Huskies Hockey Insider

Since the first season of the NCHC in 2013-14, the conference has established itself as arguably the most consistently outstanding of the six in NCAA Division I men's hockey.

The eight-team conference has had at least one team reach the national championship game in each of the last five seasons that there has been an NCAA tournament and won four national titles. In the eight seasons that the Frozen Four has taken place since the NCHC began, the conference has had 12 teams make the Frozen Four.

For comparison, in that span, Hockey East has had seven teams reach the Frozen Four, the Big Ten has had five, the ECAC three and the WCHA one.

During an #AskWellensAnything for the weekly Bulldog Insider Newsletter, a reader submitted a question to Matt Wellens of the Duluth News-Tribune and The Rink Live, asking him to pick an All-NCHC team for the first eight seasons and also to pick an All-UMD team in that span. Wellens reached out and asked me to do the same and pick an All-SCSU team.

My All-NCHC team ended up being heavily influenced by the four teams that have dominated the conference: Denver, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota and St. Cloud State. Those four teams have combined to win five of the seven NCHC Frozen Faceoff titles and all eight of the NCHC Penrose Cup (regular season) titles.

Josh Luedtke decided to go back to his second full season of junior hockey and the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League. Luedtke, a 20-year-old defenseman from Minnetonka, Minn., was the captain of the Buccaneers and had 18 assists, 22 points 59 penalty minutes and was a plus-12 in 48 games. Luedtke talks about his season, knowing Huskies freshman forward Joe Molenaar since squirt hockey, playing lacrosse and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.

Former St. Cloud State captain and All-America defenseman Jack Ahcan has seen three levels of pro hockey this season as a rookie. He has played for the Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL), Providence Bruins (AHL) and the Boston Bruins (NHL). The 23-year-old from Savage, Minn., talks about some of the adventures during his rookie season. He also talks about watching his former Huskies teammates reach the NCAA Division I championship game for the first time, a friendly wager with a Bruins teammate, a few of his first purchases as a pro and more.

Jim Erickson has experienced a lot of cool events during his career as a play-by-play announcer. He's worked in the minor leagues, the Minnesota boys state tournament and with the St. Cloud State men in hockey. He will work at his first Frozen Four on Thursday, April 8 (96.7 FM) when the Huskies (19-10-0) plays Minnesota State University-Mankato (22-4-1) at 4 p.m. in Pittsburgh.

Because of an internet issue, there are two parts to the interview. This is the Part 2 of 2.

Jim Erickson has experienced a lot of cool events during his career as a play-by-play announcer. A few examples: He's worked in the minor leagues, the Minnesota boys state tournament and with the St. Cloud State men in hockey. He's about to experience something for the first time professionally: he will work at his first Frozen Four on Thursday, April 8. Erickson will work the game for 96.7 FM when the Huskies (19-10-0) plays Minnesota State University-Mankato (22-4-1) at 4 p.m. (ESPN2) in Pittsburgh. Erickson discusses this year's unique state tournament and this season's Huskies with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten. Because of an internet issue, there are two parts to the interview.

The last time that Nick Oliver took part in a Frozen Four, it was 2013 as a sophomore forward for the St. Cloud State men's hockey team in Pittsburgh, Pa. Next week, he will be an assistant coach for the Huskies when they take part in the 2021 Frozen Four in Pittsburgh. Oliver shares his memories of that magical run to the program's first Frozen Four and takes a look ahead to this year's Frozen Four with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.

Jared Cockrell grew up in Maine and played four seasons for Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. Despite being about a two-hour drive away from Colgate, Cockrell said he has never been to Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. That is where the NCAA Division I Northeast Regional men's hockey tournament will be played on Saturday and Sunday.

Cockrell, a senior forward, will be playing in his first NCAA tournament game for the St. Cloud State men's hockey team when the Huskies play Boston University at 5:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPNEWS). A graduate transfer, Cockrell is looking forward to playing in front of family members in the regional and add the national tournament to his new group of experiences in his hockey career. He also discusses playing for his father at Kents Hill Academy (Maine), playing for the Brooks Bandits in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, his decision to transfer to St. Cloud State and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.

There will be a new format to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff this year with the conference tournament going to a single-elimination, one location look this season due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Rink Live beat reporters Brad Schlossman, Mick Hatten and Matt Wellens discuss the new format, who it might favor and take a look at the first-round matchups for the eight-team tournament that will be played March 12-16 in Grand Forks, N.D.

St. Cloud State's Steve Macdonald had quite the second season as the team's women's hockey head coach. Like everyone, he had to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. But he also had to deal with two pauses because of positive COVID-19 test results on his team, a game that the referees got the rules wrong in a shootout, a number of players trying to travel in and out of the country and then finding out late in the season that only the top four teams in the WCHA would be eligible for the conference playoffs this year.

Despite all of the challenges, the Huskies won three times as many WCHA games (6-12-1) as they did in his first season. Macdonald talks about the challenges of the season, trying to recruit players to come back for another season of eligibility, how he and his staff are dealing with recruiting new players and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.

It could be a good test of your demeanor: Have a conversation with David Hrenak and see if you are not smiling for most of it. The St. Cloud State senior goalie from Považská Bystrica, Slovakia, has an upbeat and infectious personality. That is on full display in this podcast with the Los Angeles Kings draft pick.

Hrenak discusses his life growing up in Slovakia, his hockey-loving family, playing for national teams in Slovakia, how he ended up playing junior hockey for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League and, of course, his time with the Huskies in this episode of Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.