossman and Mick Hatten. Schlossman covers the University of North Dakota for the Grand Forks Herald and The Rink Live. Hatten covers St. Cloud State and helps manage The Rink Live website.
So what was it like to cover games with no fans for the first week? What was the atmosphere like? What are the protocols at the rink? Most importantly, what were the games like? Who is off to a surprising or fast start? The pair talk about all this and highlight some of this week's games in this episode of the podcast.
If you have heard of the game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, you know that the actor has been in so many films that you can make connections from him to about anyone in Hollywood within six people. The hockey version of this game could be Six Degrees of Mike Gibbons.
Gibbons, recently hired as an assistant coach at Bemidji State, has been a hockey coach at the college, high school, junior and pro levels since 1981. Gibbons retired after 13 seasons as an assistant coach at St. Cloud State last spring. That plan went to the wayside when Eddie Olczyk left his position as an assistant coach at Bemidji State to work for the NHL's Seattle Kraken and head coach Tom Serratore called.
Gibbons, a former Bemidji State All-American defenseman and coach, was hired to be an assistant coach for this season on Nov. 19. He talks about his career with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Tom Serratore is beginning his 20th season as Bemidji State men's head hockey coach. His ties to the university go back to his college playing days and he has several family members who attended the university, including his brother, Frank, the Air Force head hockey coach.
Serratore talks about this season's Beavers, his playing and coaching career, growing up in Coleraine, Minn., and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Former Hibbing High School and University of Minnesota standout Pat Micheletti has become one of the most well-known color college hockey commentators in the area in recent years.
Micheletti joins The Rink Live podcast and tells stories about his career, takes a look at the University of Minnesota, Minnesota State University-Mankato, University of North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth men's hockey teams this season, his cooking talent and more with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Fairbanks Ice Dogs general manager Rob Proffitt discusses what all went into the decision to move his NAHL franchise to Marshall, Minn., for a season, his history with the franchise, the support his team continues to get in Fairbanks, the team's new home and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
Dani Cameranesi has had some big news recently. Cameranesi, a 25-year-old forward from Plymouth, Minn., is one of 53 players taking part in the U.S. Women's National Team Evaluation Camp through Oct. 31 at The Super Rink in Blaine, Minn. Cameranesi, a former University of Minnesota standout, also recently got engaged to Michael Brodzinski, her longtime boyfriend. Brodzinski, a former Gopher defenseman, has re-signed with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.
Cameranesi and Katie Million join The Rink Live's podcast to talk about Team USA. Million, a former WCHA women's hockey commissioner, is beginning her second year as the director of women’s national team programs for USA Hockey. Both share some fun stories and insight about women's hockey. Cameranesi talks about being an assistant coach for The Blake School for last year's Hockey Day Minnesota, playing in an outdoor game in college at TCF Bank Stadium and more.
It was one of those moments where Mark Frankenfeld will not forget where he was. Frankenfeld, the NAHL commissioner, was in an airport in March when he got the news that most sports were shutting down because of the coronavirus pandemic. He ended up holding a Board of Directors meeting from the airport as the NAHL decided what to do.
Frankenfeld tells that story, talks about how the league was able to hold its combine, protocols in place to keep players safe, the difficulty of putting together a season and more. He also discloses a proposed start date for the rescheduled NAHL Showcase and when its Top Prospects events will be held with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
University of Michigan head men's hockey coach Mel Pearson played high school hockey in Edina for iconic coach Willard Ikola, then at Michigan Tech for legendary coach John MacInnes and then began a coaching career that included being a long-time assistant for Wolverines Red Berenson. Berenson coached the Wolverines for 33 seasons and led them to two national titles. MacInnes led the Huskies to three national titles. Ikola led Edina to a record eight state titles.
So Pearson had some good coaching mentors. He talks about leaving Michigan to be the head coach at Michigan Tech, returning to Michigan to replace Berenson, his playing career, why you should not climb on the roof to shovel snow off it, picking up pucks beneath the stands at Braemar Arena and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
United States Hockey League commissioner Tom Garrity said he missed a meeting and that's how he ended up moving into the Tier I junior league's top position in 2018. Joking aside, he took the position on an interim basis and it ended up becoming a permanent appointment.
