# 2023–24 St. Cloud State Huskies men's ice hockey season

The 2023–24 St. Cloud State Huskies men's ice hockey season was the 89th season of play for the program, the 27th at the Division I level and 11th in the NCHC. The Huskies represented St. Cloud State University in the 2023–24 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 sixth season.

## Season

Entering the season, St. Cloud was set to have Dominic Basse as the primary starter while returning luminaries like Veeti Miettinen and Zach Okabe were expected to shoulder the load up front. Unfortunately, the Huskies didn't play well to start the season. Basse looked pedestrian in net while the offense struggled to get on track. However, after starting 2–4, St. Cloud picked up its game once conference play began. The Huskies went undefeated in their 8 NCHC matches during the first half of the season and planted themselves firmly atop the standings.
The team's outlook improved after the winter break when they swept Bemidji State to finish with a respectable non-conference record and only had to play well in the second half to give themselves a shot at the NCAA tournament. However, January was not kind to the Huskies; St. Cloud went through a 3-week stretch where they could not buy a win and the team began to see their postseason chances slip away. Basse's play was not up to par and twice the team turned to one of its freshmen goaltenders, but neither was able to seize the job. The Huskies recovered a bit in February, earning splits with both Colorado College and Western Michigan but Basse's poor play eventually led to him being replaced in goal by Isak Posch.
The change in goal seemed to work initially as Posch earned his first career shutout against the Broncos. However, he was less than effective over the final two weeks of the regular season. St. Cloud lost every game largely because they couldn't keep the puck out of the net. Basse was reinserted as the starter for the season finale but he proceeded to allow 6 goals on 30 shots and was back on the bench when the playoffs began. The losses to end the year cost St. Cloud a conference championship and dropped the team to 3rd in the NCHC standings.
Due to their tumble, the Huskies began the postseason facing Western Michigan, who were all but guaranteed a spot in the tournament at the time. Posch shook off his recent struggles and played a solid game while the offense got contributions for up and down the lineup. The combination allowed St. Cloud to take the first game but Western replied with a convincing win of their own in game two. With their season on the line, the Huskies leapt out to a fast start in the rubber match and had a 3-goal lead before the 12-minute mark. Posch stopped 32 of 33 shots to backstop a quarterfinal victory and keep the Huskies' alive.
As they were preparing for Denver in the semifinals, St. Cloud was right on the bubble of the NCAA tournament. Depending on how other games played out, it was possible for the team to earn an at-large bid if they could knock off the Pioneers even though they team was only 2 games above .500. Knowing that a loss would be the death knell for their season, the Huskies fought hard against the nation's top offensive team and tried to beat Denver at its own game. St. Cloud got four separate 1-goal leads in the match but they were unable to pull away from the Pioneers. Overtime was needed to settle the score and both teams fought hard to get the winning goal. Just past the 6-minute mark, Denver got a partial break in on Posch and deke right at the goal caught the netminder out of position. Josh Luedtke tried to sweep the puck away from the goal but he fanned on the attempt and could only watch as it slid into the net and ended their season.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Chase Brand | Forward | United States | Graduate transfer to Augustana |
| Brendan Bushy | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Kalamazoo Wings) |
| Jaxon Castor | Goaltender | United States | Graduation (signed with Florida Everblades) |
| Grant Cruikshank | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Toronto Marlies) |
| Jami Krannila | Defenseman | Finland | Graduation (signed with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) |
| Spencer Meier | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Micah Miller | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Tucson Roadrunners) |
| Aidan Spellacy | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Kalamazoo Wings) |
| Ondřej Trejbal | Defenseman | Czech Republic | Graduation (signed with SaiPa) |
| Brady Ziemer | Defenseman | United States | Transferred to Augustana |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Warren Clark | Defenseman | Canada | 18 | Riverside, ON; selected 179th overall in 2023 |
| Tynan Ewart | Defenseman | Canada | 21 | Duncan, BC |
| Karl Falk | Defenseman | Sweden | 23 | Värmdö, SWE; transfer from Alaska |
| Tyson Gross | Forward | Canada | 20 | Calgary, AB |
| Verner Miettinen | Forward | Finland | 20 | Espoo, FIN |
| Nick Portz | Forward | United States | 23 | St. Cloud, MN; transfer from North Dakota |
| Isak Posch | Goaltender | Sweden | 21 | Umeå, SWE |
| Jack Reimann | Forward | United States | 20 | Ham Lake, MN |
| Kaleb Tiessen | Defenseman | Canada | 21 | Leamington, ON |

## Roster

As of September 27, 2023.

