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