Analysis: What’s happened to St. Cloud State men’s hockey?

COLLEGE HOCKEY INSIDER | RANDY JOHNSON

Brett Larson is a glass-is-half-full person. The St. Cloud State men’s hockey coach sees the value in learning through experience, even an unpleasant one. And lately, his Huskies have taken some hard lessons.

With 6-3 and 3-1 losses at Nebraska Omaha last weekend, the Huskies saw their NCHC losing streak grow to eight games. A team that won eight of its first 11 games this season now sits at 11-13 overall and 4-10 in the NCHC. Through Wednesday, St. Cloud State had fallen to eighth in the conference and 27th in the PairWise Ratings, meaning it needs to start winning to return to contention for the 16-team NCAA tournament.

“I’m a big believer that there’s a lot of growth through adversity. It’s not a cliché,” Larson said. “You see it time after time that teams get better by going through stretches like this. These challenges, I hope and believe, are going to make us better down the stretch.”

That stretch starts now for the Huskies, who play host to North Dakota on Friday and Saturday. The Fighting Hawks (12-10-1, 7-5 NCHC) are in a similar spot, sitting one spot ahead of St. Cloud State at No. 26 in the PairWise and tied with Denver for fourth place in the NCHC.

“It’s getting to that point where you think the only thing we need is a win,” Larson said. “I like my team, and we’re not a bad hockey team, but we’ve hit a stretch where we haven’t been quite good enough.”

The Huskies’ rough stretch has coincided with the loss of goalie Isak Posch because of a lower-body injury that’s expected to shelve him for 12 weeks. Prior to being injured on Dec. 6 in a loss to Nebraska Omaha, the sophomore from Umea, Sweden, was among the best goalies in the nation, posting a 9-4 record with a 1.68 goals-against average and .938 save percentage.

Bemidji State transfer Gavin Enright (2-7, 3.27, .892) has started nine games since Posch was injured.

St. Cloud State is averaging 2.25 goals per game, and Larson expected some early struggles from his young forwards. He credits sophomore center Tyson Gross (eight goals, seven assists, 15 points) and freshman forward Austin Burnevik (10-10-20) of Blaine and freshman defenseman Colin Ralph (1-5-6) of Maple Grove for their steady contributions, along with senior Josh Luedtke of Minnetonka for his leadership.

The schedule in the NCHC doesn’t let up. After North Dakota this weekend, the Huskies face No. 3 Western Michigan next week and defending national champion Denver by the end of February.

“I continue to see them get better,” Larson said. “My hope is that we’re a team that just keeps getting better throughout the year, and we peak at the right time.”

Depending on the conference, there are five or six weeks remaining in the men’s regular season, and teams are jockeying for position in their league standings and trying to improve their profile in the PairWise Ratings.

The winners of the six conference tournaments — Atlantic Hockey, Big Ten, CCHA, ECAC, Hockey East and NCHC — receive automatic NCAA bids. The 10 at-large spots are filled by the top-ranked teams in the PairWise. The NCAA men’s Frozen Four will be played April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Here’s a look through Tuesday’s games at an NCAA projection:

Manchester (N.H.) Regional

1. Boston College vs. 16. Sacred Heart

8. Providence vs. 11. Ohio State

Toledo (Ohio) Regional

2. Michigan State vs. 15. Minnesota State Mankato

7. Denver vs. 10. Boston University

Fargo (N.D.) Regional

3. Gophers vs. 14. Arizona State

6. Western Michigan vs. 9. UMass-Lowell

Allentown (Pa.) Regional

4. Connecticut vs. 13. Quinnipiac

5. Maine vs. 12. Michigan.

Comment: Only one move was needed to avoid an intraconference first-round matchup. UMass-Lowell, the No. 9 overall seed, and No. 11 Ohio State swapped regions to avoid a Lowell-Providence first-round game involving Hockey East teams.

Series of the week

Big Ten, Michigan State at Ohio State, Thursday-Friday: The second-ranked Spartans showed how dominant they can be in their 9-3 thrashing of the Gophers last Friday. Ohio State will try to cut into MSU’s 12-point lead in the Big Ten standings.

NCHC: Nebraska Omaha at Denver, Friday-Saturday: The streaky Mavericks have won six in a row and face a Pioneers team that’s 6-6 since a 12-0 start.

CCHA, St. Thomas vs. Minnesota State, Friday-Saturday: The Mavericks will try to solidify their hold on first place in this home-and-home series that starts Friday in Mankato and finishes Saturday in Mendota Heights.