University of St. Thomas Athletics
Game Notes -- Men's Hockey opens Saturday with sold-out home game
9/30/2022 4:36:00 PM | Men's Hockey
St. Paul, Minn. - St. Thomas Men's Hockey is eager to start its second season of Division I play in the CCHA. Coach Rico Blasi's Tommies open the year in October with six non-conference games and one exhibition contest.
The action starts Saturday Oct. 1 on home ice as No. 13-ranked St. Cloud State visits Mendota Heights for a 6:07 p.m. puck drop.
The teams play again in St. Cloud on Sunday (4 p.m. start).
A sellout crowd of 950-plus is expected here for the Saturday home and season opener. Students will be able to pick up their reserved tickets until pre-game, but otherwise fans who aren't already holding a ticket likely will be shut out.
The game will have live streaming on FloHockey.com, and can be heard live on SkorNorth 1500 AM Radio.
Saturday's Live Stats can be accessed HERE:
https://tommiesports.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
Last Time
Last October, SCSU opened the D-I era for the Tommies and took season-opening wins by margins of 12-2 (in St. Cloud) and 2-0 (at Xcel Energy Center). SCSU went 11-5-3 on home ice last season.
St. Cloud State has never played in Saint Thomas Ice Arena, the Toms' home venue over the last 19 seasons.
Opponent Watch
St. Cloud State's roster includes 12 players who are either seniors, fifth-years or grad students. The Huskies also have four juniors on a 27-player roster.
The Huskies (18-15-4 last season) were picked for fourth in their conference preseason poll after taking fourth in the league and getting an NCAA tourney berth last spring. Third-year captain Spencer Meier and two of last season's top-four-point scorers, Jami Krannila (15-15-30) and Zach Okabe (11-17-28), lead 16 returners.
Krannila was named 2022-23 Preseason all-conference. He appeared in all 37 games in 2021-22, recording 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points, which ranked third on the team in scoring. The Nokia, Finland native has the most career points of any Husky, checking in at 67 (31g-36a) in 102 career games.
2021-22 Skaters' Stats
The Tommies bring back 10 skaters, and here are their 2021-22 scoring stats:
- Luke Manning 8g-7a/15p;
- Matthew Jennings 4g-12a/16p;
- Cameron Recchi 5g-8a/13p;
- Trevor Zins 3g-10a/13p;
- Tim Piechowski 5g-5a/10p;
- Nolan Sawchuk 1g-9a/10p;
- Ethan Gauer 2g-5a/7p;
- Andrew Kangas 2g-2a/4p;
- Blaine Warnert 2g-1a/3p;
- Trevor LeDonne 1g-2a/3p
Tommie Talk
St. Thomas went 3-32-1 last season in year one of Division I play, but the Purple showed marked improvement over the last half of the season.
Its won-loss record included eight losses to teams ranked No. 1 or 2 in the national polls; 13 losses by one- or two-goal margins; and three overtime defeats.
Second-year head coach Rico Blasi expects this year's Tommies to be more competitive over all 60 minutes of each contest.
"We were very competitive in certain games last season," Blasi explained. "While we weren't able to sustain it all the time, our effort and attention to detail got better as the season went along. Our goal for our program is to get better each and every day; prepare ourselves as champions; go through the process as best we can; and to do it together as a team. I believe we established that last year, and we're looking forward to moving forward. With a year under our belts, we understand more what we need to do and where we need to go."
Roster Talk
Blasi has 11 returning players and 17 newcomers on his roster, a good blend of experience plus some younger talent. The team recorded 61 goals last season, and return players that scored 32 of those.
With the Toms' talented recruiting and transfer class, as many as 16 new faces could crack the lineup this opening weekend.
This year's team includes 20 native Minnesotans, five out-of-state natives, and three Canadian players.
Newest Transfers
- #22 Mack Byers junior F (two seasons at Northern Michigan)
- #5 Garrett Daly senior D (three seasons at Bowling Green)
- #24 Grant Docter sophomore D (last season at Michigan Tech)
- #29 Jarrett Lee senior D (two years at Northern Michigan, two at UMD)
- #27 Luke Perunovich senior D (three seasons at Providence)
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