Garrity, like all hockey commissioners, is faced with a number of tough questions when looking at trying to put together a 2020-21 season. The league plans to open on Nov. 5 and 14 teams will play a 54-game regular season. Typically, the league plays a 62-game schedule and there would have been 16 teams this season.
But Cedar Rapids and Madison have opted not to play this season, but plan on returning for the 2021-22 season. Garrity discusses why those franchises aren't playing, player safety during the coronavirus pandemic, fighting in the league, will there be another league franchise in Minnesota and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Mark Wick has been involved with college hockey as a player and coach for more than 30 years. He played for Gustavus Adolphus College for two seasons (1981-83) and two seasons for the College of St. Scholastica (1983-85).
As a graduate student, he was involved in coaching club hockey at Bowling Green. He was an assistant coach at St. Scholastica (1986-88), Augsburg (1988-96) and University of Wisconsin-Superior (1996-2000) before becoming the head coach at St. Scholastica (2004-18). He is beginning his third season back as an assistant at Augsburg.
During the 2014-15 season, Wick took a leave of absence to seek help for anxiety and depression. He has become a mental health advocate and on Sept. 29, he will attempt to golf 132 holes on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at Bulrush Golf Club in Rush City for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in September. Wick said that there are an estimated 132 suicides per day in the United States.
He is looking to raise money for Face It Foundation in Minnesota.
There are a number of places that help people with depression and Wick also said that people can contact him (@coachwick23 or mawick23@gmail.com) if they are looking for help.
The Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association is looking to avoid a delay to the beginning of the boys hockey season. MHCA president Jon Ammerman, Moorhead High School's head coach, joins The Rink Live podcast to discuss the proposals the association is planning to present the Minnesota State High School League for the 2020-21 season.
Ammerman talks about how the association came to some unique ideas, the frightening prospect of the high school league not being willing to sponsor a season and contingency plans if they don't.
He also discusses his playing career at Moorhead and St. Cloud State and his teaching and coaching career at Moorhead and Windom.
Bob Nygaard's position as sports information director at the University of Minnesota Duluth was eliminated on April 2. It was not long before people started asking him to work for them.
The Duluth Amateur Hockey Association ended up winning the Nygaard lottery and he is their new executive director.
Nygaard talks about his new position, moving forward with a 2020-21 youth hockey season and shares numerous memories of his 37 years with the Bulldogs.
The 2019-20 youth hockey season ended in early March with some age levels not able to have their state tournaments in Minnesota because of the coronavirus pandemic shutting things down.
The good news is that the 2020-21 youth season is beginning, though there are some changes to keep players, coaches, fans and referees safe. Minnesota Hockey executive director Glen Andresen talks about some of the challenges of the last few months.
Besides dealing with the pandemic, Minnesota Hockey has been addressing race and equity in the game and discussions on contingency plans if there is no boys and girls hockey sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League this season.
All this and more with The Rink Live hosts Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
When Tom Palkowski was asked to help the University of St. Thomas women's hockey team as an assistant coach, he turned it down. But persistence paid off for Kevin Gorg, who was the program's first varsity head coach.
Palkowski agreed to be an assistant coach in 1998. He spent nine seasons as an assistant coach and is about to begin his 14th season as the Tommies head coach and could not be happier he decided to leave life as a boys hockey coach.
Palkowski, a former St. Thomas standout in the 1980s, talks about his coaching and playing career and some of the challenges that moving up to the NCAA Division I level from Division III will post. St. Thomas moves up to Division I in 2021 and the Tommies women's team will play in the WCHA.
East Grand Forks was named one of four finalists in the Kraft Hockeyville USA competition on Aug. 17.
The other finalists are the El Paso (Texas) Event Center, the Wichita (Kan.) Ice Center and the Wildcat Centre Arena in River Falls, Wis. The winner will get $150,000. The runner-up gets $30,000. The other two finalists get $10,000.
East Grand Forks put forth a $13.42-million list of ideas to upgrade the baseball fields at Stauss Park and fix the most pressing problems at the East Grand Forks Civic Center and VFW Memorial Arena earlier in August. So the timing of the online voting competition is excellent.
East Grand Forks Park & Recreation Superintendent Reid Huttunen and East Grand Forks boys hockey coach Tyler Palmiscno talk about the competition, the facility and history of hockey in the city. The voting for the Kraft Hockeyville USA competition will be Aug. 29-30 and people can vote at www.krafthockeyville.com.