## Standings

2023–24 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #8 North Dakota † | 24 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 49 | 87 | 67 | 40 | 26 | 12 | 2 | 151 | 105 |
| #1 Denver * | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 110 | 80 | 42 | 30 | 9 | 3 | 198 | 119 |
| #18 St. Cloud State | 24 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 41 | 77 | 74 | 38 | 17 | 16 | 5 | 121 | 114 |
| #15 Colorado College | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 66 | 56 | 37 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 111 | 93 |
| #12 Omaha | 24 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 40 | 68 | 74 | 40 | 23 | 13 | 4 | 117 | 112 |
| #14 Western Michigan | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 35 | 78 | 64 | 38 | 21 | 16 | 1 | 136 | 97 |
| Minnesota Duluth | 24 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 65 | 80 | 37 | 12 | 20 | 5 | 103 | 125 |
| Miami | 24 | 1 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 44 | 100 | 36 | 7 | 26 | 3 | 78 | 135 |
| Championship: March 23, 2024 † indicates conference regular season champion (Penrose Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Frozen Faceoff Championship Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll Updated: April 1, 2024 |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Rank$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 7 | 6:00 pm | St. Thomas* | #8 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | L 4–5 $^{OT}$ | 4,863 | 0–1–0 |
| October 8 | 4:07 pm | at St. Thomas* | #8 | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Basse | W 1–0 | 556 | 1–1–0 |
| October 13 | 7:07 pm | at Minnesota State* | #10 | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota | FloHockey | Basse | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 4,398 | 1–2–0 |
| October 14 | 6:07 pm | at Minnesota State* | #10 | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota | FloHockey | Basse | L 1–5 | 4,767 | 1–3–0 |
| October 20 | 7:30 pm | Alaska* | #20 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | W 4–1 | 3,626 | 2–3–0 |
| October 21 | 6:00 pm | Alaska* | #20 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | L 2–5 | 3,314 | 2–4–0 |
| November 3 | 7:30 pm | Miami | | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | W 3–2 | 3,007 | 3–4–0 (1–0–0) |
| November 4 | 6:00 pm | Miami | | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | W 6–0 | 3,277 | 4–4–0 (2–0–0) |
| November 10 | 6:00 pm | at #12 Western Michigan | | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Basse | W 3–2 | 3,943 | 5–4–0 (3–0–0) |
| November 11 | 5:00 pm | at #12 Western Michigan | | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Basse | W 3–0 | 3,767 | 6–4–0 (4–0–0) |
| November 17 | 7:30 pm | Minnesota Duluth | #19 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | W 2–1 | 3,627 | 7–4–0 (5–0–0) |
| November 18 | 6:00 pm | Minnesota Duluth | #19 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | W 6–5 | 4,211 | 8–4–0 (6–0–0) |
| November 24 | 7:30 pm | #14 Michigan* | #17 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | L 0–2 | 3,978 | 8–5–0 |
| November 25 | 6:00 pm | #14 Michigan* | #17 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | T 3–3 $^{OT}$ | 4,014 | 8–5–1 |
| December 8 | 7:00 pm | at Omaha | #15 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Basse | W 4–1 | 6,286 | 9–5–1 (7–0–0) |
| December 9 | 7:00 pm | at Omaha | #15 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Posch | T 2–2 $^{SOL}$ | 7,370 | 9–5–2 (7–0–1) |
| December 29 | 7:07 pm | at Bemidji State* | #14 | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | FloHockey | Basse | W 6–1 | 3,998 | 10–5–2 |
| December 30 | 6:00 pm | Bemidji State* | #14 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Posch | W 6–1 | 4,789 | 11–5–2 |
| January 12 | 8:00 pm | at #6 Denver | #14 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | CBSSN | Basse | L 1–5 | 6,372 | 11–6–2 (7–1–1) |
| January 13 | 7:00 pm | at #6 Denver | #14 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Posch | T 4–4 $^{SOW}$ | 6,201 | 11–6–3 (7–1–2) |
| January 19 | 7:30 pm | #6 North Dakota | #13 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | L 3–5 | 4,568 | 11–7–3 (7–2–2) |
| January 20 | 6:00 pm | #6 North Dakota | #13 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | T 3–3 $^{SOW}$ | 5,568 | 11–7–4 (7–2–3) |
| January 26 | 7:30 pm | Omaha | #15 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Basse | L 6–7 $^{OT}$ | 3,562 | 11–8–4 (7–3–3) |
| January 27 | 6:00 pm | Omaha | #15 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Gray | T 1–1 $^{SOL}$ | — | 11–8–5 (7–3–4) |
| February 2 | 8:00 pm | at #14 Colorado College | #16 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Basse | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 3,640 | 12–8–5 (8–3–4) |
| February 3 | 7:00 pm | at #14 Colorado College | #16 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Basse | L 3–5 | 3,687 | 12–9–5 (8–4–4) |
| February 9 | 7:05 pm | at Miami | #16 | Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio | | Basse | W 5–2 | 2,311 | 13–9–5 (9–4–4) |
