The 2024–25 St. Cloud State Huskies men's ice hockey season was the 90th season of play for the program, the 28th at the Division I level and 12th in the NCHC. The Huskies represented St. Cloud State University in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center and were coached by Brett Larson in his 7th season.
Season At the start of the season, it was looking like St. Cloud State was putting together another strong year that would result in a tournament berth. The team was scoring consistently, if modest, despite losing four of their top five scorers from a year before. Isak Posch was providing a rock-solid performance in goal that led the team to an outstanding record by Thanksgiving. With the team being ranked in the top 10 at that point, the Huskies were winding down the first half of their schedule when disaster struck. Posch was injured before their match with Omaha on December 6 and later ruled out for 10-12 weeks. The ill news didn't immediately doom the team's season, since they had already banked several quality wins, but they would have to be extra vigilant to survive the next few months without their starting goaltender.
Gavin Enright and James Gray were called upon to fill the role but the Huskies quickly discovered that neither was up to the task. St. Cloud lost three of four games heading into the break but the backup netminders would have a couple of weeks to gather themselves and try to hold on while they waited for Posch to return. Enright began the second half of the year with two good outings, but then his performance fell flat and the team was suddenly allowing at least 5 goals per game. Gray got his turn as a starter at the end of January and, like Enright, played reasonably well for a few games before his goals against ballooned. By the beginning of February, the team had lost so much that not only had they dropped out of the polls but their record was underwater and the Huskies had almost no chance to make the tournament without a miracle finish.
It came as welcome news when Posch return from a ruptured tendon in his big toe and returned to the ice against Western Michigan. After taking a couple of games to knock off the rust, Posch was looking like his old self once more but the Huskies were in a very bad position by then. With St. Cloud 5 games below .500 at the end of the regular season, the team was sitting near the middle of the national rankings and was well out of the race for an at-large bid. With a conference championship as their only path towards the tournament, the team was then faced with an uphill slough since they had finished eighth in the NCHC standings and would likely have to run through a gauntlet of tough opponents.
St. Cloud State began its postseason race against Western Michigan and, from the opening faceoff, the Huskies didn't look like they had a chance. WMU came out skating and bombarded Posch with 17 shots in each of the first two periods. The sophomore did what he could but the puck found its way behind him five times, leaving the Huskies mediocre offense with a herculean task over the final 20 minutes. The team was unable to break through a solid wall of Broncos in the third but once and St. Cloud headed into the rematch with their season on the line. This time they were able to restrict Western to fewer shots with a stronger performance on the back end, but that resulted in the team hardly getting a shot on goal for long stretches in the game. Even so, WMU was able to score three goals before St. Cloud could get its first near the middle of the third. After exchanging goals, the Huskies were still down by 3 past the midway point of the period. In desperation, Posch was pulled with nearly 7 minutes still on the clock but the ploy worked and the Huskies cut into the lead with Verner Miettinen's goal near the 6-minute mark. Posch was pulled once more when the team was able to get into the Broncos end but this time it was Western who took advantage. An empty-net goal sapped all the hope out of the Huskies as they realized that their season was just about over. One additional empty-netter finished off the night and sent St. Cloud State home early.
Departures Dylan Anhorn Defenseman Graduation (signed with Manitoba Moose) Dominic Basse Goaltender Graduate transfer to St. Lawrence Tynan Ewart Defenseman Transferred to Northern Michigan Kyler Kupka Forward Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays) Veeti Miettinen Forward Graduation (signed with KalPa) Joey Molenaar Forward Graduate transfer to Minnesota Duluth Zachary Okabe Forward Graduation (signed with Cleveland Monsters) Jack Peart Defenseman Signed professional contract (Minnesota Wild)
Recruiting Austin Burnevik Forward 19 Ham Lake, MN; selected 182nd overall in 2024 Thor Byfuglien Defenseman 21 Roseau, MN Daimon Gardner Forward 20 Eagle Lake, ON; transfer from Clarkson; selected 112nd overall in 2022 Colin Ralph Defenseman 18 Maple Grove, MN; selected 48th overall in 2024 Gavyn Thoreson Forward 19 Andover, MN Dana Wallace Forward 20 Boulder, CO Josh Zinger Defenseman 23 Red Deer, AB; transfer from Northern Michigan
Roster As of September 16, 2024.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics LW/RW 35 13 15 28 8 RW 36 9 16 25 37 C 34 7 15 22 6 C 36 8 13 21 10 C 32 5 9 14 14 LW/RW 36 5 6 11 16 F 36 6 4 10 36 D 33 4 4 8 16 D 36 3 5 8 10 D 26 2 6 8 24 C 29 2 6 8 12 D 35 1 7 8 20 F 36 3 4 7 16 F 33 4 1 5 12 F 23 3 2 5 6 D 20 1 3 4 0 F 35 1 3 4 18 D 28 0 4 4 6 D 24 1 2 3 4 D 36 0 3 3 4 F 28 1 0 1 4 F 4 0 1 1 2 F 2 0 0 0 4 D 11 0 0 0 2 G 6 0 0 0 0 G 10 0 0 0 0 G 22 0 0 0 0 Total 79 129 208 287
Goaltending statistics 22 1277:11 12 10 0 51 613 2 .923 2.40 12 591:16 2 8 0 32 269 0 .894 3.25 8 284:38 0 3 0 16 121 0 .883 3.37 Empty Net - 29:05 - - - 11 - - - - Total 36 2182:03 14 21 1 110 1003 2 .892 3.02
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.com161613121012121199912–11101517RVRVNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA Hockey16151314101411т1099910–11101417RVNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12 or 26.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
Awards and honors Colin RalphNCHC All-Rookie Team Austin Burnevik
2025 NHL entry draft
7 214 † Colorado Avalanche † incoming freshman
References