Darby Hendrickson is about as embedded as a person can be to hockey in the state of Minnesota.
As a senior at Richfield High School, he was named Mr. Hockey. He played two seasons at the University of Minnesota, scored the first goal for the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center and now is an assistant coach for the Wild.
Hendrickson shares experiences from his playing days, his work with the Hendrickson Foundation, what it was like growing up as the kid of a hockey coach and what it is like to be a hockey dad. All this and more when he joins the Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten on this episode.
The news that the University of St. Thomas was moving up to the NCAA Division I level in all sports in 2021 came on July 15. The CCCHA, which will have its first season in 2021-22, announced on July 29 that the Tommies will be the eighth team in its league.
So it has been a life changing month for people at St. Thomas.
St. Thomas men's head hockey coach Jeff Boeser, who has been involved in his program for more than 40 years, joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten to talk about the transition ahead. He also talks about his current team, playing for Bob Johnson on the 1976 USA national team, learning new recruiting rules, working for Terry Skrypek and more.
Steve Metcalf was named the new commissioner for Hockey East in February. To say that a lot a lot has changed since that announcement is like saying a hurricane creates some rain.
In March, Hockey East announced it would not be going forth with its conference playoffs. But on July 29, the conference announced its plans to play the 2020-21 season with priority given to conference games. Metcalf joins The Rink Live video podcast to discuss some of those plans, how he got involved in hockey and got his new position.
Steve Rohlik admits that growing up in the east side of St. Paul, Minn., his dream was not to play professionally or to play college hockey. Rohlik dreamed of playing for Hill-Murray High School at the state high school tournament.
He achieved that, then went on to be the team's head coach after a college career at the University of Wisconsin. Rohlik's coaching career also includes being an assistant coach at Stillwater (Minn.) High School, Wisconsin, three seasons at Nebraska Omaha, 10 seasons at Minnesota Duluth and three at Ohio State before taking over as the Buckeyes head coach in 2013.
In seven seasons, he has led the Buckeyes to three straight NCAA Division I tournaments, a Frozen Four appearance (2018), their first conference regular season title (2018-19) since 2009 and a 133-95-33 record.
University of Minnesota women's hockey coach Brad Frost has not been on campus since March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Frost, who recently completed his 13th season with the Gophers, talks about his new players for the 2020-21 season, who he roots for when Canada plays Team USA, some highlights of the 2019-20 season, the University of St. Thomas joining the WCHA and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Grant Potulny has spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Northern Michigan hockey team. His teams have taken second twice and third once in the WCHA and he has a record of 64-47-10 with the Wildcats.
He joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten to talk about coaching in the upper peninsula of Michigan, adjustment he's made recruiting during the pandemic, his thoughts on new CCHA commissioner Don Lucia and memories of his playing days at the University of Minnesota.
Potulny played for Grand Forks Red River High School (N.D.), played for the Gophers from 2000-04 and then five seasons of pro hockey. He then was an assistant coach for the Gophers for eight seasons before taking over at Northern Michigan.
On June 3, 2019, Jennifer Flowers was named vice president and women's commissioner of the WCHA. Needless to say, it's been quite a year.
Wisconsin won the conference's regular season title and then Ohio State beat the Badgers 1-0 in the conference championship game. But before the NCAA Division I playoffs could start, everything in sports was halted because of the coronavirus pandemic..
Flowers did not have hockey in her background, but she talks about how her kids now play street hockey and are comfortable enough to take their coats off when they go with their mom to games.
She talks about these experiences, the possibilities of the conference expanding, how the women's side of the conference will/will not be affected by seven men's teams leaving the WCHA in one year and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Regardless of when the 2020-21 college hockey starts, this will be the longest offseason for programs in The Rink Live's area for many years. The coronavirus pandemic has guaranteed that.
But that does not mean that college hockey news has stopped happening. Reporters Mick Hatten (St. Cloud State), Austin Monteith (Bemidji State), Jess Myers (Minnesota), Brad Schlossman (North Dakota) and Matt Wellens (Minnesota Duluth) check into this episode of the podcast to talk about the biggest developments of the offseason so far.