| February 10 | 7:05 pm | at Miami | #16 | Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio | | Posch | W 3–1 | 2,593 | 14–9–5 (10–4–4) |
| February 23 | 7:30 pm | #13 Western Michigan | #15 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Posch | L 3–4 | 3,502 | 14–10–5 (10–5–4) |
| February 24 | 6:00 pm | #13 Western Michigan | #15 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Posch | W 3–0 | 4,116 | 15–10–5 (11–5–4) |
| March 1 | 7:30 pm | #5 Denver | #15 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Posch | L 2–6 | 3,688 | 15–11–5 (11–6–4) |
| March 2 | 6:00 pm | #5 Denver | #15 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | Fox 9+ | Posch | L 2–7 | 4,270 | 15–12–5 (11–7–4) |
| March 8 | 7:07 pm | at Minnesota Duluth | #17 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | | Posch | L 2–4 | 5,446 | 15–13–5 (11–8–4) |
| March 9 | 6:07 pm | at Minnesota Duluth | #17 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | | Basse | L 5–6 | 5,012 | 15–14–5 (11–9–4) |
| NCHC Tournament ||||||||||
| March 15 | 7:37 pm | #14 Western Michigan* | #18 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 1) | Fox 9+ | Posch | W 5–2 | 3,026 | 16–14–5 |
| March 16 | 6:07 pm | #14 Western Michigan* | #18 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 2) | Fox 9+ | Posch | L 1–6 | 2,495 | 16–15–5 |
| March 17 | 6:07 pm | #14 Western Michigan* | #18 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 3) | Fox 9+ | Posch | W 5–1 | — | 17–15–5 |
| March 22 | 7:37 pm | vs. #3 Denver* | #17 | Xcel Energy Center • Saint Paul, Minnesota (Semifinal) | CBSSN | Posch | L 4–5 $^{OT}$ | 8,977 | 17–16–5 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Veeti Miettinen | RW | 37 | 20 | 15 | 35 | 0 |
| Dylan Anhorn | D | 38 | 6 | 27 | 33 | 34 |
| Kyler Kupka | F | 38 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 18 |
| Adam Ingram | C | 38 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 18 |
| Zach Okabe | RW | 38 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 21 |
| Verner Miettinen | C | 38 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 8 |
| Tyson Gross | D | 34 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 16 |
| Mason Salquist | F | 35 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 27 |
| Josh Luedtke | D | 37 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 21 |
| Barrett Hall | C | 33 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 16 |
| Jack Peart | D | 38 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 18 |
| Joe Molenaar | F | 32 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 19 |
| Grant Ahcan | F | 23 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 15 |
| Ethan Aucoin | F | 19 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Jack Rogers | F | 29 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 22 |
| Cooper Wylie | D | 38 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 15 |
| Ryan Rosborough | F | 20 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 19 |
| Tynan Ewart | D | 19 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Nick Portz | F | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| Jack Reimann | F | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| Mason Reiners | D | 26 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Warren Clark | D | 31 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| Karl Falk | D | 33 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Dominic Basse | G | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| James Gray | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaleb Tiessen | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isak Posch | G | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | | | 121 | 204 | 325 | 343 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| James Gray | 1 | 65:00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 0 | .955 | 0.92 |
| Dominic Basse | 25 | 1461:47 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 67 | 580 | 3 | .896 | 2.75 |
| Isak Posch | 14 | 777:01 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 38 | 346 | 1 | .901 | 2.93 |
| Empty Net | - | 24:13 | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 38 | 2328:01 | 17 | 16 | 5 | 114 | 947 | 4 | .893 | 2.94 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | 8 | 10 | 20 | NR | NR | NR | 19 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 14 | – | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | – | 18 |
| USA Hockey | 7 | 9 | 20 | NR | NR | NR | 17 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 14 | – | 14 | 12т | 14 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25. Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award |
| Dylan Anhorn | AHCA West Second Team All-American |
| Dylan Anhorn | NCHC First Team |
| Jack Peart | NCHC Second Team |
| Isak Posch | NCHC Rookie Team |

## 2024 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 2 | 48 | Colin Ralph $^†$ | St. Louis Blues |
| 4 | 101 | Tanner Henricks $^†$ | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| 6 | 182 | Austin Burnevik $^†$ | Anaheim Ducks |
† incoming freshman