MHM 2018 Oct-digital

COLLEGE HOCKEY PRIMER
BULLDOGS, HUSKIES EXPECTED TO BE ON FRONT LINES OF NCHC SUPREMACY BATTLE
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head coach in the offseason and the rivalry figures
to continue to heat up.
“Both teams have had some success in the
last five years and the games will be good,” Scott
Sandelin, who is
beginning his 19th
season as Bulldogs
head coach and has
18 players returning.
“It will be unique
for both Brett and I
when we play.
“I went through
that when I coached
against (former head
coach) Dean (Blais)
at North Dakota,”
said Sandelin, a
former North Dakota
assistant coach. “I
told him I still would
throw a water bottle
at him if I had to.
(Brett and I) will talk
before and after and
in between (games).
He’s competitive and
I’m competitive.”
Larson, a former
Minnesota Duluth
captain, had two
stints as Sandelin’s
assistant coach with
the Bulldogs. He
was on the Bulldogs’
first round.
“I don’t know if there’s been any major surprises
yet, but it’s more excitement and the biggest
excitement is over how good of kids there are in the
locker room, getting
to know them and
seeing what the
culture is like and
how committed they
are to the program
and each other,”
Larson said. “It
shouldn’t come as
a surprise with how
well the program has
been doing.”
The similarities
between St.
Cloud State and
Minnesota Duluth
have become a bit
more pronounced
to Larson since he
accepted the job in
April. Larson and his
assistant coaches
– Mike Gibbons
and Nick Oliver –
have gotten verbal
commitments from
11 players.
St. Cloud State’s Jimmy Schuldt battles for a puck with a North Dakota
forechecker.
Photo by Jeff Wegge
“There were a
lot of kids I was
recruiting at Duluth
that I told to forget
about everything I
Bulldogs got off to a 2-7 start in the NCHC after
having to replace their starting goalie, five of the
team’s top six defensemen and the bulk of their
scoring from the previous season.
But Hunter Shepard, who is from Cohasset and
entering his sophomore season, had a .940 save
percentage and 1.52 goals-against average in the
last 25 games of the season to help the Bulldogs
win the title.
“Minnesota Duluth won a national championship
and what got their team going was when Shepard
took off as goalie,” said Andy Murray, a former NHL
coach who is beginning his eighth season as head
coach at Western Michigan. “We can talk about (the
Bulldogs’) unbelievable defense and everything
and they matured. But they got goaltending … and
that’s huge.”
Shepard returns in goal as a sophomore and
so do the Bulldogs’ top six defensemen from last
season, led by Scott Perunovich, a sophomore from
Hibbing. Perunovich was the NCHC Defenseman of
the Year, a first team All-American and the national
Freshman of the Year last season.
“We stress a defensive game and we’re going
to be hard to play against,” said Bulldogs senior
forward Parker Mackay, whose team won their last
three NCAA games by identical 2-1 scores. “At the
same time, we need to work on our offensive side
of the game as well. We’ve got to be able to score
more goals than our opponent and we can’t just
focus on our defensive strengths.
“At the same time, it’s definitely a good starting
point for us.”
Voters in the NCHC preseason poll of the media
that cover the conference agree. The Bulldogs
received 20 of the 27 first-place votes and were
picked to win the regular season conference title.
State for the third straight season.
“I couldn’t wait to get back to school and that’s
the biggest thing that tells me that I’m in the right
place,” Schuldt said. “Everyone I’ve talked to who
went back and played their senior year, they said,
‘You can’t replace it.’
“So far, it’s been awesome. My roommates are
like my brothers. My teammates are some of my
best friends. That’s not something I’d have forgiven
myself for if I would have signed.”
Schuldt is also looking forward to trying to
defend the NCHC regular season title, battling
against Minnesota Duluth and trying to make a
deeper run in the NCAA playoffs.
“Both teams
have had some
success in the
last five years
and the games
will be good.”
— Scott Sandelin
“It’s going to be a battle for all the teams in
our conference,” Schuldt said of the NCHC, which
has had the last three national champions (North
Dakota in 2016, Denver in 2017, UMD in 2018). “Our
conference is so deep and so tight together.
“We’re the team that plays UMD twice (in series)
every year no matter what, so that rivalry in itself is
huge, particularly with the accolades that both of
our teams have had in the past year.”
Schuldt and Huskies senior forward Robby
Jackson were named to the Preseason All-NCHC
team. Perunovich and Shepard were also named to
the team. The other two players named to the team
are Colorado College forward Nick Halloran and
Western Michigan forward Wade Allison.
In the preseason poll for the NCHC race, after the
Bulldogs and Huskies, North Dakota was picked to
finish third, followed by Western Michigan, Denver,
Colorado College, Nebraska-Omaha and Miami.
bench from 2008-11 and 2015-18 and concluded
each tenure with national titles, first in 2011 and was telling them before,” Larson said with a smile.
again last spring. Between those two stints, he was “But it’s been fun because Mike Gibbons used to
an assistant coach at Ohio State where he helped use the line of, ‘Hey Lars, you and I shop in the
Saint Cloud State
recruit several of the players that played in the same aisle all the time (recruiting),’ because we’d be
Frozen Four in April only to be beaten by UMD in bumping into each other everywhere.
St. Cloud State received six first-place votes and
the semifinals.
“It’s a similar player and a similar kid that the
was picked to finish second. While there may be an
This will be his first stint as a college head coach. schools recruit.”
unknown for the Huskies with a new head coach,
But Larson has also inherited a roster with 21
St. Cloud State got another boost in the offseason
returners from a team that won the NCHC regular
Minnesota Duluth
when defenseman Jimmy Schuldt decided to return
season title, played in the NCHC championship
for his senior season.
game and was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA
Minnesota Duluth has played in the last two
Schuldt, a first team All-American from
tournament before being upset by Air Force in the
national championship games and surprised many
Minnetonka, turned down a bevy of offers as an
on its way to the national title last season. The
undrafted free agent to be a captain for St. Cloud
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