Some of the topics covered include the biggest storyline of each team's offseason, the proposed overtime change, the new CCHA commissioner and new players to watch in the coming season.
Jessi Pierce covers the Minnesota Wild for NHL.com and also has a podcast called Bar Down Beauties that she does with Alexis Pearson.
Pierce joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten and talks about the playoffs, the first season under general manager Bill Guerin, how she got her current position, her career path and much more.
Don Lucia was a men's head hockey coach at the University of Alaska, Colorado College and the University of Minnesota.
Lucia retired from coaching two years ago, but was approached about applying to become the commissioner of the new CCHA, went through an extensive interview process and was named to his new position on Wednesday, June 17.
Lucia joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten and discusses how he ended up getting back involved in the game, some of the challenges he faces and also talks about his coaching career, the possibility of the University of St. Thomas joining the CCHA, the probable new overtime format and more.
Minnesota State University-Mankato men's hockey coach Mike Hastings' team was sitting at No. 2 in the PairWise Rankings when the 2019-20 season abruptly ended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hastings talks about that team, what his team is going to look like in 2020-21, what he is hearing about college hockey moving forward, the new recruiting age rule, the 3-on-3 overtime proposal being discussed in the NCAA and tells some stories about his time playing for Herb Brooks and Frank Serratore. All this and more when he joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
Some summer hockey has begun with restrictions, Alabama-Huntsville's men's hockey program has been saved (again) and has some challenges ahead, Long Island University has a men's hockey coach and its first commitments, the CCHA has three finalists for its commissioner position and Dave Shyiak is moving from Western Michigan to St. Cloud State.
It's the offseason, but still plenty to cover in the latest episode of The Rink Live video podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten. The reporters cover all of these topics and more on this episode.
University of Minnesota men's hockey coach Bob Motzko joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten and discusses the offseason for the Golden Gophers.
How has Motzko and his staff been staying in communication with the players? What's it like sorting through who to bring in for the freshman class? How different does it feel having three goalies in place this offseason vs. last offseason when all three were unknown? All this and more on this episode with the reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Stu Bickel earned a reputation as a tough guy during his pro hockey career from 2008-18. In 411 pro games, the former forward/defenseman had 1,172 penalty minutes, which included time in the NHL with the New York Rangers (2011-13) and Minnesota Wild (2014-15).
After retiring from playing, Bickel decided to go back to the University of Minnesota and finish his degree in communications and has spent the last two seasons as a student assistant coach for the Gophers.
Bickel shares memories from his playing days, shares some of what he has learned under head coach Bob Motzko and looks ahead to his next career move with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.
On March 12, the day before the NCHC playoffs were set to begin, the conference made the decision to cancel its postseason tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Like most conferences, the NCHC makes most of its operating budget from its annual postseason tournament. Fenton joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten to discuss how the conference is doing financially, the contingency plans the conference is looking at for different scenarios in the fall, whether or no rule changes will be implemented for the 2020-21 season and more.
Corey Millen was hired to be the head coach of the North American Hockey League's St. Cloud Norsemen on April 2nd.
This will be the third franchise in the junior league that Millen has coached. He previously was the head coach of the Alaska Avalanche (2011-12) and the Minnesota Wilderness (2013-16).
Millen has also been an undergraduate assistant coach for the University of Minnesota men's team (2016-17), was the director of hockey operations for the Air Force Academy (2017-18) and an assistant coach for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League (2018-19).
As a player, Millen played in the NHL from 1989-97 with the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames. He then played in Germany and Switzerland from 1997-2004.
Before turning pro, Millen played for Team USA in two Olympics (1984, 1988), was an All-American at the University of Minnesota and an all-state player for Cloquet High School.
Dan Myers covers the Minnesota Wild for nhl.com/wild and is the author of the book "100 Things Wild Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die."
Myers talks about the current state of the Wild, some of the questions they face in the offseason, his favorite and least favorite rinks in the NHL and the process of writing his book. A Minnesota State University-Mankato graduate, Myers also talks about covering Mavericks hockey, some of his favorite memories from his time covering the team for his college paper and the influence that former Mankato Free Press reporter Shane Frederick has had on his career.
