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The Rink Live


Jan 23, 2023

St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth are one another's NCHC rivals, which means that, no matter what season, both teams will play host to a series and the teams will play four times. The last time they met was the opening round of the NCHC playoffs last year and the Bulldogs swept the Huskies at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

Much has changed since then. The Huskies (10-4 NCHC, 18-6 overall) moved into the top ranking in both national polls this week after sweeping defending national champion Denver (10-4, 19-7) to move into a tie for the lead in the conference. Mick Hatten recaps keys in that series. The unranked Bulldogs (5-9, 10-13-1) are in sixth place in the NCHC after splitting a series at North Dakota (4-8-2, 10-11-4). Matt Wellens and Brad Schlossman discuss the plights of both teams heading down the stretch.

In the Big 10, the Gophers (12-3-1, 18-7-1) have a 10-point lead in the conference race after splitting two overtime games with Michigan (6-8, 14-9-1). Jess Myers talks about the big crowds and good hockey in that series.

Myers also talks about a big week for the University of St. Thomas, which revealed its plans for a new on-campus arena and then the men's team (6-10-2 CCHA, 7-15-2) picked up four points in a series against conference-leading Bowling Green (11-8-1, 14-13-1).

On the women's side, Myers talks about Minnesota's sweep of Bemidji State, Wellens talks about UMD's sweep of St. Thomas and Hatten discusses SCSU picking up a point in a series against top-ranked Ohio State.

The panel also chips in on their ballots for the NCHC's All-Decade Team.

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