MANKATO, Minn. — Shane Frederick has spent the last 20 seasons covering Minnesota State University-Mankato hockey for the Mankato Free Press.
He recently left the newspaper and the business to take a new position in public relations. Frederick joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten to share some of his favorite memories of covering the Mavericks and what he expects he will miss about his old job.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Under normal conditions, St. Cloud State men's hockey coach Brett Larson would have been at the national coaches meetings in Naples, Fla. Because of the stay at home order for the coronavirus pandemic, he is working out of his university office about three days a week.
That's a bonus for The Rink Live video podcast. Larson joins The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten to talk about being part of a coaching staff that has been deemed "King of the Quarantine Commitments."
Since the season ended on March 12, the Huskies have gotten four commitments, including two graduate transfers.
Larson talks about the five incoming players who have signed national letters of intent for the fall: forwards Veeti Miettinen, Joe Molenaar and Jared Cockrell; and defensemen Brady Ziemer and Seamus Donohue.
Larson also talks about Hobey Baker Award winner Scott Perunovich, whom he coached when he was an assistant at Minnesota Duluth; how the search for an assistant coach for Mike Gibbons is going and talks about the recruiting age change in the NCAA.
All of this and more on this episode.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Time seems to have slowed for everyone because of the social distancing that everyone is experiencing because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Out of some down time, however, some people try to get creative to stay entertained. Former St. Cloud State goalie Scott Meyer recently got in touch with me about the possibility of doing a podcast where we would talk to former Huskies. The idea for the show is to give people some updates on former Huskies and have them share memories and some of their favorite stories from when they called the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center their home rink.
Meyer played goalie for the Huskies from 1996-2001. He asked former defenseman Geno Parrish to join us as the people pulling this show together. Parrish played for the Huskies from 1995-2000 and was also a high school teammate of Meyer's at the Academy of Holy Angels.
The hope is that we are going to be able to get small groups of former Huskies who played together at St. Cloud State to join the podcast and share their memories weekly. We are getting in contact with our first group of players and hope to have the first podcast available on April 23.
Meyer and Parrish share a number of fun memories of their playing days, some of their favorite places in St. Cloud let you know what they are doing for a living these days.
The goal with the show is to have fun, bring awareness of the St. Cloud State University Huskies Fund and, of course, to The Rink Live. Sponsorship of the show is available.
Dave Starman was given the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's Media Excellence Award for his work on TV broadcasts of the its games on the CBS Sports Network. Starman is a longtime college hockey color analyst, youth hockey coach and scout.
Starman joins The Rink Live video podcast from his home in Long Island, N.Y. He gives us a quick report on day-to-day life in his area during the coronavirus pandemic and then talks about some of the teams that were the best poised to make it to the 2020 Frozen Four.
The Frozen Four would have been this week. The Hobey Baker Award will be announced on Saturday and Starman also gives analysis of the three finalists for the honor (North Dakota forward Jordan Kawaguchi, Minnesota Duluth defenseman Scott Perunovich and Maine goalie Jeremy Swayman).
All of this and more in this discussion with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers.
he college hockey season came to a screeching halt when the NCAA cancelled the rest of the season on March 12.
The Rink Live podcast found a new way to get together (zoom) and discuss some of the news that has happened since it ended. Jess Myers and Mick Hatten discuss which of the four area college teams that appeared headed to the national tournament — North Dakota, Bemidji State, Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State University-Mankato — they feel the worst for.
They also discuss the retirements of longtime coaches Mike Gibbons (St. Cloud State assistant) and Scott Owens (head coach Sioux Falls Stampede) and some of the hockey news that has broken since the last podcast on March 11.
PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Before the NCAA's big announcement that it was cancelling its postseason games, Jess Myers and Mick Hatten of The Rink Live did a video podcast.
The duo took a look back at some of the highlights of last week's Minnesota boys high school state hockey tournaments, some of the key players and about the Mr. Hockey award that was given to Hermantown's Blake Biondi.
The reporters also talked about the University of Minnesota men's hockey team's opening round series win over Notre Dame and looked ahead to the Gophers' semifinals game at Penn State.
St. Cloud State needs a series win this weekend at Western Michigan to keep its season alive. A look at that series.
PLYMOUTH, Minn. — There were some technical challenges with this week's podcast, but The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten powered through for a couple segments at Plymouth Ice Center.
The reporters talk about the tight race for the Big Ten Conference men's hockey title. Penn State leads the race with 41 points, but is idle this weekend, so the Nittany Lions will watch to see where they end up, but have secured home ice. Ohio State and Minnesota are both four points behind Penn State. The Gophers play Michigan in a series this weekend at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
This is not the first time that Gophers coach Bob Motzko has been through a tight playoff situation. Hatten talks about how Motzko was coaching St. Cloud State in 2012 and was trying to get home ice on the final game of the regular season. It made for an interesting anecdote. Hatten also talks about the Huskies' battle for home ice this season and this weekend's series against Denver.
All this and a lot more.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Some people can seemingly fill a room with their personality. Nate Schmidt is one of those people.
The 28-year-old former St. Cloud Cathedral (Minn.), Fargo Force and University of Minnesota defenseman joined The Rink Live video podcast on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The Vegas Golden Knights were back in his home state to play the Minnesota Wild and Schmidt brought his humor, insight and memories to the podcast.
The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Schmidt first met after Cathedral defeated Hermantown for the Section 5A title on March 4, 2009. Schmidt's memory for the location of that game was better than Hatten's because Schmidt pointed out that it was at Cloquet Area Recreation Center. After further research, the NHLer was correct.
After a fun talk with Schmidt, talk turned to the Minnesota Wild trading Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the University of Minnesota men's hockey team's roller coaster weekend, St. Cloud State's Jack Ahcan reaching a milestone, a big NCHC series this weekend between Denver and North Dakota, some interviews with 1980 Olympic heroes and more.
MINNEAPOLIS — As youth hockey in the state of Minnesota nears the beginning of its playoffs, Minnesota Hockey executive director Glen Andresen joins The Rink Live video podcast.
Andresen talks about a couple unique youth hockey tournaments sponsored by Minnesota Hockey, including one in which parents from opposing teams had to sit together and shake hands after the game and the head referee talked on the public address about why he officiates.
He also talked about different ways that kids of varying ages (not just 5-year-olds) can try hockey, how his organization is trying to get more people involved in officiating, getting more diversity in youth hockey, hockey family mentors, the growth of the sport in new areas in the state and what is a fair play point?
Body checking has been taken out of peewee boys hockey (12-and-under) in recent years. Will body checking be taken out of bantams (14-and-under) anytime soon? A look at the Minnesota Hockey Coach Development Program and more.
MINNEAPOLIS — When college hockey gets toward the end of January, there can be a lot of questions that come up after a weekend of games.
For instance, is the University of Minnesota men's hockey team starting a charge? The Gophers are 5-2 in their last seven games, including a sweep last weekend over Ohio State, which went into the series leading the Big Ten standings.
Here's another question: Can the St. Cloud State men's hockey team find some more consistency with its play? A week after giving up one goal in a series sweep of two-time defending national champion Minnesota Duluth, the Huskies gave up 12 goals in getting swept at Western Michigan.
Oh and this tidbit off the beaten path — voters have approved a $34 million, 5,500-seat capacity arena that the University of Georgia club hockey team will play in. Doesn't that seem like a lot of money and a large arena to house .... only a club team.
We ponder all of this and more in this week's episode of The Rink Live video podcast.
MINNEAPOLIS -- As part of Hockey Day Minnesota, The Rink Live did a number of interviews of people involved in the event.
The Blake School boys hockey coach Rob McClanahan talked the day before his team played in an outdoor game at Parade Stadium.
McClanahan talked about his coaching philosophies. Not surprisingly, he's carried a number of things he learned from playing for Herb Brooks for the Gophers (1976-79), U.S. Olympic team (1980) and the New York Rangers (1981-84).
He shares a number of memories from the Miracle on Ice and the movie it inspired.
PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Less than a week after Hockey Day Minnesota, The Rink Live's Mick Hatten and Jess Myers discuss several things in college and high school hockey in this week's video podcast.
St. Cloud State snapped a three-game losing streak with a home series sweep against Minnesota Duluth, holding the Bulldogs to one goal. A look back and a look ahead o the Huskies' series this weekend at Western Michigan.
The Golden Gophers had the weekend off ... sort of. Minnesota lost 2-1 in an exhibition game the US Under-18 National Development Program team. A look ahead to this weekend's home series for Minnesota against Ohio State.
The two reporters also share some of their favorite moments from last weekend's Hockey Day Minnesota festivities and talk about some of their favorite interviews leading up to the event.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Rink Live reporters Mick Hatten and Jess Myers talk about the University of Denver's consistent excellence in the 2010s and the Pioneers going into this weekend's NCHC series against St. Cloud State coming off a big nonconference series sweep.
The Huskies are coming back after a bye week with the return of head coach Brett Larson, who spent the last few weeks as an assistant coach for Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Championships. St. Cloud State did not start David Hrenak in goal either of the two games he was absent. Will that trend continue?
The Gophers are also coming back after a bye week after winning the Mariucci Classic. But Minnesota has some health concerns going into this weekend's series at Michigan State.
Yes, this is the first video podcast of the new year, but see how far off Myers is on what year it is as well.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Mariucci Classic wrapped up with the University of Minnesota men's hockey team defeating St. Cloud State 4-1 in the championship game on Sunday, Dec. 29, at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
The Rink Live reporters Jess Myers and Mick Hatten recap the championship game. Was this the best performance of the season for the Gophers (7-9-4)? One day after blasting second-ranked Minnesota State University-Mankato 7-2, what happened with the Huskies (6-8-4)? A big weekend for Gophers coach Bob Motzko, who got his 300th career win on Saturday and then beat his former team on Sunday.
Among all of the analysis, Myers addresses fans who were texting and tweeting things to him about attendance at the tournament. He pulls few punches in his answer to them.
MINNEAPOLIS — Snowy road conditions did not keep The Rink Live reporters Mick Hatten and Jess Myers from this week’s podcast.
The pair discuss how the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team rebounded from a tough loss Friday to end its first half on a positive note, St. Cloud State’s big series sweep at Miami, some key numbers and notes on both teams, Minnesota Duluth’s bounce-back weekend, North Dakota’s powerful finish to its first half, a look at some of this weekend’s top series and more.
MINNEAPOLIS — A podcast that typically devoted to University of Minnesota and St. Cloud State men’s hockey had a good guest to talk about both teams on Tuesday, Dec. 3. Gophers assistant coach Garrett Raboin not only played for the Huskies (2006-10) and was a two-year captain, but he also was an assistant coach for St. Cloud State from 2012-18.
Raboin talks about the development of some of the young Gophers, some recent signings for Minnesota and also talks about some of the key Huskies on this season’s team that he helped recruit and coach. Raboin joins reporters Mick Hatten and Jess Myers for this week’s episode of The Rink Live podcast.
ROGERS, Minn. — Where is this week’s episode of The Rink Live video podcast coming from?
Jess Myers and Mick Hatten were at Rogers Activity Center, near Rogers High School. The high school is across the parking lot. The Royals boys hockey team opened its season with an 8-1 home win over Anoka on Nov. 21. The Rogers girls hockey team is off to a 3-1-1 start.
The reporters discuss a good weekend for the University of Minnesota (5-6-3) men’s hockey team, a couple of close losses for the St. Cloud State men’s hockey team, the challenge for the Gophers as they host North Dakota (10-1-2) this week and some historical perspective on the Huskies’ 2-6-4 start.
Oh and Hatten's brain flickers at a couple points. The Nebraska Omaha forward whose name eludes me is Austin Ortega, who had an NCAA Division I record 11 game-winning goals in 2014-15 and 23 career game-winners for the Mavericks.
Ortega, who helped Nebraska Omaha to the Frozen Four in 2015, was an All-NCHC First Team selection as a senior in 2016-17 when he had 20 goals and 47 points. In his career, Ortega had 70 goals (second in program history) and 139 points (fourth) in 147 career games. He is playing this season for Eisbaren Berlin in the German league.
All this, a look at some of this week’s top matchups in college hockey and more.
MINNEAPOLIS — It was a rough weekend for both the Huskies and Gophers men’s hockey teams, and things aren’t getting any easier for either of them anytime soon.
On Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 3M Arena at Mariucci, Mick Hatten and Jess Myers chatted about the challenges being faced on the west (SCSU) and east (U of M) sides of the Mississippi, the pleasant surprises for each and then took a trip down memory lane, to the days when seemingly every town in northern Minnesota had a senior hockey team.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — With Jess Myers returning from deer hunting camp, The Rink Live video podcast changed locations to the Municipal Athletic Complex, home of the St. Cloud Blizzard junior hockey team that plays in the North American Hockey League.
Hatten discusses St. Cloud State’s tie and overtime win over the weekend at Northern Michigan. Myers talks about the University of Minnesota’s 3-on-3 overtime win and win over the weekend at Michigan.
Then the two reporters are joined by Blizzard head coach and general manager Moe Mantha. Mantha talks about his team’s move to St. Cloud, how things are going for the team, gives an update on Blizzard forward Alex Kupka, who is recovering form a broken C2 vertebrae, and talks about his NHL career. Mantha was teammates with players like Dale Hawerchuk, Dave Christian, Phil Housley, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier and played for coaches Glen Sather and Herb Brooks.
PLYMOUTH, Minn. — It was not the weekend that the St. Cloud State or University of Minnesota men’s hockey teams were looking for in their home series. The Rink Live’s Mick Hatten and Jess Myers break down some of the issues that the teams faced in their respective series on Nov. 1-2, including some lineup changes for both teams, the goaltending and some of the startling stats from the Gophers/Notre Dame series and SCSU/Princeton series.
The Gophers (0-1-1-1 Big Ten, 3-4-1 overall) travel to Michigan (0-2-0-0, 3-4-1) for a Big Ten series, while the Huskies (1-2-3) play Northern Michigan (4-0-0-0 WCHA, 6-1-1 overall) in a nonconference series this weekend. Hatten and Myers take a look ahead at those two series and also discuss some other key series, including top-ranked Denver (8-0-0) playing at No. 7-ranked Minnesota Duluth (3-3-0) in the NCHC opener for both teams.
MINNEAPOLIS — We join this video podcast already in progress ...
Due to some technical issues, the first few minutes of this week's episode The Rink Live video podcast are not available. So we begin with the end of reporters Jess Myers and Mick Hatten talking about Minnesota Duluth All-American defenseman Scott Perunovich and the Bulldogs sweeping the University of Minnesota in men's hockey.
The pair also discuss this weekend's series for the Gophers against Notre Dame, last weekend's series split for St. Cloud State with Northeastern, the Huskies' series this weekend against Princeton and they dive into some college hockey history. All this and more ...
MINNEAPOLIS — After a week in the suburbs, The Rink Live video podcast returns to 3M Arena at Mariucci.
Jess Myers and Mick Hatten review Minnesota’s nonconference sweep of Niagara. Myers gives an injury update on defenseman Tyler Nanne, we discuss this weekend’s home-and-home series between UMD and the Gophers.
Hatten talks about St. Cloud State returning to action against Hockey East’s Northeastern, a team that is off to a 3-0-1 start some early observations on the SCSU lineup.
The pair also takes a look at some of the other key series this weekend before being chased by pucks off the Plexiglas.
Coming out of the first weekend of the regular season, The Rink Live’s Jess Myers and Mick Hatten discuss what they saw in the opening series for the University of Minnesota and St. Cloud State men’s hockey teams, some players that caught their attention, which special teams were important for both teams and a look at the goaltending situations for both.
The reporters also discuss some interesting nonconference series this weekend in North Dakota at Minnesota State-Mankato, Minnesota Duluth at Wisconsin and Boston College at Denver.
A rough day at the “office.”
Jess Myers and Mick Hatten of The Rink Live were at the Taste of the Wild event on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Xcel Energy Center. The event is a showcase of the new foods offered at the arena during Minnesota Wild games. Kyle Bowles, executive chef for Xcel Energy Center, discusses some of the top new offerings and Myers and Hatten chime in with their favorite things they tasted.
Myers and Hatten also discuss the first weekend of exhibition games for the University of Minnesota and St. Cloud State men’s hockey teams, try to talk some Minnesota Duluth fans off the ledge after the Bulldogs’ exhibition loss, why Mark Osiecki has been in charge recently for the Wisconsin men’s team and more in this video podcast.
Mick Hatten and Jess Myers of The Rink Live preview the upcoming hockey campaigns for the University of Minnesota and St. Cloud State Huskies as both teams look to open their regular seasons.